The young lady was holding the baby goat Jaa in her hands, but the goat struggled to free from her grasp.

Aachman was slightly afraid that Jaa would escape from the young lady's grasp and come for another round of head-butting. After a few moments, Jaa settled, but still glared at Aachman. He wisely refrained himself from going near the young lady.

Bholu, the personal secretary for the village chief, appeared at the barn. "The village chief is asking for you, young lady," the fat man told the girl.

Akalya's lively expression changed dramatically from a young girl fooling around with her friends to a frozen wooden face in an instant. She nodded and followed the secretary. Lackeys trailed behind the young lady. Aachman also followed them.

There was no conversation between them. They all walked silently, and their own thoughts consumed every one of them.

The village chief's secretary led them to an unfamiliar room this time. It looked like a courtyard. An ample number of trees and plants provide much-needed shade to sit even during mid-day. The village chief was alone and was sitting on an old swing that was intricately carved.

The village chief looked like he was about to chew rocks for lunch. He did not acknowledge anybody, just sat there and looked intensely at the young lady.

The secretary left the room, but the lackeys and Aachman remained in the same room.

The vibe becomes heavier as the silence was prolonged. Aachman watched them. He realised the young lady was still holding the Jaa and was acting submissive in front of the chief. Aachman cursed the goat in his mind about how it knows to act submissive but not in front of him.

At last, the village chief broke the silence. Aachman thought the village chief was pulling a power move on his granddaughter.

"You know why I called you Akalya."

Lady was silent and was looking down. She remained silent and did not talk back to the chief.

"I was disappointed because you know our family position was precarious, yet you were behaving badly"

The young lady kept silent and did not look at the village chief. Since Aachman was shorter than the young lady, he could look at her face. The young lady's eyes were moist. She was controlling herself not to cry.

"Nityananda complained about how you were not listening to his class and were disruptive, also not allowing him to teach."

The young lady's face distorted, and Aachman hear a soft crying sound The young lady did not argue but accepted all complaints from the chief passively.

Aachman observed the lackeys were in a similar state. Every one of them was too afraid of the chief to talk.

The village chief was in full swing, and he was going on and on about all the things he disliked about the young lady. Aachman felt that if he listened any more, blood would leak from his ears.

"Sir, the young lady is not at fault," Aachman said to the chief before he rants again. Lackeys and the young lady looked surprised.

"This is the first day of your work. You already create problems for me."

"Priest Niti complained particularly about you and your slovenly behaviour in the classroom. Did I not warn you not to do any funny business in my house?"

Aachman was furious. He might have said some mean words to the old priest, but how could he snitch on him to the village chief?

He promised he would take just retribution on the old priest. The chief goes on a rant forever.

"Sir, I don't know you disliked the royal family," Aachman said to the chief intentionally because he wanted to create shock and disrupt the chief's momentum.

Aachman was sure that the old priest did not say the actual reason for the dispute. The village chief looked dumbstruck and shocked.

"Boy, what nonsense you are talking about?"

"Sir, I don't know what the esteemed priest said to you, but the young lady was defending the royal family honour."

The village chief looked dumbstruck as if someone had hit him on his head.

Aachman looked at the young lady. She was still tearful, but not outright crying. He expected the young lady would defend herself now, but she remained silent.

Aachman sighed, but then thought this would be an excellent opportunity to place himself in the good books of a young lady.

"Royal family! What did the priest say about the royal family? " The chief asked in trepidation. It seems the old man suspects where this talk was leading.

"The priest spoke ill about the patron God of the royal family and a young lady questioned it, which led to a further disagreement."

He would not accept his role in this fiasco. He thought of downplaying it.

The village chief was silent. He was thinking about something. Aachman did not want to give initiative back to the chief.

"The young lady did nothing wrong. She defended the royal family as expected from a person from a noble family."

Lackeys also started speaking to support the young lady.

"Aachman was right. The young lady was not wrong," the fatty squeaked out his words timidly.

Emboldened by the words of Aachman and fatty, baldy also spoke for the support of the young lady.

"The priest even said that girls should not learn."

Aachman was not happy. These guys might look like trolls and harmless, but they stole the thunder from him last time. He would not allow them to do the same this time.

Aachman's mind whirled but could find nothing to say. He said all he wanted to say. He glared at lackeys, but they looked somewhat afraid and somewhat determined to support the girl.

The young lady did not say a word, but she was not crestfallen anymore.

The chief looked angry. It seems he is working up his anger again.

"Did he say that?"

All the four except the young lady nodded. Aachman got freaked when Jaa nodded too, but he could not refute the fatty words about Jaa's understanding of the human language anymore. Aachman swore that if the first opportunity arose, he would convert Jaa into mutton biryani.

"I will speak to priest Nithyananda," the chief blustered about the issue.

Aachman was sure the chief cannot do much. In ancient India, the priest community was the highest caste and followed by the warrior community.

So the chief can warn the priest, but he could not outright fire the priest. It may incur wrath from the priest community. Aachman was sure nothing would come of it.

Now it made Aachman think about lord Indra's worst reputation, which may be propaganda of the priest community.

The chief might have felt bad for the young lady as he asked her to take a nap after lunch and followed by singing lessons.

Fatty and baldy were allowed to return to their respective fathers for chores, but the chief made Aachman clean the statues and furniture. When he completed his duties, the sun was already setting. Aachman felt this day was long. He hoped the next day would be better than today. After all, without hope, what was life?