MY TREASURED DESIRE

Chapter THIRTY-SIX: The Scheming of the Princes!

12 midnight, Local Time (4:00 pm UTC.)

Raymond Chang’s Imperial Palace Residence, Achaia.

General Raymond Chang’s Reverie!

I flipped through the spiral-bound masterpiece of a file from incredible Colonel Michelle. It was truly a delight for my senses. Indeed, the file contained everything I could have planned for a spy to achieve on a charge like the Middleville Palace Mission… but we could not eke out the time to see that while in the Senior Military Officers’ Quarters, because we retired to Michelle’s romantically decorated inner room...

My mind strayed to the courteous welcome reception I got at my subordinate’s Poolside… To the stewardess’ curtsies and request for me to choose a meal. I remembered how I got fed with my favourite Italian Bread and Tomato Soup, Ribollita… How I was seductively lured to eat and end up swimming with a drop-dead-gorgeous girl that I had purely loved since she joined the Achaian Army. The same girl because of whom, apart from frequent travels for training and promotion courses, I could not find any other female being fit to be my spouse until my own extended family filled my head with Miss Greta Merkel for a reason I still ponder to find. Soon after, circumstances had it that I coincidentally fell into Greta’s love web… She was daring and adventurous and that is a turn-on for me.

My mind moved me to fondly remember Colonel Michelle’s announcement: “Let our meeting begin! Champagne, please!”

She spoilt me “big time,” as she said: “To the love-life that will never be jinxed but shall blossom forever!” And my toast goes: “To General Raymond and Colonel Michelle Chang, by God’s Grace!” … and with a smile, Michelle caused that soul-lifting song to be played for me - "How Am I Supposed to Love You," from Michael Bolton’s Grammy-award-winning album that we danced to – which was my all-time favourite. But how did Michelle find out so much about what I cherished?

This midnight, I recalled again what I saw live in the USA… Watching my star, Michael Bolton, winning his first career GRAMMY at the 32nd GRAMMY Awards. It was for Best Pop Vocal Performance, Male, for the song "How Am I Supposed To Love You." That same year, Bolton made his debut on the GRAMMY stage performing the song alongside Kenny G., the great instrumentalist!

Now, that Greta who unknowingly obstructed my growing love story – while I got carried away with my daydreams and fantasies about Michelle without taking any action - had always taunted me with her brazenness and arrogance… Give it to her, our love was not meant to be, but my familial duty was to stand in-between Greta and the crown prince… Or our Chang dynasty would fall… My biological mother had trained me to be the lifesaver, bullet-proof jacket, and a shield for the knights’ sword to strike instead of the life of my crown prince - to repay a favour from the queen-mother, Reynold’s Mom, to us! Now, that queen-mother loves me with her own soul, legally adopting me as his own son immediately after my mother died. My new mother did not want my heart to seek vengeance. So, apart from outlawing the royal discovery in the archives from being exposed, she kept the history of the incident and the identity of those who conspired and committed the heinous crime away from the entire youths of the land. Those were the price to pay to attain peace! And many more things my own bestie does not need to know until he becomes the emperor, for, I love him with all my heart and more! He needs not to bear such pains!

There are mysteries that keep my heart trembling from a ruse that it would be precarious to have Greta as my life partner – yet, she stirs up my passion and interest. There is also the unfathomable passion that makes it my life’s duty to protect Colonel Michelle from the battle that Greta represents when she becomes an opponent. That reminds me about the relationship between Gold and Fire: Gold may need fire to be purified, but their friendship remains an enigma that ends at the difficult season when Gold achieves its purification - Fire’s life must end! Greta and Michelle may enjoy the mutual friendship that may last for a season, but that dinner I had with Michelle will remain evergreen in my life – The era of Greta’s reign in my heart must end, just as fire must be put out after Gold has been refined! Untamed fire has the capability to create the inferno that will engulf the careless community!

To make amends and cause our union to be divinely blessed, we drove in Michelle’s car to offer prayers at the Holy Shrine and sought God’s face to forgive us for our wrongs from the past. We confessed that our untainted dinner of true-hearts-beating-as-one should count for something good. We prayed for the sensuous baptism (our swimming in love waters) to be counted as baptism that cleanses the love transgressions of our past, and that the passion of covenant-cutting romance that makes her trust me …to take her virginity before our wedlock, should not become sin for judgment!

We both promised to remember the day we came together. An elderly Priest practically blessed us as we solemnized our engagement at the shrine!

***

Greta Merkel’s Obligation!

Flashback to the beginning of the day, Friday… at Middleville, the aircraft which took off from Lagos, Achaia at 9:00 am Local Time (1:00 am GMT or UTC.) landed around 11:30 am Local Time at the beautiful airstrip within the Communist Nation’s Imperial Palace, in Bandar. The security aides of the Monarch led Miss Greta through the private entrance into a tube way that leads to the Monarch’s lavish Guests’ Auditorium. From that auditorium, a very beautiful teenager dressed like an air hostess came to welcome the Monarch’s guest. She spoke fluent German.

My hostess spoke so courteously to me: “Ich hoffe, Ihr Flug verlief reibungslos, Majestät?” (I hope your flight was smooth, Your Majesty?).

“O Ja, mein Lieber… Sind Sie Stewardess?” (O Yes, Dear… Are you an air hostess?)

She smiled and replied, “O Ja, Majestät… Irgendwie. Ich werde Sie auf dem Luftweg zu seiner majestätischen Präsenz führen.” (O Yes, Your Majesty... Sort of. I will guide you by air to His Majestic Presence.)

I was amazed, so I said: “Auf dem Luftweg? Interessant!” (By air? Interesting!)

