Babida spent the rest of the day chatting, eating, and drinking with his entourage in his private apartment but by sunset, the time had come for them to separate so he could rest more and recover from his passing out last night as prescribed by Doctor Dabo.

"Well, comrades, thank you very much for your visit. I have been advised by the medic to rest more and that's what I intend to do so now." Governor Babida told the visitors.

"Well, His Highness, we may hence go now. By the way, we wish you a speedy recovery." The henchman Polo said as he and the youngster Baba greeted the Superior Commander.

They then turned and walked away, leaving the young maiden Suzie behind.

"You may also go shall you desire it, young miss." The lumberjack said to his crush who looked at him as if she wanted to stay more.

"Well, you also know that we have to get married first before we can upgrade the intimacy." He added.

But the young maiden Suzie kept glaring at him with a look of carnal desire.

"Young miss, I am telling you, you may go now for our good. You know what can happen if you prolong your stay." Babida kept warning her, though he was burning with the flame of carnal desire.

Ultimately, when he least expected it, the young maiden Suzie smiled and uttered: "Good boy! I was just playing with you to see what type of man you are. I may say you are a good one, a very good one."

She thereupon stood up and walked up to the door. And when she was about to step outside she sent him with the palm of her right-hand invisible kisses.

Then she closed the door and vanished away.

Babida watched the scene, lightly shook his head while smiling before declaring "Women!" and sliding into the blanket.

He fell asleep and slept like a baby.

Babida the lumberjack had now stayed three days in his room and never left it once.

He scrupulously followed the prescription from Doctor Dabo and was now feeling in form.

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It was thus time to finally start his new duties as Governor of the province of Okunde.

He geared up and dressed nicely in a brand new military uniform, then left his room accompanied by a young sentinel of his close-knit guard.

He reached the doorstep of his new office and had sad memories of the last time he stepped out of it and landed in the cell of the underground.

Indeed the bureau that the woodsman was about to occupy had had as tenant before him one of the most devoted statemen of the Batang empire, the late Governor Kola II.

However, the former tenant had thrown the lumberjack in jail out of anger. Babida had failed to clearly explain to the late Governor how a scout mission in the forbidden mountain that the latter had entrusted to him, capsized.

The flashbacks over, the lumberjack sighed and penetrated the office as a freeman and was amazed by its splendor.

The bureau was neat and spacious with shelves that housed tons of papyrus.

A huge portrait of His Majesty Batang V sitting on his throne and holding his scepter with his right hand was hanging on the wall behind the desk.

A tinier painting of the late Governor, His Highness Kola Il, was placed right below the gigantic picture of the reigning Emperor.

The lumberjack contemplated the two pictures and commenced visualizing his instead of that of the late Governor under the massive picture of His Majesty.

And while he kept on with the images' exploration an imperial sentinel knocked at the door of the office and informed the new tenant that he had a visitor and it was the young maiden, Suzie.

"Let her come in!" Babida ordered and his crush Suzie stepped in carrying with her a dish filled with little chocolate cookies that she had concocted for the Governor's breakfast.

The woodsman was very pleased very the kind gesture, so he lightly kissed the young maiden on the forehead while thanking her.

Then he felt it was the right moment for him to move forward in the relationship.

So the logger kneeled with the right foot and grabbed the young maiden by her right hand before looking at her straight in the eyes and asking her the question she had long been waiting for.

"Young Miss, will you marry me?" He said to her.

"Yesssss!" The young maiden Suzie responded emphatically to the marriage proposal of Babida the lumberjack.

The scream was so powerful that the imperial sentinel watching over the Governor's office at the door from the external side could not resist sneaking in without notice and taking the risk to catch his Superior Commander in a position particularly carnal with his female guest, causing hence embarrassment for both sides.

The two lovebirds turned to glance at the door with a silent look that spoke volumes to the too curious imperial guard.

With their eyes, Babida and his crush the young maiden Suzie told the inquisitive imperial guard: "Ok, you saw what you saw, and then what? None of your business!"

"Sorry, Your Highness," said shamefully the imperial sentinel before returning outside to the corridor and resuming his duty as if nothing had ever happened.

The two lovebirds then continued from where they stopped.

"We shall marry in three moons by the river coast on an afternoon." The logger told his fiancé who jumped for joy.

"We shall wed even today but I know we need some time for the preparation. Three moons are just perfect, my love." Suzie replied to him.

"We shall wed with just a few guests." Babida precised to her.

"Yes. Just the two henchmen and five imperial warriors would be enough." Suzie provided even more detail about the number and qualities of the guests for the wedding ceremony.

"I wished big Momma and uncle Bibi were physically present. Nonetheless, I know they will spiritually." Suzie said regretfully before observing a short moment of silence in memory of the deceased.

"Well, I may go now so you can resume your work." The young maiden then declared and left the Governor's office immediately.

Babida was now alone in the oval bureau and very happy about himself.

He felt like he was the luckiest man in the universe, for the most beautiful woman in the Batang empire had accepted to marry him and spend the rest of her life with him.

To celebrate what he considered was a milestone in his life after a long period of bachelorhood, he took a chocolate cookie brought to him by his crush the young miss Suzie and bit on it.

After a short moment of ecstasy, the lumberjack came back to his normal state, sat behind the desk, and consulted the infinite paperwork that had remained unprocessed since the passing of his predecessor, the late Governor Kola Il.