Author's POV
It was late at night and Mili changed into her nightwear. She was tired as she had done a lot of work today.
Usually, she sat at the dining table and waited for her husband. She waited for a week at the dinner. Sandhya came with the food and started serving her.
"He didn't come home, yet. Right?" Mili asked Sandhya.
The maid lowered her gaze and sighed, "Kunvar Rani Sa, he might be busy. Pranav sir sent a message to the guard that they will be late."
Mili understood that it was a lie. She mumbled playing with a fork, "Why in the hell, I got this kind of life? Can't he even think about giving a chance to this marriage?"
"He has already taken my signature and this marriage will end after a year. There is a name that is called humanity. Isn't he feeling that I'm a human and he brought me here?" She thought while starting eating.
"Can't he be my friend? or we can happily spend this year." Mili was thinking deeply. She was pushed into this relationship.
Like every Indian girl, she has a dream of a happy married life. But her dream was already shattered when he took her signature on those papers. She felt like she was cheated on by him.
"Good Night," She whispers and greeted Sandhya. She is her only friend in the past week.
*****
"Sir, they are caught," Prithvi heard Pranav's words. He rapidly closed the flap of the laptop. His eyes sparkled with heinousness.
"Let's go," He got up and Pranav took the bag hurriedly. He followed him and they reached the car.
Pranav opened the door of the car for him. Prithvi sighed, "Don't be so loyal to your job? You were my friend and will be my friend. After office hours, stop doing this formality."
Pranav only smiled and got in. With speed, the car touched the highway. There was an awkward silence in the car. Pranav knows that it is the silence before the storm.
On the way to the jungle, there was a huge farmhouse. The car stopped with a screeching sound and Prithvi got out of his car. Pranav trailed behind him.
All the men, who were standing there bowed their heads and Prithvi moved inside while nodding to them.
"This way, " Pranav moved the knot and opened the door for him. There was a dim yellow light and the room was quite dark.
Two men were tied to the chairs. They are startled as they saw the charming yet brutal face of prince Prithviraj.
"Who sent you?" He gritted his teeth while narrowing his eyes at those men. The men were trembling as they could see their death in his orange orbs.
"Please, leave us, sir," They begged together for their life.
Prince arched his eyebrows. He smirked and retorted, "Do you let go of those people, whom you have killed or going to kill?"
"But we have nothing to do with you, sir," One of them cried. They were in pain because Prithvi's men had tortured them a lot. Their patience has ended up.
"Wait, what?" Prithvi was shocked.
"Then, who was your target?" He asked shockingly.
"One girl."
"We were targeting her for a week. But she was not supposed to come out of her home. She came out and we planned to kill her. But her driving is too speedy. We shot her and mistakenly, the bullet hit your car," One of the men explained to him.
Prithvi grabbed his collar and asked fuming in anger, "Who is that girl?"
"We don't know, we received an assignment to kill her. We are shooters. There was her photo on our phone," Another one said.
Prithvi glanced at Pranav and Pranav came with two phones in his hand. Prithvi took their phones and unlocked them using a face locking mechanism.
As he opened the albums, there were three pictures of Malvika and the picture was new. He stressed his brain when he realized that the pictures were taken on the day when they came to Mumbai.
"Who sent this to you, damn it?" Prithvi punched his nose with anger.
"We don't know, sir. We received it through mail and half of the p*****t has been received by us. We don't interact with the person directly." He explained.
"Search the horoscope of this phone, I want to know, who has assigned them to kill Malvika," He angrily spat and ordered Pranav. Pranav bowed and grabbed this phone.
"Anything else," Prithvi pulled out his gun and asked, "If you wanna say?"
"No sir, we don't know anything else," They almost cried. Prithvi glared at them and two shots on their forehead turn by turn. Game over.
"Wind up the mess and handle the police case, if it creates any issues," Prithvi hurriedly came out and got in the car. Pranav took his seat as a driver and they left the place immediately.
"Pranav..."
"Yes, sir..."
He hesitates. Then began, "Who could be behind this?"
"It's hard to say, but sir, someone may be trying to kill her assuming that she is Princess Malini," Pranav reported his opinion.
"No, they are here to kill, Kunvar Rani sa," Prithvi pressed his forehead.
"How is it possible, sir?" Pranav sighed and added, "I mean, nobody knows about your wedding. A few guests were invited and all of them are close friends or relatives. How and why would someone wishes to kill Princess Malvika?"
"The pictures, which are found in their phones were taken on the day when we came to Mumbai," Prithvi informed him.
"How is it possible, sir? You know our security and," Pranav paused for While. He asked, "How can you say that they were taken on that day particularly?"
Prithvi sighed and said, " The saree has worn was the same, she had worn on that day. The background scene was our estate, our palace."
Hearing him Pranav was shocked. He glanced at the prince amusingly. His jaw dropped parting a gap. Then slowly, he smiled.
"Why are you smiling now?"Prithvi asked.
Pranav scratched his neck and dramatically chuckled, "Are you sure about her saree?"
"Yes, of course," He assured and added with anger, "I have a sharp memory."
"Well, from when my best friend started memorizing the dress code of other girls?" Pranav glanced at him. All the colors on Prithvi's face faded away in just a second.
"Shut up and drive fast," He angrily spat and looked outside the window. It was a dark night and there was nothing to see outside except darkness but he was trying to avoid Pranav, who was still chuckling at him.
Pranav knows that after Malini, he had never seen any other girl. He never observed any other girl except her. But in the case of Malvika, history was altered. He was denying bad showing his anger towards her but he couldn't stop himself from gawking or observing her.
