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Hizashi No Kage
 
Chapter - 18
 
On inquiring at the office, it turned out that due to being extremely busy with business, Samuel hadn’t been able to arrange a carriage for Bob and Akash this time. He had informed Bob about this two days earlier through a letter and told him to make some arrangement himself somehow. But due to a mistake at the administration office, that letter never reached Bob.
 
Now what was to be done? It wasn’t possible to arrange a carriage immediately. They would have to inquire a lot around the city before any ride could be arranged.
 
Akash and Bob were both in this dilemma. Their bags were kept nearby. Neelu was also sitting on Akash’s shoulder.
 
Just as the two of them were thinking of stepping out of the academy and talking to some carriage driver, Ramya passed by at that moment. She was also heading home. Seeing the two of them, she stopped. After hearing the whole matter, she said, “Hey, then come with me na. We’re all going to the same place anyway.”
 
Akash was thinking exactly the same thing. He happily agreed to Ramya’s suggestion. But then Bob pulled him aside and whispered, “Have you gone mad, Akash? She is a princess. If we say something on the way that she doesn’t like, she’ll have us killed immediately.”
 
Akash immediately turned to Ramya and asked, “Ramya, if we say something on the way that you don’t like, will you have us killed?”
 
Ramya burst out laughing. She said, “No, I won’t have you killed.”
 
Bob felt embarrassed by Akash’s such frank way of speaking. He himself had never spoken directly to Ramya till today.
 
Ramya said once again, “Look, if you both don’t come with me, then I’ll have to go all the way to Kameel feeling bored alone. My elder sister already left without me, with her fiancé.”
 
(Akash felt secretly irritated by this, but he didn’t say anything. What could he even say?)
 
So in the end, Bob and Akash went along with Ramya. A little distance from the academy, Ramya’s maid was waiting for her. She was a sturdy woman of about 30–40 years old. Her name was Nia.
 
Ramya explained to Nia that Akash and Bob would also be traveling with her. She also told her where to drop Akash and where to drop Bob.
 
After a light introduction to Nia, the two boys sat in the horse-carriage with Ramya.
 
The journey began.
 
On one side sat Bob and Akash, and opposite them was Ramya.
 
For a little while, an awkward atmosphere lingered among them all. Akash couldn’t bear it at all. He was the one who broke the silence. He said, “Ramya, meet this. This is my familiar, Neelu.”
 
Ramya became so enamored upon seeing Neelu that she couldn’t help but ask, “Akash, can I touch Neelu?”
 
Akash happily handed Neelu over to Ramya’s hands. Then Ramya made him sit in her lap and caressed him a lot. All through the journey, Ramya kept caressing him. Neither did she want to return Neelu, nor did Neelu want to go back.
 
“Mages should also tame monsters,” Ramya said. At this, Bob spoke up, “Not everyone has as much mana as you do, Princess.”
 
“Whatever it is, I’m definitely going to tame a monster when I get home—maybe a Slime,” Ramya decided.
 
And so the conversation continued.
 
Akash was speaking to Ramya in a completely frank manner. Bob couldn’t stand watching it. He scolded Akash, “Akash, you can’t talk to the princess like that.” Then he said to Ramya, “Please forgive him, Princess. He hasn’t learned any of this.”
 
Before Akash could say anything, Ramya took his side and said, “How nice is this? I actually wish no one learns these fake formalities. Say whatever is in your heart.”
 
“Got it? Now you also calm down a bit and talk comfortably. No one is going to get you killed,” Akash said to Bob with a laugh.
 
Bob also relaxed.
 
The three of them shared experiences from the academy—how the entrance exam went, the duel matter, the term-end tournament, and so on...
 
Somewhere in between, it also came up how Bob and Akash became friends. Akash didn’t want to tell the whole story, but Bob, in his excitement, narrated the entire incident when Akash had saved his life and his family’s from a Hobgoblin. He was praising Akash in a very dramatic way, and Akash was dying of embarrassment. He tried to stop Bob several times in between, but it had no effect. Ramya was watching all this and smiling.
 
Naturally, it also came out that Akash’s guardian was Samuel and that he was bearing all his expenses. Even today, Akash didn’t tell Bob or Ramya that his family had also collected the fees.
 
The journey passed in these very conversations.
 
It was around 5 in the evening when they all reached Jot village. After almost 10 hours of travel, all three (and Nia too) were tired. Akash asked everyone to stop at his house for a little while to rest.
 
Bob never imagined that a princess who lived in palaces would even want to enter a small house, but Ramya immediately agreed.
 
It was necessary to keep Ramya’s identity secret. So it was decided that as long as she was in the village, no one would call her princess or speak to her formally. Akash agreed immediately, but Bob and Nia found it difficult. Anyway, they all went inside Akash’s house. Inside, Angela was sitting and carving a wooden statue. She understood from the sound of footsteps who had come. She immediately left her work, got up, ran, and hugged Akash. Akash too became emotional.
 
Then introductions of everyone else were made. All formalities were completed. Bron had gone out to cut wood at that time. Angela herself took care of all the guests. While everyone rested a little, Angela also prepared a lot of food. Eating hadn’t been planned, but how could Ramya refuse Angela?
 
