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Leaving the turmoil behind I approached the backyard of the palace in hope of some peace. As the giggles of children and loud laughs of guests faded, I found myself surrounded by a familiar voice. I followed the voice out of curiosity and spotted Anirudh with Akshita behind a tree.
"Leave me Anirudh." Akshita demanded, struggling to get free from his grip.
"Only if you let me hug you, my beauty." He exclaimed, his eyes filled with love and admiration.
"Shut up Ani and leave me." She repeated with the same intensity but he didn't let her go, so she added with a sigh, "Look, if you let me go, I promise I'll give you a k-."
"Enough!" I cleared my throat with a subtle cough, and Anirudh peeked out from beside Akshita, his face flushing red. He took a few steps back, acknowledging me with a sheepish glance. With a sigh of relief, he gestured reassuringly to Akshita, indicating they were safe. Akshita, however, remained oblivious, her attention still fixed on whatever had captivated her.
"You guys can go inside the palace if you need." I suggested and walked past them. . . .
After roaming for a while, I sat on the chair and dozed off head on it. Her voice pierced inside my head, making the headache unbearable. Some blurred memories flashed in front of my eyes. At a point everything felt surreal like it's happening again in front of my eyes-he died once again, he killed herself once again and that curse was spelt once again. Guilt and fear wrapped around me like a vice-guilt of losing them and fear of losing Vidya.
A tap on the dorsal side of my hand dragged me out of my thoughts. I half opened my eyes to check and saw Anirudh sitting on the opposite chair. He hastened towards the glass and gulped the water. The tint on his cheeks, more deep like the shade of rose. I shut my eyes again but his presence didn't let me focus on anything.
"No, can you leave me alone?" I replied frustrated.
"Nahh!" He exclaimed while tapping on my fingers which made me more irritated.
"Just zip your mouth, I don't want to talk to anyone." I shot back with a glare.
"Fine. I'll zip it after I share this one thing." He said casually.
"What? Akshita gave you what you wanted?" I asked dryly.
"That's personal... Actually we found a man who hired the shooter and our men were torturing him for the past few days. I got a call an hour ago, he spit out someone's name so the shooter is of no use now. Your duty needs to be fulfilled, kill him." He elaborated in detail but the last part made me frown.
"I don't want to kill anyone. Tell them to bury him alive or hand him over to the police." I exclaimed, my gaze meeting his stunned one.
"What? Why?" He asked in shock and added, "You were the one who said that these types of people deserve only death as a punishment and you are their death." He tried to remind me of something which I've never forgotten.