"Okay ..." Pranav smiled and sped up the car.
As they reached home, he parked the car and they strode inside the mansion. Prithvi hurriedly got in avoiding Pranav and Pranav was still chuckling behind his back.
He was still looking at Prithvi when he heard an angry feminine voice from his back, "Is this time to come back?"
"You..." Pranav rolled his eyes and averted his gaze to leave the place.
"Yes, I'm..." Sandhya chuckled and crossed his path.
"Newly married couple and you are pretending like -Kabab me Haddy (Bone in Kabab), can't you free him early?" Sandhya became angry and growled at Pranav.
"If he sets me free then I..."
"Shut up, can't you approach him to come home early?" She groaned.
"Well, Ms..."
"Do you know that madam waits for sir daily? And sir never comes home on time. It has been a week, she always eats alone and sir, he might enjoy lunch, dinner with you..." She was so angry.
"Listen to me, Ms. Sandhya Ji..."
"What to listen to? Nobody is thinking about
Kunvar Rani sa," She angrily dribbled. She was dangerously close to him. No girl ever comes close to Pranav, he was shocked as well as trembling. A wave of vibration passed through his veins.
"If you will not come on time from tomorrow onward, I will complain to the King against you," She matched her eyes with his and warned him pointing his finger at him.
She left but he was glued to his place. In his entire life, the Prince never talked to him this way, and this five feet girl has threatened him. He was an orphan and raised under Bhairav. He honors Bhairav as his father.
Since childhood, He and Prithvi are together. He is younger than Prithvi, so he treated him as his younger brother and he always takes care of him. This is the first time, someone is threatening him in his life and in this way.
"By the way, if you will not come on time and you will make Kunvar Rani sa wait, I will close the entrance and you have to stay out of the house. If this will happen, The king will be angry and you know that if the king will be angry, the coronation ceremony will also be delayed," Sandhya smirked and went to the kitchen.
"Come back fast for dinner. Otherwise, I will not steam the food again," She groaned while getting inside the kitchen.
"Oh, my God, is this a storm? It is more dangerous than the anger of the prince," Pranav thought while striding towards his room. His head was spinning.
He sat on the bed and was thinking only bout Sandhya. She was so calm and shy when she came here. And now...
He shook his head rapidly and thought, "Had she taken a booster dose of covid-19 vaccines?"
"She is faster than Coronavirus," Pranav thought and slapped his forehead, and headed towards the bathroom. Once he got ready, he stepped down and pulled a chair for him. The prince was already there for dinner.
Sandhya was serving them but anger was still on her face. Pranav is scared as she is the machine that once will start speaking, there will be no end to it.
He concentrated on food and hurriedly finish the food. Pranav and Prithvi left for their room after dinner. But Prithvi was lost somewhere. While separating from each other, Prithvi ordered, "Pranav, tighten her security. I'm not the target. Target is..."
He stopped and Pranav bowed, "Yes, Sir."
"Good night," He whispered and got into his room.
"Good night, Sir..." Pranav wished him back and moved to his room.
Next Day...
"Did he come last night?" Mili asked as she sat on the chair for breakfast.
"Yes, they came late at night," Sandhya answered her.
"Is he still here?" Mili asked with curiosity.
"Yes, I think, both are in the gym," Sandhya answered her.
"Okay, what about their breakfast?" Mili asked before eating.
"Sir had Milk and Pranav also had Milk," Sandhya retorted with a broad smile.
"Sandhya, are you okay n?" Mili asked and shook her head.
"Yes, kunvar Rani sa..."
"First of all, don't call me Kunvar Rani sa, call me Mili or Malavika. We are not in Jaisalmer Palace," Mili irritated.
"How can I call you by your name?" Sandhya became sad and scared.
"Okay, fine, Call me Dii or Didi." Mili gave her another option.
"ok, Didi..." Sandhya again smiled at her.
"And I was only asking about my stupid husband, why were you telling me about both?" Mili was frustrated while eating oats and Milk.
"Sorry," Sandhya blushed and smiled showing her two bunny teeth. She was beautiful indeed. Seeing her smile, Mili understood that, she likes Pranav and felt shy too.
Mili also smiled and said, "If they didn't have breakfast yet, I want to make it for them. Hmmm... But don't tell him that I cooked it."
Mili completed her breakfast and headed into the kitchen. She started preparing to make Kheer. Sandhya tried to stop her but she was forced into the kitchen.
"Sandhya, in our culture, the bride makes the sweet dish on the very first day after the wedding. I did not get a chance for it. Today, he is at home, I wish to cook a sweet dish," Mili's explanation sealed Sandhya's mouth. She helped Mili in collecting ingredients for the sweet dish.
After preparing the dish, Mili left and warned Sandhya, not to reveal this thing to the prince. Mili was apologizing for her misbehavior with the Prince on the previous day.
As Mili left, a sedan car stopped at the entrance of the bungalow. The King stepped out of the car. The servant hurdles and rushed here and there as they were not notified that the king is coming and that too early.
The King got in with Bhairav and sat on the sofa. The prince was notified by a servant that the king is there. The prince got ready and came to meet him.
"Good morning, Dad," He wished and moved to touch his feet for blessings.
"Where is my daughter-in-law? I haven't seen her yet," The king blessed him by placing his hands on his head. But there was no answer to this question.
Pranav and Prithvi looked at each other but Pranav shrugged off as he did not know. Pranav glanced at Sandhya but she smiled viciously and moved to the kitchen.