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The king

She wants to be a queen? Queen! She is not even fit enough to become a princess, let alone a good one.

The King wants a Queen who understands the King, supports him, manages his people in his absence, but this girl wants the only title of Queen and all the luxuries associated with it without any sense of responsibility.

She will never stand for my family, my people.

She proclaims that she wants to work for people’s well-being? I doubt she’s even worked at or worked for anything in her life. She says she wants to stay connected to her land? Does she even know how the soil feels in the hand?

And she wants to become a Queen?

What a joke.

I smirked at her, thinking that she does not have any idea who I am.

She finished what she wanted to say and got up and started walking saying, I should say no to this alliance because she does not want to hurt her family.

But what about my family?

Grandfather and Aunt Nina?

Who does she think she is? What has she achieved in her life? What is this ego all about?

But one thing she does not know, today she came face to face with Azar Oldenburg and I love smashing people’s egos into a million pieces.

Today you insulted the Azar Oldenburg family, and you were about to hurt my grandfather. Now I will show you what an insult is.

I’ll show you how hurt feels. I’ll show you what I am.

With that thought, I walked towards the house.

AZAR POV

As soon as I reached inside the room, everyone’s gaze turned towards me. Grandfather gave me a smile and coyly put me on the spot. So, what do you think? Should we consider it a yes? What Grandfather had yet to learn about me was that I was slippery when I truly wanted to be. I smiled back, and without uttering a single word or sound, I parked myself near Grandfather and started checking my emails.

After some time, Sanya’s mom announced that dinner was served and invited us to partake. With that, the topic went on the back burner as we made our way towards the dining room.

The seating arrangements were planned smartly in advance, making me and that rude, no-good lady Sanya the centre of attention. Sanya’s grandpa sat at the head of the table. To his right sat Grandfather with me and Sanya, and in front of Grandfather and hence in close proximity to both the elders, who were keen on getting some answers but did not know patience is a virtue. Ara and her parents filled the other chairs.

While dinner was being served, Ara was having a heartfelt conversation with her grandfather regarding her NGO and how she was indebted to him for assisting and guiding her in every way possible and for helping arrange the funds. I felt a sense of warmth the more I heard from her regarding the assistance her NGO was providing to so many girls, her plans for the future, and how passionate she was for her endeavour. She indeed has a good heart.

Dinner was delicious, to say the least. At least something good came out of this misguided adventure, I thought.

Then they served the dessert. I really don’t have a sweet tooth. But how would the appearance of turning down the dessert look? As my mind wandered, a chocolate cupcake was placed right in front of me. It's time to put on an act and swallow this sweet poison. But one bite, and I was hooked. It melted in my mouth instantly.

Grandfather asked his friend if we could call the head chef and compliment him on the meal and especially the dessert in person.

Ara’s grandpa laughed loudly and said, we can definitely call the chef, but the dessert chef was right here amongst us. To our utter surprise, he declared that it was Chef Ara who had made the delicious chocolate cupcake, which I was almost in love with.

So, the other princess can cook up stories, while Princess Ara can actually cook a meal. I was shocked, to say the least.

After dinner, we all went to the garden and sat down for coffee. I could feel Grandfather’s gaze on me for my answer, which I tried my level best to ignore, but his patience seemed to be running thin, and he eventually asked me to join him for a stroll. There was no slipping out of this one, I thought to myself. Reluctantly, I joined him for that dreaded walk.

"So, Azar, what have you thought about Sanya?" He spoke while walking.

I was quiet for some time and wondered what to say to Grandfather. How do I explain this to him? I don’t want to hurt him, no matter what. After taking a deep breath and gathering my thoughts, I meekly replied, "Grandfather, I need someone who stands by me and takes a stand for me, someone who cares for people, someone who understands the pain of my people, someone who can do justice to them, someone who goes even against me if she thinks it is wrong.

I need a strong woman, a companion, but I'm sorry to say Sanya is not that woman."

Hearing my words, he could see the sadness in his eyes, which caused me pain as well. I had no intention of hurting him. That is the last thing I would ever want.

But as soon as I spoke again, the sadness was replaced by a warm smile, a twinkle in the eye, and an unmistakable nod of agreement.

We went back to our seats, sat there, and started talking to everyone.

As we were preparing to leave Ara’s grandfather, another one of those impatient ones asked Grandfather about my decision.

Grandfather gulped and addressed the audience, "The King has decided that he will go ahead with this union." However, his queen will be Princess Ara."

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