Page 19 of The Royal Contract

Bharath cast a glare at Aish. “You stay out of this. I want Jai to respond.” His words were harsh, but yet again, Aish did not say anything, and it bothered Sanjana. Why was the man being so rude to his sister?

Was it because she was adopted?

Horrified at the potential reason for his bad behavior, she kept her eyes on Aish. In the short time she had known Jai’s sister, she somehow felt protective of her.

She raised her eyes to look at Jai, and to her amazement, he was looking at Aish, too, like he didn’t like what his brother said. Instead of addressing his brother’s question, he responded to his sister. “Aish, did you not see the pictures online?”

Sanjana secretly smiled when she saw Bharath roll his eyes in annoyance as the oldest and youngest siblings chatted about a photographer who managed to catch Sanjana and Jai kissing on the boat.

It was Sanjana’s turn to be shocked. She realized then that the kiss she thought was a spur of attraction from him was a staged one, knowing there was someone capturing pictures of them? She noted how much of an actor her husband was, fooling her that it was a moment of passion they shared. She should have known better.

“Jai, that’s enough,” Bharath ordered as Jai had quickly transitioned the topic from what her older brother wanted to talk about. “I need you and your wife to watch your surroundings when you are together. The royal family’s private matters are to stay out of the public eye.”

Jai didn’t seem even a tiny bit intimidated by the commanding nature of his brother. “Bharath, I’m aware of what our responsibilities are… and if I’m in the public eye, I am with my wife, not just anyone. How can this be hurtful to the image?”

Sanjana wanted to whistle and clap at the comeback from Jai since it was the older brother in the news spotted with beautiful actresses and models with the standard caption of,‘The prince says he was there to meet a friend for coffee.’

Bharath shook his head disapprovingly while Aish bit back a smile. “I know what you’re getting at, but just don’t do anything stupid… again. Like the announcement you made about Devaraya having a queen.”

Sanjana should have guessed that’s where the conversation was going. Back to the day after their wedding at the press conference where Jai announced anyone could lead the royal duties.

To his brother’s comment, the situation got a bit more intense, but Jai, like a champion of all arguments and conversations, shrugged. “When you get married, there will be a queen, or if Aish decides to take on the responsibilities, she could too.” He winked at his sister, and she burst out laughing.

“Bharath, looks like Ma appointed Jai to get you to marry and bring us a queen.” Aish made the awkwardness of the moment go away.

Bharath stood up like he had enough. “That’s enough. I told you I will serve the people with no distractions. I will not marry so I can dedicate my entire time to perform my duties.” He turned to look at Jai. “You may decide to make your wife the government officer for our region but stay out of the royal business.”

With those words, he left the siblings smiling at each other.

“Jai, you pissed him off royally. You better go apologize.” Aish laughed. “Especially, whenyou get married…that was a hard blow.”

Jai shook his head. “Don’t celebrate your brother’s misery. Go console him.” He let out a chuckle, and Aish, being the dedicated sister, followed the older brother across the garden.

Sanjana was still in shock when Jai gestured for her to go with him. The way Bharath mentioned her, a shiver passed through her. Did Jai marry her because she would become part of the Indian Administrative Services? When should she break the news to him that she was no longer pursuing that career?

If the job he had offered at the end of the contract was a government one, then she had some clarifying to do, and soon.

Chapter 8

The next morning, she woke up to his footsteps and scent filling the air around her. She sat up, a sudden realization passing through her mind. What was she supposed to do from that point on? What did it mean to be his fake wife according to the contract?

She adjusted her sleep shirt and slipped off the bed to walk toward him. She stopped short when she caught him stepping out of the closet in a button-down shirt and dark wash jeans.

“Good morning,” he said, looking up at her for a moment before looking at his arm as he rolled up his sleeve.

She stood frozen as he walked toward her, adjusting his sleeves. A long pause later, she looked into his eyes, a strange tingle passing through her. Why did the man have to be so stunning?

“What… what am I supposed to do?” her voice wobbled in response to his proximity.Will she ever get used to it and calm down?

He held her gaze for a long moment. “Why are you asking me? You are free to do what you wish to do as long as you follow the palace protocol.”

Her eyes widened. “Protocol?” Was she in some kind of a fancy prison life now?

Jai nodded. “You will have your own staff assigned to help out with that. Whenever you are ready, you will meet your team, and you’ll know what to do next.”

She lowered her eyes, still processing what he said. “I don’t understand why I need a team to tell me what to do.”

There was no response immediately, but she felt him move toward her, and her eyes rose to meet his. He stopped less than a foot from her in lazy perusal, like he was assessing her. “No one will tell you what to do… ever. It’s for you to know how you can go about with everything.” He paused, and she found herself nodding, even though she didn’t process any of it. “Being a part of the family, you will be in the public eye, and it’s not always pleasant, so you will have to follow some guidelines for your safety and to hold up what people expect from the Devaraya family.”

---