Sushi si ladki, mishti si lagti hai

Chalti hai toh jaise hawaon mein rehti hai

Aankhon mein uske badal ghero sa rehta hai

Dheere se dil mein utar si jaati hai

Honthon pe halki si muskurahat chhod jaati hai

Uski har ada mein ek narmi si baat hai

Jaise khwabon ki duniya se aayi ho woh

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Heyy everyone!

Hope you'll missed me. So I am back now with a new chapter and my exams also went well. So from now on the chapters would be frequent. 

And another surprise...

From now on along with every chapter a small sneak peak of the next chapter would also be given. Hoping you all will like it.

Anyways, Enjoy reading... 

Like and comment!"

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But then I heard whispers from the room next door, and everyone must be sleeping, as no one wakes up this early here.

Curiosity got the better of me, and I slowly got out of my bed, took out a loose t-shirt and wore it. I opened the curtains, letting the sunlight fall in.

And then I walked towards the door, carefully unlocking it, making sure I don't make even a single sound.

I know it really well that thieves are not even an option after the tight security we have around the palace.

Walking down the hallway, I was met with darkness. I switched on the lights, and at the end of the hallway, near a balcony, a bit of light was getting in.

Two silhouettes were forming, and I stepped towards them cautiously. My every step was calculated with precision not to aware anyone to my presence.

The two figures were hugging each other, and then boom!

"Caught you!" I said sharply with a victorious smirk, and as the figure turned around, it was....

Aryan.

With a girl I haven't ever seen.

"So, Aryan, would you like to tell me anything. About this?" I said while pointing towards the girl, my eyes narrowed in suspicion as I looked at him sternly. My elder brother slipped into the situation.

He looked anxious and then glanced at the girl, who was trying her best to hide herself behind him while nervously biting her lower lip.

"Bhai sa... She is my girlfriend." He confessed while lowering his gaze, guilty after being caught.

I nodded, gesturing him to continue the conversation, and pointed towards a chair nearby for the girl to sit.

The girl sat down with her feet nervously, hitting the floor slowly. Aryan held her hand tightly in his as if trying to ground her.

I looked at both sternly, but inside my heart was swelling with admiration for their bond. I was really happy for them, but I was just a bit disappointed that my brother didn't trust me with his secrets.

"Bhai sa, we have been dating since last year. She is the minister's younger daughter. We eventually fell in love and were going to tell you all very soon." He said this with a low voice and looked down. All his words were laced with guilt, and at that moment, my face softened, and I took him into a brief embrace.

"It's ok, Aryan. You don't need to feel guilty; it's absolutely fine to fall in love, and you have done nothing wrong. Just a little mistake for hiding things." I said while gently caressing his hair, my voice was tinged with love and softness I have for him.

He looked at me and smiled. "I will tell everyone about Akshara during breakfast."

I looked at him with pride and nodded.

I moved towards the girl and gently patted her head, showcasing my allowance.

She smiled, and I left from there, giving the couple some privacy.

While walking towards the gym, I was thinking about the encounter I had with my brother and his girlfriend. I couldn't help but think that Aaranya and I also used to meet like this.

After coming from the gym, I completed a little business on my phone and then got dressed for the day. Today, instead of the citadel, I have to go to my company for important client meetings.

I asked Abhisekh, my personal assistant, to set my schedule and send it to me before going to the breakfast table.

At the breakfast table, everyone was sitting in silence. Aryan and Akshara were standing in one corner when I joined.

"Aao baitho", I said while looking at both of them, and they complied with my words.

(Come sit)

"Beta yeh kon hai?" Dadi sa asked Aryan as he was holding Akshara's hand and trying to comfort her anxiety.

(Beta, who is she?)

"She is my girlfriend." Everyone looked at him with stunned silence after his revelation.

Meanwhile, Rudra and Shivika shattered the silence, and things got chaotic.

"Bhai sa aapne hame apni girlfriend ke baare mai nahi bataya" Shivika stood up and marched towards Aryan while stomping her feet and gave him some punches, which I doubt would even hurt.

(Bhai sa, you didn't even tell me about your girlfriend.)

"Aaryan Bhai, you have a girlfriend. Gosh, bhabhi, did you have any compulsion that you dated this guy?" He looked at him with a faux disgusted expression, making Aryan smack his back and Akshara burst into a fit of giggles.

