Sorry for the delay readers, your author sprained her ankle just like Aarohi.

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"Ugh- - how long is this going to take?" Aarohi's loud groan filled the unfamiliar kitchen along with clinking sounds of a knife in a glass.

She had woken up in cold sweat, in the middle of the night, gasping for air due to a nightmare about Vrikasura that had decided to cloud her mind. As much as she liked to deny it, the incident had frightened her nonetheless and she couldn't sleep even after a day of it happening.

On top of it, she couldn't talk to anybody about it because one- Aarohi would rather dig her own grave and happily go lie in it before she made herself look like she needed anyone's sympathy or concern, two- she had made the decision not to tell anyone except the people who already knew the complete story and that was... Arjun.

Now why would she go to that Arjun with her problems?

She didn't need anybody- this she had repeated to herself.

So, even on the verge of a mental breakdown, Aarohi pushed through the dreadful feelings and decided to use that time to attempt to make coffee with what was available. That's the only thing that could help right now. A steaming cup of coffee, that always felt like a warm hug from her late mother.

But it wasn't easy, considering she was in a different era, obviously the ingredients were different too. Instead of her usual half fat milk there was the milk with the fullest fat she had ever tasted and instead of sugar, there was jaggery. Thankfully, she had her favourite brand of coffee mix which like a true coffee addict she'd carried along like it was her medicine. Surprise. Surprise.

Aarohi was afraid that if she hadn't brought it along, she'd have thrown a temper tantrum due to caffeine deprivation till now, so she didn't take any chances. And yes she was using a damn knife to create that foam because well- she didn't have access to her handy mixer in dwapar yug and there were no spoons, only huge ladles that she couldn't even lift.

Man, those kitchen ladies must be strong as heck!

It had been almost three days since she was here and there was no sign of her bracelet turning fully black anytime soon, which left her anxious, wanting a distraction.

"Why am I doing this again? I could have just mixed coffee powder in hot water, drank it and called it a day. But of course I made the mistake to put in the extra effort, thanks to that nightmare. I'm gonna make that guy pay for sure." Aarohi sneered in frustration but her hand stirred faster and faster. She wanted, no... needed that coffee.

However even after repeatedly trying the process, she couldn't get that airy foam with that damned knife.

"Argh! That's it! I've had it with you-" She shrieked loudly, took the knife and impulsively threw it in the direction of the entrance to the kitchen as she turned to throw away the monstrosity of a drink, but immediately paralysed in her spot as she heard a shout.

"AAHHH- - THERE'S AN ASSASSIN IN THE KITCHEN- -" It was a man's voice.

'Omg- - Could it be that Vrikasura...? Please...?'

Oh how much she wished that knife flew out to stab him but as she turned around, she instead found Nakul, trying to get the knife out of his hair! It had embedded into the wall, pinning Nakul's hair with it.

"Nakul... curse my luck. Shit." She muttered under her breath as she moved forward to help the poor guy who had become the victim of her frustrations, but halted, hiding in the shadows, as she heard other voices coming around.

"Nakul, stop whining! I only asked you to come get snacks with me, not your silky hair. Look at how Sahadev is complying without any complaints."

"I would agree to disagree on that, bhrata Bheem, because you didn't ask, you just pulled me out of bed and basically dragged me here to the kitchen." Replied Sahadev, yawning profusely as he leaned against his elder brother, attempting to sleep while standing.

But there was no reply from Nakul, who kept silent, eyes wandering to find the person who threw that knife.

"Nakul? Why aren't you saying something?" Bheem rushed into the kitchen, making Sahadev stumble and come out of his momentary slumber and found his Anuj Nakul standing completely still against a wall as he gestured sadly towards his beautiful hair that were now stuck with a knife to the wall.

Bheem shook his head at his little brother and turned to address the possible threat.

"Who's there? Come out this instant, or it won't be good for you!" He announced.

'Wow, can't a girl make her coffee in peace? I have to step out now. I mean the worst has already happened to me so... what else could go wrong?'

