Princess Fighter: Search for the Throne

XLVIII

Vindhya continued to read her brother's letter in confusion.

But, soon the reason for his change of stance became clear to him. Vidyut had expressed his dissatisfaction firmly to her in the following sentence. Not only him, but the whole family was unhappy with the way communication flowed between the families at this time.

As per their latest information, it turns out that Yash's parents disagree with each other about this alliance. They had asked that after they received a letter sent by Yash's father to his parents in which he politely but clearly told them that he was in no hurry to finish the marriage his son.

He further wrote that Yash always had a 'strong desire' to go and study the financial system abroad after he finished his schooling in Gurukul.

Harshvardhan has clarified that it is fair for him to tell the Vindhya family about it and whether they want to continue with their own plans that may or may not join his family plan.

However, he did not stop there and even dared to exemplify Vidhyut who, despite being twenty years old, remained unmarried and was free to pursue his education and vocations.

Vidyut's letter said that their parents were very unhappy with the whole situation and would probably call him back soon. Vindhya smashed the letter in her hand. Before he could react any further, there was another knock on his door.

"Unfortunately I missed seeing this while sorting the pile. Here's another letter to Miss," with a mutter of apology, the maid ran away, seeing a frown on the old maid's face.

By the time Vindhya finished the second letter sent by her father, her mouth had already formed an unfettered line. She hurriedly tightened the rope of the dress and went to look for Ujjwala devi.

Sitting in his office, Vindhya stared blankly at the wall behind Ujjwala's desk while Ujjwala read his father's letter. Vindhya has decided not to share her brother's official letter with the woman.

"I'm .. I'm really sorry. I'm afraid I have absolutely no idea that my husband went ahead and wrote this behind me. I think there's some kind of misunderstanding on Harshvardhan's part. Your family's reaction is justified. But don't worry. I promise to do my best and calm your parents. I will also make sure that my husband does not.." he was interrupted by Vindhya coldly.

"I don't think you understand the situation, ma," he began.

Ujjwala stiffened seeing his change in greeting her from aunt to mistress, not to mention his tone.

"I only came here at your invitation and the insistence of my parents. Please don't think for a moment that we can't do without this alliance. Being my senior, you should know better than me that this union will benefit you more than this. After all, there was nothing more noble than being attached to the royal family," he did not bother to show any false courtesy in his attitude this time.

Ujjwala could feel anger rising inside him, but he held it back. Now is not the time to let emotions rule her. He needed to save the situation before it unraveled further.

"I understand that you're hurt and that's understandable. But you have to trust me to be able to handle this matter well. After all, you would be greatly affected as well if Yash was no longer in your life, right?" Ujjwala threw the last line hoping to attract the girl crazy about her son.

She has seen their interactions over the past few days and Vindhya follows Yash around like a smitten puppy all day. Vindhya's cheeks were colored by the implication of the old woman's words and she became even more haughty in her behavior.

"No man or woman is more important to me than my parents or my pride. If your family can't respect that, I don't think this can go forward. Before coming here, I left instructions to my maid to start packing. I'm afraid I won't be able to stay until someone else comes back. Please give my regards to them. I won't trouble you to find me transportation. As you read yourself, my father has sent a carriage for me, already," saying so, he walked out of the room, his head held high.

Ujjwala took the letter-opening knife from the table and threw it against the wall in front of him in frustration.

But the next minute, he calmed himself down. He first had to take care of the matters at home before he went against the outsiders.

Vindhya hesitated for a few seconds before walking into the hall where Yash was waiting for her.

"You're late" he said with a frown.

It was almost impossible for him to ignore his presence over the past week and over. He followed her every step, wherever she went and it made her very sad.

"I'm afraid we can't do the exercises today" he said in a soft voice.

A feeling of relief surged within him but he did not let it appear and asked politely, instead,

"Are you not healthy? Do you want me to call the doctor?"

He shook his head negatively and a wide smile spread across his face involuntarily due to his worried voice.

...****************...

