The Knight And His Princess

CHAPTER 11

Rainah’s POV

“Rain, will you play with us? I can’t concentrate on both Lina and Kina at the same time,” a tiny voice rang through my room out of nowhere.

I looked up from the book I’d been reading for the past hour and found Tara standing at the door, holding her two dolls—one in each hand—with the cutest little pout on her face. I couldn’t help but smile and gestured for her to come closer.

Yesterday, I was discharged from the hospital in the afternoon. Mr. Arthur’s men dropped us off, despite our repeated protests. Mark, especially, was so insistent that we eventually gave in. And today, Mom’s younger sister, Aunt Nidhi, came to visit—along with her five-year-old daughter, Kiki.

“Why is my Kiki so stressed? Come, sit here,” I said, slipping into a baby voice as she toddled over. She struggled to climb up on the bed since it was a bit too high for her tiny frame—and with both her hands busy holding the dolls, it was nearly impossible.

I shook my head and gently lifted her onto my lap. She was so light. Wrapping my arms around her, I kissed her cheek, and she giggled.

Such a cutie...

“Kiki, who are these lovely dolls? Will you introduce them to me?” I asked softly, still holding her. She didn’t mind the hug—in fact, she leaned into me, snuggling closer.

“This is Lina,” she said, waving the blond doll in the pink dress. “She always gets upset when I play with other toys. Tsk tsk…”

I chuckled at her explanation.

“And this is Kina,” she said, holding up the doll with dark brown hair. “She’s not very demanding. But when I play with Lina, Kina gets sad too.”

“Aww, why? Did you try to make them friends?” I asked, watching her innocent eyes look up at me.

She shook her head.

I gently took both dolls in my hands and held them in front of her. “Hi Lina, hi Kina! I’m Rain, your friend Kiki’s sister. Can we be friends?” I said, moving them slightly to mimic nodding.

Kiki clapped her hands with glee.

“Lina, Kina, your friend Kiki is really stressed because of you two! Can’t you be friends with each other?” Again, I wobbled the dolls as if they were nodding.

“Yesss!” Kiki squealed, her whole face lighting up.

I started tickling her and she wiggled in my lap, giggling uncontrollably. She tried to tickle me back, but... too bad for her—I wasn’t going down that easily.

“Kiki! I told you not to disturb your sister. She’s injured and needs rest,” came Aunt Nidhi’s voice from the doorway.

We both looked up. She stood there with her hands on her hips.

“It wasn’t me, Mumma! Lina and Kina wanted to see Rain,” Kiki pouted.

Aunt and I exchanged a knowing smile. She shook her head and stepped inside, sitting next to us on the bed.

“It’s alright, Auntie. I was getting bored anyway. Kiki’s keeping me company, right Kiki?” I said, hugging her again.

“And Lina and Kina too!” she added with wide eyes, making us both laugh.

“Okay, but no walking,” Aunt said, though the hint of a smile tugged at her lips.

I saluted playfully. Kiki copied me, her tiny fingers fumbling with the gesture. Aunt chuckled and shook her head.

As Kiki played with her dolls, Aunt and I began catching up—it had been a while since we had a quiet moment together.

“So, Veena told me about some guy you saved that day…” she began, eyebrows raised. I rolled my eyes and smiled knowingly. Aunt and I shared a special bond; she was more of a friend than a relative.

“Yeah,” I replied casually, which earned a dramatic groan from her.

“Rain, come on! You know I’m dying over here,” she said, clearly frustrated. I laughed.

“I went to the orphanage, like I do every week,” I started, which made her lean in with full attention. “That day, some guests were supposed to arrive. When they came, the kids were all over him.”

Her eyebrow arched. She knew exactly what to read between the lines.

“Mr. Arthur Delacruz,” I added quietly.

Her eyes went wide. “Arthur Delacruz? As in THE Arthur Charles Delacruz?!”

Her voice was a bit too loud, causing Kiki to glance up. Aunt immediately smiled at her and waved her back to her dolls before turning back to me, whispering now.

