One warm sunny morning, Arjun was sitting with his father, Maharaja Uday Goenka, in the scenic lawn of their grand ancestral palace.

"Meeting kaisi thi, Yuvraj?" Uday asked before sipping tea.

"Achchhi thi. Yeh deal hume hi milega.", Arjun replied determinedly.

"Praneet, akhir aap aagaya," Uday exclaimed on seeing him approach them, "Aiye, humare saath chay peejiye. Waise aap Arjun se ekdin late kaise pohoche?"

Praneet turned in Arjun's direction and said, "Baba-sa, mujhe Arjun se kuch baat karni hain," glaring at Arjun with narrowed eyes.

Understanding Praneet's glare, Arjun looked at his father for permission. Uday sensed something wrong and looked at the duo with narrowed eyes but subsequently nodded.

"Ab bol," Arjun inquired after they walked away a bit far from his father.

"Mujhe nehi pata tune mjhe kyun uss ladki ka peechha karne ke liye kaha par.... Mujhe usska ghar milgaya hain."

"And..."

"And vo ek kothe mein rehti hain. Which clearly means she is a prostitute."

Arjun's simply nodded as if he knew about it beforehand and walked back to his father.

"Kya aadmi hain!" Praneet stood there shaking head in disbelief, still confused.

"Beta, hume aap se kuch zaruri baat karni hain," Uday started the conversation on a serious note, "Aiye, baethiye."

After Arjun took the seat opposite to him, he leaned back on his chair and continued, "Beta, humare baad aap Raja banoge aur vo din dur nehi. Pata nehi humari zindagi mein aur kitne din bache hain. Hum chahte hain ki humare jaane se pehle aapki shaadi hojaye."

Arjun was about to say something but his father clasped his hands, "Hum jante hain ki aap kya kehna chahte ho. Lekin aap hi socho... Hum rajwade hain. Jaipur humari zimmedari hain. Aapke personal issues hain, lekin uss mein inn aam aadmi ka kya dosh? Humare liye nehi to unnke bare mein socho. Agar humara rajgharana khatam hogaya aur kisi galat aadmi ne humari jagah le li to unnka kya hoga? Hume khudke liye nehi to unnke liye iss khandaan ko aage barhana hoga. Aapko biwi nehi chahiye, lekin iss riyasat ko ek Rani aur waris chahiye," Uday concluded.

Arjun didn't say anything but stared at the ground, thoughtfully.

Letting out a deep sigh, Uday continued, "Raja Tetar Singh aapni beti Rajkumari Bhavya ki shaadi aapse karna chahte hain. Sach pucho to hum bhi ye chahte hain. Aap sirf Rajkumari se ekbar millo, aage aapka jo bhi faisla ho hume manzur hain," he patted on Arjun's back and stood up to leave.

Arjun had his own reasons for not wanting to marry. The reasons were also known by his father. But his father was right. Even he loved his people and didn't want to hurt the sentiments of anyone. For that, he had to keep his personal problems aside and think about the others.

Wiping some invisible sweat off his face, Arjun replied, "Baba-sa, hum Rajkumari se milne ke liye taiyaar hain."

Uday, who had stopped on his tracks hearing his son's answer, just smiled and walked back inside the palace. He didn't have anything to say because he knew his son was capable of taking the right decision. He knew Arjun would let his heart aside for once and think about the future of Jaipur.

"Arjun!" Praneet's sarcasm interrupted his thoughts, "Kya aap hume ye batane ka kasht uthayenge ki aapne hume kyun uss ladki ka peechha karne ke liye kaha tha?" as he took the seat beside him.

"Nothing, yaar. It's....Chal, office ke liye late horahe hain," Arjun got up and walked away.

"Mujhe aisa kyun lag raha hain ki isske dimaag mein kuch to chal raha hain," Praneet mumbled to himself, following Arjun.

~*~

Gazing at the clear morning sky from his room's balcony with arms crossed, Arjun occupied his mind with the thoughts of that night. His mind was replaying the same scene again and again.

Her shawl fell down, exposing her actual attire. How hastily had she picked up the shawl and covered her short ghagra, which was only milometers below her knees, and really small choli, which hardly covered half of her upper body.

"How uneasiness and uncomfortable she looked," he thought.

His blood boiled recalling what she called him next, "Namard". His anger was clearly expressed from how he had grasped the railing.

But interrupted his thoughts.

"Bhai-sa?" his younger sister Rajkumari Gayatri's voice uplifted his mood.

He spun around, in a better mood, to face his darling sister.

"Niche Raja Tetar Singh aur unnki beti aye hain," she didn't look happy.

"Thik hain, chal," he was stepping towards the door but Gayatri held his hand.

"Bhai-sa, agar aapko shaadi nehi karni, to matt kijiye. Khudke mann ko marrke aapne aap ko sajah matt dijiye,"

"Humari pyaari behna, hum koi aam insaan nehi hain jo aapni marzi se kuch bhi kar sakte hain. Hum rajwade hain. Hume khudse pehle bakiyon ke bare mein sochna parta hain. Aap chinta matt kijiye. Hum aise hi kisi se bhi shaadi nehi karenge. Soch samajh ke hi faisla lenge," he pecked her on the forehead and walked away.

~

Arjun was walking in the courtyard with Rajkumari Bhavya.

"Aapko humse jo bhi puchhna hain, puchh sakte hain," she said nervously playing with the edge of her dupatta.

Noticing the strangeness in her behavior, he asked, "Aapke Baba-sa ke bare mein to pata hain. Lekin kya aap khud humse shaadi karna chahti hai?"

She took a deep breathe before answering honestly, "Nehi."

"Toh aap yaha kyun ayi hain?"

"Humare Pita-ji ke wajah se. Vo chahte hain ki hum aap se shaadi kare. Lekin hum kisi aur se pyaar karte hain. Yuvraj-sa, aapki bari meherbani hogi agar aap iss rishte se inkaar karde toh. Ye jante huye ki hum kisi aur se pyaar karte hain, hum aapki zindagi barbaad nehi karsakti," she pleaded.

He nodded, understandingly.

~

"Baba-sa, aapne bulaya hume?" Arjun asked from the doorway of his father's room.

"Haan, Arjun, aiye," Uday kept the book he was reading on the bedside table, "Hum baas itna janna chahte hain ki aapne shaadi se inkar kyun kia. Hum baas wajah janna chahte hain."

"Baba-sa...." Arjun hesitated, "Rajkumari Bhavya kisi aur se pyaar karti hain. Unnhone humse kaha iss shaadi se mana karne ke liye. Aur..."

"Aur aap unnke pyaar ke bich mein nehi aana chahte?" Uday completed his sentence.

Arjun nodded, looking away. But turned to him again, "Lekin, Baba-sa, aap chinta matt kijiye. Humne kuch socha hain. Hum humare khandaan ko aise hi khatam nehi hone denge. Jaipur ko ek kabil rani aur waris dono milenge. Ye humara aapse wada hain!" he promised his father with determination.