When Aastha met Veer, she knew they had a connection.
However, the connection would be from two centuries ago, she never could have imagined.
A love story that remained unfulfilled, broken by evil, and destroyed to ashes - whose reference hide...
*Short recap of characters from this chapter, refer to the Author's Note at the end of the update.*
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Rudragarh
"Look at you! I told you, it's impossible to talk to that peepal ki bhoot," Mani said, flying over and perching on a rock near Paakhi, who sat dejectedly by a small stream of water.
Paakhi nodded. "You know the kind of burn you get when you get close to a temple or the power of God?"
Mani blinked in disbelief. "A ghost with something powerful like the presence of God?"
Paakhi shrugged. "Something like that."
Mani blinked again, then flew around like a maniac, laughing uncontrollably. "You're out of your mind!"
"I swear!" Paakhi exclaimed. It took some time, a few death glares, and a few stone-throwing attempts at the crow to get Mani to settle down. Once he did, Paakhi repeated her story. Mani fell into deep thought.
"He seems more interesting than I thought," he said, his tone less mocking now.
"Is there anything you can find out?" Paakhi asked.
Mani glanced at her, narrowing his eyes. "You kind of take me as your personal servant these days, don't you?"
"That's not true! You're my good friend!" Paakhi protested.
Mani rolled his eyes. "I don't need friends."
"What do you need?" Paakhi asked desperately. Despite his low profile and annoying antics, Mani had a knack for gathering information. He was like a little spy, though with an extremely irritating personality.
"Find me a bride, give me salvation from this miserable spirit life!" Mani demanded.
Paakhi groaned aloud. It wasn't the first time Mani had pestered her about this. Just like animals in mating season, Mani became unbearably desperate once or twice a year. He strongly believed that his restless spirit existence was due to dying a bachelor. Tragically, his bride had married his brother while Mani was lying on his deathbed. Even his death story was both tragic and somewhat comical.
Mani, in his final days, had gone into the Rudragarh forest to find the finest wood to make a cot that he hoped to share with his bride after marriage. Unfortunately, he crossed paths with hunters targeting an arrogant elephant. A poisoned arrow struck Mani by mistake. Despite the best efforts to save him, the injury paralyzed him, and he died after weeks of suffering.
