Pageblug in Korowelang

25. Who's Throwing a Tantrum?

After being abandoned by Malika and Anjani, Erlangga finally stepped into the backyard. There he saw Bima and Wijaya watching the students practice martial arts. Several times it seemed that Wijaya gave directions to Bima so that he could handle all activities without exception.

Seeing Erlangga's late arrival, Wijaya and Bima looked at each other and then looked at the handsome man who now seemed to be holding back his emotions. They didn't want to disturb Airlangga's feelings because once they made a mistake, they both would regret it. Not because Airlangga was angry, but because they felt very disobedient to the Sultan's children who were entrusted by Sultan Iskandar to them to be educated to be the best students.

"Prince, where did you just come from? We started this activity before the Prince arrived because at first I thought that the Prince would soon follow behind but my guess was wrong."

 Erlangga chuckled hearing Bima call him Prince. He was very upset because Bima did not want to hear what he wanted all this time. Erlangga always asked Bima to call him by name without any title but Bima did not comply with his wishes.

“Would you like to write a short story about the secret that I've been hiding all this time? I am a prince but absolutely do not want anyone else to know but you. I'm just you. Keep everything a secret lest anyone else find out who I am. Just watch out if they find out who I really am and the first person I will accuse is you Bima."

Bhima lowered his head and lifted it slowly. He was not at all comfortable when he had to be next to Erlangga and only called his name, while the positions of Bima and Erlangga were very different.

"I don't want to be seen as a person who is disobedient to the sultan's son."

"Once again you say,'' Son of the sultan I will cross you off the list of friends and companions and my brother how?"

Bima scratched his head and it didn't itch. He really had no other choice but to follow what Erlangga asked him to do. For Erlangga it may not be a difficult thing but for Bima it is a real disobedience that he has to do all day while Erlangga stays at the hermitage.

Wijaya, who heard the bickering of the two young people in front of him, then drew closer to give advice to both of them to be accurate and not to argue just because of one very unimportant call.

"If you are not comfortable with calling Airlangga's name just like that, you can call him brother, Bima. Why be confused and why should you two fight over trivial matters that have no effect on Sarah's existence at all. Remember our focus is only on how to get rid of the pageblug that is going on in this area. Don't let another focus turn us to that focus. Oh yes, where have you been in Erlangga? Bima and I started this activity without waiting for you because we thought you were behind us. We thought you were close, but we were wrong. you really came a long time. Did something happen that I don't know about at all?”

Hearing Wijaya's question, Erlangga recalled the incident when he and Malika were and had an argument about Malika's suspicions about him. He wanted to tell Bima and Wijaya everything, but he immediately shook his head.

He recalled the incident about his inadvertently following Malika and Anjani, who at that time was gossiping about him and shutting him up as a Sahara spy who was deliberately tricked by Padepokan Seputih Hati. Airlangga actually wanted to tell Wijaya and Bima everything but he didn't want the 2 men in front of him to laugh at his unfortunate fate.

Seeing Erlangga's indecision, Wijaya just frowned trying to analyze what his favorite student had just experienced.

"If your father may know what exactly you just experienced earlier so you seem clearly emotional. Is there someone bothering you or a problem bothering you? Tell your father so that I can also contribute ideas for the best solution.”

Erlangga took a deep breath and then he did it roughly. Actually he was not too hurt by what Malika said but he was really annoyed at the attitude of the girl who seemed not to know him at all.

"Do you hesitate to tell your father, son? If you still have doubts, it's okay if your father hopes that one day he will tell you." Erlangga shook his head, then he tried to reorganize his emotions so as not to explode when he told Wijaya everything.

“Tell me Do I have the face and looks of a decorator, Daddy?"

"Who wants that? If I find out who did it, your father will definitely be the first to punish him.”

Erlangga smiled hearing what Wijaya said. He was sure that if he said that Malika had accused him of something like that, Wijaya would definitely have given up on punishing the girl because he was sure that Wijaya loved women more than him.

 “Are you sure you will give the girl a proper punishment?'

 “Girl? Which girl are you referring to? Do you know him?"

"The girl that my father just helped in the treatment room earlier. I'm actually going to follow you guys for training this afternoon. But somehow I felt something led me to follow the two girls who left me from the treatment room. They stopped in a hallway before entering the room. Do you know what they said earlier? They gossiped about me saying that I was Sarah's spy who was deliberately smuggled into not White Hearts. If Father finds out that it was the girl who slandered me, will father still punish him?”

Wijaya just nodded his head then he looked at Bima as if asking him to call the two girls who were now in his room. Bima actually objected to obeying all the orders of his heartless father. His father actually knew that Malika's condition did not allow him to be punished today, but because of his respect for Airlangga, he preferred to defend the strong and oppress the weak.

"Why are you silent? Did you deliberately delay so that the girl doesn't come here? Don't tell me you've started to fall in love with her so you don't want her to get support from dad."

"I'll be honest, I'm actually really annoyed to hear that big brother is being so harsh on that girl. We know that girl is in big trouble. We also know she's in a depressed state and is unlikely to get the punishment dad says. I don't disagree when father will give justice to anyone by defending  Airlangga, but if I may ask for your sentence to be postponed so that they also have the opportunity to rest."