'Ir....ya?'
Ira placed the nacklace aside. She jumped down from the swing and ran towards her grandfather.
She hugged her grandfather tightly and he hugged her back.
"Did i make you wait too long?" Viraaj asked to Ira while hugging her.
"No. It's ok. I can always wait for you." Ira said while breaking the hug. She grabbed the necklace and put the necklace arround his neck.
"Oh, my sweet kid. That's why you are my favourite grandchild."
"I know." Ira replied while wrapping her hands arround her grandfather's arm.
Viraaj smelled the flower of the necklace "It's beautiful and its fragrance....it's so good. Thank you my child."
"Your welcome." She replied.
Viraaj looked at the direction where Abhiveera was standing. He was still shocked and confused and didn't moved an inch.
"We have a special guest. I wanted to introduce you to him." Viraaj said to Ira, still looking at Abhiveera.
Ira looked at the direction where her grandfather was looking. She found a old man looking like a nobel or a king staring at them and she smiled slightly.
"I would love to." Ira replied. "But...Does father know about it? He will be mad if he find out that I met someone without his permission." She whispered to Viraaj.
"It's ok. I will take care of it." Viraaj whispered back.
"Your majesty, please come." Viraaj said to Abhiveera, making him come to his sense and blink several times.
After realising the situation, Abhiveera wore a smile and slowly walked forward with his shaky legs. Still wondering about the situation.
"Your majesty, meet my youngest and sweetest granddaughter, Ira. And Ira, meet the majesty of Jwalana Kingdom, Abhiveera kumar." Viraaj introduced them to each other.
Ira removed her hands from her grandfather's arms, she joined her hands and greeted Abhiveera. "Greetings your majesty."
"G-Greetings, princess.....Ira." Abhiveera greeted with hesitation. His eyes were stuck on Ira. Observing her carefully.
Hearing Abhiveera's cracking voice and seeing his expressions, Viraaj asked "Is everything ok your majesty?"
Abhiveera looked at Viraaj after hearing his voice "Huh?....yes yes. everything is fine. It's just...." He shifted his gaze to Ira "Your princess is so beautiful. I can't take off my eyes from her." There was a hidden meaning in Abhiveera's statement.
Hearing what Abhiveera said, Ira smiled shyly and held her grandfather's arm again.
Viraaj laughed on Abhiveera's comment and seeing Ira being shy "Yes, yes. She is! I am sure that my granddaughter is the most beautiful princess you have ever seen."
Abhiveera looked at Ira with admiration filled in his eyes "Yes.....she is the most beautiful princess i have ever seen."
Viraaj escorted Abhiveera towards the table in the garden. They sat down on the chairs. Ira sat down next to her grandfather. A maid brought the tea and snacks for them and left.
"Ira, can I ask you a question?" Abhiveera asked.
"Sure your majesty." Ira replied with a smile while pouring tea in the cup.
"So, may i know how old are you? And why you never showed up infront of anyone? I have never heard about you before." Abhiveera asked.
The smile on Ira's face faded away and she stopped pouring the tea. She looked at her grandfather and her grandfather had the same expression as her. both were speechless. They were looking tensed.
Seeing their expressions, Abhiveera asked "Is everything ok? Did i asked something wrong?"
"No no. It's not like that." Viraaj said. He felt like may be they are making Abhiveera uncomfortable.
He thought to lie and tell Abhiveera that Ira was studying in academy till now but his heart wasn't agreed with it. He opened his mouth to speak but closed it without saying anything. He looked at Ira and then at Abhiveera. Don't know why but he felt like hiding Ira's truth will not be of any use infront of Abhiveera. But he can't just trust anyone like this.
"The thing is.....Ira is not physically completely fit. She often fall sick. We don't want our daughter to fall sick because of going out and meeting others. So we prefer to keep her inside the palace."
Abhiveera was shocked. He can't believe that Ira have some health issues. She is looking fine right now but who knows if she might fall sick again.
"What? Why? Does she have any health issues? Tell me. May be I can help. My kingdom have best healers and good medicine too." Abhiveera asked, worried thinking about Ira's sickness.
Ira looked at her grandfather worriedly and he blinked as reassurance that he will handle this situation. He then turned his gaze to Abhiveera.
"Actually.....we don't know the reason. But her treatment is going on." Viraaj wrapped his arm around Ira's shoulder. "Ira is our daughter and we just want our daughter to be healthy and happy. We don't care if people see her or not. For us, her health is more important than people. She is slowly recovering. And I am sure, she will become fit in few months."
Hearing Viraaj's answer, Abhiveera sighed in relief and smiled "That's a good thing that she is recovering. I was wondering how she can be sick when she is glowing like moon. I am happy to hear that she is recovering and will be fine soon. I am sure she will be fine until her marriage."
Now he understood why no one know about Aaro's second princess. To protect her from humiliation and heart piercing questions, Viraaj hided her existence.
Ira smiled bitterly, knowing that it's hard or may be impossible for her to get accepted by anyone. Even her own family don't want her then how others will accept her.
After spending some time with Viraaj and meeting all the members of chakravarthi family, Abhiveera decided to leave. He came out of the palace and all the chakravarthi family members came to send him off.
"Your majesty, it was a nice meeting you and your family." Abhiveera said to Viraaj.
"Pleasure is ours, your majesty. Hope to see you again." Viraaj replied with a smile.
Abhiveera nod as yes. He then turned his gaze to Ira, Who was standing there with a sweet smile on her face.
He then turned his gaze back to Viraaj "You are lucky. You got such a nice family."
Viraaj smiled on Abhiveera's comment and looked at his family.
"I would like to invite you to my kingdom, with your family. I really want to introduce you all to my family and the relationship between our two kingdoms to be strong." Abhiveera said. He then turned his gaze again to Ira. "Especially, you Ira. I really want you to meet my family.....i want to show them how beautiful...a princess can be."
Hearing Ira's praise, her brother Veer and her sister Veera rolled their eyes on Ira and looked at each other with annoyed face. They both are twins but Veer is the first born. The elder one.
"Sure, your majesty. I would love to meet your family." Ira replied.
Dhishva, Ira's Father sighed deeply.
"I should leave now. Hope to see you soon your majesty." Abhiveera said to Viraaj and they hugged each other before leaving.
After that, Abhiveera left from there. Ira's parents and grandparents went inside the palace. Ira was about to go inside as well but her sister stopped her by saying....
" 'How beautiful a princess can be.' " Veera mimicked Abhiveera's words but the tone was totally different. It wasn't a complement at all. It was a taunt, that Ira always hear from her family members.
Veer chuckled on Veera's taunt, standing aside and ready to enjoy the show.