AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Please…” Sanjana rolled her eyes, letting out a laugh. He took her to the party only because he needed to show a wife for reasons she had no idea. He made no attempt to breach the contract of their physical boundaries except as needed in public. That, too, she was in such a daze in public, it didn’t register how he was holding her or how close he was. She was just glad he was there.
“No kidding. Have you seen the pictures of you two online? #VraVir.” Deepika was busy pulling up her social media feed. “You need to create your own handle now. C’mon.”
“What pictures? I haven’t seen any of them.” For the way they always rushed away from the photographers, she was sure they always got them captured in motion. The only time they posed was for Aish and then a few moments in front of Jai’s friend’s restaurant.
“Oh my God, I must say, of all the hundreds of pictures online, these are my favorites.” Deepika flipped her phone to show her the first one, and Sanjana’s breath hitched at seeing the beautiful couple.
The picture was stunning, not to mention how Jai was looking at her while she looked into the camera, a look that was unfamiliar to her—one of admiration. And then her eyes slid down to where his hand wrapped around her bare waist, his palm grazing over her bare skin.
Her skin tingled at the memory of his touch but looking at how he held her was making her hot inside. A blush painted her cheeks, making her sister chuckle.
“See, you guys look so hot as a couple,” she said, flipping to another photo where they were both looking at the camera. She could not take her eyes away from his face. Why did such a handsome guy pick her to be a part of the contract? Maybe she was the most desperate and would not reveal the deal at any cost?
“And my favorite of all is this.” Deepika flipped to the next picture, and that made her heart leap. She blinked, looking at the picture of her smiling and him brushing his lips over her temple, a smile on his face.
When the crap was that picture taken? She had no recollection of the moment.
“Give me that.” Sanjana dragged her sister’s phone and zoomed the image to look closer at her. She ignored her sister’s teasing comments about how much the prince was in love with her and only focused on his lips.
She let out a gasp when she realized he had, in fact, kissed her, but she was in no state to even notice. She was busy smiling and posing for the million cameras.
Sanjana could not believe how realistic the pictures were. Even she wanted to believe they were in love, but it was a contract marriage that would come to an end in due time. She let out a sigh and told herself it was almost a month since their wedding.
Eleven months to go for her dream job.
Chapter 11
A few weeks rolled by with her barely seeing her husband, and she was okay with that, except for the part where she was bored out of her mind not doing anything. She wandered along the palace hallways, taking many tours of the grounds to the point she knew every nook and corner of the property.
Not that what she did was not enjoyable, but it was not what she was used to. It felt like she was wasting time not getting in some flying hours so she could cut down on the training time.
Unlike the first few weeks, where they met as a family for at least a meal, these days, it was mostly hanging out with Aish, whom she had grown fond of. The queen was a lovely woman who showered her with expensive gifts, and she only felt guilty every time she received one. The worst part was she knew they all cost a lot, and she didn’t want to be the one to be taking care of them for the entire year.
AfterThe Royal Stormnight, yes, the media was referring to their first outing by that name, she had taken the clutch back to the queen as she freaked out about being anywhere near it. The older woman gently shook her head and said, “It’s an heirloom. I told myself I would give it to my daughter-in-law, and that’s that.”
It was still a pretty formal conversation with the king and queen, as it should be. There was zero conversation with the older brother who only looked at her like she was dirt, but the dynamic with Aish was like the one she had with her sister. She started spending time with her in her design studio on the palace premises and enjoyed the time she spent listening to her thoughts on how she designed her clothing line, exclusively for men. The dress she had designed for Sanjana for The Royal Storm night was one of the few she had designed for women.
One evening as she was on her usual walks, her phone went off, and she saw it was her sister calling. “Hello, princess, what are you up to? Do you have a butler waiting on you all the time?”
Although that was true, Sanjana did not like the sound of it. “Can you please stop and refer to them as caretakers or helpers?”
Deepika laughed. “Whatever, I don’t need to be politically correct every time.” Her sister was pretty casual about speaking her mind and not thinking twice about the repercussions. “I do enough of that at work. The moment I step away from the government office, I will speak my mind.”
“Let’s see if we can get you to say that in front of Papa,” Sanjana taunted, knowing such comments would not fly when he was around.
Her sister snickered. “That’s why I said, when I’m away from the government office. Papa is still considered a part of it, even if he is retired.”
“This is true.” Sanjana laughed and asked, “So, what have you been up to?”
“Nothing much, planning a trip to Grandpa’s village, somewhat impromptu, and hoping you can make it too with Jai.” Deepika sounded a bit guilty, knowing how much he had been away lately.
Sanjana thought for a moment. This may be the best opportunity for her to get away after the event and sneak in some hours at the flying club. While her husband was away on business, she didn’t have to feel guilty about not being around her new family. Also, what it was that kept him away from the palace, no one seemed to know.
“So, what do you think of the plan? Do you think you and Jai can make it?” Her sister’s question pulled her out of her wandering thoughts.
“Yeah, he might join for some time, if not for the entire time, but I will definitely come. I can’t miss this trip.” Sanjana’s plan was falling into place. A few days at her grandparents’ place, and she could head to the flying club for a few days and get in some flying hours, and if she made the trip to her parents regularly, she could get more time added to her flying time with every visit.
“Great! I will send you all the event details. Papa wants to host some of his counseling sessions and a dinner for the people from our village and the neighboring ones since they could not make it to our wedding.” It was not the first time her father was hosting dinner for thousands of people, and she absolutely loved the chaos and fun.
