Third Person's POV

Rajveer paces in his living room, waiting for Naina to arrive.

Today is the first time he directly heard the disgusting talks that Naina is being taunted with every day, and he is feeling guiltier than ever.

He knows she would have come to him, asking for his support and solution if he had acted wisely and not distanced her from him.

No wonder she is in such stress, and no wonder she looks so defeated and lost.

She already had a wound due to her innocent brother being falsely accused and declared a traitor, and now in KMA, that wound is being scratched repeatedly, making it deep enough to break his brave Naina.

He was relieved when Brigadier Chandok announced earlier that whatever happened in the mentorship camp was a misunderstanding.

Brigadier has also warned everyone about the consequences of spreading those rumors about him and Naina, giving them the example of those three cadets who are being sent to the correction center tomorrow for their behavior with Naina.

He jolts out of his thoughts when he hears a knock at the door.

Opening it, he sees Naina standing outside, and feels slightly disappointed because she knocked this time instead of barging inside without knocking like she usually does.

But he knows their relationship is not like before, and he has no one but himself to blame for that.

"Naina, I was waiting for you. Please come inside," he says.

"I wanted to talk with you regarding your training, Naina. I have been reassigned as your mentor. I believe you received the letter about it?"

"Yes, Sir, I got the letter. Thank you for being my mentor again. I will not disappoint you this time by coming to you with all my problems and worries. I will try to build my path this time with you to guide me as little as possible," she replies.

Rajveer is surprised by her cool and calm reaction.

'This is not my Naina. She would not have accepted all this so easily. She would have fought with me, asking me why I wanted to be her mentor again after abandoning her. I cannot let her be this way. I will explain everything,' he thinks.

"Naina, I am sorry for the way I behaved with you in the past few days. I should not have bashed you like that. Please understand that whatever I did, it was for you.

"I did not want anyone to question your honor because of me. I did that to douse the rumor, but I had no idea of the consequences you would face because of my rash decision. Please forgive me," he apologizes earnestly, hoping she will understand.

"It's ok, Sir. I know it had to be done. After all, your honor was also on the line, along with mine. You don't have to apologize," Naina says.

Rajveer is frustrated by her behavior.

She has been looking at the floor ever since she entered his room and is speaking mechanically and accepting everything without questioning.

He knows she is hurt and is trying to hide from him, but he must bring her out of this.

So, he determinedly walks toward her and grips her shoulders, willing her to look at him.

"Shout at me for abandoning you when you needed me. Shout at me for being stupid and hurting you. But, please, Naina, do not hide from me," he pleads with her.

She looks at him, his hands on her shoulder, his voice almost pleading, urging her for the reaction.

As she continues peering at him, she feels her tolerance snap.

'What the hell does he think of himself? First, he abandons me for no fault of mine, makes her so lonely, and now suddenly, he wants to know about my troubles and sufferings?' She fumes.

Yes, she loves him, and yes, she falls weak in front of him.

But not today.

Today she will let him know how she felt when he bashed her and disregarded her.

'Let him also know how it feels,' she thinks and jerks his hands off her shoulders forcefully.

"Why, Sir? Why do you want to know now? Is it because of what you heard in the library? Or is it because Brigadier Chandok announced today that whatever happened in the camp was a misunderstanding, so now no one will question you if they see you with me?" She asks, her eyes red with anger.

"No, Naina. None of them is the reason. I wanted to talk with you since the time you fainted in the infirmary. I was waiting for you to wake up, but I had to go to Major Bhargav's room to expose him in front of Brigadier.

"It was late when I returned to the infirmary, and you had already gone to your room.

"After that, I tried to talk with you in the library, but I could not because of those three cadets. That is why I called you here tonight," Rajveer says.

Naina looks searchingly into his eyes and realizes he is speaking the truth.

She feels like telling him everything then.

She wants to tell him how she suffered all alone all these days.

She wants to hug him and cry in his arms.

But she is too hurt.

She fears opening her heart again, only to be left alone the next time anything like this happens.

"I also tried to talk with you since the moment you came out of solitary confinement, but you didn't bother to hear what I had to say.

"After all these days, you want to know because it is convenient for you now.

"But why should I tell you? If you did not bother to listen to me before, why should I bother to tell you now?" she asks, wiping the tears that escapes her eyes.

Rajveer cannot figure out how to answer her questions.

She is right. He ignored her and turned deaf to her requests to talk with him.

