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Trisha POV

My body was still carrying his scent. The conversation we had on our way home, filled with unspoken words and lingering glances, was still imprisoning my thoughts. My soul felt trapped, as if invisible iron bars had been erected around it, preventing it from escaping and forcing me to dwell on anything but him.

The idea of being a wife, of having a family and children, was a foreign concept that had never dared to cross my mind. Yet, now, it seemed to have taken root within me. But I knew, deep down, that this was not my path. As my father had always insisted, I was destined for something more significant. I was meant to become a sage, not a wife.

Urghh.

His fragrance was distracting. I had changed clothes, but it was still there, as if he had left an impact on me.

And, unknowingly due to all of these, the roots were becoming stronger.

I was alone in the house, and he was sleeping with my father in the Ashram. Yet, his presence seemed to permeate the air, a constant reminder of his presence within the territory. I could not shake the thought that he had been where I slept and had changed his clothes here.

Did he notice that I sleep here?

Maybe not. Why would he notice that?

I inhaled deeply, rolling the end of a small partition of my hair.

My body was shifting and tossing on my mattress and I could not let go of his thoughts until midnight. The sleep was blurry and difficult. It felt as if the rain had brought a storm into my life.

I left even before my wake-up time and tied my open hair in a tight bun. Covering my head with the dupatta, I walked out of the hut.

It had stopped raining.

I sat on the stairs for a while, silently watching the dark sky, letting the Sun's rays penetrate it. The stars still spread all over. There was not a single cloud. Maybe they found a new place to let go of their pain.

A tiny smile appeared on my lips with a thought. That was the life. No matter how hard it gets, you still have to keep going.

Closing my eyes, I prayed silently and began my daily chores.

After washing my face, feet, and hands, I cleaned the utensils I used to milk the buffalos. As I stepped inside the shed, I began humming my favourite song. The sleeping beauties woke up and started standing on their feet.

"Good morning," I muttered, caressing the newborn baby of one of them. The buffalos were eight in total.

"Come on, let's go outside," I said, untying each of them individually and bringing them outside so they could spend some time in fresh air and enjoy the sunrise.

After that, I began washing their udders and feet before milking them one by one.

Collecting their milk, I placed the big pots aside and began mixing their roughage. After feeding them, the milk buyers arrived, and I sold the extra milk.

It was still not morning yet.

After finishing that first thing in the morning, I went to Ashram to collect the laundry clothes of the little children there. There, my sight fell on the open door of the guestroom. I could not stop myself from walking in, and my gaze saw him sleeping soundly.

The wet clothes he took off last night were kept beside his bedding arrangement. I walked silently to take them, too.

Pitaji was not there. He must be out for the long walk in the morning.

Taking the clothes, I made my way towards the river. It was a little far from where we lived. The slight light of the morning began to appear, and I had to freshen up and bathe before that.

The ladies were already there on the Ghat.

"Hare Krishna, Mausi," I wished one of our known neighbours, and she smiled back with the wishes.

"How are you, Trisha?" another asked. She was a friend of mine. Her wedding was next month.

"I'm good. What about you?" I asked, putting the clothes in my regular place.

"I am good; I am just a little nervous for the next month," she giggled, and I smiled.

"Can you watch these for a while? I will be back in a few moments," I asked, and she nodded. Excusing myself from the busy place, I walked to the isolated part for the loo. After that, I went a little far away to take a bath. No one was there.

Stripping my clothes behind the trees, I wrapped my dupatta around my body. Opening my bun, I let my hair fall and silently walked into the river. This beach was less deep and perfect for bathing, while the place where I would wash clothes had waves, which was ideal for washing.

The water was chilly after last night's rain. My body sunk into the water up to my chest, and I closed my eyes to dive a little.

My head felt lighter. It was amazing. After the dip, I sat on the big stone and began applying the Multani and Neem paste to my body, my lips humming the same song.

Unwantedly, the thoughts of Yuvraj still consumed me. Maybe he would have left already. Perhaps he was waiting for me. But why would he wait for me?

I sighed deeply, and suddenly, my eyes opened wide as a loud slap sounded in my ear. I immediately turned my head to look at two men at a distance. Yuvraj was holding their necks.

Another slap followed, and I immediately jumped into the water, hiding behind the stone.

What happened?

Why was he here?

Why was he slapping them?

And, who were them?

"We are sorry, we are sorry. We will not do it again," I heard their voice apologising and crying.

