18 years later, 3rd July, Pune, Maharashtra, Trident University, 9.45 a.m.
Dev Singh Raizada hated monthly visits to all the hospitals, orphanages, and schools his family owned, or universities of which, his father was either a trustee or a member of the committee.
Because all that he did there, was put on a facade.
He was his true self with children around.
But otherwise, all he had to do was plaster fake smiles as he met people.
Now, was a similar situation.
He quietly accompanied his father as he conversed with the Dean of the University.
And suddenly, someone caught his attention.
"Meri baat sunlo tum! You can't talk to me like that! Tum janti bhi ho mere Dad kaun hai?" A boy,
possibly a high-schooler or a fresher in college, gritted out to the lanky female in front of him.
( You hear me out! You can't talk to me like that! Do you even know who my Dad is ?)
" Kyu ? Tumhari Ma ne tumhe bataya nahi ?" She spat, her snarky remark almost immediate.
( Why ? Didn't your mother tell you ?)
Dev's brows raised in amusement.
" Tum—tum—you'll regret rejecting me and talking to me like that!" He glared at her.
" Hogaya? Ab tum meri baat sunlo. When a girl says no, learn to respect it and accept it. Just because you were never rejected before and it bruises your ego, doesn't mean you act like a creepy jerk. If you truly are the gentleman your behaviour insisted before you asked me out, then you'd rather accept my rejection and move on and find someone who reciprocates your feelings instead of being stuck over this rejection and play a petty game of revenge. I really respect you as a senior, so don't make me lose that respect for you." Her voice was incredibly soft, but it had a certain firmness in it.
-Are you done ? Now you listen to me.
" Mr.Khanna, who's that ?" Dev finally asked the Dean unable to hold his curiosity.
Pankaj Khanna's eyes flew towards the group of kids near the basketball court, engrossed in a verbal brawl and he sighed.
" Again ?" He murmured in exasperation.
Dev's brows drew closer as confusion was apparent in his onyx orbs.
" Again ?" He echoed as he watched the man excuse himself and walk over to the children.
" Miss Rawat !" He began in a firm tone and the girl sighed turning towards Mr.Khanna.
" Yes sir ?" She asked, her tone holding evident disinterest, as if she was aware what was to come for her.
Dev walked forward a bit, ignoring the stares and the squeals that came his way.
Yet to his sheer disappointment, he still couldn't get a proper view of the girl.
" How many times must I warn you not to get into fights ? This must be the fifteenth time in two weeks !"
To that, the girl let out a small, dramatic gasp.
" You counted the number of times I got into a fight, sir ?" She asked incredulously and Mr.Khanna pinched the bridge of his nose.
" Miss Rawat, that clearly, is not the point."
" Right." The girl nodded. " What is the point ?"
" Lo, itni baar wahi Ramayan ki kahani sunke aap puch rahi hai, Devi Sita kaun thi!"
( There you go, after hearing the same story umpteen times you're asking me who the main protagonist was!)
" Sir, main Devi Sita kaun thi yeh jaanti hu, main toh abhi ke discussion ka point puch rahi hu."
-Sir, I know who the main character of the story you mentioned is, I'm asking about the point of our discussion.
" Aapko ulta jawab dena bada pasand hai, nahi ?"
-You love back-answering, don't you ?
" Sir, this isn't the point either." The girl shook her head calmly.
Dev let out a chuckle at the way the tiny devil was testing the patience of a grown, old man.
That certainly earned him more unwanted attention.
" Y-Your Highness ?" The Dean questioned timidly, afraid that something offended him, but Dev shook his head, murmuring that the brawl, something he wouldn't even call a brawl, seemed amusing.
His gaze unsettled, now settled on the girl, her grey blue orbs holding genuine curiosity as she stared at him.
And as his onyx orbs bore into her grey blue ones, recognition and realisation slowly began dawning upon him.
" Come along!" Mr.Khanna told her and she obeyed, walking over to Dev and his father, Ekansh Singh Raizada.
" This is Shivanya Rawat, Your Highnesses. She's got a knack of arguing, picking up fights and getting into unnecessary trouble, but, she's a brilliant student I must say."
" Are you criticising me or complimenting me, Sir ?"
She asked, with a cute furrow of her brows and Ekansh let out a short laugh.
" She's certainly got a sharp tongue and good lot of confidence. Do well as you grow my child."
" Thank you Your Highness." Shivanya, as the girl was introduced and as the locket hanging down her neck insisted, her name was, thanked the man with a smile.
♧¤♧
" Dev ?" Dev heard his father call out to him, his gaze fixed out of the window of the car.
He noticed his voice was unusually soft.
Dev hummed, letting his father know he was listening to him.
He wasn't really interested in the conversation.
Not after trying for years, putting efforts in the relationship, but in vain, for he only got pushed away every time.
" What's bothering you ?" Ekansh asked him.
Why do you care? Dev wanted to ask.
Nonetheless, he gave in with a sigh.
" That girl....from the university..." Dev began.
His father hummed, urging him to continue.
" Her eyes. Did you see her eyes Dad ?"
Ekansh frowned.
" What about her eyes ?"
Dev sighed.
" She had a rare eye-colour...Grey Blue eyes. But they seemed familiar. A little too familiar. And, there's only one person we know with those familiar eyes."
" Priyamvadha Singh Rajawat." Ekansh's voice was a mere whisper now.
" Exactly." Dev's lips now curved up in a smirk.
" And what's more ironic about this, is that Priyamvadha Singh Rajawat, herself, outcasted her own blood. And do you know what happens if we tell the Rajawat's that we found their long lost, lovely princess ?"
" Truce." A mirthless chuckle escaped Ekansh's lips.
Dev's smirk broadened.
" We won't be getting somewhere, with this piece of information. We'll be getting into the deepest and darkest depths of that palace, know their secrets, and ruin them." Dev's voice held a tone of determination.
However, the twenty-three year old lad was absolutely unaware that the ones he intended to ruin, especially a certain young girl, was walking into his life in form of his ruin instead.