The Crown Prince and His Love

Chapter 23|Yerpargala? Maatargala?|

Will they accept us? Or not?

"And I missed all that?" Arulmozhi exclaimed, hearing his sister tell him about what Adithan did today. "Oh lord," He kept his chubby hands on his forehead and whined. "What are they going to do now?" Arulmozhi turned to his sister, Kundavai herself did not know the answer to that.

Kundavai shrugged. "I don't know, Arulmozhi," She got up and walked towards the balcony. Even Kundavai was scared about what will happen to Adithan and Nandini. There were only two options though.

One, they'll give in and accept their love, two, they'll separate them. Her brother would turn completely mad if the latter happens. Arulmozhi joined his sister and hugged her. Kundavai looked down at him and knelt down in front of him. "What?" She asked pushing back the hair which was falling on Arulmozhi's tiny face.

"They won't separate them, would they?" Arulmozhi asked, his eyes were filled with false hope. Kundavai looked away from Arulmozhi's glance.

"I hope so too," Kundavai muttered.

*****

Adithan walked towards Vanavan Madevi's chambers, He took in deep controlled breaths to calm down his anxiety. He was worried about what decision they took regarding his matter. Would they accept her as the crown princess? What if they don't?

Adithan's internal debate on wheater or not they accepted Nandini or not continued in the corner of his head. While his primary thoughts were filled with Nandini. He felt bad for putting Nandini in such an awkward position earlier, but this had to be done in order to secure their future, he couldn't just keep hiding Nandini and just visit her in the nighttime. That would be like just using her for love.

If he didn't tell them now, Kundavai would've for sure. She would've even added in her own twisted stories, which would've complicated his situation more.

His anxiety only worsened when he stood directly in front of the large wooden doors, leading up to her chamber. 

"Salutations to the Prince," The guards said as they pushed open the large doors. Adithan nodded and stepped inside, the doors creaked to a shut, Adithan gulped his saliva, he took in a deep breath, and looked around for his mother.

The smell of fresh flowers and sambrani filled his nostrils, it calmed him down a bit.

"Aditha..." He heard Sembiyan Madevi's voice ringing out from one of the rooms, Adithan entered to see her and his mother sitting on a ledge near the balcony. They smiled intently at Adithan as he entered the premise with a confused look.

Adithan bowed down and touched their feet to get their blessings.

"May you live well for a hundred years,y son," They blessed in unison and made Adithan sit down with them.

"Amma...Have you thought about that uh..." Adithan rubbed his neck and looked at his mother like he had stolen something. Vanavan pressed her lips into a line and looked down.

Sembiyan Madevi pressed her hands on his shoulders. Adithan turned back to her.

"Aditha...We'll talk about it later," Sembiyan Madevi dismissed the matter almost immediately. Adithan nodded and looked down in disappointment.

Oh...So they didn't call me to talk about Nandini.

"First, we need you to go to Kanchi," Sembiyan Madevi started.

"Kanchi? Me?" Adithan asked. "Why?"

"There's a very important meeting that is going to happen there, unfortunately, your father can't attend it," Sembiyan Madevi said. "As the Crown Prince, you should go there in place of your father,"

He subtly arched his eyebrows. Adithan was confused about why they were sending him, they would just talk about taxes and stuff and he did not know the first thing about them.

"But...I'm well versed in all those administration stuff," Adithan blurted out. He looked at his mother to help him out here, but Vanavan avoided his glance.

Sembiyan Madevi shook her head. "This is like training for you Aditha, Periya Pazhuvettaraiyer will take care of all those things, it's for you to learn,"

Great! Now all that I would be doing there would be simply nodding at Periya Pazhuvettaraiyer's words. Adithan sighed at the thought

But he didn't dare to disobey Sembiyan Madevi's words. He nodded curtly.

"We'll talk about Nandini after you return," Sembiyan Madevi in a sweet tone.

Adithan's heart almost jumped out of its place hearing those words. He now nodded enthusiastically.

Seeing this Sembiyan Madevi smiled lightly and patted the boy's shoulders.

****

Adithan had a smile etched on his face as he skipped through the long corridors of the palace. His legs were flying in the air. His heart was filled with newfound hope. He laughed and chuckled to himself thinking about the life he was going to have with Nandini.

It was not only Adithan's heart that was filled with love, on the other side of the palace there stood Arulmozhi, overlooking the Kodumbaloor procession which was heading towards them.

"Why are they here?" Arulmozhi asked curiously, his eyes fixated on the elephant's howdah which supposedly carried the young Kodumbaloor princess.

"Haan, There's a meeting which is going to happen in Kanchi no? That's why mama is here," Kundavai said.

"I-Is Vanathi also here?" Arulmozhi asked, shyly. Kundavai shrugged and looked down at her brother, she raised her brow as she saw her brother's face which was as red as an apple. Kundavai let out a laugh.

"Thambi, you look like you're about to burst out," Kundavai laughed. Arulmozhi hid his face in his hands and ran off.

****

A/N

Just a short chapter, I woke up pretty early today so...yea, maybe expect another chapter today.

Anyway, our dear Vanathi Devi is here, hurray!