Note - The following chapter is the flashback of University days from Veer's POV. It describes how he came to know about Laxita and how his life was back at the University😉

Veer's POV

"Why do you trust me so much? Why would you go to such an extent to help me? We only came to know about each other a few days back!"

She asked me why I would go to such an extent to help her....She clearly has no idea about the depth of my feelings. She said we have only met each other a few days back....She clearly doesn't remember that we have already met several years back and I have been in love with her since then.....

7 years back

(Age of characters)

Veer - 16
Nityanjali - 16
Chitrasen -16
Laxita - 14
Nakul - 16

Veer at Gyanadeep

"Veer!" My seating partner and friend - Raghav, whisper-shouted.

"Hmmm?"

"Wake up, Veer. The teacher is glaring at you." He shook me violently to wake me up but I was way too engrossed in the dreamland.

"Hmmm," was my half-asleep response.

"Veer!!!" the Guruji shouted. Somehow, that instantly woke me up. I lifted my head to look at him.

"Yes, Guruji." The entire class laughed at my response and I smiled bashfully.

"I'm afraid that some of you possess a knowledge so formidable that you choose to not pay attention in the class." This Guruji's kind of a cranky fellow and he HATES me. I am the favourite of every other teacher except him.

"I'm sorry, Guruji."

"Your apologies are getting old now. What was the reason this time? Couldn't sleep last night because your roommate was snoring? Or you were busy catching the chickens for another teacher? Or maybe you were saving the world in your dreams?" Like I said, he hates me.

I might be in the wrong but it's not my fault. Ancient scriptures were boring as hell. Take me to the swordsmanship class, I'm the topper over there. But this subject? Ugh! I was excelling in all the subjects except this. Ancient scriptures was the only subject in which I barely passed and the worst part was, they had included this subject every year.

"It's nothing like that Guruji. I was simply tired."

"Why were you tired?" - I opened my mouth to say something but he stopped me by gesturing with his hand - "You don't have to tell me. I simply don't care at this point." See, cranky fellow.

An eternity later, that nightmare of a class ended and we headed to the outdoor class for swordsmanship. Finally! I could breathe now. But my smile soon turned into a frown because I saw some unfamiliar faces.

Our Guruji stepped into view and we greeted him. He just gave us a smile and said, "I know that most of you are confused as there are new faces in the class, but I assure you that there's nothing to worry about. Today, we have decided to have joint session of the third-years of both elite class and commoner class. We think it's important for creating stronger bonds and friendships. I hope you'll be dedicated to your session and participate whole-heartedly."

The entire space erupted into chatters as it was an unexpected situation. Some of them were even highly displeased. Friendships? Ha! Guruji was wishing for something impossible. The elite class is filled with stuck-up assholes who love to act all high and mighty. They have a strong dislike for commoner class and they have expressed it on multiple occasions. Only a few of them were actually tolerable. Speaking of tolerable, I spotted two familiar faces in the sea of unfamiliar ones. Nityanjali and Chitrasen, my closest friends were approaching me after stepping out from the crowd.

"Hey Nitya! Hey Chitra!" I said way too eagerly.

"Please don't call me Chitra." Chitrasen muttered. He hated that nickname but I loved to call him that. Apparently, he thought that Chitra was a feminine name so he preferred to not be called by that nickname. But what kind of a friend would I be if I didn't tease him?

Both of them came and stood in front of me. "Commoner and elite class together? What are the teachers thinking?" Chitra looked visibly confused.

"Tell me about it. This was an invitation to a war," Nitya added.

That made me laugh. "I am giving it a few moments until a fight erupts in one of the corners."

"Veer, this is not the time for entertainment," Nitya showed me mock-anger which made me laugh even harder.

"You know, this class is only tolerable for me because of you two. Otherwise these elite idiots make me want to puke." My statement made them smile.

"So, what are we actually doing in today's class?" Chitra asked.

"Attention class! I want you'll to form random groups and practice together. The groups can contain 6-10 members. Remember, the groups should contain members from both the classes."

Hmmm, the teachers were definitely not thinking straight. "We have to find three more members to complete the group. Let's go, boys."

"Yes, princess." We said in unison which irked her. Nitya hates it when we call her princess but we love to irritate her.

"Speaking of people, where is Raghav?" Chitra asked me.

"I don't know. He was here just a few moments ago."

We were roaming around and scanning the crowds for our other members to join us when we saw a commotion. Some boys had surrounded a boy and were laughing at him...No way, was that Raghav? We ran towards them to get a closer look.

"You commoner pigs shouldn't be allowed to train with us!" Kirit, the crown prince of Rajavarna sneered at Raghav.

"I'm sorry, prince."

"If you're sorry then get out my sight." Kirit screamed.

Raghav turned to leave but Kirit kicked him. As a result, Raghav fell to the ground and instead of helping him, everybody just laughed at him. My blood boiled and my head was pounding due to rage. I couldn't bear it any longer. So, I strode towards Raghav to help him, despite Nitya's opposition.

I kneeled down in front of him and asked, "Kya tum thik ho?"

("Are you alright?")

"Yes." His voice sounded so weak which somehow made me angrier. I gave a deathly glare to Kirit but it only made him laugh.

