Page 143 of Sumanika

"Yes, he isn’t in the Kingdom. He left over a week ago for some work," another attendant added, and I stood stunned by this new information.

And no one told me. He didn’t even try to say anything to me. How could he leave without even notifying me?

I immediately walked toward Nandani's chamber and found her playing with the Princess in the bright sunlight.

"Nandani," I called, stepping close to her. She lifted her gaze from the Princess and looked at me.

"Yes, what happened?" she asked, straightening up, settling the Princess in her lap, and putting her back to sleep.

"You did not tell me," I stated in disbelief. There was no way she didn’t know about him leaving.

Her face turned confused, and she replied, "What?"

I sat beside her and muttered. "Kunwar Agastya is not in the Kingdom," I said, and she nodded while smiling at the Princess.

"Yes, I know," she said, and I didn’t realize I suddenly felt angry at her.

"What do you mean you know?" I asked, and she looked at me with a confused yet calm smile.

"I know that he is not in the Kingdom. He left ten days ago for Pratapgarh for some work," she explained, and my eyes widened with shock.

"And you didn’t even tell me?" I raised my voice at her, and she gritted her teeth. "What do you mean I didn’t tell you? Is it my job to keep you informed about his whereabouts? How can you talk to me? How do I know whether or not you know? And when you didn’t even try to meet him once when he was leaving, not even coming out of your room to see him go, why do you even care?"

She looked at me, and I didn’t know why, but her words sliced through my heart. She had never spoken to me like this.

"Why are you being rude to me, Nandani?" I asked slowly, and she lifted her gaze to me.

"Am I being rude to you? Can you even listen to yourself? Can you even realize what you’re doing or not? I’m just surprised that the man you spent the entire night in his chamber went out over ten days ago, and you don’t even know where he is. It’s unbelievable, Suman,” she said, and my heart raced as I tried to respond.

“He cheated on me, Nandani. I found him hugging Princess Rashmika in his chamber,” I said. She stared at me silently for a moment before lowering her gaze.

“Then your concern for him doesn’t seem valid. Just get some rest,” she said coldly with a smile. I didn’t understand why, but she was hurting me.

“Nandani, what’s wrong? Why are you being so cold?” I asked, placing my hand on her knee, and she looked up at me.

"What happened to me? Suman. Seriously? First, I find you spending a night with my brother-in-law, and it turns out my best friend has some romantic connection with him, with a history. That’s okay; I accept it and try to support it. But then, when I literally ask you daily what happened? How are you doing? You don’t even tell me a single thing about what’s happening in your life? You make me feel invisible. And suddenly, you come to me with a raised voice, claiming I didn’t inform you. Did you even care? Were we even talking about him for the last ten days? And suddenly, you come back playing the friend card? You know what, I can’t do this right now," she said, standing up and walking into her chamber.

Agastya

I was done.

I was done trying to make her understand. She seemed to avoid me, possibly to punish me and clearly wanted nothing more to do with me.

I inhaled sharply and turned away from her door.

Something inside broke—something beyond repair. The final ounce of hope lies shattered.

The last hope of finding someone to hold on to had gone.

I returned to my room, completed my war plans, and left the following day; I had told Rudra Bhaisa.

She didn’t come to see me off, and I didn’t want her to either.

I didn’t feel it anymore. I could force her into a relationship, but I couldn’t ensure her happiness against her will.

She wanted to be happy, but it seemed like all she really wanted was to hate someone.

When she was done hating, and I was done loving, we couldn’t be anything to each other anymore.

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