Meanwhile in the IRIS kingdom..
Rishi and Raj started their hunt for witches. The prince is desperate to find the witches responsible for his father's death threat. The oath he took while arresting his uncle constantly reminds itself as he is travelling. But there is also another thing that's constantly bothering Rishi.
He is concerned about Ashmita since he received information from Lotus Kingdom, about an atmosphere of emergency there. Rishi had arranged his men in the kingdom to send him updates that involved Ashmita's safety. He heard from them that people are getting trained which made him take a decision to help Ashmita whatever it is.
On their way into the forest, Rishi and Raj stopped at a town called Neeru. They took a rest in an inn for sometime. Later, leaving the horses at the Inn's stable, they wandered the streets in search of any information about witches.
They saw stalls in the streets selling food items, sculptures, paintings, home materials and they were bustling with people. Almost everyone is busy with their own business, working hard to earn.
After spending two hours around the town, they don't have a single piece of information about how to get to the witches. Tired, Rishi and Raj went to a food stall for lunch. It seemed like the oldest and most famous one in the town. To their surprise, the place is flooded with customers. Standing at the entrance, staring at the people, Raj said, "If we can't find something now, we cannot find anything ever."
Raj rushed to a table in the corner as most of them were occupied. Rishi followed him and they both settled down opposite to each other. Raj, starving, tried hard to read all the names of food items available then from a far away items board. When turned to Rishi for help, he saw Rishi being completely lost in his thoughts with an arm under his chin, looking down at a flower vase.
"Hey Rishi!! You seem to be thinking a lot lately? Is it about your father or anything interesting happened on your trip?" Raj grinned.
"What do you mean by that?" Rishi frowned.
"Well. I have been observing since you've returned home. You seem to be lost almost all the time. Also recently you received some information from lotus kingdom. I mean, there should be something going on," Raj enquired.
"Yes, something did happen," Rishi's eyes turned gentle while thinking about Ashmita.
Raj raised his hand to call the server to take their order. But abruptly stopped and looked at Rishi with shock and teased, "Ohooo.. It seems someone is in love..!"
"What??" Rishi frowned.
"Yes, of course. Don't tell me, you haven't even realized it?" Raj asked while scrunching his eyebrows.
The server interrupted, took the orders from them and left. Raj looked at Rishi for his answer. Rishi sighed as he knew Raj won't leave until he gets what he wants.
'No. Not love. I like her very much but I'm hardly sure it is love,' Rishi said to himself.
'It seems I need to make him realize. God, why did you give me such a nice heart. Raj, your name will be written in gold in the book of history,' Raj thought to himself and patted his own shoulder.
"Ok Rishi. Tell me about your feelings, maybe I can help you," Raj offered.
"What?? And you helping me?? No thanks! I'd rather die suffering with loneliness than taking your help," Rishi rejected Raj's help on his face.
"Ouch!! Now you hurt my feelings, man! How can you say things like that? Is it a crime being nice and trying to help my brother? I deserve an answer," Raj said while wiping his fake tears.
Rishi rolled his eyes and said, "Ok, I know that face but don't you dare make it. I'll tell you. I met her in the Lotus Kingdom. She is a beautiful girl. In fact I never saw such a beauty in my life".
Raj observed his eyes while saying about her and replied, "Brother.. Trust me, you are deeply in love."
Rishi looked at Raj with an expression, 'Am I?'.
"Ok. Tell me more about her?" Raj asked excitedly.
Rishi glared at him seriously then Raj rephrased his sentence, "Tell me more about what you think of her?"
Rishi smiled and started, "She is daring like an arrow. She is not like a spoiled princess nor some princess syndrome girl. She works for her own kingdom, she fights awesome, her smile never less beautiful than a child's, her voice is like fresh honey and everything about her is a wonder."
"Wait. Is she the princess of the Lotus Kingdom?" Raj enquired.
"Yes. Why? Any problem?" Rishi asked.
Raj widened his eyes and gasped in shock, "My god. You are talking about the Devil Beauty?"
Rishi frowned and asked with a gloomy expression, "How did you know about her?"
"Seriously. That is why you have to show at least some interest in girls. When I talk about girls you always put a deaf ear." Raj complained.
The server brought them their order and left. Raj's eyes lightened by the food before him. He didn't answer Rishi's question and started eating without any care for the world.
Raj raised his head when he felt a sudden drop in the temperature. He looked at Rishi who was staring coldly at him. Raj gulped down his food and drank some water.
"What happened? Why are you not eating?" Raj asked cluelessly.
Rishi didn't answer, Raj thought carefully and remembered what they were talking about. Suddenly Raj remembered the question and looked at Rishi with a smile.
"So you want to know how I know Devil Beauty. Is that it?" Raj asked.
Rishi's expression darkened which made Raj shut his teasing and he replied, "Do you remember the other day, I came to you before your trip, to inform you about all the Famous Princesses of the other kingdoms?"
Rishi nodded his head when he remembered Raj approaching to explain to him about some princesses and suggesting him to select someone from them. At that time Rishi was not interested in his chatter so he turned him a deaf ear.
Now he is regretting not listening to him. 'Ah.. So Feisty is popular like I've never known. Interesting,' Rishi thought to himself and a small smile came on to his lips.
"Hey man why are you smiling?" Raj asked with confusion.
Rishi awkwardly cleared his throat and asked with a straight face, "Now tell me. What you know about Devil Beauty?"
Before Raj replied two males came inside and started looking for space to sit as all the tables in the stall were occupied. The server guided them to Rishi's table.
"Apologies. If you don't mind, can these people share your table as you can see the stall is so full?" the server asked politely.
Raj wanted to reject it as he's about to inform him about devil beauty but Rishi nodded his head in approval immediately. The server smiled and informed the others to sit and took their order.
The two middle aged persons took their seats and thanked Rishi and Raj, exchanging their greetings. After sometime their order arrived and both started talking to each other. Rishi and Raj calmly started eating their food.
They started talking about everything, starting from food in the town to food in the palace. Sometimes their remarks made Rishi and Raj laugh.
"Hey, did you know about this? That Ramesh is becoming richer these days. Do you know how?" one person asked.
"Which Ramesh? That goods supplier?" the other replied.
"Yes. That lazy sloth himself. He is supplying some goods into the forest and getting a huge amount in return," he replied.
"To whom he is supplying? Bandits or ..,?" another person asked.
"Ohh! You didn't hear this. He is supplying his goods to a witch" he replied slowly.
"What?" another person gasped in shock.
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