"Aankh dikhata hai mujhe? Aankh dikhata hai? Aukat kya hai teri mere samne? Tujh jaise hazaro khareedne mai vakt nahi lagega mujhe. Samjha?"

("You're glaring at me? You? What is your status in front of me? I can buy thousands of people like you in a matter of moments. Understood?")

I said nothing and helped Raghav to stand up. Both of us turned away from him to leave. There was no way I was fighting with someone from an elite class, no matter how unfair it was because it will only result in my loss.

"Ab undekha kar raha hai mujhe? Rajavarna ke yuvraj ko? Kya naam tha iska... Vasant... Varun.... Aah! Veer. Veer naam hai na tera? Bahut naam suna hai tera. Somapura ke maharaj ka godh liya beta hai na tu? Khud ko rajkumar samjhane laga hai kya?"

("Are you ignoring me now? The crown prince of Rajavarna? What was his name... Vasant... Varun... Aah! Veer. Your name is Veer, right? I have heard a lot about you. You are the adopted son of the king of Somapura, right? Have you started thinking of yourself as a prince?")

He was spouting nonsense. And honestly, I couldn't bring myself to care about it because I have heard this statement a lot of times. Growing up as the king's adopted son meant that I garnered extra attention and not all of it was good. Many of them were just jealous bastards. I learnt this quite early on.

I respected my king a lot. He was a father figure to me. He was always there for me when I needed him and he carried out all the responsibilities which my father would have if he had been alive. He taught me how to wield a sword and how to ride a horse. He was my first teacher and a person who was as close as someone I ever had as a father. Sometimes, I hated it that people slandered him because of me but he paid no attention to them. He cared for me deeply and I knew it. So, I also decided to ignore such fools.

"Who knows maybe you're the real son of the king." I stopped in my strides. What poison was he spreading now?

"Who knows, you might be his his illegitimate child. Your mother may have not told you the truth because of shame. Who knows, what kind of misdeeds she might have committed. Poor Veer..." I turned to face Kirit and he laughed at me. Not just him, everyone of those elite assholes laughed.

White hot rage filled my veins. I marched towards him and landed a punch on his face. His nose started bleeding and he looked at me with fiery eyes. But I didn't care. Disrespecting me was one thing but dragging my mother into this? Unacceptable. I didn't care that he was the crown prince of a kingdom. That punch felt so satisfying, consequences be damned.

"You'll pay for this." Kirit lunged towards me but Nitya came between us and stopped him. "You are overstepping the boundaries crown prince. You are not only disrespecting my friend, but you are also disrespecting my father, the king of Somapura. You do realize that this incident can have negative consequences on the relations between our kingdoms?" Nitya gave him an icy glare.

"I suggest you STEP AWAY right this instant." She raised her voice a notch and the expression on his face was laughable. Let me tell you, when Nitya is angry, she is terrifying as hell. And right now, Kirit was experiencing that in full glory and I was enjoying every bit of it. You see, that's why I like her. She always stands up for the people she cares about. Kirit backed away and left, probably too terrified of Nitya. She was a high-level attack mage and Somapura royalty. No one in their right mind would mess with the princess.

The last few generations of Somapura's royal family were experiencing the birth of weaker mages, including the current king. But Nitya had extraordinary abilities since birth. She was the strongest heir that Somapura had witnessed in generations. That is why she was terrifying, she was strong as fuck.

Raghav thanked me and Nitya. "There's no need to thank us. Bastards like him should be kept in check. We just did our duty." See? Terrifying.

Later that day, teachers came to know about what happened and personally apologized to me. Honestly, there was no need for it. Kirit was put on probation for a month and he was forbidden from interacting with anyone from commoner class. It was policy of this institute, if bullying and harassment came into notice, it was dealt with seriousness. But it was still kind of partial towards elites. Kirit got away with just a light punishment and a little warning.

A few days later, Raghav and I were heading back to our dormitories after the classes ended when it suddenly started raining heavily. Well, it had been cloudy for the past few days, which made the climate really depressing. It was bound to rain sooner or later. I wished that the weather cleared out soon. We went to our room and I decided to take a bath. The climate had been very humid and I was sweating all over.

Raghav and I were roommates. Unlike elite students, commoner students shared a room. It was cheaper that way. But the rooms were small and cramped as opposed to spacious rooms of the elites. Talk about class disparity. Our rooms were on the other corner of the University, away from the rooms of the so-called elites. That's why I spent most of the time lounging in Chitrasen's room. His room was huge and that idiot got bored without me.

Veer's room - commoner boys' dormitory

So, after the bath, I made my way to his room. It was still raining hard. Most of the students had gone back to their rooms after the classes, which resulted in empty hallways.

On my way, I spotted a person in the garden. Not a person, a girl. What was she doing out there? It was pouring. She held her sword and moved it in the air. Was she practicing swordsmanship? In this weather?

I stood there for a while and I was intrigued. The movements of her sword were smooth and precise. I didn't want to be judgemental but for her stature, it might have been really difficult to swing a sword. But she made it seem effortless.
Not to mention, she was pretty. Like really pretty. I had never seen any girl who was this beautiful.

She left after a while but I stayed rooted at that place for a very long time, wondering - Who was that girl?

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