Raksheet thought may be his brother was thinking about the war. He didn't wanted to scare Ira so he preferred to avoid the topic "Let him be. He is always like this. Tell me, are you okay? Still feeling pain?" He caressed her cheeks.
She shook her head and rubbed her cheek on his hand "Not much, just a little soreness. I will be fine by tomorrow."
He kissed her cheeks and said apologetically "I am sorry, I lost my control."
"Don't be sorry.....I liked it too." She said in low voice, feeling shy.
He chuckled on her reply and asked "You liked it?"
She nod, blushing hard and biting her lower lip.
"Are you done? May I come in?" Ahil's sudden voice made them separate and Raksheet cleared his throat before saying.
"Come. You came so soon."
Ahil stepped in and narrowed his eyes teasingly. "I am sorry I disturbed your romantic moments." He sat down beside Ira and soon received a slap on his head.
Ira flinched on her place to see her husband hitting Ahil and he groaned dramatically.
"Ouch! Why you slapped me?"
"Because you deserve it." Raksheet replied and sat back on his place.
Ira looked at him displeased and complained "Stop it. You are hitting him a lot lately."
Raksheet looked at his wife in disbelief that she is scolding him for Ahil.
"It's ok sister. He always hit me. He was controlling himself from last few months to not hit me infront of you." He leaned closer to Ira's ear and whispered "He was trying to look like a kind and patient person to win your heart."
Raksheet gave Ahil a death glare and filled his mouth with food so that he will stop talking nonsense. "Eat your food and get lost."
Ira laughed on their little fight and pulled Raksheet back who was filling his brother's mouth continuously, not giving him any chance to speak or swallow the food.
"Stop it! Do you want to choke him?" She asked and passed the glass of water to Ahil.
He quickly swallowed the food and drank the water. "Thank you sister." He breathed "You saved my life."
After finishing the food, Ahil took Ira towards his art chamber and Raksheet went for his work.
"What are you doing? Where are you taking me?" She asked, walking towards Ahil's art chamber with his help as he covered her eyes to give her surprise.
"You will know soon." He said excitedly. He opened the door and helped Ira enter in the chamber. "Careful, come here." He led the way towards a canvas and made Ira stand infront of it.
"Can I open my eyes?" She asked.
"Yes, you can." He replied and removed his hands from her eyes.
She quickly opened her eyes to see the surprise her brother Ahil is so excited about. As soon as she opened her eyes, she saw the painting of Kumar family that Ahil was making before. A wide smile appeared on her lips when she saw herself standing behind Abhiveera and Neisha with Raksheet and Ahil beside her, Ashwant and Avanya sitting beside Abhiveera and Neisha.
"It's so beautiful! You have completed it? So soon?" She asked and walked closer to the painting.
A relieved smile appeared on Ahil's face "Good that you like it." He walked towards her.
"But how did you finsihed it so soon?" She asked, trying to touch the painting but hesitating thinking it might still be wet.
"You can touch it." He said "And about finishing it so soon, I wanted to give you a surprise. I wanted to cheer you up." He pointed his index finger towards Ira in the painting.
"Who is she?" He asked.
She looked at him confused and touched the painting before answering "It's me, of course."
"Really?" He asked.
She nod confusingly "Yes, it's clearly me."
"Don't you think I painted princess Irya?" He asked.
She chuckled on his question and replied "But you have never seen her before. How can you paint her? It's clearly me. She may look like me but you made this painting after seeing me."
He crossed his hands on his chest with a slight smile and said "Exactly. Not only me but except for grandfather, no one have ever seen princess Irya. We have only seen you, princess Ira. When the first time grandfather saw you, he didn't thought he is meeting princess Irya. He only thought that he is meeting someone who looks like her but not her."
Ira understood what Ahil is trying to say and slowly turned her gaze again to the painting.
"We don't know how she used to look. We have heard about her but we never thought she could be as beautiful as you. When we saw you, we didn't thought that this is how princess Irya used to look like. We only thought that how beautiful our future princess is. No one ever had compared you with princess Irya. For us, and especially for your husband, you are only princess Ira who we love the most. Your husband was not as impressed by hearing about Princess Irya as he was by seeing you."
The silence followed for a while. Ira just kept her head low, feeling guilty for hurting everyone's feelings.
"I am sorry." She suddenly said in low voice.
He smiled slightly and patted her head "Don't be sorry. Just be like you were before. Don't compare yourself with anyone and don't think of yourself as anyone's substitute. You gained that confidence very difficulty, don't loose it without any reason. You are only princess Ira, my sister Ira, Raksheet Kumar's wife and Jwalana's future Queen."
She smiled and looked up at him. "Ok."
He removed his hand from her head and looked at the painting. "Do you really like it? Do you want me to change something or add something?"
She looked at the painting and an idea to tease her brother popped up in her mind. She looked at him innocently and said pleadingly "Actually.....there is something I want you to add in this painting."
He looked at her curiously and asked "Hm? What?"
She looked at the painting and then at him. She smiled teasingly and said "Your future wife."
Ahil's cheek suddenly started to burn and turned red. He quickly looked away and said "What do you mean? That's not possible."
"Why?" She asked and walked towards him to make him look at her.