This update is dedicated to everyone whose name starts with letter "Z"
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"Nandini? Seriously, you want to marry a princess? Have you lost your mind?" She questioned him.

"Yes, I am marrying Princess Nandini Murthy. Do you have any problem?" He questioned back.

"Ofcourse, yes! How can you think of marrying a princess when you are a Boss? She will be your weakness, Manik. She has not lifted a finger and was pampered all her life. Do you think she will be a perfect match for you?" She gave all her points.

I knew it. She is trying to give all reasons and change Manik's mind.

"She doesn't even need to lift a finger after marrying me, Alya. I will pamper her for the rest of my life. And regarding Nandini being my weakness, she is also my hope and my life. In fact, I have to try my best to be a perfect match for that innocent soul." He gave his reasons.

Alya chuckled. "Look at you speaking like a love sick puppy. Don't you know the title of first lady will bring much danger to her? She will be an easy target for your enemies and to bring you on your knees. There have been many attacks on our Empire and what did the princess do? It was us who kept all of them safe and it would be best if we stick to the old traditions. Boss marrying a Boss and Princess marrying a Prince."

"Since we are already discussing about strength, let's put it this way. Nandini is no ordinary princess. She is as stubborn as a mule and wouldn't give up things easily. Infact, she was the one who brought Harshad on his knees and bought us the much needed time to attack. She might not be a strong according to the Mafia world standards but she has that willpower and positivity which we all lack." He paused.

"Trust me, Alya. I felt the same initially but you have to know her deep to understand how she is. Nandini isn't trained in martial arts as you said but it's not needed to be my wife. We love each other and as her husband I would protect her till my last breath."

"How long will you act mature than your age and take all the responsibility on your shoulders? Why don't you let me share your burden? I am more suitable to be the wife of The Boss than a princess." She was still on the same point. "We can find a good prince from our Empire and marry Nandini. I am her friend and I want the best for her. It's dangerous for her to hold the highest title without being armed."

Manik sighed. "That's the difference, Alya. You are seeing everything as a heirarchy and ranks while Nandini sees me as me, just, Manik. And that's worth everything to carry the burden alone. Heck, I would kill or die to see her smile. She is my world."

"I am being practical, Manik." She grit her teeth as she spoke. "Don't forget about the promise our parents made about our marriage. You agreed to marry me and decided to hide about Nandini being promised to you. You did all that because you knew she is not the perfect person to be your wife."

"Wait there, Alya. Our promise was made between my mother and your grandfather. They agreed to give me  access to your missiles house only if I can give you Rathore's head as our first gift. Don't misunderstand me, but first gift always doesn't have to be after marriage. I already gifted you his head and I got the access to Saxena's missiles. So, there's no reason to continue our agreement." He said crossing his arms over his chest.

"Changing rules once again for the princess, aren't we?" She questioned him and he shrugged. "But why Nandini? She doesn't even have a territory, wealth, missiles, army and  knowledge. How would you benefit from marrying her?"

Damn! For the first time I felt so poor. I didn't even know that I don't have these many things with me. How poor can one person be? I waited with bated breath to hear Manik's answer as I am obviously out of words to defend myself.

"We have our assigned friends, born in wealthy families, or genetically strong. But Nandini is something else, totally. Even after her assigned friend backstabbed her, she didn't give up and made a friend in you. No body assigned it to her and she chose a best person in the Empire as her friend which proves she has a great eye on choosing people on her side." He paused with a smile. "Nandini's world just started and I will be there on her side."

If I had party poppers with me I would have blasted it right now. Awe! Manik, thank you for defending me. I didn't know about my capabilities.

"But she sided with Harshad and is easy to be manipulated." Alya began once again.

Girl! Please stop destroying your friend's relationship.

"I am coming there. That bastard got his punishment every single time from Nandini. He literally went broke unable to meet Nandini's standard of living. While we were in the headquarters making plans to take back the mansion, it was Nandini who used her tricks and got him bedridden. She respected him when he was good and instantly showed him hell the moment he showed his true colors." Manik defended me.

"But..."

"Didn't we all trust that, Bastard? Didn't that break our hearts? How long did it take to recover from our pain? But that's different for Nandini. She never takes anyone seriously and moves on with an ease. She knows how to live a life despite being locked and manipulated by that maid." Manik walked towards the bushes I hiding and stopped a few feet away.

I almost thought he saw me and his coming towards me.

