'I have promised Ira... As The Prince, I can't forego on my own words... But if I tell her maybe she would become very sad... What should I do now?'
Shiv's mind was in a huge turmoil. He couldn't decide what he should be doing right now.
His mind told him to keep his promise but his heart told him otherwise.
After thinking long and hard, his heart finally won. He decided to not tell her about anything for the time being.
Besides they don't have any solid proof that he was the one who was behind the disappearance of those 3 peoples.
'I would better investigate on this issue further before letting her know about it.'
.....
Night fell. Ira couldn't catch any sleep. She tossed and turned on her bed for a long time. She felt very uneasy. The thought of her family's well being kept crossing her mind over and over.
She felt troubled. She wanted to see them as soon as she could to confirm their wellbeing with her own eyes.
Ira finally decided to take a short stroll along the little pond situated at the main house. It could probably help her to calm her thoughts.
....
The cool breeze of the night gently hit her skin. Her long curly black hair was a bit messy when the wind beautifully stroke her lustrous black hair.
She immediately got a grip on a part of her hair and tucked them behind her ears.
Her small frame made her look so lonely and weak. Her eyes were wondering all over the place as if she was searching for something until she finally laid her eyes on a big strong tree. A gust of wind struck the tree all of a sudden making a few of its leaves to get parted from it.
Even though all of those things are not of some value to fret over, at that particular moment, Ira couldn't help but feel bad them.
When those leaves gently fell on the top of the pond, it created some disturbance on the surface of the calm pond.
She suddenly associated herself with those leaves and felt like probably she was also creating some huge disturbance to both that past and the future because of her presence.
She was so absorbed in it that she barely noticed someone approaching her.
Her back looked so small and fragile. It felt like a little nudge could break her into thousand pieces. She looked so sad and lonely....
Shiv carefully walked behind her. Ira was so engrossed on her own thoughts that she didn't notice him approaching her until he made a sound. He was still wearing his mask as he was just our of the court meeting. He hated the thought of exposing his eyes in the public.
"Shiv! What are you doing here? Did you just get back from the meeting?" Ira was taken aback to see him beside her. Her beautiful black eyes were wide in surprise as she continued to stare at him blankly.
"Is it that odd to find me loitering around in my own place?" Shiv didn't bother to answer her other question as he continued to stare back at her as if she asked him the most obvious thing.
Ira blinked at him before answering. Unknowingly she let out a low chuckle which totally caught him off-guard.
"Yeah, sorry I was wrong. I was just a little caught up with my own thoughts that I didn't notice you coming here. But thanks to your presence my heart feels more lighter than when I came here...."
Ira took a deep sigh and started staring at the pond. Shiv could see her trembling a little. She was wearing light clothing and above all she was not wearing her sandals.
Shiv carefully stretched out his hand and gently took her hand into his. He softly caressed it, "Your hands are as cold as ice and you are even dressed lightly... you must be feeling so cold right now..."
Shiv was concerned. But Ira could not understand him as he was a little hard to read. Though most of the times he was open as a book to her, but at times, it felt like he was desperately trying to hide something from her. But until he mentioned, Ira herself was not aware that she was feeling so cold. She even came out without wearing her sandals. She felt so cold that she started shivering!
"I... I didn't notice it until you told me... I am indeed very cold... What happened to me? I didn't even notice it myself! I must have grown stupid! Haha" She was shivering uncontrollably.
"I guess I should go back in. Nights are so cold in here!" Ira pulled her hand away from his and started walking back to the main house.
'It's really not good to be alone with him... What if I something happens between us!? Don't think anything foolish! Nothing will happen as long as I could avoid him!'
Shiv saw the weird expression on her face, it looked more like she was running away from him. He felt a little irritated at that thought and decided to pull her back to him. He pulled her so hard that she hit her nose on his chest with a huge thud.
"Arghh!! That hurts! My poor nose! Are you going to take responsibility if my nose had been flattened due to the impact!?" Ira lashed out at him fiercely due to the pain it caused, but it earned a soft chuckle from him. Ira frowned a little.
"Sorry about that. If you want, I would love to take responsibility for you till my last breath!"
Ira could feel his intense stare at her. But the mask proved to be a huge hindrance for her to meet his beautiful Sapphire blue and honey coloured eyes. She was so annoyed at that mask that she would love to break it into thousand pieces.
Shiv noticed that she was completely into the mask rather than his little confession. For the first time in his life, he hated the thought of wearing the mask especially when he was with her.