Isha

"I'll wait outside, Miss Sen."

I nod as soon as Kev, Prince Calix's bodyguard leaves the spacious room and me in the presence of a female doctor. She smiles at me and I can muster up only a subtle one, in return.

"I am Dr Georgia, Miss Sen," the lady, who appears to be in her late thirties, says to me before taking a notepad out of one of the drawers. "May I see your wrists?"

I place my hands on the table, barely wincing in pain when the doctor turns them around softly to have a closer examination. Memories of Killian's tight grasp and his will to twist my arms, burden my head. The fear overcomes my emotions and I have to remind myself that I am safe. And away from him.

"Miss Sen?"

I jerk my head up, realizing that I didn't pay attention to the doctor's prior words. I say, "Yes?"

"I asked, how were your wrists bruised?"

I gulp, "I crashed against books."

"That is odd," Georgia frowns, not completely buying my lame excuse, "Are you sure? Because I can clearly see fresh scratches and fingerprints."

I wrack my mind, thinking of a more rational answer. "There was another person in the library. We sort of crashed together, and out of fear, they grasped my wrists, which ultimately formed the bruises."

Partially, it isn't a lie. I was truly with someone in the library, and he did grab my wrists. The only difference is that, it wasn't out of fear. Rather, deep hostility that he bears for me.

"Oh, that makes sense now," Dr Georgia says, finally buying my lie.

She stands up, walks away and in no time brings two ice bags. The cool sensation that overflows over my bruises, helps in lessening the physical pain. Georgia makes small talk while continuing to ice my wrists, at least for the next ten minutes until her phone rings.

She picks it up, excusing herself. "Dr Georgia speaking, who is this?"

Knitting her eyebrows, as if deep in concern, she asks further questions, "Does the wound require immediate medical attention?...Oh, that doesn't sound like a minor injury, then."

A quick glance at me gives me the impression that someone has summoned her. "I'll be there in a moment."

"What is it?" Curiosity gets the best of me, especially after seeing how conflicted the doctor appears to be.

"Well, one of the royal guards has been injured and needs immediate medical attention. They need my assistance—"

"You should go." I smile. "My bruises are minor. I will ice my wrists for some time."

"But both your wrists are in pain—"

The door opens, interrupting Georgia's sentence. Both of our heads turn to the arrival of the new person, and quite literally, I feel surprised as well as cautious seeing Crown Prince Carlos walking in.

"Your Royal Highness, what brings you here?" Georgia asks at the arrival of the unexpected third person, who doesn't seem injured or sick in any way or manner.

"You may go ahead, Dr Georgia," Carlos speaks, his eyes which always glint with amusement turning serious for some reason when he keeps his steady vision on my bruised wrists. "I'll help Miss Sen ice her wrists."

Wait, what?

"That is so generous of you, Your Royal Highness!" Georgia exclaims in happiness, clearly relieved that she doesn't have to ignore one patient for another. She quickly scribbles down the name of some ointments and medicines, and tears the page off from her notepad before placing it in front of me, on the table. "I have listed down the names of some anti-inflammatory painkillers and ointments for faster and better healing of your bruises. And..."

She hesitantly asks Carlos, "Your Royal Highness, could I ask you to bandage Miss Sen's wrists later? Also, please make sure to do so after the wrists are iced for another five or ten minutes."

Carlos' glance flickers from my wrists to Georgia, and he replies with his famous charming smile, "Of course, Dr Georgia. You can have your full faith in me."

"God bless you dear," and with that, she sprints away from her chamber, along with her bag.

Silence prevails, as soon as the door slams behind us. I shift uncomfortably on the chair.

Carlos, who has been showing me his playful, flirtatious actions whenever I have come across him, seems to appear a lot different today. A more ruminative aura surrounds him as he paces towards me and takes a seat on the chair beside mine.

"May I see your wrists?" he tenderly asks.

"Yes, Your Royal Highness," I bring my wrists to him, and quite softly he begins to apply the ice-bag on both. "Let me know if it hurts."

I nod.

Another moment of awkward silence prevails, me not knowing what to say. It isn't every day that the Crown Prince of a country treats your wrists, willingly.

"Who did this to you?" he asks, dead seriousness dripping down from his usual roguish tone.

"No one." I clear my throat as once again, memories of Killian begin to clog my brain. "It was an accident."

