Author's pov
Ranbir paced the length of his balcony, the heavy silence of the room pressing in around him. The fire crackled in the heart, casting flickering shadows that seemed to mirror the turmoil within him. He paused by the mantle, staring into the flames outside the mansion as if they held the answers to his tumultuous thoughts.
"Damn it, Ranbir," he muttered to himself, raking a hand through his hair. "What is happening to you?"
He had always been in control, his emotions neatly compartmentalized, his heart an impenetrable fortress. Yet now, it was as if that fortress was crumbling, and the cause of it all was a girl—a young, innocent girl who had somehow found a way past his defenses.
"Ruhanika", he whispered her name, the sound almost reverent. "Why do you affect me this way?"
He shook his head, trying to dispel the thoughts that clung to him like a second skin. He was not a man given to sentiment. Feelings were a weakness, a liability he couldn't afford.
And yet, he couldn't stop thinking about her—her eyes, her kindness, the way she looked at him as if she saw something worth caring about today in the study room.
The time from which she entered the study of the King him not for once has moved his eyes away from her.
She was wearing a pink floral dress looking like a princess which she is. Her hair open and made neatly along her shoulders.
She had taken a fresh bath her body gel was something that he instantly recognised and fell in love with it on her skin.
Her wound on the hand had a fresh dressing. Her feets were adorned with a pair of white heels.
And oh god what a buttery skin she has.
It was for the very first time they had a proper eye contact with each other. Her eyes had emotions. The emotions he didn't knew what they were about. She wanted to say something but she did not said anything. And her eyes were telling thousands of stories behind it.
He could tell that she was afraid of him. Obviously he has an aura that makes everyone scared. But he wanted to tell her that he won't harm her. She doesn't needs to be scared from him.
He for once took a step towards her to hold her but she flinched and broke the eye contact with him and moved back. This went unnoticed by King and Queen.
Ranbir cursed under his breath and decided to take a leave not liking her reaction to him at all.
But before that only King asked him to take rest and he agreed. Knowing he would not be able to take rest now at all.
Ranbir's pov
"You're a fool," he chided himself. "A fool to let her get under your skin. She is a princess and you can't cage her. This was not your plan."
But it was too late. She was already there, lodged in my heart like a thorn I couldn't remove. I sank into the leather armchair by the fire, my elbows on my knees, my head in my hands.
"How can someone like her love someone like me?" I asked the empty room. "I'm cold, unfeeling. I don't deserve her."
Author's pov
He thought of the way she looked at him, her eyes filled with trust and something more—something that made his heart ache with a longing he didn't want to acknowledge.
He wanted to protect her, to keep her safe from the darkness that surrounded him. But how could he do that when he was part of that darkness?
"You should push her away," he told himself sternly. "It's the only way to keep her safe."
But even as he said it, he knew he couldn't do it. The thought of not seeing her, not hearing her voice, was unbearable. He was trapped, caught between his desire to protect her and his own selfish need to keep her close.
"What am I supposed to do?" he asked the flames, as if they might offer some wisdom. "How can I love her without destroying her?"
He stood abruptly, the restless energy surging through him once more. He crossed to the window, staring out at the night. The city was quiet, the world outside at peace, while inside, he was anything but.
"I can't let her go," he admitted, his voice barely a whisper. "But I can't hold onto her, either. Not without risking everything."
Ranbir clenched his fists, feeling the helplessness of his situation wash over him. He was a man used to solving problems, to finding solutions. But this—this was beyond him. It was a battle between his heart and his head, and he didn't know which would win.
"Maybe," he said softly, "maybe I can find a way to be better. For her."
The thought was both terrifying and exhilarating. Could he change? Could he become the man she believed he should be? He didn't know. But for the first time in his life, he was willing to try.
Ranbir turned away from the window, his resolve hardening. He would figure this out. For Ruhanika, he would try. And maybe, just maybe, he would find a way to deserve the love of her.
He was standing in the balcony from where the main entrance of the palace could be seen the thing taht made him look there for more than a stipulated time was a person covered In cape trying to go out.
His instincts knew that the person was hiding from everyone to go out from the palace.
He thought may be this is the kidnapper of Ruhanika. He so wanted to know who is the person who took her to a dangerous place like Whispering Woods.
He wore his shoes and hurriedly left the chambre with his gun in his jeans.
He reached near the gates of the castle and found no one other than the gaurds there.
He knew there was no point in asking them but he knew if that person has gone out they will come back again to the castle as it was mandatory for them to be back. As every there was a head count done in the castle to know about each and every one in the palace is tehre or not.
He went towards the backyard of the castle where the guest house and the castle joined.
And what be saw made his eyes widened.
.......
Tada
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