BATTLE OF LOVE (completed)

CHAPTER 29

Arjun's POV:

We slept like babies that night and we were woken up by the gentle sun rays. The first thing we did was to make up a story that we would be telling the people around us. I was kind of uncomfortable for having to lie but I had to. So our story is like this. My name is Arun and I am from Mitra while my wife Rani is from Anjan. The reason we exchanged kingdoms is to make it difficult for people to identify us. Rani is highly patriotic towards Anjan. My mother is also from Anjan and she is still loyal to Anjan while my father is from Mitra. Hence my mom suggested that we should consider moving to Minjan so that my wife and my mom could maintain their patriotism. So we are here to settle down and we would be bringing my parents once we got settled. I am currently trying to get into the Minjan army while my wife is looking forward to being a teacher. 

With our newly crafted lies, we went to the officials and managed to get a home and groceries. All the while, Dharani never maintained eye contact and is still angry with me. From my side, I am confused as to what I should be doing. On one hand, I feel sorry for what I have done to her. First I blamed her for being biased, then I sent her best friend to jail and stopped her from meeting her friend and now I literally bought her onto roads without giving her an opportunity to convince Acharya. On the other hand, I am angry at her for coming between me and my values and not understanding me enough and not realizing that what all I have done is just me following the rules. I didn't have a choice in any of the decisions that I've made.

Anyway, we reached our new home and it was a 1BHK fully furnished flat which means we only have one bedroom which also means an increased chance of us arguing all night. We went to the kitchen and unpacked the grocery. I wouldn't lie, we were damn hungry. It was already afternoon and we didn't eat anything since morning and all we had last night was the temple prasad. Dharani innocently looked at the groceries and then towards the stove. 

"It's okay if you cannot cook," I said, "I don't mind eating raw vegetables. Eating raw rice and wheat flour would be a bit difficult but it's okay."

Dharani gave me a death stare. "Stop joking," she said as I unwrapped the little knives we got along with the groceries.

"Arjun I am not ready for a war..."

"You are not ready for lunch?" I interrupted. Dharani was perplexed and stared at me while I cut the vegetables.

"You could cook?" 

"Don't go by the stereotypes," I said in the same way she said when we first met.

Dharani looked away to make sure that I couldn't see her smiling, but as always she is terrible at covering things up. I chose to make a simple recipe, chana curry, and rotis. I finished the curry and started making rotis and gave the first one to Dharani  She looked at the roti and then at me.

"Aren't you hungry?" she asked.

"I am but I can't cook and eat at the same time," I said, "You finish first."

Dharani looked at the roti again and hesitantly pulled off a piece and moved it towards my mouth. I opened my mouth and she started feeding me. It was like turns. She eats one piece and I eat one piece. Honestly speaking this would have been a worth watching romantic scene if Priya and Deepak were in our places, but no both of us are hopeless when it comes to romance and even if we were to attempt something romantic, circumstances will make sure that we hate each other and get separated. So we finished lunch like that and Dharani went out to meet the neighbors.

We decided that this is a great opportunity to know what our citizens actually think of us. It would be a great opportunity for us to know who is right. I am pretty sure they all love Dharani and fear me but what I want to know is how they view our policies and judgments. We met two families who were our immediate neighbors. One of them was a pretty cool family. The wife was very talkative and she informed us about her son Sonu who is currently being trained for the army. My heart skipped a beat. If her son were to see any of us by chance he is definitely going to recognize us. Further, she told me to choose another profession as prince Arjun is very demanding and hard to please. I somehow felt proud while Dharani felt it is not something I should be proud of. Later Dharani informed me that Sonu is none other than the guy who fell unconscious the first day.

The second family though weren't really talkative. They looked really lost. Maybe they are in some sort of trouble. I made a mental note to further know about them and help them in whatever problem they had.

(Hey guys, thank you for making it till here. Please vote and comment. So the next chapter will be published on 14 November 2018. So stay tuned. Thank you. Love you all.)