Veer's POV

Gyanadeep Hallways

For the next few days, I went to that same spot after my classes to see her. When I say see, I meant in not a creepy way. I just looked at her skills. She really knew her swordsmanship. On some days, I could find her but on other days I couldn't.

It was a day like any other, Raghav, Chitra and I were heading towards Chitra's room. Apparently he was bored without us. So, he dragged us away from our room. My eyes found her almost immediately and I stopped in my tracks.

Chitrasen looked behind and saw that I had stopped. "What happened, Veer?"

"Who's that girl, Chitra?"

His eyes found her and he said, "Oh that? Her name's Laxita. She's from Kshatra Gadh. You don't know about her? That's unusual, you know almost everyone in this institute."

"She's from the elite class. A first year student, I guess. Maybe that's the reason why Veer doesn't know about her," Raghav added.

Did everyone know about her except me? "How do you know about her, Raghav?"

"Let's just say, I have my contacts." He winked at us to show off but it was more of eye muscles twitching than a wink. Both of us sighed and we moved forward.

We reached his room and immediately took our spots. I was lying on Chitra's bed and Raghav was lounging on his couch. Chitra was just eyeing both of us suspiciously while sitting on his chair.

Chitrasen's room - Elite boys' dormitory

I couldn't handle his gaze anymore. "Chitra you're going to burn holes in my face if you keep staring. What is it?"

Chitra murmured something and Raghav said in return, "What is it Chitra? We can't hear you."

"Alright. I will be straightforward. There's clearly something bothering you both. Out with it."

Raghav sighed and wiped a hand across his face. "I will go first. You see, my father's business....it's failing. And, I don't know what to do. Everytime, when I tell him that I would like to help him, he flat out refuses and tells me to focus on my studies. I want to leave this institute and go back home to support them but my parents are vehemently against it. How can I do that when I know that my parents need me? It's a mess."

Chitra ponders on it for a bit and says, "I know it's not my place to say anything but maybe you should complete your studies. Hear me out. You are a student of one of the prestigious institutes. You are excelling in your swordsmanship classes. Your parents are pooling their entire income for this. Imagine their disappointment if you leave in between. Once you graduate from here, you will have plenty of opportunities. Maybe you will join the army as a high-ranking soldier. Then, you'll be able to support them in a better manner. Just think about it."

Raghav thought on his words. "Yeah. Maybe you're right."

All of us were quiet for a while. But then, Raghav broke the silence. "Veer, there's something I am curious about."

"What is it?" I knew instantly that the topic has changed and now, both of them will pester me.

"You were never interested in any of the girls before. Many of them approached you but you rejected their advances. So, why the sudden curiosity in Laxita?"

Shit. I knew that they would catch on, sooner or later. That's one of the disadvantages of having close friends. They know every single thing about you and there are no secrets. There was no way I could hide it so I told them everything.

"Looks like someone's in love." Raghav waggled his eyebrows. He looked so smug that I wanted to punch him in the face.

"I am not in love with her. For God's sake, I have only known her for a few days. Raghav, please stop making that expression."

"So, when are you confessing?" Chitra chimed in. They were enjoying this way too much.

It's a good thing that I have a perfect comeback for Chitra. And Raghav, he can go to hell. "Look who's talking. The guy who has been in love with a girl for years but is too much of a coward to confess his feelings. Is he actually asking me about confession? Ha! What a hypocrite." You see, Chitrasen has been in love with Nitya for as long as I can remember but he's too much of a coward to confess to her.

Chitra rolled his eyes in annoyance. "Yeah. What is your progress Chitra?" It was a good thing that Raghav's attention was diverted away from me.

"Yeah Chitra. When are you planning to confess?" It was my turn to enjoy.

"Both of you can respectfully fuck off!" Chitra gave a sweet smile to both of us which was downright creepy. Who smiles like that?

After another few rounds of teasing and back-and-forth, Chitra kicked us out of his room and we were laughing the entire time which pissed him off even more.

That night, when I lied on my bed, I thought back on our conversation. I was not ready to accept it but it was true that I was falling for her. It shouldn't be like that you know. I have known her for just a few days. I have never even talked to her and she probably doesn't even know about my existence. That thought made me feel even shittier and I stayed awake all night.

A few days later, I was lying on my bed when Raghav and Chitra suddenly stormed into the room. I turned to plop my head on my elbow and gestured for them to continue.

"There's bad news, Veer!" Raghav said.

Chitra looked me dead in the eyes and said, "Apparently, the girl you're in love with, has a fiancé."

"What?" That made me sit up.

"You see, Raghav snooped around a bit and came to know that Laxita has a fiancé. And the worst part is - she's insanely in love with him."

This can't be happening. My love story ended even before it actually began. They must have sensed the shift in my mood, so they said nothing and took a seat beside me.

"So, what's the plan?" Raghav asked.

"There is no plan. She has a fiancé and she's in love with him. End of story." My voice sounded defeated. Of course, the first girl I fell in love with was already engaged. I didn't know what to do with that news.

And obviously, the universe hates me. The very next day I saw Laxita with her fiancé in the dining hall. What a way to pierce my already fragile heart! Raghav whispered in my ear, "That's him! Her fiancé, Nakul. They have been engaged since childhood." I already knew that. He didn't have to rub it in my face.

