Laxita's POV

After that conversation, both of us parted ways and decided to meet again in the evening. When I heard what Bhimasura said to him, my blood boiled. I couldn't stop myself from slapping him. God, that felt so good.

The palace servants guided me to the guest rooms in the palace. I was supposed to stay there for as long as we were here.

When I entered the room allotted to me, my jaw dropped. It was so big and spacious. There were huge windows, from the floor to the ceiling. The bed was big enough for 4 people to sleep in and was covered in cream-coloured linen. There was also a dressing table with a mirror for me to get ready. In short, all the essentials were available. I headed towards the window to take a peek.

I leaned on the window sill to get a good view of my surroundings. I could see the entire city from here. All the shops and houses looked so small from this spot. The view was amazing. I definitely got the best room.

Since, it was still afternoon, I decided to take some rest. I was getting restless to spend the evening with him and the only way I could stop myself from doing something stupid was to take a nap.

I climbed on the bed to get some sleep.
The bed was so soft and fluffy, perfect for a tired human. I closed my eyes and slept in an instant.

I woke up at sometime around evening. I realized that I had overslept and rushed to get ready. I donned on one of my prettiest pink sarees and neatly tied my hair in a braid.

After I was satisfied with my look, I made my way to my room's door. As soon as I opened the door, I saw that the crown princess Nityanjali, commander Chitrasen and commander Raghav were standing on my door.

"Sister-in-law, it's so nice to meet you again!" Raghav exclaimed.

"Likewise." I replied.

"Move, it's my turn." The princess pushed Raghav aside and stood in front of me. "Hey, where are you off to?"

"Actually, Veer and I decided to explore the city at night. So, I was just heading towards his room."

"That guy isn't missing any chance to spend time with you." Chitrasen shook his head and smiled.

"Why wouldn't he Chitra?" Raghav peeked from behind them. "He's been in love-mmph..." Veer appeared from behind and covered Raghav's mouth with his palm.

"Why won't you leave her alone?" He asked. "Laxita, I'm sorry about my nosy friends. Would you mind waiting for me for a little bit? I need to have a little chat with them."

"Sure, why not?"

"Thank you."

After that, he dragged his friends away from me. Funny thing was, Raghav's mouth was still covered with Veer's palm and the princess was protesting against Veer. "This is so not fair. You are not even letting us talk to her," she grumbled.

And before I knew it, they disappeared from my sight.

Veer's POV

I dragged them away from her and took them to my room. Since, I knew that they wouldn't quiet down until I told them everything, I told them what transpired - how we met again, what all happened and how we decided to get married.

"So, you're telling me that you haven't told her how you feel? For her, this is just a convenient arrangement?" Chitra asked.

I nodded in response.

"Man, this is so much fun." Raghav laughed. "You've been in love with the girl for years and you haven't even told her?" I threw a pillow at him which only made him laugh harder.

"Veer has been in love with her for years? Why did nobody tell me about that?" I kept the whole loving Laxita fiasco a secret from her because I knew that she would reprimand me for loving someone who was already engaged. After we graduated, I thought that I would never see her again so I didn't tell Nitya. And right now, she was very angry about being left out.

"I will deal with you two later." She pointed at me and Raghav. "Especially you, Veer. We have a lot to talk about." This can't be good. She would hound me for answers until I was worn out.

She turned towards Chitra and said, "Leave those two. Chitra, you also didn't think that it was important to tell me?"

"Don't blame him. I sworn these two to secrecy." She turned her head towards me and glared. "I told you that I would deal with you later." Not the right moment, I see.

"I'm sorry, love." Chitra tried to soothe her anger. "I wanted to tell you but I couldn't. Won't you forgive me?"

"Nothing you do can make me change my mind." She raised her hand to stop him. "I am upset with you Chitra."

"You won't change your mind even if I shower you with kisses?" He smirked and closed their distance.

"Wh-What?" She stuttered. He really does know how to calm Nitya down.

"Ew. Take this love fest of yours somewhere else. People like us don't need to see it." Raghav scrunched his nose in disgust.

Chitra went ahead and hugged her. "I am really sorry, love. I won't hide anything from you from now onwards. Please forgive me this time."

"You better." She hugged him back.

When she let him go, she turned around to look at me. "Veer, you go on that outing of yours. Once you come back, you better give me all the answers."

"Yes, princess." I smiled and left the room.

I went up to Laxita's room and knocked twice.

When she opened the door and I saw her, my heart skipped a beat. I didn't notice her properly before as I was busy dealing with my friends. She was always beautiful but right now, she looked ethereal. I was at a loss of words.

"Veer?"

"Yes." Lost my head for a moment. "Shall we go?" I let out my hand and she took it with a smile.

