Caily froze in place. She hadn't expected to find herself in the middle of that father-and-son feud so quickly. Meanwhile, Dani and his friends immediately fled, unable to stand the tense atmosphere and deadly aura radiating from Saskara and Sakha.
"We'll talk this out inside," Desmond ordered, earning a quiet chuckle from Saskara.
"What for? Everything's clear. You're cheating! You're two-timing our mother!" Saskara screamed, drawing the curiosity of neighbors who secretly eavesdropped or even peeked out at them.
Realizing that leaving his two sons outside would only draw more attention, Desmond dragged Sakha inside. Saskara was forced to follow.
The front door was shut tight. Caily blinked several times, trying to process what had happened. Then Ragnala appeared right in front of her face, making her shriek in surprise.
"You scared me!"
Ragnala chuckled. Caily's startled expression looked incredibly funny to him. He also only just realized how beautiful and adorable she was. For a moment, he recalled Raeka's report about the girl who often spent time with the villagers. Caily never let anyone accompany her. Not even Kaevan—the boy who had gone on vacation to Kota Kembang with his mother for the past few days so he wouldn't throw a tantrum when he found out Caily had gone out to play without inviting him.
"Let's go home, Caily. Mom's waiting for you," Ragnala urged, making a strange flutter stir in the girl's chest when he said the word "Mom."
It was a title and a figure utterly foreign to her life. Caily studied Ragnala, who looked worried. The shouting and crashing objects were making the situation even more heated. The neighbors had also begun coming out to see what was happening. Not wanting to get involved any further, Ragnala quickly took Caily's hand and helped her to her feet.
He passed the people with his gaze fixed straight ahead, while Caily instead flashed them sweet smiles and waved. The girl wasn't bothered in the slightest by the Janardan family's argument. In fact, she was happy that the siblings finally knew their father had another family. Desmond's years of lies were over.
"Ragnala, Ragnala, don't walk so fast," Caily pleaded, bringing Ragnala to an abrupt stop.
Ragnala looked down at the petite girl's feet as she puffed out her cheeks. She was annoyed that she had to stumble along just to match his pace. Ragnala really had no consideration.
Caily forcibly pulled her hand free from the young man's grasp, then squatted down in the middle of the road. She sulked and refused to continue toward the house. Having never dealt with a girl's behavior like this before, Ragnala had no choice but to squat down too. Then he asked gently what she wanted. Honestly, he was exhausted and wanted to rest as soon as possible. If he hadn't remembered that Caily was his mother's guest, he wouldn't have cared this much.
"I promise I'll walk slowly," he said, as though coaxing a sulking younger sister.
The sibling dynamic between Janendra, Kiran, and Ragnala was unlike most others. None of them acted spoiled with one another. They were independent. Since childhood, all three had been busy dealing with their own lives. However, Janendra and Kiran still had a fairly good relationship. Ragnala, on the other hand, seemed to be hated by his own two older brothers.
Caily slowly shook her head, then held out both arms. "Carry me! I'm tired."
Ragnala's eyes widened. He was extremely surprised by the girl's pleading request. After thinking for a moment, he agreed. He did it so they could reach the house quickly and Caily could immediately finish dealing with the trouble she had caused.
"Caily, do you know why Uncle Desmond was at that house earlier?" Ragnala asked curiously.
"I do. That food-stall lady is Uncle Desmond's wife. I only just found out too, and I told Uncle right away," she explained, leaving Ragnala slightly confused.
"Which uncle?"
"You know, Uncle Saskara. Sakha's older brother, Uncle Desmond's firstborn. You can't possibly not know that, Ragnala."
Ragnala immediately burst out laughing. He hadn't misheard her, had he? Caily had called Saskara "Uncle." He could imagine how gloomy Saskara's face would be, since he still wanted people to think he was young. He was about to turn thirty, after all—even if he still had around three years to go.
They talked about all sorts of things. More accurately, Caily told him about her experiences exploring the village. For some reason, both Caily and Ragnala felt comfortable together. Caily also felt that Ragnala was a good listener. The proof was that he never interrupted her.
Ragnala also realized that his judgment of her had been wrong all along. He had assumed Caily was an arrogant girl, but in reality, she was incredibly talkative. Caily was very open whenever someone prompted her with a question, and Ragnala would dig for information by asking the person involved directly.
"Caily, what exactly is your relationship with Mom?" he asked, but the girl didn't answer right away. Her gaze was fixed on a group of people in front of a house.
After she patted his shoulder several times, Ragnala stopped walking. He sighed when Caily insisted on getting down and ran toward a group of men setting up a wedding tent. Without the slightest embarrassment, Caily began an interview. The girl felt there were so many interesting things here that she was only just discovering.
"What is Dani's father setting up?" Caily asked the man known as Dani's father.
Dani's father lowered his head. He was startled to find Caily looking up at him with a deeply curious expression. "A wedding tent. Careful, Caily—don't stand there. It might fall on you."
Caily obeyed. She backed away while watching every movement Dani's father and the other villagers made as they put up the wedding tent. As soon as Dani's father climbed down from the stepladder, Caily hurried over.
"Dani's dad, what's a wedding celebration?" she asked, making every eye turn toward them.
"It's a party to celebrate a wedding or a circumcision ceremony. You really don't know, Caily?"
"I don't. The only kind of celebration I know is a birthday party."
Ragnala watched as the girl sat down with the older men. They drank coffee together and chatted at length. He felt awkward about asking Caily to go home after hearing that she didn't know what a wedding celebration was. Did Caily really know so little about the outside world? Was that why she spent her days exploring this village?