She was smiling while talking to him and he seemed totally uninterested. I mean how can he not even look at her when she was talking? What was wrong with him? I guess it was none of my business as she didn't mind his attitude. Not being able to bear the sight, I stormed out of the room.

I avoided her for the next few days and I stopped going to see her. I wanted to give up on her but these pesky feelings weren't going away. Sometimes, I saw her in the dining hall but I ignored her. It can't be called ignoring when she doesn't even know about me.

There was something that I noticed (I was supposed to ignore her but, yeah). That fiancé of hers was a total shithead. He always had a frown on his face and he rarely smiled. Laxita always tried to talk to him and he didn't even reply properly. She always smiled for him and then he would say something which would make her sad. Why was she with him? As far as I knew, her family was quite well-off. She could choose anyone....She could choose me. 

As I had already mentioned, the universe hates me. To my absolute horror, we had another joint swordsmanship session with the elite class. The teachers were adamant on this bond building, God knows why! It was a good thing that Kirit was still on probation so he was absent from the class. Good riddance! At least something was going right.

All of us - Nitya, Raghav, Chitra and me - were standing in a circle facing each other, expressions unreadable. You see, none of us were in the mood to attend this class after that incident. Nitya couldn't take this silence any longer and said, "Veer, we have to find at least 2 or more people to join us. And this time, no funny business. I can't save your ass all the time."

"Ouch! Nitya, such harsh words! It's not befitting of a princess." I fake gasped.

"You're being dramatic. I know you're not hurt by my words. Stop being such a pain in the ass and find some students who will join our group."

"Yes, princess." I gave her one of my charming smiles and she stuck out her tongue in response to tease me. Guess, who's being pain in the ass now.

All of us made our way out of the crowd to scout members for our group. And then, I spotted him. Nakul was standing with the crown prince of Kshatra Gadh and was frowning at the crowd, nothing new with that. It was as if he was ready to bolt away from here.

Suddenly, I thought of something. Something, which would ease some of the tension in my muscles. I was in a shitty mood for the past few days, and it was all because of him. His jaw was too angular, his teeth too white and not to mention that frown. I hated it, all of it. Or maybe, I was just terribly jealous.

Before I could stop myself, I strode towards him. I heard Chitra's murmurs of where is he going now and what is he plotting but I didn't care. I was doing this. I needed to do something to vent out my feelings. I was getting suffocated.

"Hey! Want to join us for the practice session?" I asked as soon as I reached there.

Nakul scanned me for a moment. "Alright," he said. Blissfully unaware of my inner turmoil.

Nakul and the crown prince - I think his name was Yash - came with me. Nitya, Chitrasen and Raghav were just gawking at me. "What? You asked me to bring two members. Here they are!" I dramatically waved my hands to show them and they rolled their eyes. Seriously, what was wrong with these people? Chitra and Raghav gave me knowing glances. They will be giving me so much shit after all of this.

"Your name is Nakul, right?" I asked. He nodded. "My name's Veer. Nice meeting you." There was nothing nice but pleasantries had to be exchanged.

"So, you're that famous Veer? I will have you know that you're quite famous in the elite class," Yash said. He seemed intrigued by me which made me smile. At least one of them was tolerable.

"Nakul, if you don't mind, I would like to spar with you. Is that alright?"

He agreed and we picked up our wooden swords. We stood in battle ready stances and sized each other up. Nobody said a word and they were watching us with full interest. 

I attacked first. And then, I constantly landed blows. It was aggressive and if it had been a real sword, it would have pierced his skin. I continued my brutal assault and he blocked them with equal vigor. I was sparring as if I was a man possessed. It was sort of a mission for me to defeat him, to get some semblance. I hardly gave him a chance to attack and most of the times he was just blocking me. And then at last, I landed a critical blow and he ended up on the ground. This definitely was a satisfactory win.

I extended my hand to help him get up. He took my hand to stand up and brushed off his clothes to remove the dirt. "Veer that was really impressive. It is not easy to defeat Nakul. I have been struggling to win against him but you did that so easily." Yash looked genuinely impressed. I have a felling that he likes me. 

I turned to face Nakul and he said, "It was a great spar. I learnt a lot." Hearing that, I scoffed. Why was she in love with him? I am obviously a lot better. What does she actually see in him? Seeing my response, he looked confused. 

"Careful Nakul. Everyone's charmed by me. Who knows I might even steal away your fiancé." It was a low blow and I knew that I sounded like a jerk but I was frustrated. His confusion quickly morphed into anger which filled me with immense satisfaction. He was the only one who heard me, the rest of the group had already left. I gave him a bashful grin of my own and walked away from there.

Later that day, when I was sitting on my bed, I saw Raghav approaching me. "What's with you today? You are usually not that aggressive. What's going on with you?" He looked concerned which made me feel guilty. I didn't want him to worry about me. He already had a lot on his plate.

"I am fine. I was just exercising to get my muscles moving."

"You call that an exercise? You were sparring like you were possessed. Don't give me any of those lame excuses. I know that you're jealous of Nakul. But it was too much. She won't choose you just because you defeated him in a sparring session."

That hit a nerve. I sparred with him to prove a point. But in the end, I didn't even know what I was trying to prove.....

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