Hey Pearlies, Thank you very much for your votes, and comments and for adding this book to your reading lists. A special shoutout to  injected_vemon   Day_Dreamer023  siaramchandra  MadhurimaNaskar  fathimasafy  srivasavi0  kshama001  HPfan21forever  heartfollower28  SreedeviEs  for your lovely comments. 

...

If I had glitter paper I would have thrown it into the air or if I knew how to whistle I would blow it endlessly at Alya. She was amazing! The way she defended me and protected me from getting hurt is and it is  heart touching.  She concluded her argument by calling me her friend which is sending me shivers all over my body. A mafia boss wants to be a friend with a princess, that is awesome. 

I had a tiny smile on my face when I began to open my mouth to speak with Alya. "You were amazing, Alya. I can't ..." She cut my sentence short.

"No, Sweety! Don't imagine things. I do not see you as my friend, not especially after you almost went ahead to fall into a ditch."

I pouted. "But you said I am your friend a few minutes ago."

"Uh... Well, I said that to protect you from Niyonika. Nothing more or nothing less." She said rubbing her neck.

Whoa! She sounds so much like Manik. Should I pull her hair so that she will accept me as her friend? No, Alya is a sweetheart. I will try other ways to be her friend. I tried to control my smile with the thought of pulling her hair like I did with Manik. Those days were awesome when he used to get scared of me attacking his hair. That is surely a worthy scene to watch for a lifetime. 

"Alya, who is your assigned friend? Please tell me so that I can compete with her and become your friend." I said taking my steps closer to her. 

"My assigned friend is dead." She said with no emotion.

"You must be joking, right?"

"Do you see me laughing? She is dead along with my parents a long back." She said shrugging her shoulders.

I immediately held her palm within mine. "I am so sorry, Alya. I did not know you were living all alone in these years. It must be so difficult for you without your friend." I am genuinely concerned for her. She did not deserve to cry like me, she is a Boss and she should give left and right to everyone without feeling sad. But the thought of Alya crying over her family and friends is unsettling to me.

She pushed my hand away and sat on the bed. "Don't be sorry for me! At least my friend is in my good memories instead of turning vile."

"That's true." I agreed with her and my eyes sparkled in a second with an idea. "That means your assigned friend is dead." I clapped my hands in joy and she looked confused. "Don't get me wrong, Alya. Your friend is dead and my friend is sent to life imprisonment, which means..." I trailed off for her to complete it. 

"What does it mean?"

Seriously? I was expecting her to complete my sentence with a high five between us and complete it with a huge bear hug. I sighed and completed it myself, "which means we both can be friends."

"How does that even work?"

"Your friend's position is vacant so is mine. It's better for us to stay together and become friends. In that way, you can defend me like a boss against everyone and I can..."

"You can, what?" She asked raising her eyebrow.

I scratched my head to remember if I can offer anything in return. I found none. "I can ... I can... cook for you."

"By taking all the time only to differentiate between eggs and potatoes? No, thanks!" She waved her palm in front of my face.

"Well, how about I paint you?" I said confidently. 

"Let's not even begin about it. Next."

"How about I eat all your food when you don't like eating? I can save you from getting scolded by your parents." I clapped excitedly.

"Nobody scolds me, Nandini. I am a boss and secondly, my parents are dead."

I stared at her in awkward silence. Why can't I just shut my mouth instead of saying rubbish all the time? Oh! Now she will never accept me as her friend and I have to stay dis-friend all my life. Should I get a shawl and a dog to match my emotion of melodrama? 

"Alright. Let's not stress more. I will ask you later, do not worry." She said shaking her head.

"Really?" I jumped with happiness. "As soon as I learn a new skill I will present it to you as our friendship gift. This is the promise of Princess Nandini Murthy." I said putting my arm in front of her and looking up at the ceiling being as dramatic as possible.

"Stop your antics!" She playfully pushed my arm. "Why do you want to be my friend so desperately? How did you trust me? I could be manipulating you using a few sweet words."

I stayed calm. "You did not seem like a threat and you were so friendly."

"Welcome to the real world my child! Everyone has two faces and you must not go after the fake one, try to find the real face as much as you can before letting them on your side. Got it?" I nodded with semi understanding her words. "You may not understand now, but try to learn early before you can get hurt, okay?" 

I gasped. "I suddenly remembered about the women posing as me, Nandini Murthy. What happened to them? Will they be killed for lying?"

"Nope. They were working as unpaid slaves. They will be given food and shelter but no living wages as a punishment."

That's sad! Atleast they are getting food. As soon as I remembered about food Navya's face came to my mind. I smiled and sat next to her. "Alya, I am worried about Navya. She was hungry last night and I don't know if she was being fed. Can you help me meet her?"

Alya instantly stood up. "Have you lost your mind? Why would you want to look after a traitor? Don't you remember her mistreatment towards you?"

