Page 162 of Sumanika

I bit my lip and moved toward his changing room. He wasn’t there either. Maybe he was in the bathroom. I checked, but he was not there.

Nervously, I blinked and reached for the handle of the reading room door. He must be there. Pushing it open, I stepped inside and looked at the table and the empty chair.

Yet the lamps were lit. A sense of dread crawled over my skin as I took more steps inside. As I walked past the shelves, I finally spotted him sitting against a wall in the corner, near a lamp, with a book in his hand.

But he was asleep.

My heart sank further as I looked at him. It pierced my chest to see him sitting like that—his knees drawn up to his chest and his head tilted back against the wall.

I gulped silently and walked toward him.

Feeling my presence, he opened his eyes and looked at me lazily.

Inhaling deeply, he thinned his brows and palmed his face with slight frustration.

"Kunwarsa, aap apne bistar par kyu nahi so rahe?"

"Kunwarsa, why are you not sleeping on your bed?"

I tried to ask in a slow, polite voice, pouring all the honey I had in my body, and he stood up on his feet while replying.

"Tumse matlab,""None of your business,"

My teeth greeted me in anger. I could not sleep because of him, and he was throwing tantrums.

When he tried to walk past me, I grabbed him by his chest and pulled him closer.

His eyes widened in shock as our bodies crashed into each other.

"Hai matlab, poore gao ke saamne sher banke maang nahi bhari thi aapne hamari. Jara si ladai karli to aapke matlab khatam ho gae?"

"It is my business. You filled the vermillion in my head like a brave person in front of the entire village. And suddenly, with a little fight, it's none of my business?" I asked, my voice rising slightly but in a whisper to not wake the whole Kingdom.

He stared into my eyes, and his hands held my wrists, trying to push my hands down. I tightened my fists even more and stared back into his eyes.

"You are getting married to Princess Rashmika?" I asked in a slow voice. He lowered his gaze to my lips, lifted it back to look intensely into my eyes, and nodded briefly. "Yes, I am,"

My anger rose to another level, and I pulled him even closer.

"Don't you dare, Kunwarsa," I warned.

And he gritted his teeth before saying."Vivah bhi karenge, suhaagraat bhi manaenge or chote chote pyaare pyaare bache bhi paida karenge,""I will get married, consummate the marriage, and give birth to small, beautiful kids with her,"

I lost it and felt him pushing my hands down his chest. My knuckles whitened with the strength I was pouring.

But he was stronger, and there was no chance I could hold him against his will.

He jerked my hands low and exclaimed."Hamare beech me ab kuch nahi hai, or na kabhi hoga,"“There is nothing between us, and there won't be anything,”

Hearing him, I gulped and fought back my tears. He walked away, and I couldn’t stop chasing him, grabbing his wrist and pushing him against one of the shelves.

His eyes widened with shock.

"Hamare beech kuch nahi hai matlab? Itni aasani se bol denge aap. Kuch din pehle to aap ro rahe the hamare liye, Ab aapka prem khatam ho gaya,"

“What do you mean that there is nothing between us? How can you say that with such ease? You were crying for me a few days ago; now your love is over?” I asked and felt the shelf shake slightly with his muscular frame.

He gritted his teeth and looked intensely into my eyes.

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