"Now you should go to your husband and meet other guests. You are a king's wife now and everyone is already mesmerized by your beauty. Everyone must be waiting to meet my beautiful princess. Don't make them wait any longer." Viraaj pointed towards Raksheet who was waiting for Ira while talking with emperor. He was gazing at Ira again and again to see if she is done talking with her grandfather.
Ira glanced at Raksheet and then again looked at her grandfather. She don't want to leave him alone when he is looking sick. She wanted to accompany him.
"But grandfather i can't leave you-"
Abhiveera cut off Ira's words by saying "Don't worry Ira, I will accompany his majesty. I will take care of him. You and Raksheet are the centre of attention today, so you should go and meet the guests."
Ira was still in dilemma whether she should go or stay. But then Viraaj patted her hand and said "Yes Ira, his majesty will be with me. I will ask him if I need anything. You go and attend the guests."
Ira sighed helplessly and nod "Ok, i am going. But take care of yourself and tell grandfather if you need anything." She said to Viraaj before walking away from there, even if she didn't wanted to.
She came to Raksheet and stood beside him.
"You both should meet other guests now." Emperor said "Raksheet, introduce our princess to all the guests. And keep her away from perverts as our princess is so beautiful. Some people might try to misbehave with her. If something like that happened, inform me right away. I will take care of them."
The emperor's word made Ira feel secure and supportive. She smiled and replied "The emperor is so kind hearted. Thank you so much your majesty the emperor."
Ira's smile touched the soft spot of emperor's heart and a unknowning smile appeared on his lips. "Anything for you princess."
Raksheet smiled to see how the emperor is so touched by Ira's sweet and cute personality. He wasn't jealous because he know the emperor love his wife more than anything and he will never look at any other women. He was thinking how his wife is so smart to win emperor's heart in the first meeting.
"Thank you so much your majesty the emperor for your generousity." Raksheet said
"No need to thank. Go and introduce princess to other guests." Emperor said and walked away from there with his wife.
Finally Raksheet got some alone time with his wife. He leaned towards Ira and spoke "I didn't knew that my wife is so cunning. Acting all innocent and pitiable."
Ira chuckled. She wrapped her hands arround Raksheet's arm "King Raksheet, You don't know how smart your wife is."
"Oh really?" Raksheet asked, seeing his wife's confidence "Hearing you addressing me in new way is quite good. By the way, Did you enjoyed seeing your father getting scold?"
Ira tried to hold back her laugh, feeling shameless to embarrass her father infront of everyone but satisfied at the same time. She wanted her father to know his mistake. How he ignored her, hated her and used her for his benefit and never paid attention to her. Then how can he blame her for not being well behaved and well mannered when he didn't taught her ever.
"To be honest, yes i enjoyed it." Ira quickly covered her face with her hand in embarrassment.
Raksheet laughed at his wife and patted her head "I am really proud of you my princess. Well done. But may I ask why did you do that."
"Because he told me to do that." Ira's words left Raksheet confused.
"What do you mean?"
"He told me to keep my gaze low while talking to emperor." Ira explained but Raksheet know his wife very well.
"Ok...now tell the truth. Why did you do that?"
Ira wasn't surprised to see how her husband detected that she is hiding the truth. She stopped smiling and answered seriously.
"Do you remember these wristlets?" She showed her wristlets to Raksheet and Raksheet nod.
"Yes i do. It's your family wristlets and your mother gifted it to you, right?"
Ira nod with a slight smile and continued "As you know these are my family wristlets. My sister also have her eyes on it. She didn't knew mother gave it to me. She saw me wearing it today and asked me to return it to her."
"What? How can she asked you to return your gift?" Raksheet furrowed "Your mother gifted you these wristlets. It's hers and she can give it to anyone she want. No one have rights to take it back from you."
"I know." Ira Replied "But Veera don't care about it. If she want it she will take it, doesn't matter what. She always ask father to tell me to give her whatever she want from me. And father always force me to give it to her. But today, he didn't ask me to give it to Veera. father told me to keep it as a reward not as a gift."
