Page 112 of Sumanika

I didn't realize that throughout all the time I spent in the kitchen, my mind was stuck on the moment when he pulled the bedsheet off the mattress and handed it to me with a 'sorry.'

Dinner was ready, and I looked after everyone's plates until my gaze fell on his. I searched for everything he liked and looked at the attendant.

"Add jaggery to this one," I said.

The attendant added it and went to serve dinner to everyone.

After finishing my work, I had dinner and was about to return to Nandani with her milk when I noticed an attendant coming back with a dinner plate.

"What happened?" I asked, furrowing my brows, and she replied.

"Kunwar Agastya is not in his chamber.”

I looked at the plate momentarily and asked, "Where is he?"

She shook her head. "I don’t know. But he’s not in his chamber."

"Okay," I said before walking back to my room after giving the milk to Nandani.

I rolled under my comforter in my room, illuminated by the soft light of the lamp, gazing at the walls. They were as bare as my life. There were no floral designs like those in royal chambers. I understood what he was trying to convey, but he failed to see that my room wasn’t a chamber; the walls lacked floral designs, and sunlight didn’t fall directly on them.

I didn’t have a kingdom to run alongside a king or a business to finance, either. All I had was my extensive experience working in the kitchen and cleaning rooms, and I excelled at them.

I didn’t want to give up on those tasks because I wasn’t forced to do them; I enjoyed them. For me, it felt like taking care of my family and the surrounding people.

I exhaled deeply and closed my eyes to catch some sleep. I didn’t know where he had gone, but we had plans. He promised to take me out. Maybe he was angry with me, but why? He had no reason to be mad at me.

I never asked him to change anything he liked to do.

I was suddenly jolted out of my thoughts by a soft knock at my door.

I gazed at the door, wondering who might be there at such a late hour. However, dismissing the thought, I pushed aside the comforter and stood up to open the door.

I gasped as my gaze fell on a tall figure dressed in black, with kohl lining his eyes and a black turban wrapped around his head. I was taken aback to see him, but the moment I noticed his green eyes illuminated by the lamp’s yellow glow on his face, I recognized him.

“You… here?” I asked softly, quickly pulling him inside and closing the door behind us.

“What if someone sees you? What are you doing here? Men aren’t allowed here; this area is exclusively for women,” I said. He held out a bag in front of him and replied slowly,“We’re going out.”

My mouth dropped open in surprise as I furrowed my brows.“Where were you? Why didn’t you have dinner?” I asked, and he stared at me for a moment before responding,“I thought you wouldn’t question me about anything.”

I gritted my teeth slightly as he handed me the bag. "Change,"

I lowered my gaze, opened the bag, and asked, "What is this?" as I found a pair of clothes.

"These are men’s clothes," I pointed out, and he nodded.

“Yes,” he replied, leaning back against the door with his arms crossed over his chest.“Since we’re going out alone, it’s quite unsafe for a woman to be outside at night. So, put these on.” He made perfect sense to me, and I looked at him.

“Alright, wait outside,” I said, and he frowned his brows.

“I believe you mentioned people might see me standing out there,” he said, making me gulp silently as I looked around. It was just one room, and I couldn’t hide anywhere.

“Alright, turn around. I can’t change in front of you,” I said, and he chuckled softly, shaking his head.

"You had a problem with me watching you change before, so this time, I’ll watch you change with your knowledge," he said, and my eyes widened in shock.

"Change," he demanded shamelessly.The moment he muttered that word, a deep, cunning shiver ran down my spine, scaring and arousing me simultaneously.

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