Blossom and Burn

Chapter 21: The royal ball

Irisha

The royal palace loomed ahead, its majestic spires reaching towards the star-studded sky, filling me with a mix of excitement and nerves. Tonight was no ordinary evening, it was the royal ball, a glittering affair steeped in tradition and glamour. This was nothing new to me, I have attended almost all the Royal balls but the only change was my date and that change alone was enough to raise my nerves.

No, he did not ask me to be his date and accompany him to the Royal ball, Classic Veer Singh Raichand.

He sent me a text that he got me a dress and sent it home through Rishit and told Dad that I agreed to come along with him to the Royal ball.

I glanced at him, busy on his phone. He didn't even compliment me, that jerk. I swear I wouldn't have shown up if it wasn't for Uncle and aunty asking me to come because they missed me and I also missed them a lot. It's been so long since I last met them.

The car soon stopped as reached the royal palace and he finally kept his phone aside while I averted my eyes so that he won't catch me staring.

The chauffeur got out and opened the car door for him first while I waited for mine to open. Ofcourse I am acquainted to this by now.

As soon as the car door opened, I sighed in relief. Finally!

But what surprised me was the hand being offered to me and it definitely looked familiar. It's not what I am thinking it is.

Or is it?

I looked up, only for my breathing to be hitched as he stared down at me. Mr. Raichand opened the door for me and is offering me his hand. Am I dreaming?

A flash went off and I realised we were surrounded by the media, he is doing it all for the show.

Taking a deep breath in, I gave my hand in his and stepped out, he stood in front of me shielding me from the others as I smoothed down the folds of my white Saree, it's intricate patterns catching the soft glow of the palace lights.

We posed for the paparazzi and then entered inside, Mr. Raichand ignored all the questions directed at him while I tried to maintain my smile. Ugh! This is so tough, to make an entry and that's exactly why I used to be present at the hall before anyone and join Rakshit once he comes.

The gaurds greeted us at doors and let us in while checking the rest of the people's invitation cards, once inside the hall I gently whispered, "You can remove your hand from my waist, you know."

And like always he ignored me, I found Rakshit waving at us as we both moved to them.

Raja sa and Rani sa were standing beside them as he introduced his date - Ishika Kapoor to them. Yes, Ishika is the girl he kept telling me about on the phone that day.

So I literally tricked her into accompanying Rakshit as his date cause she wasn't agreeing to. Infact I even took Mr. Raichands help to finalise the confirmation convincing him that it will be good for her career even though I have no idea about being an journalist.

As we reached near them Rani sa and Raja sa's warm smiles instantly put me at ease. "Isha, dear, it's been too long," Rani sa exclaimed, pulling me into a tight embrace.

"I've missed you both terribly," I replied, returning their embrace with equal fervor.

I couldn't help but notice the curious glances from the other guests. It was no secret that I shared a close bond with the royal family, and many of them knew me, Raja sa had introduced me to a lot of them as family members.

Raja sa also joined our little embrace as he chirped in, "Not more than I missed you, Did you chatterbox?"

"Uncle, I am not a chatterbox." I pouted at him.