"Nandini, for the first time in her life took only one person seriously. That is me. I don't believe in karma but the moment she said I am the most important person in her life, a small belief crept up. Maybe I wasn't a beast sometime, maybe there is a good man somewhere in me and maybe I have done a good deed a long back which got counted now. That alone is enough to live my entire life with no regret." He said looking at the bushes and I gulped.

"But lo...love will do no good in our life, Manik." Alya's voice croaked. "It will drag us into a dark hole and nobody can pull us out."

Manik turned on his heels and sighed seeing Alya who tried to wipe her tears and pretend to be strong. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders and gave her his shoulder to lean on.

"You can come out of the abyss, Alya. Something I learned from my Nandini is that we have to look forward for tomorrow and live in the present. We all are here for you in your present, Alya. You are not alone. You can decrease the trauma only by living your life and creating new memories in life." He encouraged her like a good soul he is.

Alya finally broke into tears and Manik let her cry without disturbance. After sometime, she pulled herself together and went back to her Boss mode.

"I always thought I would be extremely powerful after marrying the Boss as we will be having double strength to fight against our enemies. That alone would make anyone tremble to speak with me as I can continue to live in my darkness hiding my weakness from the world." She lifted her head and looked straight into his eyes. "You can not ask me to live my life alone after throwing me in the broad daylight. I have lived in the darkness for all I can remember, Manik. I am all alone in this world."

Manik shook his head. "No, Alya. You have me, Nandini, Cabir, your territory and vegetable friends."

"Vegetable friends? What is that?" She questioned.

"Why don't you ask the inventor?" He questioned and looked at my bush. "Come out, Nandini. Your presence is appreciated now."

I rounded my eyes in shock. How did he know my presence? From when? Should I go out now or pretend that I am not here and let them continue talking?

"Nandini?" Alya questioned with surprise and marched towards my bush. A chuckle left from her unknowingly and she immediately composed herself not wanting to lose her Boss image.

I immediately stepped out of the bush and pulled her into a big hug. "Don't stop smiling, Alya. You look prettier when you smile." She tried to get away from me being awkward for getting a hug but I held tighter.

Thanks to Manik for his training on how to hug other tighter without letting them escape from our arms.

"Manik is right, you are not alone. You have me, a sweetest person in the garden right now who will not leave you. My vegetable friends can also be your vegetable friends and they will never leave your side. Infact, you can take Mr. Pillow Malhotra as well." I slipped my tongue and looked here and there.

"Who is that?" Manik questioned.

Alya smirked. "Well, you will get to know about him shortly, Manik."

"Him? Who the hell is he?" Now Manik is getting restless and we both girls gave a hi-fi.

"He is someone who listens to me all night without giving back answers." I said with a smirk.

"You haven't seen him, Manik. But he is so cuddly and comfortable to be around." Alya added.

"Exactly. I just have to hold him in my arms and within minutes I am asleep. We have a healthy relationship you see." I said and Manik marched towards us.

"You both are playing a prank on me,  aren't you? Let me show who's the Boss here." He picked up the garden sprinkler and pointed it towards us.

"Eww!" Alya and I said together and tried to run on the opposite sides but Manik still aimed the water gun towards us.

Alya and I picked up other pipes laying on the ground and motioned it towards Manik. After few minutes, Alya pointed the sprinkler towards me and laughed.

"Oy! We have to point at him and not me." I said trying to shield from the double attack.

Manik immediately stood between us and protected me from getting attacked by Alya.

"Oh really? What about a few minutes before, Manik? You were the one who started." I shouted above the water noise.

"Well, only I have the right to tease you, Nandini." He said back and looked at me intensely.

I shuddered under his look and the next second he pulled the pipe from my hand attacked me with both the pipes.

"Manik, that's cheating." I shouted and ran towards Alya who pointed it towards Manik.

He pulled the pipes from Alya's hands with a force which made it get detached from the tap. There was no water coming from the pipe and our game completed with huge laughter filling the garden.

"Maybe life is not that bad, afterall." Alya whispered and pulled us trio into a big hug.

Life will be beautiful when you are surrounded by good people and life becomes a burden when you are surrounded by toxic people.

Thankfully, I am surrounded by the best of best people and I will be having my fairytale.

...

How is the update?

What do you think of Alya?

Manan wedding will start from next update:) There will be no villains during the wedding so expect a lot of Manan romance.

Shall I end the story with Manan wedding or should I continue writing their life after marriage?