A broken promise - SISIR AND BASANTA

Chapter 23

There is only one thing Sisir hates the most in the world. Studies about history. It was true that he was smart, intelligent and he holds the potentiality to be a great ruler. But, him and studies were literally enemies. So, here Sisir was in front of the lecture room where Mr. rana was waiting for him. Andrea literally had to drag him out of the bed to attend the morning classes. Sisir made a boring face. But, went inside because if he bunked the class again, his wife Andrea wouldn't spare him at any cost. He was praying to god to not let him sleep during the class. When he went inside, he saw Mr. rana with a long a** book on his hand which scared him because he knew he had to finish studying all that today. "Why the hell are history books so long?" he thought to himself. Mr. Rana motioned him to sit on the desk and he obeyed. And the hours of torture began. At the middle, Mr. rana asked Sisir, "So, your majesty, who was the first king of united Nepal." And Sisir answered, "Prithivi Narayan Shah. Ask me some hard ones." "correct. Now let's move on to the next question. it's going to be harder as the time goes by." After 2 hours or more, the class finally ended and Sisir couldn't be more relieved. He went to have lunch with Andrea as he had promised her the other day. He looked for her everywhere. And after a long search, he found her at the garden sipping her tea while sitting at the soft grass. He smiled looking at her and said while moving forward. "well well well. It looks like your highness is having a great time sitting here all alone. Mind if I join?" Andrea looked at him and nodded her head. Sisir sat beside her on the ground. She provided tea to him and he gladly drank it. They started to have a conversation. Sisir noticed that Andrea wanted to tell him something and she looked uneasy. He asked, "what happened Andrea?" Andrea sighed, looked at Sisir and began to speak, "Sisir I have to tell you something very important."

Sisir listened to her very carefully. "you know my cousin sister Diya right?" Sisir thought for a moment before speaking, "oh yes. She is your father's cousin's daughter who is 2 years older than you. Right? And she had gone to the foreign state for her studies and had just returned back to her home." When he finished speaking, Andrea looked stunned. She asked him, "how the hell do you know about that?" "just studied it from the royal family tree background book. I am known to be smart for no reason and Mr. rana's teaching skills are no joke either. I hate his teaching skills though." He flipped his imaginary hair, praising himself and then made a boring face. Andrea chuckled at him. "okay. So, as I was saying she is coming tomorrow to visit us. And I want us to act as a couple in front of her. She is very clever. I don't want her to suspect anything. And don't go to near her. She is known for her flirtatious and slutty behavior all around especially among the handsome boys... we have to." "wait! wait! did you just indirectly called me handsome?" Sisir asked with wriggling eyebrows. Andrea widened her eyes. She smacked his head lightly and said, "out of all the information, you only heard that she likes to flirt and hook up with handsome boys. Gosh. You are unbelievable."

Andrea scoffed. Sisir just smiled at her and relied, "don't worry. You don't know but I am an acting king. She would totally fall for our act. Just chill. now, let's go. By looking at the clouds, I assume that it will rain soon. Let's head back now." Andrea nodded her head satisfied with the fact that Sisir understood what she was trying to tell him. They both stood up and began to walk inside the castle. While walking, Sisir said, "oh, I forgot to ask. When is your cousin visiting?" "next week. let's get prepared for that shall we? Fighting." "fighting. What does that mean. Are we going to have a war or something?" "no, silly. It means providing the other person or yourself with great encouragement and support. It is a popular Korean phrase. I read that in a book." Sisir made a o face and just nodded his head telling her that he understood. The day went flew by in just a blink of an eye.

After a week, the whole palace was doing the preparations for the arrival of princess. Sisir and Andrea were getting ready for her arrival. Don't ask how many times they had practiced their lines to say to each other to say in front of her. You know lovey dovely couple acts. Sisir was feeling nervous. Andrea noticed it, gently hold his hand and said, "Don't worry. We would get through this together. Now, try to calm yourself. If you feel nervous or anxious, just remember me at that moment. Okay. Now, let's go. We are getting late." Sisir didn't said anything. He just smiled widely at her. They both went out of their room and waited patiently at the palace's gate. The guards around there were whispering to each other, telling each other that they looked perfect together with all of their glory and shine. Sisir heard it and had a little smile on his face. Soon, the guard keeper announced, "PRINCESS DIYA HAS ARRIVED." The gates opened and four men entered inside in the most fascinating outfits while holding a palanquin along with several maids and horses behind them. Sisir looked amazed. 'That was a great entry.' Sisir thought to himself. Then a shoe stepped outside from the palanquin. All boys looked at the shoe. Then their eyes travelled at upward direction and they were amazed to see the beauty in front of them. "wow, the princess is beautiful. Wish she was mine." One of the guard said but lowered his eyes and head when Andrea glared at him. Well, you want to know Sisir's reaction. Well, he had an emotionless face and Andrea was trying to read it. After a few seconds of an awkward silence, Andrea went forward and hugged her cousin. Diya hugged her back. Sisir saw a smile at Andrea and his heart warmed at that sight. No matter what kind of character Diya has and how much she Andrea hates her, she is still Andrea's sister. Her only blood. Soon, the sister's departed. And Diya asked Andrea, "so, how are you. Sis. It's been so long since we met. Isn't it." Andrea nodded her head. she looked at Sisir who looked clueless on what to do. She motioned him with her eyes to come near her. Sisir obeyed and went near her. He joined his palms together, greeted her and said, "Namaste! welcome to Noemi. Princess Diya. It's a pleasure meeting you."

He smiled. Diya smiled at the polite greeting but she was still confused at Sisir's identity. She said, "pleasure meeting you too but may I know who you are. Handsome?" "oh. Sorry. I forgot to introduce myself to you." He bowed to her and said, "well, people know me as king Sisir of Noemi. But, if you want you can call me anything you like." Diya looked shocked and said to Andrea, "you married him today Andrea." "No." "then how come is he still alive." Andrea became annoyed at that question. She held Sisir's hand tightly and said, "well. Looks like I found my better half as you can see who removed the curse. Unlike you who is still single and flirting with other's husbands." She said the last sentence in a sarcastic tone. Diya's smile dropped and she looked down feeling embarrassed. Sisir cleared his throat to gain the attention of the cousins who looked like they are about to pull each other hair at any time. They both looked at each other. Then, looked at Sisir. Sisir was confused on what to do. He said in an awkward voice, "let's just head inside. Shall we? You must be hungry after the long journey princess." He faked a smile. Diya smiled at him and said, "so thoughtful of you to think about me. Mr. king." Sisir saw that Andrea was still glaring at her. He held her hand and motioned her to head inside. She obeyed. Both Andrea and Diya were fighting through their eyes throughout the whole day, during lunch and at dinner as well. Andrea was angry at her for flirting with her husband in front of others while Diya was mad at her because she had to face the embarrassment the morning she arrived here. Suddenly, Andrea spoke, "so, Diya how long are you planning to stay here." Diya replied, "don't know sis. Maybe a week or two." When she said that Sisir chocked at his food. "I have to act for this long. Oh god. Save your poor child who is stuck between these women." Sisir thought in his mind. Andrea just hummed and continued to eat her lunch but deep inside she was wining at the thought of her staying here. Like that their day went on. Poor Sisir suffered a lot.