Page 18 of The Royal Beast & His Rising Queen

In the early hours, he finally shut his work and laid beside his wife, all the time not letting go of her hold on his palm... it felt too surreal to let go... he knew his wife is angry with him yet never fails to deal with his insecurities silently...

Days passed and things became a lot better between Abhyansh and Isha... Isha slowly started coming out of her fears with the help of her husband's tenderness and her brother's support... the rest of the days, she communicated lesser with Vikram and that seemed to calm her jealous husband...

They were supposed to leave to Rajput palace two days before the death ceremony but Ranveer decided to hold the ceremony somewhere outside, at a religious place, so that they don't have to go to Rajput palace at all... Abhyansh and Ranveer together came to this conclusion. Though they hate each other's guts, they would come together anytime for that one person who is their common lifeline.

A day before the death anniversary, Isha is preparing cotton wicks (batti) for the next day's ceremony, she is used to preparing it with her own hands every year... for their grandfather's death anniversary every year, she used to sit with her mother and prepare every year, and doing this every year forher parents' death ceremony rekindled those memories and she cherished every second of it...

"Isha... let me help you...", Amruta said sitting beside her and Isha nodded giving a small smile...

Avyan, Ranveer, and Vikram are sitting a little far from the seats Isha and Amruta are seated.

"Beta, take this powder and apply to it before rolling them, do it frequently, it makes the wicks steadier... come on, try it once...", Amruta said showing the right way and Isha learned it immediately...

"Like this ma??", she asked with a smile...

"Yes...", Amruta said and both of them indulged in arranging everything for the next day's puja...

"Thanks to your mother, Isha is smiling and at ease, otherwise every year on this day, she looked so sad, and used to do all that alone...", Ranveer said looking at his sister who is smiling with Amruta while preparing for the next day...

"Bhabhi sa has a very cheerful personality, she never lets her pain affect the ones around her, she knows only to spread happiness... I have never encountered such a kind woman", Avyan said and Ranveer smiled... "you both carry on, I'll just come", Avyan said and walked to his mother and sister-in-law...

"Bhabhi sa... this is for you", Avyan came and handed over a bar of chocolate to Isha...

"Why this??", Isha asked with a frown...

"I lost to you day before yesterday, did you forget??", Avyan asked reminding her of the ice cream challenge they had two days ago...

"Oh! ha... how did I forget?? You are supposed to give me yesterday, right?? I'll charge you interest for delay", Isha said giving him a mock angry glare...

"You are not getting any more chocolates Bhabhi sa, I didn't give you yesterday because you already had a lot of chocolates yesterday...", Avyan said, and Isha looked surprised...

"How did you know??", Isha asked with narrowed eyes

"I told him, all the time you were cooking, you had chocolates, I told him not to give you yesterday, these days, all you are eating is chocolates, and because of that, your actual food intake is going down", Amruta scolded her daughter-in-law

"Ma...", Isha whined

"No, doesn't work", Amruta said strictly

"Not my fault, Avyan got me used to chocolates, he lost to me every day, and got me chocolates and I loved them so much", Isha defended

"Bhabhi sa, that's unfair", Avyan argued...

Both of them argued while working and the bickering never gave time for Isha to get sad, looking at this Ranveer felt content...

After some time, everyone dispersed, Abhyansh couldn't contain his fury, he doesn't want his wife to perform that man's death ceremony, but he couldn't stop her, unfortunately he was herfather, so to avoid any mishaps, he decided to avoid her as much as possible, so after dinner, he immediately went to the study and didn't come to room till late...

Ranveer stayed with his sister, as he knew how she is feeling, and since Abhyansh told him about his plans to stay in his study till late, he decided to be with her... they talked about everything and anything, the memories they have of Isha's parents and all...

"Bhai... can I ask you something??", Isha asked suddenly, Ranveer nodded... "Does Rana sa know papa??",She asked startling Ranveer

"Why do you ask??", Ranveer asked in return...

"I don't know bhai... I always feel like he doesn't like papa, but then a question comes into mind, how does he know papa??", Isha said

"You are thinking too much, there's nothing like that, it's already late, sleep now", Ranveer said, Isha lay on the couch they are sitting on, putting her head on her brother's lap while Ranveer slowly ruffled his sister's hair with one hand and tapping her arm with another hand to make her sleep... and slowly she drifted into sleep... Abhyansh came in very late and saw Ranveer patting Isha's head and arm...

"You are still here??", Abhyansh asked

---