ENCHANTED - BY INNOCENCE (ongoing)

37

Target for the next chapter:  1300 votes and 700 comments but please no spamming.

*** Vinod ***

"Officer Vinod, I need to talk to you," the head intellectual said as we all stood up to leave the room after the meeting.

"Is it related to anything official?" I asked.

"No," he shook his head.

"Then hell no," I immediately replied. "I ain't talking to you."

I could hear the general smile as he collected his files. "It's okay," he said, tapping on me. "Talk to him."

"So that you can wait outside and snoop on our conversation?" the intellectual asked.

"I have a battle scheduled with the King," the general replied. "None of us would even be on the same floor. You can have all the privacy in the world to try your luck with my man."

"Get back to work after your chat," he said, turning towards me before leaving.

I watched as the general walked out of the room. The snake immediately followed and peeped through the door. Once he made sure that the general exited the floor, he turned towards me.

"Did you notice how triggered your general got by the word 'Jelebi'?" he asked.

"Oh my god, yes," I replied, forgetting whom I was talking to.

"Do you want to know why?" he asked again, walking towards me and placing a hand on my shoulder.

"Yes, I do," I immediately replied, almost as if I was enchanted by his charm.

"I have a plan for us to find out without you getting into trouble," he whispered in a low voice.

"What is it—" I paused as I suddenly realized, "Wait...what do you mean by 'us'?"

"You and me," the snake replied.

"You are delusional if you think I would team up with you against my general," I stated matter-of-factly.

"But are you not curious about the Jelebi secret?" the snake asked, still trying to charm me.

"I am, but I will never involve an intellectual in my investigation," I retaliated.

"You will never be able to find out the secret without my help," the snake replied.

"I have Pritham," I stated, and I could see the confidence drain from his face.

Of course it would!

My Pritham is smarter than all of the intellectuals combined together... okay, maybe not the snake... but everyone else combined together... and he is and always will be on my side.

************

"No, absolutely not," Pritham said firmly.

"Brother, don't do this to me," I pleaded. "I elevated you in front of the intellectuals."

"Too bad I am not from the South," he said, walking away.

"Okay, then tell me what to do to charm an Easterner," I asked. "What do you want?"

"Peace," he concluded and continued to walk but stopped when Yashoda bhabhisa met him outside the door with Shanthi standing beside her.

"Vadina?" he asked, confused. "What are you doing here?"

"We are here to submit the financial report of the Brindavanam community," bhabhisa replied.

"What?" I gasped, visibly worried.