"Bas Karo yaar.", Aryan screamed with a completely done look.

(Stop it, guys)

Everyone turned silent for a minute and then burst into chuckles.

After some time, everyone calmed down, and the earlier eggshell moment turned lighter.

Everyone softly talked to Akshara, trying to get to know her better as they all approved of their relationship.

After breakfast, I left the palace in high spirits, heading to my company.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Today I had my first-ever board meeting, and it was awesome. I met the entire team, and we discussed all the done and upcoming cases.

Right now, Aaliya is sitting next to me, talking about her dream man who doesn't even exist, while I am proofreading the articles before sending them for publishing.

"Yaar, you know Aaron Warner was like...." Aaliya continued blabbering in her own wonderland, and I looked at her, completely done.

Whenever she would read a new book, she would just raise her standard for men and get a new imaginary book boyfriend, completely forgetting the boundary of that it is fictional.

Not that I am any different. Hehehhe!

"Ms Kashyap, could you keep quiet for a minute and maybe work for God's sake," I said while staring deep into her eyes, while trying really hard to keep up my stern, professional boss behaviour.

She went silent...

Very Silent.

And I began to regret every second of what I had said. I was just about to apologise when she burst out laughing, her eyes glinting with amusement, maybe. I sighed, as I was so relieved that I hadn't been successful in upsetting her.

Hufff.

"Gosh, Aarya... You know what, you look so funny while saying that. 'Ms. Kashyap. Huhh!' God, nice try." She said in between her laughter, and I couldn't help but join.

"Bas behn rukk ja", I said while controlling my laugh and gasping for breath when Tanvi entered the room carrying some documents and looked at us like she had just seen a horse with a crocodile face, a giraffe neck and legs of a mouse.

(Stop it, sis)

"What happened?" I, Aaliya, and she said together as we snapped her out of her trail of thoughts. She looked at both of us for another brief second before slowly shaking her head and murmuring "nothing".

After telling us about the papers, she left. As soon as we were alone, we shared a look and started laughing again at her reaction.

"Aalu yaar, did you just see her face? It was as if she had just seen something she hadn't even imagined in her weirdest dreams." I said while still imagining her reaction and giggling softly.

"Well, Aarya, it wouldn't be wrong to say that she was wrong. You are quite perfect with that professional demeanour of yours here. And I like it." She said with a serious tone at the start, but soon it trailed to be flirty as she blew me a flying kiss dramatically.

I gave her a look, "You know I have a prince for me. So you better stop hitting on me." I said with pride.

"Ouch, that hurts. I thought we were soulmates and meant to be." She dramatically clutched her heart, at the wrong side, with a feigned hurt and heartbroken expression.

I looked at her as if I was genuinely considering her words, making her suddenly confused, but then I got in fits of laughter, and she joined me.

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Rain poured from the sky in relentless sheets as Aaranya stood outside the gate of her office, clutching her bag tightly to shield it from getting soaked. Her bike stood unused nearby, as she was not able to use it due to the downpour. She shifted her weight from one foot to the other, glancing occasionally down the road, hoping that one of her brothers would arrive soon to take her home.

She was trying to cover herself more with her bag and blazer as she was soaked to her skin by the rain.

She was frantically trying to call her brothers, but her phone also got wet in the rain and shut down.

Suddenly, she felt the rain not falling on her anymore. She looked ahead and saw the water droplets still falling on the ground. As she was starting to get confused, her gaze fell beside her.

Yuvraj was standing there with an umbrella in his hands, trying to save her from getting more soaked. Meanwhile, he got drenched instead.

He gently led her to his car and opened the door of the passenger seat like a true gentleman he is. He then jogged towards the driving seat and handed her a towel after fixing her seatbelt.

He turned on the heater and the music, making the moment even more comfortable.

Aaranya looked relaxed and happy. A genuine smile lit up her face, making her glow like a gem. Her heart was beating loudly with the intensity of the thought of how he manages to be with her every time she needs someone.

"Rajkumari sahiba aaj aap akele ese bhigi-bhigi kyu khadi thi." He leaned forward and teased her, his breath tingling on her neck.

(Princess, why were you standing alone, drenched today?)