"I remember everything and I am not helping the traitor. I am helping a hungry woman who got dumped by her family, her world. I just want to make sure she is in livable conditions as promised by Niyonika. I promise I am not going to meddle with her life imprisonment punishment."

"I don't understand if you are dumb or naive." She blew air from her mouth. "You have to speak with Niyonika as it's her dungeon, not mine. I can't help you with it, Navya is her prisoner and she has all the right to treat as she wishes. Just to remind you Niyonika might ask something in return from you and I am pretty sure you won't like it."

I frowned. "But Navya might suffer without food. You know, I was hungry all day after my parents died, as there was no one to feed me. There was a cold feeling in my stomach and I felt dizzy. I do not wish the same even for my enemies. It was so horrible."

Alya's eyes went soft. "I understand Nandini. But you have to understand that not everyone deserves a second chance and it's alright for some people to suffer."

"But that's too..."

"I am done talking about this topic, and you must not bring her topic if you want to be my friend. Okay?" She said knitting her eyebrows together. I smiled which angered her further. "What's so funny?"

"It feels nice when you call me your friend," I said and she had the tiniest smile developing on her face. 

"Yeah. Whatever. By the way, why are you still in your robe?" She questioned looking at me from top to bottom. 

I am still in the robe Manik made me wear in the shower and I didn't get to change into any clothes. "I don't have any clothes."

"What do you mean? Navya is out of the picture, you can claim your wardrobe back." She suggested.

"No. She stole them from me and used them and I do not wear such clothes. I am a Princess after all. " I rejected.

"Would you like to share mine?"

I laughed. "You are literally taller than me, Alya. I won't fit in them and your outfits are made of leather which is not my style."

"Really? I did not see you complaining when you were sporting Manik's outfits?" Her words made me still in my tracks. It is different. They were uncomfortable yet I felt so comfortable on them. I really miss the feeling of his clothes on my skin. 

"Don't tell me you will stay in this robe forever." Alya questioned me once again and I shrugged my shoulders not having any other option with me. She went quiet for a second and had a glint in her eyes. "Actually, I have an idea."

"What is it?"

"You are a princess who deserves only the best quality of everything. From the east to the west you should pick only the special and unique pieces. Buy them from mainland, Nandini." She suggested. 

"I don't know anyone to buy from the mainland. Will you help me?" I requested her.

"You have already destroyed my 25 million. Don't think I forgot about it. I am not going to pay you dime. You have to ask someone else from nowon."

"Who is that?"

"Your would be husband, Harshad. He is rich and is dying to marry you. He will not bat an eye to buy you the entire world. So, ask him."

I shook my head in denial. "No. I can't ask someone to pay for my clothes."

She chuckled. "It's your right, Nandini."

"My right?"

"Yup. You are going to marry Harshad which means he has to buy you lots of jewellery, expensive clothes, rarest gems, luxury properties to prove his commitment. Remember, the expensive the item the higher the commitment." She said encouraging me.

"Really? I didn't know about this. But what if Harshad denies to pay me? What if he gets angry on me? What if he thinks I am misusing his earnings?" I felt a tiny fear in my heart.

"Firstly, Harshad doesn't have any earnings. Remember, he just came from America without any job. His money comes from Niyonika, so let's see how he will convince his mother and gain your trust. Secondly, if he denies than you can say bye - bye to this relation. No man would deny his would be wife's request and if he did he must either be spending this money on someone else or he is having second thoughts. This how our mafia world works." She patted my shoulder.

I thought for a while before saying anything to Alya. I don't think Harshad is cheating or spending this money on someone else because he clearly mentioned his interest in marrying me was for his father's promise. He only values the family's reputation so there is no question of infidelity from his side. 

Now coming to the second thoughts, I am afraid of this. What if he doesn't want to marry me? What if he thinks he got stuck with a clueless woman due to our parents promise? What if he won't like me as I did not obey Niyonika's words? Will we still get married? 

To know this I need to ask him to buy me a wardrobe full of clothes. I remember he was ready to help me with the 50 million, unlimited food supply and unrestricted travel access, so this would mean nothing to him. I can prove than he is fully committed to this relation and can get all my unanswered questions. 

"Alright. I will ask him, Alya."

"That's my girl. Remember, the highest he can give you the more he is committed to you. For your information, Vivek gave me 25 million worth clothes, unique designs in the world, 80 billion worth jewellery and 5 billion worth property. You have to ask the same or more than this but not less than this, okay?" 

I clapped in excitement. Wohoo! We hified each other. I must make sure Harshad gives me the double the worth of items so that I can be sure of this relation. Alya left the room and asked me to finish my breakfast cum lunch before speaking with Harshad and I obeyed. 

...

Precap

How is the update?

Sorry this update also has Alya Nandini, but I promise they won't be in next update. 

Why is Alya encouraging nandini to ask Harshad for luxury items?