Everyone sat down to eat, right on the floor.
 
Nia couldn’t bear it, but Ramya was signaling her with gestures to stay quiet.
 
Shahi Paneer and Naan—Angela had made them. Akash’s favorites.
 
While Bob, Ramya, and Nia were still serving their own food, Akash had already poured the paneer into a big bowl and started eating with naan in hand.
 
Angela scolded him, “Son, don’t become an animal. Eat like humans.”
 
“Mummy, bring some curd na,” Akash said while eating like an animal only.
 
Bob also scolded him. Ramya just kept laughing.
 
Angela brought the curd too. Then Akash became even more immersed in the taste. Angela kept admonishing him, “What will your friends think about you? Eat slowly na.”
 
But then everyone noticed that tears were flowing from Akash’s eyes.
 
Ramya spoke up, “Akash, what is this?”
 
Angela also said in a worried voice, “What happened, son?”
 
Akash asked in surprise—“What do you mean?” He himself didn’t realize he was crying. But then he felt something near his eyes. When he touched with his wrist, he understood that he was indeed crying.
 
“Hey this… how…?” Saying this much, his throat choked. Now he completely broke down crying. He immediately lowered his head. Trying to control himself, he tried to speak, “Please forgive me… I don’t know how this… is happening…” and he started crying again.
 
Angela immediately went behind him and hugged him. She had understood the reason. She said, “Did something happen at school, son?”
 
But Akash didn’t lift his head.
 
Seeing all this, for some reason Ramya’s eyes also filled up.
 
Nia and Bob also understood how much Akash was missing home.
 
When Bron returned after cutting wood, he saw some crowd around his house. Seeing the royal horse-carriage, people became curious about who had come to the Snow family’s house.
 
And it was also time for Ramya, Nia, and Bob to leave.
 
In the end, Bob had to lie that this horse-carriage was his and Ramya was his sister. Nia was the coachman.
 
The villagers still hadn’t forgotten Bob’s family. So when they learned that Bob was leaving now, they showered him with gifts. Everyone from every house gave him something. The horse-carriage got completely filled.
 
Samuel and Martha were also invited to come to the village. Ramya received lots of blessings too. Her beauty was praised a lot.
 
Some naughty person even praised Nia, “Even the coachmen of big people are so beautiful. If she were in our village, we would never make her a coachman.”
 
Nia laughed for the first time.
 
Finally, Bob, Ramya, and Nia took leave from the Snow family.
 
Angela lovingly patted Bob and Ramya on the head.
 
Bron told Bob that he and his family could come anytime if they wanted.
 
Bob and Akash bet on who would have a higher level after the holidays. Then they hugged and bid farewell.
 
Ramya was still holding Neelu tightly in her arms. If it were up to her, she would have taken Neelu with her.
 
“Now at least return my familiar,” Akash said to Ramya. Reluctantly, Ramya had to hand Neelu back to him. Then she said goodbye, “Thank you for today, Akash. I will never forget this experience.”
 
“Hey no-no, thank you, Ramya. You came here, endured so much—”
 
“I didn’t endure anything. I had a lot of fun,” Ramya said and then, saying one last thing, she immediately left, “Do you know that when you cry, your nose turns red?”
 
She ran away laughing. Akash couldn’t say anything; he felt shy.
 
Then Nia also started leaving with Ramya. Akash took leave from Nia too, “Nia ji, thank you so much too. I hope you didn’t face too much trouble here? Please forgive us.”
 
“You and your family are very good people. Thank you for today.”—Saying this, Nia left.
 
While going from Jot village to Kameel, Ramya and Bob kept talking only about the villagers’ kindness. In between, Angela’s delicious food was also mentioned, and then the matter of Akash crying came up too.
 
Ramya asked curiously, “What do you think Bob— what difficulty must Akash be facing in the academy?”
 
Saying this much, Ramya suddenly remembered the promise she had taken from Akash—to stay away from Manjula. She herself fell silent. In that single moment, she understood what the reason for Akash’s sadness was.
 
But then Bob said, “This is my fault, Princess. I shouldn’t have left Akash alone. I didn’t even pay attention to how a boy from a poor family must feel among the rich. I’m remembering now—Akash doesn’t have a single friend in his class. Have you ever seen him with anyone?”
 
“No,” Ramya said thoughtfully.
 
“That’s the thing. No one can trouble Akash physically, but mentally his condition is very weak. He’s like a coconut,” Bob said.
 
Then Ramya asked a question, “But Bob, if you are so sensible, then why did you leave Akash alone? Mage students get quite a lot of free time.”
 
Bob fell silent. Then slowly, a bit embarrassed, he said, “Actually… actually I wanted to surpass Akash. Ever since he saved my life, I’ve been seeing him as both a brother and a rival. I deliberately kept distance from him in my free time. But that was my mistake. I became too blinded by jealousy. But from the next semester, I’ll stay with him as much as possible.”
 
Ramya didn’t say anything because her own situation was similar to Bob’s.