So, I followed the pretty young girl through the arrival tube into a compact room… She made me sit comfortably, helping me to fasten my seat belt before moving to a seat facing an array of buttons – just like an elevator control wall. She asked me if I was ready before she operated the buttons. It was just like a flight… we soon found ourselves being taken out into a vacuum and we could see the clouds - and beautiful roofs beneath us. The vehicle was like sitting in a glass compartment… So, I asked my guide if this was a tram. She repeated the question and added, “O Yes, By Air!”

“Ist das eine Straßenbahn? O Ja! Auf dem Luftweg”

Before I could laugh at the funny disposition of my hostess, I saw my uncle and three people (could they be three of his plain-clothed aides?) smiling and waiting for me. I have never seen the “pretty” man standing beside my uncle before. The other two were female. But that man’s appearance was striking: He looked as if my mom was wearing a man’s suit: So beautiful a man! He shocked me by saying: “O Willkommen, schöne Nichte!” (O Welcome, Lovely Niece!) We came out of the tram, and I was already in the magnificent sitting room with several throne seats in an arch, and a large chandelier not too far up. What I saw from the tram was smaller than what I now see as I hugged my uncle, the man who spoke the German language to welcome me, and, surprisingly, the other two young ladies…

My uncle spoke up: “Mein direkt älterer bruder und seine beiden töchter. Sie sind in Westdeutschland geboren und aufgewachsen!” (My immediate elder brother and his two daughters. They were born and bred in West Germany!)

“My Mom’s immediate younger brother from the same father and mother? A prince of Achaia?” I asked.

“You are totally correct. That I renounced my royalty and citizenship of Achaia is a long story for another day! I am a German and Middleville son!” he informed me. I shook off the shock and hugged him again!

The prince insisted that I must freshen up, have breakfast, and relax a bit before he would grant me an audience for any discussion.

At 12 noon, I presented a vivid report – from the Achaia security stakeholders’ meeting - of the facts and figures that would disgrace the monarch and foil all their clandestine devices, and the offer that should bring some respite.

My report on the true videos and records of the kidnap of Alexa, the discussion between uncle and I, and the plot behind the X-Rated Movie were laid bare again before the monarch! The Prince of Middleville calmly discussed the way out with me, placating my frayed nerves. He agreed to release his copy of the X-Rated video to the Achaians, asking me to also follow suit, when the time comes. He told me that the situation had become so stuffy, and Achaian Authorities must be made to accept our family as re-united members of the same large family. The prince noted that his physical presence at that decision-making meeting - and the assurance that he would convince his sister’s family to approve my betrothal to General Raymond - will convince the Achaian princes to release the original copies of the incriminating evidence to him on demand, just to concretise the veracity of the intention behind the truce.

“Is this how you play host to my other uncle without advising him to meet with my Mom?” I asked the crown prince.

His countenance got so cloudy that I wondered why. But he made an emotion-laden statement, “Now, you will go and accept the love relationship with that General… On that, we shall base our truce… But you must kill that love you have for him. I will tell you the story of why my German Knight is said to have the ace, and my sister had to marry him to make peace! We must also find another way to destroy the Achaian Crown Prince’s marriage to the African Princess… But that plot must never be traced to us. I will not hasten to marry your friend. I hate to break the heart of a Middleville daughter. I will just play along… At that time, you will join me to keep her busy doing everything for unity, but we only need to make her fail…”

I felt heartbroken again, “So, I will just agree with General Raymond for the sake of it?” I thought aloud. I wonder what Michelle would be doing in the picture. She would only be ruined if things go awry, and we are unfortunately served with the guerdon of cruelty! I shook my head in serious pain, but tears must wait till I get away from here!

“I am sorry you have to go through this for a while, Niece. It is a form of sacrifice for the family’s benefit,” he painfully appealed to me. But it makes no sense to me. However, since I love my uncle so much, I listened to him as he continued: “The Middleville blood running in your vein is thicker than the drops of Achaian blood running through you. You are German! To kill the pains, make love to your beloved General. Only allow him to have his way with your body, not your mind… Secretly push him to fall in love with someone else… But you cannot marry him, officially, except you can cope with the repercussions. And I do not think you can!”

I chose to ask this double-barrel question to see what my uncle would say, “What plans do you have for Michelle, apart from using her as a pawn? Do you consider her as a Middleville daughter serving her mother’s nation in Achaia?”

“She is, firstly, your bosom friend in the Achaian Military Intelligence, and we need not destroy her career. We can only distract her from total service against her fatherland by keeping her busy in my palace as my fiancé… I repeat - I will have no carnal knowledge of the woman that refused to sleep with General Chang. She has proven herself as a reliable and modest woman! Michelle’s heart could never be with General Chang though. Now, she must loathe her boss for ignoring her for so long. Just let me lay my hands on those incriminating documents against me and destroy it along with the Chang dynasty.”

In my heart, I accepted - there and then – that my family members are narcissistic, vengeful vandals. Still, I have no choice but to make my best effort to be on my family’s side… I have to personally investigate the facts of my family’s complaints and weigh it in the light of equity, truth, and justice in order to be convinced that we are fighting the right cause. Because I feel so sorry for Michelle, and for my love, Raymond, it would be difficult to hurt them without being sure of their culpability in wrongdoing.

I am billed to return to Achaia at 9:00 pm on my flight, and by midnight, I should be in our Achaia home. There, I will figure out some ways to attain the salvation of God. And Michelle will help me since my uncle would never fathom the fact that my honest and patriotic Michelle would remain in love with Raymond, whether Raymond ignores her or not! At least, Michelle and I have a secret to keep! I have an obligation to save my eternity and my friendships!