“The president of Delacruz Group of Companies?” she whispered, as if we were sharing state secrets.

“I guess…” I replied, furrowing my brow.

“And then what? Did you two meet? Did he look at you?” she asked, covering her mouth in mock shock. “Don’t tell me he’s the one Veena was talking about!”

I gave her a look. “You have to let me finish the story first.”

She rolled her eyes but nodded eagerly.

“So, the guests brought a lot of gifts for the kids. There was this beautiful dollhouse, and I played with some of the girls. There were so many cute dolls with tiny outfits and accessories—”

“Rain,” she cut me off. “You’re not a little girl anymore. You’re a woman. Stop talking about dolls and talk about men.”

I laughed. I was teasing her on purpose.

“Okay, fine! So as I was leaving, I noticed the chandelier above was shaking a lot. And your dear Arthur was standing right under it. I pushed him away but ended up falling myself…”

“You fell… on him, didn’t you?” she asked, dreamily.

“I fell on the ground,” I said with a pout, and she groaned in disappointment.

“Then… he lifted me up—”

“In his arms?” she gasped.

I nodded shyly.

She squealed and clapped like a little girl. “There you go, girl!”

I blushed at the memory of being in his arms… warm, strong, and strangely comforting.

We talked for another hour—well, mostly me telling her the story, and her interrupting every five minutes—until Kiki said she was hungry. Aunt picked her up and left, and a few minutes later, Mom came in with my lunch.

---

“Bye Rain! Love you!” Kiki chirped, kissing me on the cheek. I returned the kiss and waved.

Aunt made me promise to visit them once I got better. It wasn’t far, so I agreed.

“Bye, Rainy! Get well soon!” Uncle called from the hallway, peeking his head in. I smiled and nodded.

Uncle and Aunt worked at the same school. They met there, fell in love, and even now… you could tell, just by looking at them, how deeply they loved each other.

I wish… I had something like that. Someone like that.

‘C’mon, you have Luca,’ my inner voice reminded me.

Luca.

I couldn’t even remember the last time we spoke. He hadn’t contacted me since our last fight. I sighed. I didn’t want much from him—just a little care… a little attention… a little respect.

Was that really too much to ask?

Beep! Beep!

My phone buzzed.

From: Lucy

> Check this out…. Babe, I want an explanation.

Frowning, I clicked the download link. Her message puzzled me.

As the green bar inched toward completion, my curiosity only grew. Once it finished, I hit play.

The video began with a shaky view of people’s backs. The camera moved, adjusting, and then I saw it—a man holding someone in his arms. The girl’s back faced the camera. The man’s face was hidden behind her head…

But as they moved… the image became clear.

Arthur.

Arthur Charles Delacruz.

And the girl was… me.

My breath caught in my throat.

My face appeared clearly on the screen.

I blushed, watching myself clinging to him like that. The way I held onto him—like my life depended on it. He paused slightly when I hugged him, then kept walking into the hospital.

My phone buzzed again. Lucy.

I answered, already bracing myself.

“Explain,” she said in a tone that made me want to hide under my bed.

“There’s… not much to explain…” I began.

“Oh no, don’t you dare brush this off!”

“I promise, I’ll explain everything on Monday,” I said quickly.

She groaned. “Fine. But no escaping. Nobody’s going easy on you come Monday, got it?”

I chuckled softly.

“By the way, where did you get this video? Please don’t tell me it’s all over social media…” I asked nervously.

“Relax. My brother filmed it on his way back from college. Saw Arthur live and freaked out. Sent it to me today.”

That eased my nerves a bit.

“Thank goodness. I’ll talk to you on Monday.”

“MORNING,” she corrected.

“Monday morning, then,” I said with a smile and hung up.

Setting the phone aside, I exhaled slowly.

I just hoped this whole thing cooled down soon.

I didn’t want to be paired up with him in any way.

Because everything about these powerful, rich people…

It scares me.