The Duchess (Outsider #2)

Chapter 80: Athrul's Date

Dusk did not return to the Castle till early morning.

Her date with Athrul Reglane had gone amazingly well. He was a commoner like her and he was worried that his idea of a date was more mundane. However, that is exactly what Dusk herself wanted.

Dusk had borrowed a Hover-car from the Governor's fleet and drove down to the Airport to pick up Athrul, who flew down from Regis in a 3-Seater Personal Jet belonging to Ariyana Airlines.

"Hey, Dusk! Oops, Sorry, Your Grace..." He said and then ducked under the fuselage of the aircraft as Dusk pretended to beat him up for the formal greeting. "This is an amazing idea. I did not know how beautiful this place is! I wish I could move in here!"

"Yes, it is a beautiful place. The Governor urged me to stay the weekend and I realised that our date could happen here too!" she replied.

They drove back to the city. The traffic in Romaska was far less than in Regis or Ci'gazze. Though the roads were narrow and winding up and down the mountain, it was a very pleasant drive. After a relatively long drive, they came to the main marketplace and parked the car in one of the visitor areas. In any case, the vehicle belonged to Imperial Security and carried the Governor's crest. There was no way the Militia would take the vehicle away.

They walked hand in hand through the crowded plaza like any normal couple on a date. Dusk found herself leaning into Athrul's shoulder as they walked. There were no guards around (though she knew they would be shadowing her) and she could feel as if she was free. After a few minutes, Athrul felt more confident and put his arm around Dusk and pulled her closer.

They went into one of the numerous small coffee shops that dotted the plaza. It was cold outside and both of them were from warmer climes. Their hands had almost frozen in the cold wind outside and they ordered hot chocolate to regain their body temperatures. The marshmallows floating on top of the whipped cream was warm when Dusk bit into it.

"You have been busy all week?" Athrul asked.

"As always!" Dusk scowled. "But I think I have moulded myself into this life. I like being busy and don't feel bad about it anymore." She replied.

"Were you always like this? Or was there a time when you relaxed?" he asked.

Dusk thought about it. No one had asked her that before. "My life was different from yours, perhaps. You see from the time we were in our double-digit ages, both me and my sister worked in my father's restaurant. We had school early in the morning. When it got over, we came home, tired but alone because it was lunch time, and my mom was busy in the restaurant. We had to take care of ourselves and then go down to get something to eat at the restaurant.

"Once we ate, we had to help clean the tables, wash the dishes, cut vegetables and tender parts of meat with my mom... In the evening we had to help by serving or even help the cook. In the middle we had to do homework and study... So, I guess life was always busy and hard. Perhaps that is why I don't rebel against the workload." Dusk explained.

Athrul knew about her workload. Even in managing one single airlines with his sister, he was sometimes overwhelmed. "How do you manage all the work, Dusk? I can't even get work done in Ariyana."

"Well, I suppose because I don't actually manage things anymore. I did that only in the first 3 months or may be 6 months when the business was small. Now there are others doing the actual work. I have to only guide them and check if things are wrong. You, on the other hand, have to make the things run properly. I admire your work much more." Dusk replied.

Athrul shook his head. The work she did was vastly different and complex compared to his own. She needed domain knowledge of probably 50 different industries as well as perfect understanding of Finance, Business Models, Profitability and Management technique. He had seen her closely when they started the airlines and was astonished at how sharp she was.