South Zilla

His reaction gave him hope. After leaving Ujjwala's room, he debated whether to face Yash or not, but finally he decided to give her a chance to realize and show his intention towards this association.

"His dream, your father doesn't like to see me, he doesn't like to see me, in such a way that she wrote a letter to my parents giving them a long story about you wanting to travel abroad for further study and hence an mismatched marriage alliance between us in time near," the wound was quite obvious in Vindhya's voice.

He looked at her face after saying those words. Very pleasant to him, he looked surprised.

Does this mean he did not participate in the party? He waited patiently until he reacted.

Yash could not believe his ears. She wanted to ask him to repeat what he just said.

Did his father really come for him? He still remembered the heart-to-heart talk he had with Harshvardhan, a few nights ago.

It was after a very tiring day at Vindhya company and she lamented her father in a rather pitiful way, she said, it might even beg her to get him out of this situation but her father gave no indication whatsoever that he would help her in such an unexpected but effective manner.

Without realizing it, a beaming smile spread across Yash's face. Inevitably, it was noticed by Vindhya, turning her face ugly. Exerting his determination, he stopped himself from saying anything more and walked away from there.

There were only so many waivers that he would tolerate from anyone, even if it was the man he liked!

'I'll make him regret his decision. Prefer a lowly girl over me, she has no idea what she has done, ' she thought to herself.

Part of him knew that his defense mechanism was working too late. She should have taken better care of her heart, as she has managed to do all these years. Now, all one had to do was maintain his tattered self-esteem, at least in front of others.

"Is my presence so unpleasant to him? Does he not like me one bit?" her heart was racing as she reached the room where her servant was ready with the bags packed.

...****************...

Northern Zilla

There were only a few more days before Mriga left for the Eastern zilla. Although he had spent most of his time in Shaurya's company, it could not be termed as 'quality time' in his eyes.

Shaurya's entire body trembled at the thought of what lay ahead but what made him suffer greatly was the idea of separation from Mriga. For the past hundred or so hours or so, he had seen every nuance from close range.

He knew that he would rather sleep on his left side. His brows twitched involuntarily every time he tried to lie.

Every time he came back from the bath, he smelled like strawberries and he believed that for the next, he would never be able to see the fruit without being reminded of it. He has a bad habit of pursing his lips when confused and that expression comes up especially during the political science lectures Bela gave them.

All in all, these days are a slow chain of delicious torments. He did not know if he was rewarded by seeing all this or was tormented because it was no longer within his touch distance any time soon.

In shock, he realized that he had been staring blankly into space for some time now.

"Yes, I'm just curious about the topic that Guruji asked us to write about. Do you need me for something?" She asked.

Mriga looked at him suspiciously before shaking her head and returning to her duties.

"Mriga, there's a letter for you from Gurukul" his father came and handed it to him.

"Oh! It must be details about my apprenticeship," he said, taking a letter from his father.

As soon as Raghu left from there, Shaurya took the barely legible letter from his hand and started reading it. He frowned at her bossy behavior but said nothing. He's used to it.

The man acted as if he was not his senior but his owner! What was worse was..he let her get away with it!!

"Amrapali is a good mentor. Make sure to learn from him. During your training, you will go through many simulations along with theoretical knowledge. The intensity should be lower than what you are currently experiencing but it should not cause you to become negligent. Instead, use it to outperform and demand a tougher regime, understand? Don't you dare disappoint the Admin team, "he said loudly.

Mriga barely refrained from rolling her eyes.

He had heard something similar from her many times. But he seems to believe that he is stupid and needs regular reminders.

"I can see your impoliteness coming out of your shoulders. Do you think this is a joke?" he looked at her with a frown on his forehead.

To be honest, he was very worried that he would go to the Eastern zilla in the current situation. According to Prithvi, the place is currently the hot bed of all evil activities. But it is very important that they do not perform unusual actions and therefore things need to proceed as planned.

...****************...