Raksheet's eyes narrowed in confusion "What do you mean by reward? What reward?"
"For marrying you." Ira looked straight in Raksheet's eyes with a sad smile. She don't want to hide it anymore. She want to tell Raksheet everything. She want him to know everything about her, unlike her father who only know her name that he hate with all his guts.
Raksheet's heart skipped a beat. He knew that Ira wasn't interested in marriage but he didn't wanted to believe that she was forced to marry him. And now she got a 'Reward' for it.
Ira rested her head on Raksheet's shoulder "I married you for the good relation between our kingdoms. That's why my father gave me this reward. But he don't know that i already got one."
Raksheet looked at Ira over his shoulder and asked "When? And what?"
Ira smiled brightly and rested her chin on Raksheet's shoulder. She looked in his eyes "Just after i married you. Your love."
Raksheet was stunned for a moment. He didn't expected Ira to think his love is a reward for her sacrifice. His heart was beating fast and his face flushed red. He was speechless, not knowing laugh or cry. He wanted to pull Ira in his embrace and hug her tightly but because of the situation and people arround them, he can't do it.
He cupped Ira's face with one hand and whispered in her ear "I love you."
For his surprise, Ira replied back "I love you too."
Raksheet's eyes were wide open and his breath hitched when he heard Ira confessing her love. In these two months, Ira never said 'i love you' to Raksheet. She just nod or smile whenever Raksheet said it to her. But she never dared to say it back. But today, she is feeling so much attachment and love for him and she want to show it to him.
"C-Can you say it one more time.... please." Raksheet requested, not to confirm whether he heard it right, but to feel it, enjoy it and remember it for rest of his life. His wife finally confessed to him.
Ira giggled to see how surprised her husband is. She nod and whispered in Raksheet's ear "I love you too....my husband."
The smile on Raksheet's lips grew wider. He tried to hide it but can't.
Seeing her husband looking so happy just by one confession, Ira felt so blessed to have him.
Later on Raksheet introduced Ira to some guests other kingdoms. Everyone was looking normal, friendly and kind but Ira wanted to see the people about whom Raksheet told her that they don't have good relation with.
She know her husband will try to avoid them but she was trying to search them. She was observing each and every person in the hall, trying to find the people who look mysterious and unhappy for kumar family. But for her disappointment, she didn't saw anyone like that.
"Raksheet, who are the people you told me that they don't have good relation with us?" Ira finally asked.
Raksheet looked at her questioningly, thinking why she want to know. It's not safe for her to meet them. "Why?"
Ira looked arround, looking at each and every person around them "I just want to know who they are."
Raksheet held Ira's hand that was wrapped around his arm and said in serious tone. "Princess, you should stay away from them. They are not good people. Why you want to know about them?"
Ira looked at Raksheet in his eyes "I know what you are trying to say. You want me to stay away from them and safe. But how can I stay safe when I don't know who is trying to hurt me? I should know who is our enemy so that I can protect myself from them. So, my dear husband, would you like to tell me who they are."
Raksheet chuckled on Ira's explaination. He can't believe his wife have such a intelligent brain. He patted her head gently and replied with a heavy heart.
"Ok." He sighed deeply before continuing "I will introduce them to you. But remember, you have to be careful and don't talk much with them. They may look kind and friendly to you but they are not. Always remember that they are our enemy. Don't listen to them. They are all sweet talkers." He said with a serious look "You should hate them."
Ira was unable to understand why her husband hate someone this much. Raksheet's last sentence was enough to understand how much he hate those enemies of his. He even want Ira to hate them.
"Ok, i will hate them. But can you tell me what happened between you two that you hate them so much?" Ira wanted to know the root of this enmity. Even if she can't do anything about it, she still want to know. She don't want her husband to be the wrong person in this enmity.
Raksheet smiled softly after seeing his wife's innocence. The person asking about the reason is herself the reason of it.
"Not now. But soon." He replied, leaving Ira confused.
Raksheet escorted Ira towards Abel and his family. On their way, Raksheet was reminding and telling all the caution that can keep Ira away and safe from them.