"Get the hell out of here before I rip you apart," Yuvraj yelled; his voice sounded dangerous, and I closed my eyes.

Were they watching me take the bath?

How could they?

How could Yuvraj Abhinandan?

I took him as a nice man.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, lifting myself a little up once the other men ran away from there.

"Why are you taking a bath here?" he questioned, and my brows knit in confusion. He was far from me.

"How could you let people watch you take a bath?" he grew even angrier, and I understood.

So, the men were watching me, and he found out.

"But, what are you doing here?" I asked, again, unable to digest why he was here. This place was meant for women only until the sun rose.

"I... I was walking by," he said, signalling towards the around, and I lowered my gaze.

"Well, you should go now," I suggested, and he gritted his teeth and turned around, facing other direction.

"I am right here. You finish your business and walk back home with me," he said, sitting on a huge stone, and I clenched my jaw.

"I need to wash clothes too," I said, and he replied.

"That's okay. This is unsafe," he said, and I bit on my lips.

It was going even more awkward. What the hell was happening?

I turned around, washed myself, and silently walked out of the river. Releasing the excess water from my hair, I tied it in a bun and watched him looking away. Even if he was not watching, his presence made me feel something in my stomach. Agitated.

I went behind the tree and changed into fresh clothes quickly.

"I am done," I informed him once I finished dressing up and placed the dupatta on my head.

"What do you think you're doing here? It is not a Princely thing to do," I exclaimed, walking to him, and he looked at me angrily.

"And, yes, it's a very dignified thing to take a bath in such an open area where any man could watch," his words made me stare at him blankly, and I replied.

"Everyone in our village does that,"

"But why? Why do you not have a bathroom of your own?" he asked in a frustrated voice, and I thinned my brows in confusion.

"Bathroom? We do not have those in the households. They are expensive and not allowed," I told him, and he gritted his teeth.

"Not anymore," he stated and walked away from there.

"You can go back to home or the Kingdom. I assure you I am safe," I said, walking after him, and he turned back.

"Yes, I just found out,"

I lowered my gaze immediately. Well, it was not a new thing that a man watched a woman bathing. It was pretty common, and it was not like I was naked. I was wrapped mostly.

Only the legs below my calves and arms were visible.

He walked along to the other ghat, where I would wash clothes.

"See, there are so many women. I am safe here," I said. He looked at those women briefly and then at me before nodding slowly.

"Okay, come back soon," his words freed butterflies in my stomach. It sounded possessive. He ordered me. He never said anything like that before. Maybe he forgot that I was older than him.

"I can take care of myself. I am older than you," I reminded him, and he clenched his jaw and said slowly.

"iska arth ye to nahi ki aap samajhdhar bhi ho,"

"That does not mean you are sensible,"

I immediately looked away before walking far from him. He stood there for a few moments and then walked away too.

Oh, My Goodness!

What was happening?

Was he stalking me?

I shook my head to clear my thoughts and continued my leftover chores. After washing the clothes, I returned home and spread them outside for drying. Then, I began cooking for the day.

He was not around, and I was thankful for it.

When I finished cooking and serving my father, I noticed a group of labourers walking in, and my sight fell on Yuvraj talking to someone.

"Yuvraj Abhinandan, what is happening?" my father asked, noticing him too, and he informed.

"They are digging a well a few metres away from here for you and your students,"

My eyes widened with shock, and even my father looked at me momentarily.

"Also, a bathroom for ease," he finished, and my father stood up, leaving his food.

"But what is the need for it? We and my students are fine. They should bring water for themselves from the river, as it's good for them to burn up a little," he tried to convince him, and he looked at my father.

"I understand, but it's not safe for Trisha to walk out, and it can ease up her work." When he took my name before my father, I lowered my gaze with timidity and embarrassment. I did not know what the proper emotion was.

"For Trisha?" my father asked, and he nodded.

"Well, I think she is fine," my father chuckled, and he looked at him.

"No, she is not," he stated, and I wanted to die at this moment. What the hell was he doing?

"Trisha, do you need this?" my father immediately turned around and asked me, but I did not know what to say. I just stared blankly at him and gulped silently.

My eyes met his, and I realised that if I did not say 'yes,' he would tell my father what had happened back there. I did not want him to know that his daughter was being watched while bathing.

"I think it's good," I had no choice.

"Ohh," he said, and I lowered my gaze, continuing my work on chapatis.

"That's okay. They will not trouble you, and I will keep my eyes on them until the work is finished to look after it," he said, and I bit my lips.