"So, for a wedding celebration, do you have to hand out invitations, and the people who get them have to come?" Caily stared intently at Dani's father's face as he fell silent for a moment. The girl everyone knew as his son's friend was incredibly innocent, naive, and curious. She was like a child who always wanted to know about everything she saw.
"But I didn't get an invitation," Caily remarked sadly.
The older men roared with laughter. It was their first time interacting with such a funny city girl. While some people would be glad not to receive a wedding invitation from someone they weren't close to, Caily desperately wanted one. Girls Caily's age would usually grumble about having to attend a wedding when their wallets were already running low. Girls her age were also beginning to get busy working, building careers, looking for jobs, and searching for partners. Caily, on the other hand, still seemed like a child. The older men couldn't believe she was already an adult.
"Here you go. Mr. Jajang is giving this to Miss Caily," Mr. Jajang said, handing Caily an invitation, which made her eyes light up.
"Thank you so much, Mr. Jajang. I promise I'll come tomorrow! I'm going home now! See you!!"
Caily ran over to Ragnala, who had been patiently waiting for her. She proudly showed off the wedding invitation she'd received. She didn't stop smiling the entire way home. She couldn't wait for tomorrow.
On this bright morning, the Adinatha family and the Hanendra family—Raeka's family—were waiting for one person who still hadn't come out of her room. Several housekeepers had already been sent to call her, but Caily still didn't come out. Lydia finally ran out of patience and went to her guest's room.
"Caily, come have breakfast first," she said, knocking on the door.
When she received no answer, Lydia opened the bedroom door. She sighed when she didn't find Caily inside. Her guess had been right: the girl had left before dawn to satisfy her curiosity about the wedding celebration. According to the information Lydia had gathered, Mr. Jajang's daughter had been proposed to by a man who still lived in this village. He lived in a neighboring neighborhood.
"Let's have breakfast. Caily already left," Lydia announced when she reached the dining room. "Valdi, lead the prayer."
Valdi nodded and began leading the prayer. Without realizing it, the corners of the middle-aged man's mouth lifted. The girl's arrival had been incredibly sudden, and she had succeeded in giving Lydia a headache with her behavior. Lydia's frustrated expression amused him greatly.
After breakfast, Lydia dragged her youngest son along to accompany her to the wedding celebration. In any case, she had to accompany Caily as a visitor to the village.
The mother and son stood frozen when they saw Caily lined up with the women and girls carrying gifts. They stared in bewilderment as Caily chatted and joked with them. How had the girl become so friendly with everyone so quickly?
"Caily," Lydia called, waving her hand.
Caily turned toward the voice. Her lips curved into a radiant smile, and she jogged over to them. For a moment, Lydia was stunned by the happiness shining on her face. Could joining a wedding celebration thrown by complete strangers—and making herself part of all that trouble—really make her this happy? If Caily hadn't been her guest, Lydia would have been extremely reluctant to attend a village wedding.
"Did you bring an envelope?" Lydia asked, certain the girl hadn't prepared one.
"What envelope?" Caily asked in return.
Ragnala finally burst out laughing. He hadn't expected Caily to be so innocent—or bordering on stupid. Yet her eyes showed no sign of deception.
"Oh, my God." Lydia slapped her forehead, then took out a white envelope filled with money and handed it to Caily, who furrowed her brow. "Take this. Give it to the newlyweds when you say goodbye and go home, after you eat from the buffet."
Caily nodded in understanding. She took the envelope and slipped it into her pants pocket.
The ceremony to escort the groom began. They walked slowly toward the bride's house. Lydia walked alongside Caily. The woman had no choice but to come along to accompany her guest. She ignored the heat and discomfort, and responding to every greeting and smile from the villagers made Lydia feel sick. If not for Caily, she wouldn't have gone this far.
Sweat poured down Caily's temples. The girl paid no attention to how overheated she was. She focused on watching the marriage vows, which she was seeing for the first time. Caily was like a child discovering the outside world for the first time. Lydia realized it too. The woman felt both sorry for her and utterly baffled.
After the marriage vows, the walimatul ursy, or thanksgiving feast, began. Once again, Caily was amazed. Especially when the older men were handed plastic bags containing some kind of package. No one knew what was inside.
"Mrs. Lydia, what is that?" Caily whispered.
"Blessing rice," Lydia answered shortly.
"Blessing rice? What kind of rice is in it?" she asked again.
Lydia didn't answer. Her gaze was fixed on a man walking toward them. It was Desmond, who had apparently been invited too.
Desmond offered Caily the blessing rice he'd received, then glanced toward Lydia. He signaled for Mrs. Adinatha to follow him. They said goodbye and walked away. Their movements looked far too suspicious to the girl watching them with a wary gaze.
"Why are you insisting on keeping her here, Lyd?" Desmond asked in a whisper. "She's only been here a week, and she's already managed to uncover a secret I've kept hidden all this time."
Lydia turned her face away and folded her arms across her chest. "Caily hasn't done anything wrong. This is your own fault. You were too careless. If it weren't for me and the others, your two sons would have found out a long time ago. Remember, Desmond, you were the one who chose to cheat with that itchy, uncouth village woman! I warned you long ago. If not for your wife's request, I wouldn't have agreed to help you keep this hidden."
Desmond roughly rubbed his face. He had been utterly defeated.
"Yes, I admit my mistake, and I'm grateful for your efforts to help me, Lydia. But I'm warning you not to let her stay here too long. Your own secret may be put at risk."
Desmond's brow furrowed when the other person chuckled softly. The two stared each other down. "What secret? I don't have any secrets. Don't pretend you know everything, Desmond."
"I know everything, Lydia. I know everything," Desmond said with a smirking smile.