"My mother's words made me think better. So I came up with a plan and made a deal with my father," Rishi explained.
"Deal?"
"Yes. I asked him for a chance to prove my worth to take up the throne someday."
He agreed and proposed a deal setting some conditions.
"Firstly I should not use the army of Iris."
"If I come back with victory then he should approve my three requests."
"If I lose, I will have to obey his orders and disown the royal title."
"What? Are you mad? How did you agree to this? Disowning the title.. Also fighting without the army.. Really??" Ashmita voiced out.
"Ashmita if I cannot protect you then I am not eligible to protect my people. So I willfully agreed," Rishi said with sincerity.
Ashmita lost counting how many times her heart skipped the beat. She is truly and deeply falling for him.
"Then the Prince of Cosmos came into picture. I went to him with my private army," Rishi explained.
"What? You have a private army? So you own the army but not the throne??" Ashmita inquired.
"Yes. My father did not say I cannot use my own army right. Ofcourse, he wouldn't. They're being trained separately and they work for me. They don't need to obey the throne but sure as hell, they will follow my orders." Rishi explained.
"So, I went to Charles and asked him to become a partner. At first he refused to join me but I knew one of their weaknesses, so I'd say I used that a little," Rishi said with a smirk.
'Gosh, such a hot devil. Ahem.. control Ash!' Ashmita told herself.
"Finally Charles accepted my offer. We both took our private armies and marched to the lotus kingdom," Rishi informed.
"What is the offer?" Ashmita asked out of curiosity.
"That.. You will know once you become the queen of Iris," Rishi said with a wink.
'Ah..My poor heart.' "Who.. Who wants to be the queen of Iris?" Ashmita asked with a blush.
"Undoubtedly.. You..!"
"But how did you come to Jasmine Kingdom? Nobody knows about our plan.." Ashmita diverted the topic.
Rishi sighed and said, "Even your grandfather doesn't know..? He gave us his consent immediately just as we briefly explained our intentions to help."
"Luckily we reached in time. If we delay a bit, I don't know how the situation would have turned out to be," Rishi said.
"Yes, your presence here adds us strength. That's one reason, we're able to defeat the enemies easily. If your army had been late, there would have been a lot of bloodshed." Ashmita added.
"We thought of losing more people but luckily it didn't happen." Ashmita informed.
"Anyways. Everything turned out to be good," Rishi said.
"Ashmita.. I have to return home soon." Rishi informed with hesitation.
"There are so many things I need to take care of. So I will start back in a few hours."
Ashmita felt sad and her face went pale. She finally calmed down after listening to Rishi's words. She felt happy about how he thought about her but his sudden departure made her feel awful.
"Oh.."
'Ashmita you can't be petty. Let him go happily. He did so much to you, now this is your chance to pay back. Just send him off with happiness' Ashmita motivated herself and looked at Rishi with a smile.
"Okay Rishi, I know you have many things to take care of. So I won't stop you," Ashmita said with a smile but tears were also falling down from her face.
Rishi's heart ached for her and wiped her tears with his thumb and held her cheek.
"Ashmita, before I met you I never believed in love or love at first sight. First time I saw you, you looked like a tigress holding a knife to my throat. I fell for you immediately. I liked you being so fierce."
"I don't know at that time but by spending some more time with you, I developed a liking for you. When we went on that trip, your bonding with your sister made me recognize your childlike nature. I loved that side of yours a lot"
"After reading your message to the soldiers at the wooden bridge, I fell for your cute and commanding behaviour. At Lotus village the way you played with children, the way you spent time with your grandparents made me fall for you hard. That shows me how much love you have for your family and friends."
"Like I said I don't know how and when i developed feelings for you. But one thing is sure I really am sincerely in love with you."
"I Love you Ashmita..." Rishi confessed.
Before Ashmita replied, rishi bent down on his knee and took Ashmita hand into his. He takes a small box from his coat inner pocket.
"I want to fight by your side forever. Feisty, will you marry me?" Rishi proposed to her.
Ashmita's mind is a mess and her eyes are dripping with tears. She tried hard not to cry but like a broken dam, her tears are falling down.
She felt immense happiness when he explained every situation and how much he liked her. She is losing her mind. She never thought that someone would love her like this. Now her dream has come true. As he holds her hand, she already feels her heart is connected to Rishi.
Ashmita slowly nodded her head and said those two sweet words along with the three magical words.
"I will. I Love you, Prince Rishi."
Rishi's eyes brimmed with tears. He slid the ring onto her finger and instantly, they felt their souls united. Rishi stood up and looked at her with lots of Joy. His eyes are glimmering with so much happiness that no words can describe .
"Ash, May I Kiss You?" Rishi asked.
Ashmita blushed and just closed her eyes in approval. Rishi stepped forward and planted a small kiss on her forehead and said, "I'll Love you forever".
And his lips landed on hers and the both lost themselves in the world of love.