I hope I never went to his Kingdom in the first place. This father and son shook my life.

The village would be shocked knowing we got a well and a bathroom.

The labourers worked hard for the next five weeks to dig a well and construct a bathroom near our home. He was mainly available here but refused to sleep and eat. The labourers worked independently, and he would only visit to check on them.

I did not talk to him much after that, and he did not try to speak to me either. Maybe I was overthinking it. He was just caring towards his friend. It was nothing special and nothing I should be worried about.

"Trisha," suddenly, his voice caught my attention, and I lifted my gaze from the buffalo's dung, which I was using to make pilaf as fuel.

"What?" I asked.

"You are still angry?" he asked, knitting his brows, standing in the heat.

"You behaved like my father when you did not have to. You made my father feel as if he was incapable of taking care of me. He is not even talking to me like before," I said, making another pilaf and keeping it aside.

"He will understand in some time," he said, and I could not stop myself from standing up.

"You have made him feel small, Yuvraj Abhinandan Mahabalesh," the dam of my anger was on the verge of breaking.

"I have only thought better for you," he opposed.

"Better? This is not how you do better. Doing favours to your friends to this extent when their parents began to feel uncomfortable is so out of the line," I raised my voice, walking towards the pot to wash my hands.

"So out of the line? Which line? What have I done to make him upset? Protecting his daughter from the unknown men who tried to watch while she was merely wrapped in thin clothes, her hair open, and her body embraced with the pearls of water droplets, while the first light of the sun falling on her almond skin was out of the line?" his deep, angry, low voice made my cheeks flushed.

I could not believe he saw that much of me.

"You remember?" I hung open my mouth, watching him. He clenched his jaw before briefly lowering his gaze and then looking away.

"I only mean, I wanted to protect you from the eyes of other men," he said, tightening his jaw, and my brows thinned.

"But why? If you are not protecting every woman in this village from the eyes of other men, why me? I do not need your favour, and not even once did you ask me if I wanted a private well or a bathing room for me." My voice was enraged, and he stared into my eyes.

"Why are you denying it? What is the point of it?" he said, stepping closer. I took a step back, sticking to the bamboo pole.

"Because it caused pain to my father," I exclaimed, and he fisted his fingers, stared angrily into my eyes and muttered.

"Your father's disappointment is greater than your virtue?" he questioned, and I stared back into his eyes. They were even darker now. The inside tips of his brows leaned on the two tall wrinkles in the middle of his forehead, signifying his worry and impatience because of me. It intimidated me.

The tensed ball in my gut dropped lower, making me feel tightening in my stomach.

"My virtue is unharmed. Since I have known this world enough, I have been taking baths in the river and washing clothes there. We are not royal people, and we are not privileged enough to afford the facilities. What we earn by selling extra milk and crops is enough to cover our expenses. What you did for me was so out of our budget, and it made people think that we have another source of income. And that another source could be my father accepting the Royal monies in exchange for giving his lifetime of knowledge to people like you for charity. You made it seem like he lied to everyone and did not do it for charity. That is how you disappointed him and me because people will never buy the story of a ran Prince building a well and a bathroom for his old teacher. Who does that?" I inhaled sharply, speaking so out of league that he stared blankly at me.

In the following moments of silence, I realised I had overspoken and crossed my line. He stepped back and walked away silently, and I palmed my face.

No!

No, no, no!

I had complicated everything.

I was given the work to convince him to go back to the Kingdom, and I pissed him off.

"Trisha,"

Suddenly, my father's voice caught my attention, and I calmed myself down and turned around to make the flush disappear from my skin.

"What happened to Yuvraj? Why did he go out so angry?" he asked, and I turned around to look at him with a smile.

"Nothing. I do not know," I said, and he stepped closer.

"Is something wrong?" he asked, and I shook my head.

"No, Pitaji," I said, and he looked at me in confusion and then walked away.

I should not have gotten angry with him. He only wanted to help.

But he had to know that his help was inappropriate and that he was crossing the line unknowingly.

It was not his responsibility to be taken care of.

But he did.

And, it was out of concern.

But I have concern for an old friend. I bet he would have known many girls, but why only me?

I sighed deeply and sat down, holding my hands together. Tears fell from my eyes, and I knew I had messed up.

The King would not be happy knowing that I enraged him even more. Now, he would not even listen to me.

I should have taken more care than I did.

I needed to apologise to him.

I needed to go to him.

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