She felt her lips twitch, curving upwards as the blush came on her cheeks, making them turn pinkish.

Flustered, she handed the towel to Yuvraj "Yeh lijiye kunwar sa aap bhi bheeg gaye hai."

(Take this, kunwar sa, you are also soaked.)

Yuvraj took the towel out of her hold, his fingers brushing on her hands for longer than it should have, sending a fresh wave of feelings through her.

He dried his hair and then started driving.

There was silence, an unfamiliarly calm and comforting silence except for the soft hum of the music, their rhythmic breathing and the occasional sound of honks.

He stopped the car near a small tea stall and got out of the car to open Aaranya's door.

She smiled and took his hand while getting out of the car and going to the tea stall. She looked surprised to see him behave so humbly and grounded around all the commoners despite being royalty.

The thought stirred unfamiliar feelings in her chest, which she wasn't able to gather to understand.

They sat on a bench lying in front of the stall.

Yuvraj greeted the old man who came to hand them the tea. They had a little chat for a while before the man went back to serve the other customers.

He gently handed her a cup of tea. But she winced as she touched it, as it was steaming hot.

"Kaka ek aur Khali cup de dijiye." He asked the tea stall owner while taking the cup from her hands and checking for any burns.

(Uncle, give one more empty cup.)

"Ji," the stall owner brought another cup and handed it to him.

(Ok)

Yuvraj poured half of the tea into the other cup and gave her both the cups.

They talked to each other, but Yuvraj noticed that she was only answering in curt replies and hesitating…. More like trying to ignore him.

He looked at her, and as if he could read her mind, he immediately got to know the reason without her even giving a hint to him.

A mischievous glint glowed in his eyes as he swiftly turned her, making her face him. She gasped at the sudden, unexpected action but then just shook her head slightly, amused.

She didn’t resist or refuse anything because of the immense familiarity of the situations.

He took her by surprise as he began singing, his deep voice flowing melodiously to her eardrums, and she was immediately pulled closer to him like a magnet to his voice.

Ban ke tussi butterfly

Kithe nu challe aa

Haiga koyi boyfriend ja

Tussi bhi kalle aa

He started his voice descending to a whisper, elongated with playful jealousy and tease swirling in his eyes.

Magni taan naiyo ho gayi

Magni tan naiyo ho gayi

Hathan vich chhalle aa

Haiga koyi boyfriend ja

Tussi vi kalle aa

She couldn’t control her tries to ignore further and burst into soft giggles as she lightly slapped his arm, flustered.

Meanwhile, Yuvraj just smirked in victory with a satisfied grin, knowing that he got to see that reaction on the very face he wanted to see that too when he was the only reason behind it.

Ban ke tussi butterfly

Kithe nu challe aa

His voice descended further as he stopped singing and leaned down to blow slightly in her ears as she was lost in her own dreamland, looking at him with flushed cheeks.

The intimacy of the contact of his warm breath brought her out of her reverie as she continued giggling.

Yuvraj also joined her in her laughter as he noticed that all the earlier ignorance had dissolved.

The people walking on the road and standing nearby were shocked to see the cold, ruthless prince with a girl and giggling. For the last ten years, he had acted like he was allergic to girls and kept his cold mask perfectly.

"Waise aap yahan kya kar rahe the?" Aaranya asked she got reminded of how he came and handed her the umbrella. Her forehead had a cute frown forming on it with confusion.

(How are you here?)

Yuvraj just laughed and said nonchalantly, "Well, I was coming to meet what is mine."

Aarnaya looked down shyly, muttering gibberish not to give herself away.

They finished their tea and generously paid and tipped the tea stall owner before heading back to the car.

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Sneak PEEK for Chapter Twenty-One

And the view of my room was something I cannot describe in mere words.

It was magnificent. Dreamy.

I walked a few steps forward.

The entire room was decorated with roses, and lights. A beautiful off white gown with sequins all over and a sweetheart neckline was placed on a mannequin near the table.

On the table, chocolates were placed along with a huge bouquet of red roses.

The entire view was like a fairy tale dream. It was fictional and something I had ever expected to happen in reality.

With me.

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Next Chapter on 30th November.

THIS BOOK IS ALSO UPLOADED ON WATTPAD AND INKITT UNDER THE SAME ID'S.

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