"I know what I did was wrong. I had done that to douse those rumors about us and protect your honor, but I know now that it was stupid of me to react that way.

"But Naina, I did not know you were being taunted with such disgusting talks.

"Why didn't you tell me? You were being subjected to all that, and you did not say a word. You should have told me, Naina, and I would have--" Rajveer is unable to complete the sentence because he is interrupted by Naina.

"Are you seriously asking me why I did not tell you about all this? If you remember, Sir, ever since you came out of that solitary confinement, you avoided me like the plague.

"Whenever I tried talking to you, you ignored and dismissed me.

"If you do not remember what you said to me in your class that day, let me remind you. You told me you no longer want to be my mentor, and I should not come to you with any of my problems. You said that I should learn to handle all my troubles and issues without bothering you anymore.

"So, please don't fake your concern now. I appreciate what you did in the library today, but I do not need your help anymore," Naina finishes in one go, having had enough of everything.

Rajveer closes his eyes in guilt.

He ignored and avoided her to protect her honor, but he has realized now that he made a big mistake.

Instead of ignoring her, he should have supported her and should have taken some strict actions to douse those rumors.

"You are a faculty member here, Sir, so no one will dare say anything to you. But do you know what I have to hear and endure each day?

"Well, you wanted to know, right? Then listen.

"They tell me that I was your keep, but since the whole academy came to know about us, you washed your hands off me. After all, no respectable army officer would like to be linked with a traitor's sister.

"Not only that, but they also tell me that whenever I came to your room, I warmed your bed, and in return, you kept protecting me from being expelled from the academy.

"They also laugh at me and tell me that one day, I will sleep my way through the academy to become the best cadet of my batch. And there is much more, Sir. I endured much worse taunts when you were blissfully ignoring me.

"So, please, Sir, keep your fake concern to yourself. And please, do yourself a favor and do not call me to your room like this because your reputation will be tarnished if someone sees you with a traitor's sister who everyone alleges as a loose girl too," Naina shouts at him, venting out all her frustration.

Rajveer keeps staring at her, too stunned to move or even react.

He had no idea she was facing all this.

He wants to scream and shout at everyone in the academy until he drills some sense into their disgusting minds.

He wants to apologize to her until she forgives him.

He committed a grave mistake by distancing himself from her.

That was the time when she needed him the most, and what he did instead? He abandoned her to bear all those taunts and humiliation all alone.

'Not anymore. I will not leave her alone now. I will stand by her side, come what may,' he vows to himself and starts speaking.

"You are right, Naina. You do not owe me any explanation, and you do not need to bother to tell me anything after the way I behaved with you. I completely understand, so I will not ask you any questions anymore.

"But I want you to know that I will not repeat my mistake. I will always be there for you.

"I know I have lost the right, but I hope that someday you would again think of me as someone you can trust and as someone you can share all your problems and worries with.

"I promise you that I will never disappoint you again, Naina," he tells her, honesty shining in his eyes.

Naina feels her head spin after hearing Rajveer.

His mercurial behavior is confusing her.

He gave her the cold shoulder for days, and now suddenly, he is apologizing for his actions, also promising to give her his support, and even telling her that he will never disappoint her again.

No matter how much it hurt her, she had already made peace with his cold behavior, deciding not to open up to him about her feelings, but hearing him now, her resolve was weakening.

'How pathetic are you, Naina? He abandoned you and left you alone to deal with all the taunts and all the humiliation on your own. After all that, he throws a crumb of affection toward you, and you are ready to jump into his arms? You need to control yourself, Naina. Do not let him make you weak again,' she chides herself.

"I will think about what you said, Sir. I have been through so much lately, and everything is so messed up right now that I need to sort it out before deciding on what to do next. I will need some time to sort out everything. I hope you understand," she tells him.

No matter how angry she was with him, she did not have the heart to refuse him outright.

Rajveer understands then that Naina is still hurt and hesitating to trust him.

'I will try to regain her trust. I will show her that I will not abandon her again, come what may.' He decides.

"I understand," he tells her.

Naina can hear the sadness laced in his voice but she chooses to ignore it. "Sir, am I dismissed then?"

"Yes, Naina. You can go. But meet me here again tomorrow at 2000 hours. I want to discuss your training and lessons. Since we could not do that today, we will do it tomorrow," Rajveer says and watches her walk out of his quarter with a heavy heart.