Aarohi sighed and slowly came out of her hiding spot, preparing to hear all the yelling and scolding from them but- -

"Rajkumari Aarohi? Oh god- - you shouldn't be here right now! There's an assassin in the kitchen, go! Get out of here and protect those gorgeous hair while you still can!" Nakul warned her, distressed. While Aarohi stood there with a confused frown on her face for several moments, none of the three brothers suspected it was her. Well, two to be completely accurate since Sahadev was barely awake.

"Why are you still standing there Aarohi? Go, don't worry we'll deal with this. Okay?" Bheem assured her and Aarohi understood that it was time to come clean, because she still wanted that coffee, she'll lower her standards and make it without the foam or drink it mixed in hot water, if that's what it took to get some caffeinated goodness in her system.

"There's no need for that because... I'm the assassin- uhh what- - I mean- I threw that knife."

"What? Why?" The brothers asked in unison.

"Don't tell me you're still annoyed since I asked what you used for your hair! Is that why you threw a knife right at my hair? If I didn't know better I'd think you're just jealous of my luscious locks!" Nakul said, faking an exasperated sigh, while Aarohi rolled her eyes.

'Ohmygod- this dude and his ludicrous hair jokes - -'

"Believe it or not Nakul, not everything revolves around your hair."

"Then why did you throw that knife? Hmm?"

"I was trying to make myself my favourite drink. But I found out I suck at it so I couldn't, when I really wanted to and that being the case, I got really frustrated and threw that knife in that direction. I had no intention to throw it at you, I did not even know you were there." Aarohi heaved a sigh, explaining instead, as she swallowed her urge to throw a snarky comment at the prince.

"I think you're still jealous of- -"

"Oh for the love of god, Nakul, shut up. She didn't know you were there." His twin interrupted, smacking him on the head before he could speak any further, making him grumble as he finally removed the knife from his hair, chucking it away.

Meanwhile Bheem noticed the frown on the young girl's face and immediately related. He knew it felt so disappointing when you couldn't get your favourite snack to taste just right.

"What's your favourite drink? I can try to make it for you." He sweetly offered, which caught Aarohi off guard. She literally just threw a knife at his brother, even if it was an accident, Bheem was being so nice to her for no reason.

And it suddenly reminded her of someone like that. Her brother... Vansh, who still kept in touch with her even after everything. She remembered them raiding the kitchen for snacks in the Goenka house whenever she couldn't sleep. And it was that kind of night tonight too, it was bad enough, she was already missing him and now she started finding him in Bheem.

"Really? You'd do that for... me?"

"Yes, why not? I love cooking and making others taste my creations, I came here for laddoos but I'll try yours this time. Maybe I could get it right."

"Well okay... you- you're really nice bhrata Bheem." The words left her mouth before she could stop them. She had called Bheem her brother and from the expression on his face, although momentarily a bit surprised, he seemed to have no problem with it.

"It looks like rajkumari Aarohi sees you as her brother bhrata Bheem!" Nakul remarked, clearly teasing his elder brother that all girl's saw him as a brother, Bheem didn't even acknowledge it while Sahadev shook his head at his twin.

"So, what does my newest sister want me to prepare tonight?" Bheem smiled, patting her shoulder but Aarohi turned around, getting choked up with a rush of emotions she suddenly felt.

The brothers noticed the change, but decided not to pry for details. Clearly there was much more to Aarohi than that mean attitude and those unapologetic retorts.

Aarohi she just took a deep breath, internally thankful that no one asked her if she was okay, because if that happened- - well you don't want to know. Either she'd get extremely defensive or break into tears right on the spot. Because she was in fact not okay since that incident.

"Oh no, Aarohi don't expect bhrata to make anything nice, he's exaggerating. He once tried dipping bitter gourd into sugar syrup to make it sweet and tasty. How did that recipe turn out bhrata Bheem? Please elaborate for the princess!" Nakul finally broke the silence with a joke in an attempt to make her forget about whatever worried her.

And it worked!