After that, I led her outside the palace through the back gate and we ventured out into the city. We couldn't go to the main entrance of the city as people would recognize me. So, we stuck to quieter and more secluded areas.

"The king was right. This city appears even more beautiful at night. The whole city's shining like some sparkling gemstone." She looked around in awe.

Som Nagari At Night

"Glad to know that you like it," I replied.

"So, the queen told me some interesting stories about your childhood." I am guessing that those are some of the most embarrassing stories of my childhood.

"She did?"

"Yes. Did you really fall into a ditch while running away from the queen?"

"Ohh that." I laughed and shook my head. "I remember that incident. I was 10 or maybe 12 years old when I accidentally destroyed the queen's favourite flower garden."

"How do you accidentally destroy something like that?"

"Let's just say, I did. Chitra and I were having a little sparring session. We didn't notice the garden and 'accidently' stepped on the queen's favourite flowers. When she came to know about it, she was furious. Chitra ran home but I couldn't do anything like that. So, I kept on running away from her and in all of that I fell into a ditch."

She started laughing, her soft laugh flittering through the warm breezes of the night.

"And the queen forgave you in the end?"

"She did. I sort of bruised my ankle in all of that running so, yes." Another laugh.

"Gosh! Veer, you were quite mischievous as a child." She said between laughs.

"I truly was. I got into trouble so many times that I lost count. I was a troublesome child and that's why Bhimasura hated my guts."

By hearing his name, she abruptly stopped laughing. She then tugged my arm and stopped walking to look into my eyes. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure, go ahead."

"If it's alright with you, can you tell me what all Bhimasura has said to you over the years? I don't want you to keep in all the negative things. Please let it all out."

She sounded so sincere and concerned. My heart squeezed in my chest at the worry etched on her forehead. I sighed and looked away. I didn't think that I would be able to tell her by looking into her eyes. I gently pulled her hand and we resumed walking.

"I remember the time when I first entered the palace. I was 6 years old and I knew nothing about the ways of the world. The king brought me to the palace so that I could get education along with Nitya and Chitrasen. I had met them a couple of times before but we were not friends just yet. Soon, the three of us became close as we started spending a lot of time together." I smiled at the memory. The three of us turned the palace upside down with our mischief.

"But not everything was a bed of roses at the palace. Many people looked at me with scrutinizing gazes. They judged my every action, watched my every move like a hawk. It was suffocating sometimes. That's when I met him. I still remember the expression Bhimasura had on when he looked at me for the first time. It was full of disdain.

From then, the things took a turn for the worst. The voices started rising and the people started hating me because the king favoured me. It was like I was walking on pines and needles all the time. Sometimes, it became difficult to even breathe. So, I pushed myself until I was the best in the business. Let's just say, I owe my amazing swordsmanship skills to them." Her hold on my hand tightened as if offering me a silent comfort.

I continued, "I was just a kid, maybe 11-12 years old when Bhimasura called my mother a whore. I cried for three days after that. Nobody knew about it because I hid it from them. I didn't want to burden anyone. Call me crazy but at that time, I was afraid. What if their words were true? What if my mother really..." My voice trailed off. "As I grew up, I realized that their words were nothing but lies. My mother was fiercely loyal to my father. The only man she had ever loved was him. So, I stopped paying attention to those people and focused on myself. You know, I don't even look like the king. The queen herself told me that I looked so much like my father that the resemblance was uncanny." I may not have seen him but the portrait hanging in my mother's cottage was a proof of it. They spouted those words to break me down but I came back stronger.

"Oh, Veer..." She looked at me with her beautiful honey brown eyes. Tears started forming at the ends of her eyes. She was right, saying it out loud made me feel better. And it's nice to know that she cares for me.

"Hey, I am fine now. It's all in the distant past." My words did nothing and a lone tear slipped from her eyes. Was she crying for me? "Hey, hey, hey. I am seriously alright. Please don't cry." I cupped her cheek and wiped the tear from her face. "If you really want to make me feel better, how about giving me a hug? It would instantly make me feel better." I tried to lighten the mood.

"Alright." She spread her arms wide and hugged my torso. I was joking, I didn't think that she would actually do it. I wrapped my arms around her and gently stroked her head. We stood like that for a while. It was so comforting that I didn't want to let go. So, I held her to my heart's content. She broke the silence by saying, "My heart's going to that little Veer. How long must he have suffered? How many sleepless and lonely nights he had spent?" She buried her face into my chest and tightened her hold.

"I told you, I am fine. It was a long time ago. I don't even remember half the things they said." She broke the hug and looked at me. I gave her a smile to assure her.

"Fine. Let's go. I am having a sneaking suspicion that we have an audience." She was correct. People were stopping to look at us. But the good thing was, she had stopped crying. I took her hand in mine and we left that place.