Carlos lightly scoffs, clearly not believing me, but I do not need to give him an elaborate explanation of the incident.

His lips are pressed in a thin line. "You did good. Breaking his nose, and all you know, Miss Sen."

My heart drops to my chest. Literally.

"How did you know that?"

With a reassuring smile, Carlos moves his gaze up to mine. "Calix has fired Mr Winora from his position. I was simply present during the situation and enjoyed every moment of him being dragged away. The man's arrogance was getting on my nerves for quite a few days anyway. To tell you the truth, I didn't know that these bruises have been caused by Killian. I saw Kev outside Dr Georgia's chamber, asked who was in there, found you, formed an assumption from your bruised wrists and asked a question. My speculation is correct then, it seems."

Carlos is smart. I'll give him that. But how the hell did Calix come to know about Killian, and why did he fire him in the first place? It is probably because of some other reason. Surely.

"You are correct," I answer firmly, not having reason to hide anything when the truth is already out, "But I'd like you to keep this information to yourself."

"I'm hurt Miss Sen," Carlos' lips crook upwards, "You think so low of me."

"That's not..." I sigh. I'm starting to think that Carlos is the insufferable one between the two brothers. "Besides, Killian could be fired for an entirely different reason. There is no way Calix will do something like that for me when we aren't even friends yet."

Then what are we, exactly? Business acquaintances? The thought lingers in my mind and a slash of guilt crosses my heart when I recover the memory of my reaction to Calix, while he was trying to comfort me. Even if, according to my perspective, it wasn't genuine concern and rather sympathy, at least he showed the care to me.

And I, well...reacted in an unsophisticated manner once again.

The thought of Killian getting dragged out of Nirvana for whatever reason causes an automatic smile to form on my lips, as satisfaction and elation takes over me.

"At least you are smiling now," Carlos chuckles, "Isha not being her usual sarcastic self was bothering me."

"Isha?" I raise my eyebrow immediately, while the Crown Prince proceeds to wrap my wrists around in bandages, "When did we decide to address one another by our first names, Your Royal Highness?"

Carlos beams brightly, "Glad to have your old self back. As for your question, don't you think it's time for us to become friends? I even helped you in the preparation of your surprise-date for Calix."

Yet, it went horribly downhill. Of course, I will not reveal the information. Not to Crown Prince Carlos whose face turns bitter, and mouth sour, at the mere mention of Calix. I and Calix may only be acquaintances but we are both allies in this false relationship. I shouldn't ignore the fact either that at Calix's instructions, the Royal Palace has personally heightened measures for my security and deviated the attention of Syncitians from me. Hence, a nemesis of Calix could indirectly harm my life.

Carlos may appear as a cheeky, mischievous, charming prince, who has the attention of every Syncitian on him. Instead of celebrity pictures, girls in my university years used to buy photocards and posters of Prince Carlos (Calix's as well, but in terms of being charmingly popular, Carlos has been the top for fangirls of the brothers).

Yet, only a few notice the true, enigmatic persona he has come to hide so well.

Forcing a smile, I say as politely as possible, "It would be rude of me to turn down the Crown Prince when he so generously is offering me a hand at friendship." I notice a slight flinch when my smile disappears and a grim expression looms over my face. "However, it would be too odd for a citizen to address the future ruler by his name."

"And yet you seem to address Prince Calix by his name, despite not being in a real relationship?" Carlos' lips curl smugly, thinking he has got the upper hand in this twisted game of words.

I chuckle, "Your Royal Highness with all due respect, you appear to be more concerned about Prince Calix and my relationship, instead of focusing on State affairs."

I expected Carlos' lips to twitch at least, out of displeasure. Instead, he leans back on the chair after finishing wrapping up my wrists, with a hint of his infamous amusement.

"You are interesting, Miss Sen. I like your personality."

I put on a fake sympathetic smile. "What a shame. I don't like yours, Your Royal Highness."

"Haha." Carlos bursts out into fits of real laughter and not false ones, confusing me by his reactions to my rude (royally) remarks.

"I'll definitely ask my secretary if it is possible for me to exchange numbers with you, Miss Sen. I would like to keep seeing you, and have your intriguing company around."

Before I can reply with a proper I don't think so, a familiar voice, filled with spite and serene anger, speaks up.

"You appear to be quite interested in my girlfriend, lately. How peculiar. Isn't it so, Carlos?"