Past

"You always talk about your grandfather only. Didn't your father taught you any fighting skill or anything else?"

Ira fell silent. She never told Raksheet about her relations with her father. It's not like she didn't got chance to talk about it, the main reason is she feel embarrassed and scared. She don't want to tell Raksheet that her father never loved her. He can't understand her feelings because he didn't faced Ira's situation. His father never ignored him nor he scolded him so it's impossible for him to understand.

She is afraid if Raksheet comes to know about it, he will also start ignoring her how her father does. How can he trust and love a girl whom her own father never loved? The fault should be of the girl, not of her father!

"Ira?" Raksheet called her after not getting any answer from her.

She came out of her thoughts and looked at him with blank face. "Y-Yes? Sorry i...i." she don't know what to say. She can't tell him about her relations with her father if she don't want to lose him.

"Where were you lost? I asked you a question. Why don't you talk about your father?" Raksheet asked again. He wanted to know about Ira and her family members but he didn't know that Ira don't have anything to tell him, except the bitterness of her life that she can't express.

"H-He is a busy person. He didn't had time to spend with me. We didn't spend much time together so i don't have anything to talk about him." Even though she was smiling, her stuttering and nervousness in her eyes were clearly showing that she is lying.

Raksheet held Ira's hand and asked gently "Ira you are lying, aren't you?"

The smile on Ira's face suddenly dropped. She looked down in embarrassment, twisting her fingers.

Raksheet cupped her face and made her look at him. "It's ok, you can tell me everything without any hesitation." He said in his gentle voice that can make anyone trust him. "I am your husband. We are life partners, we can share our happiness then why can't we share our problems? You can tell me.....if you trust me."

Ira quickly held Raksheet's hand, not wanting him to misunderstand her "I trust you but....Will you trust me?....if i say i didn't do anything wrong?" She asked in a low voice.

"I will, i know you can't do anything wrong."

"Even if.....even if i say my father don't like me because he see me as a burden?" Tears started to form in her eyes. She can already see the shocked expression on Raksheet's face. He removed his hands from Ira's face and looked at her with serious look.

Tears welled up from Ira's eyes seeing her husband retreating. She wanted to hold Raksheet's hand and explain everything to him but she could not even move her body. Her body was frozen on her place. She thought she lost him. He won't love her anymore after knowing such a big matter.

Ira bowed her head and closed her eyes, gathering her courage to hear Raksheet yelling and insulting her but instead of yells, she heard his soft voice asking a simple question, the obvious one.

"Why?"

She opened her eyes and slowly looked up. "W-What?"

He wiped tears from her cheeks and asked again "Why? Why your father don't like you?" He asked concern, worry was seen on his face.

Ira's heart instantly melt by Raksheet's behaviour. The way he wiped her tears and asked the question, her fear of losing him was slowly disappearing.

"I d-don't know." She replied in her shaky voice "He never loved me since i born.....He either scolds me or ignore me. He never paid attention to me."

Raksheet exhaled and looked away, controlling his anger. He can't believe how a father can hate his such a sweet daughter. First Veer and now Ira's father, both of them hate her without any reason. What's wrong with these people?!

"Are you regretting marrying me after knowing this?" Ira's words made Raksheet look at her in disbelief.

He quickly shook his head and held her hands tightly. "No! I am not! and i will never! Why would I regret marrying you?"

"Because i am useless! I can't do anything except being a burden! May be that's why.....my father don't like me. It must be related with me having... health issues." Her voice came out low, tears flowing down from her eyes like river.

Raksheet gave a annoyed look to Ira and said "What are you saying?" He pulled her in his embrace and rubbed her back gently. "You are not a burden. I don't care what others say. I only care about you. You are my wife, how can you be a burden to me?"

Ira gripped his shirt tightly "B-But you d-didn't wanted to marry me, right? Y-You married me b-because your grandfather asked you to. You didn't wanted to m-marry a sick princess, d-did you?" She asked while trying to control her sobs. She know that no one want a useless girl like her, even if she is a princess.

Raksheet closed his eyes for a moment, knowing that she is right. He didn't wanted to marry a sick princess but he had to because his grandfather assured him that Ira will be a good life partner for him. He was afraid that Ira's sickness might affect the future of his family and kingdom but he could not protest against his grandfather's wish so he had to marry her.

"Yes, you are right. I didn't wanted to get married." He held Ira's chin and made her look up at him "But not only you, i didn't wanted to marry anyone. I wasn't ready for marriage. Yes, i was afraid thinking that your sickness might affect Jwalana's future, but trust me...I am not regretting marrying you. The day i saw you in marriage hall, i fell in love with you. My all worry, doubts, all negative thoughts flew away when you held my hand."

He wiped the tear from the corner of her eyes and rubbed her cheeks gently "You know what, before marrying you, i used to stay away from palace for days or even weeks. On campaign or to look arround the kingdom and solve people's problems. But since I got married to you, i don't want to leave palace at least for a day. I don't want to stay away from you. Do you know why?"

Ira didn't replied, she just looked at him with her teary eyes.

"Because i love you." He placed a kiss on her forehead "How can I regret marrying someone i love?"

She rested her head on Raksheet's chest and asked "Why you are so good?" She never expected someone to love her, not so much that he can ignore her flaws.

Raksheet chuckled on his wife's cute question and asked "Am i?"

She nod and hugged him tightly.

"Ira....If you don't mind, can I ask you a question regarding your family?"

She broke the hug and looked at him. With a slight smile, she replied "Yes, you can."

"Does your mother also hate you?" Raksheet wanted to know how many members of chakravarthy family hate Ira. All of them were acting normal on their wedding as if they love Ira and are happy for her, except for Veer and Veera. It was obvious that they don't like Ira by the way they were ignoring everything and wasn't interested in anything. But now, Raksheet got to know the truth of Ira's father that he hate her. So it could be possible that her other family members hate her too.

Ira quickly shook her head and answered "No! she loves me! She loves me a lot! Even if she can't protect me, she always stand by my side. She can't protest against my father but she never left me alone when i needed her. Except my grandfather, my mother is the only person in my family who loves me."

"She is the only one? What about your sister and grandmother?" Raksheet asked. Even though he understood what Ira tried to say, he wanted to confirm it.

She smiled sadly "They hate me."

Raksheet's expression dropped as he looked at Ira blankly. "Did they treat you well?" He asked with a stern look.

"At most I can smile when i was with them, with my grandfather, and that was enough for me."

Hearing Ira's answer, Raksheet's heart ached. He can't even imagine how hard it was for her to live such a life where she can't even smile with whole heart. The girl he want to protect from every distress and want to give every happiness and comfort in this world, had such a hard life to live with her own family.

He held Ira's hand and kissed it several times "Ira, i promise you, i will give you my all love and every happiness you deserve. I will try to keep you always happy. You will forget every pain and heartbreak you have experienced before, as long as I am with you. From now on, you don't have to look back at your past. From now on, there will be only one thing surrounding you all the time, and it's my love."

Ira smiled with teary eyes and hugged him quickly. "I know.....i know you will always keep me happy. I am grateful that I married you."