We walked in silence for a while until she spoke again. "I will make sure that you never ever hear such words again. If anyone tries to say something like that I will personally make sure that they suffer."

I screeched to a halt at her words. "Laxita, there's something I would like to tell you." I was overflowing with emotions today. My heart was filled to the brim with the feelings I had for her. It's time that I tell her.

Laxita's POV

After hearing what he went through during his childhood, my heart broke. I imagined a little Veer crying in his room all by himself and my heart squeezed. How could they say such words to a child? If I could turn back time, I would give a hug to that little Veer.

"Laxita, there's something I would like to tell you."

"What is it?"

"There's something I haven't told you." He held both my hands and looked at me with a soft gaze.

"Yes?" It's not like him to hesitate so much. What was it? I was getting impatient.

"I-ah....Um, I don't know how to say it..."

"Veer, you don't have to hesitate. Tell me what it is." I gave his hands a little squeeze.

He looked me dead in the eyes and said, "Laxita, I am in love with you."

Of all the things I expected him to say, saying he has feelings for me was not even in the top ten.

"What?" My heart thumped. He was in love with me? Since when? How? Why was he in love with me?

"It may come as a shock but I've been in love with you for over 7 years now. It has been that way ever since the first time I saw you..."

What was he talking about? 7 years? Did we meet before? Am I forgetting something? What's happening? I think I am going to faint.

He looked so honest and vulnerable. He was not the type to lie about such things. "H-How? I mean, when? Why?" I emphasized the last word.

He pulled me closer and gave me one of his dazzling smiles. Yes, I am definitely going to faint. He would have to scoop me from the ground to take me back to the palace.

"You're blushing." I was? Well, my face felt kind of hot. "And those are too many questions. I will divulge all the answers. Will you listen to my story?" I nodded because I wasn't in the position to speak.

"I saw you swinging your sword on a fateful rainy day...." He explained how he saw me back at the University, what all went down, how he fell for me, how Raghav became my student and why he gave up on his feelings for me in the end.

To say that I was shocked won't even begin to describe what I was feeling. I was confused and dizzy with this much information. All this time, when I was struggling with my feelings for Nakul, there was a man who loved me from the sidelines. Never in my wildest dreams I thought about that. Veer was in love with me and that too for a very long time. This was Veer we were talking about. A man who was perfect in every aspect. I was a having a hard time digesting this piece of information.

"I don't expect you to reciprocate my feelings. Nor do I want you to feel burdened by it. I just wanted...I don't know what I wanted. Maybe, I just wanted you to know. Thought it was the right time." I couldn't believe it. This beautiful, caring and selfless man was in love with me.

"Veer, I also want you to know something." I took a few breaths to calm my racing heart and continued, "I don't know how to react to the fact that you're in love....I just want to say that I was also in love with someone for a long time. One-sided feelings can be quite vexing. But you held those feelings close to your heart for so many years...." I broke eye-contact with him and looked at the ground.

He patiently waited for me until I was ready to speak again. He was so patient and gentle with me that I wanted to cry. I always wanted a man to love me like that. "I have no plans of rejecting your confession. I accept your feelings Veer." I looked up and smiled at him. At my declaration, he looked relieved. I think, he was holding his breath for my answer. "But I want to say that I can't reciprocate your feelings just yet. You know that I have already gotten my heart broken once. It's not easy to love someone again. But I do want to fall in love again and I want it to be you. Can you wait for me until then? Just until my heart is ready to love again?"

"I can wait an eternity for you." I was sure that my heart was about to leap out of my chest today. "And besides, I am confident that I can make you fall for me sooner than you expect." He gave me a confident smirk and I laughed. I can always count on him to make me laugh, in every situation. "I think we should head back. It's dinner time and everyone will be looking for us." I agreed and we started heading back.

"So, commander Raghav was really my student?" That was the funniest aspect.

"Yes, he was. He was a terrible actor and I was afraid that he would blow our cover. I am glad that you didn't catch it on."

"I taught over 50 students back at the University and I hardly remember any of them. I was not in the right headspace so my memory's kind of fuzzy. But seriously, commander Raghav?" I laughed and shook my head. "He's a true friend for helping you to this extent."

"He did more damage than help but yes, he is a true friend. I can't deny that."

Our conversation eased into something else after that. He told me about his friends and I told him about mine. By the time we reached back, my cheeks started hurting from smiling so much. I was happy that nothing changed between us. We were still well, us.

We had our dinner with the royal family. The crown princess and the commanders kept giving us knowing glances. Now I know what their expressions meant earlier. They really do love teasing Veer.

After dinner, I excused myself to my room. Honestly, it was a long day and I was mentally exhausted. I crashed on my bed after changing into a comfortable pair of clothes. My eyes began to close and my mind drifted off to someone.

Veer, I don't think that you have to wait long. I am already kind of falling for you.

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