Northern Zilla

Thankfully, Mriga is too low on the totem pole for his whereabouts to be under any threat to anyone. This is one of the main reasons Shaurya decided not to express his feelings to her.

Under no circumstances should he allow his true attachment to her to be known to him or others. Unfortunately, however, all the logic of the rational mind cannot stop his heart from breaking.

If life gave him another chance, he would definitely come back and stake a claim in his heart and affection. But until then, all he could do was be his mentor, his tormentor and maybe a little more…

...****************...

A week later

Mriga left by boat first that morning. He had been instructed to report to Gurukul before travelling to the Eastern zilla, in the last letter received.

Shaurya had asked Mriga to take him to his favorite scenic spot the night before he left for an internship. Despite her shock at her unusual request, she said nothing and went up to the place with him.

He had stood there, soaking in the night and the stars, looking no less than a personified trial. He hated his calm, bitter. How could he forget the monumental incident last time, while he fought hard inside?

Part of him had told her to throw everything away to be careful and live in the moment while the other urged her to breathe carefully.

Unfortunately, the rational side of her wins and she lets go after an unimportant conversation and a loud, quick, inexplicable hug. He had walked away from her with long strides, and there was nothing to drive her the next morning.

Although Mriga is unaware of the true nature of her feelings towards him, the tectonic plates of her heart have shifted without her noticing. He could not describe the sense of loss he was feeling right now, but he knew something was wrong...

Bela returns after dropping off her daughter by the river and goes in search of Shaurya who has been missing since morning.

He discovers he is practicing his archery skills at the location of a moving target he has engineered on one of the training hill floors. He purposely left the place dimly lit and the floor uneven to keep it original.

After all, this was not a training ground to enter the archery competition, but to practice hitting the target accurately under various conditions.

Sensing his footsteps, he lowered the bow without releasing his arrows. Turning around, he bowed to Bela and waited.

"The whole way of tightening the bowstring to a full tightness before releasing it can accurately act therapeutic when one is feeling frustrated, right?" he took another bow and plucked the strings.

Shaurya hoped the question was rhetorical and raised his bow again, pretending to be immersed in locking onto his target.

Bela gave a small smile at her attempt to pretend indifference, but did not call out to him.

She had felt the intensity of her emotions towards her daughter some time ago. Mriga's spatial intelligence has not been overly developed but Bela excels at it. Not to forget that a mother's instinct to find potential suitors for her daughter is unmatched.

As a result, his gaze and sighs had been recorded by him in the early days of his arrival. He did not interfere in this matter until he thought that he could control his emotions and he did not let him down.

It was not that she opposed him as a potential suitor but the current situation where they were, not having the margin for such luxuries as love and reciprocity, not to mention the fact that her daughter was still breastfeeding. heartbroken.

"Now that Mriga is gone, we can raise the stakes for your training without a hitch. As per the latest information, your travel date is set fifteen days from now. While it may not be enough for me to help you learn a new skill, it should be enough to hone whatever you have. We'll allocate half of our working hours to this. The other half will be dedicated just to improving your soft skills. Your planning isn't bad but you think like a soldier. I need your vision to expand and reach the unknown horizon. Do you understand what I mean?" his clinical words made the awkward atmosphere comfortable.

Shaurya nodded and followed him out of the room.

...****************...

Gouruk

"What are you all doing here?" Mriga squealed hard enough to make the parrot fly in fear from there.

The four boys turned around to pout at him.

Abhirath stepped forward and asked him,

"Aren't we supposed to ask you that? How dare you hide it from all of us that you're still part of the Admin team?"

Vandit pushed Abhirath aside and held Mriga's wrist while complaining, "And to think that I felt so guilty that I had become a worthless person who stayed behind when you were expelled. Naughty girls!"

Chiranjeev and Nirbhay also looked at him with fierce expressions. Mriga gulped but soon realized that attacking was the best way to defend himself at the moment. He pulled his hand from Vandit's grasp and climbed the stairs outside the Admin building.

In quick succession, he turned towards everyone and gave them a gaze similar to what he welcomed.