The Story of Dhanvanthri

twenty-five

A Look Into Rumours

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"May I have this dance, princess?" Dhanvanthri wanted to laugh at the look of incredulity his sister was offering him. She took his hand anyway and bowed, it is only when they touch the dance floor before she leaned forward to hiss her confusion.

"I thought you didn't want to dance, it was the only thing you'd talk about?" She huffed, sounding quite offended. Dhanvanthri scoffed, "What, don't want to dance with me? You wish you could score a guy who looks as good as me, yet look at the partner you chose- Whiney's son of all people."

"He's nice," Athanasia defended. "He's different from his dad."

"You mean he's not persistent, does not love holding onto his own presumption, doesn't like acting accordingly to his own liking, and doesn't enjoy subtly manipulating others?" Dhanvanthri raised a brow.

Athanasia widened her eyes in shock then she felt contemplative.

"Nah, he's not that bad, maybe a bit sly but he's okay," Athanasia waves his worries off. "I'm pretty sure he has a crush on me, puppy love, you know?"

"No," Dhanvanthri responded dryly. "And pray tell how exactly did he even develop puppy love on a princess he just met, what is this, one of your rubbish romance novels about love at first sight?"

"Don't insult my books!" Athanasia hissed. Then, she eyed him suspiciously, "Alright, what did you do? You look as if you just read something interesting."

"Well, I met something interesting I suppose," Dhanvanthri admitted. "But don't think you can shift the topic away, how did you meet that Duke's son and for how long have you been in contact with?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Athanasia denied with the practised ease of an experienced liar. Her tone didn't change and her eyes didn't shift, but Dhanvanthri knew her far too well and caught just the slightest dash of red at the tip of her ears.

"So, you snuck out and met him," he concluded. "Who brought you out? Lilian? Felix?"

"Why didn't you suspect Noah?" Athanasia pursed her lips. Then, she froze because she had just indirectly admitted that someone had brought her out.

Dhanvanthri didn't seem to care, but then again, he probably already knew who brought her out. Still, he felt the need to clarify his lack of accusation on Noah. "I don't suspect Noah because he won't do anything unless I ordered."

Athanasia shook her head, right— Noah was always abnormally loyal to her brother, so much that even she could see that Noah would sooner kill their father than even entertain the idea of betraying Dhanvanthri. She didn't understand how someone could be that loyal to a person, especially since Dhanvanthri didn't do anything life saving or any impactful scenes for Noah.

But at the very least, she could somewhat trust that even if her brother ends up losing his status as the Prince as the Athanasia in the book had lost her status as the Princess— Noah wouldn't betray him. That guy was a psycho like that.

"Chin up," Dhanvanthri said. "It's time for our dance to end, don't go stepping on people's feet anymore."

"First of all, shut up," Athanasia sniffed. "I'm just having a bad day."

"Sure," He gave a dry agreement that was filled with sarcasm.

Surprisingly, Athanasia didn't step on his feet, Dhanvanthri might've been the only person that night that hadn't been subjected to her horrible dancing. He pressed a kiss onto her forehead at the end of the dance drew in incredulous looks from the crowd, even Athanasia herself looked shocked at his affectionate action. Dhanvanthri merely gave her a depreciating smile and left to who knows where leaving his stunned sister behind.