"Seriously, he did that?!" Aarohi chuckled in disbelief as she turned back to find Bheem putting Nakul in a headlock for revealing that embarrassing thing, which made her and Sahadev laugh even more.

So, after she and Sahadev succeeded in finally breaking the playful fight between the brothers, Aarohi got right to business, explaining how to make coffee to the three brothers.

She took out the ground coffee beans and kept the glass container on the shelf, yet, everyone looked at it skeptically. As expected.

"Wait. Are you sure about this recipe?" Bheem asked looking at the coffee powder, raising an eyebrow at Aarohi.

"What is that? You want manure in your milk...? Or is it slightly wet sand? Not very appetising Aarohi." Added Nakul, shaking his head disapprovingly, making faces at her.

"Wait, the smell is kind of nice though. Quite earthy." Sahadev was the only one to get close enough and take a whiff.

"Ha. Ha. So hilarious. Don't knock it till you try it guys." Aarohi mumbled irritated. She was now determined to make that coffee good.

After several failed tries... the group finally made coffee that was satisfactory according to Aarohi's standards. With four cups in front of them, they were now waiting to try it. As Bheem reached for his cup, suddenly Aarohi slapped his hand away.

"No wait. Not yet. You have to close your eyes first."

"Huh? But why? I want to taste it already!"

"Trust me it's a surprise! Close your eyes everyone." Aarohi announced and everyone closed their eyes obediently, except Nakul who tried to peek, so consequently got a sharp pinch on his arm from her. He hissed in pain but didn't dare open his eyes again.

'Okay, now that they have closed their eyes, it's time to add the special ingredient! Pieces of chocolate!'

Aarohi took out a chocolate bar from her pocket that she had saved as a snack for later, but if she really wanted the three brothers to like the drink, she had to sacrifice it. So she broke it off and put two pieces in Sahadev's coffee and two in Bheem's. Then she stopped and reconsidered, putting one extra in Bheem's cup as it was known he loved sweet things.

But when it came to Nakul's cup, she hesitated, thinking about how annoying he had been the whole time, an idea popping into her brain. She ate the remaining chocolate herself, slowly and stealthily, stepped back to grab a container with chillies without making a noise. She then put some in Nakul's coffee and mixed it so he wouldn't know, laughing like a maniac internally. She was feeling quite chaotic.

'Called my coffee manure didn't you? This is what you're gonna get when you mess with me, Mr. Hair obsessed sword warrior! Hehehe.'

"Okay you all can open your eyes and taste it now. I'm done!" Aarohi cheered, clapping her hands together. She was excited for their reaction, especially Nakul's.

Both Bheem and Sahadev took their cups, sipping coffee without any hesitation while Nakul hesitated, seeing the smirk on Aarohi's face so he waited for his brothers to confirm it was good, who were pleasantly surprised by the taste.

"Okay, I see why you like this. It tastes so nutty and flavourful." Sahadev declared and resumed drinking it.

"It has some bitter notes to it, but I think I like that. It's good!" Bheem added and Aarohi gave a little smile, the chocolate had perfectly balanced the bitterness to Bheem's liking.

"Why aren't you drinking now Nakul? It's been confirmed by your brothers that it tastes good!" Aarohi said as innocently as she could, hiding her smirk.

"Why do I feel like you actually put manure in my glass because I called it that?"

"What are you afraid of? Oh come on Nakul, I'm not that petty. You know, why don't you try it for yourself, yeah? See I'm drinking mine too!"

Nakul carefully looked between Aarohi's sweet like cinnamon expression and his brothers who were drinking the liquid without a complaint and hence he finally picked up his cup, bringing it to his mouth while mischievously narrowing his eyes at Aarohi who mimicked his stare.

"Alright I'm going to lower my standards and drink this 'coffee' thing." He said.

Oh Nakul- - if only you knew.

He took a huge gulp of the liquid.

"Oh, it's nice and feels quite warm on my tongue." He smacked his lips, tasting it. Then, that soothing warmth of the coffee started to turn hot, almost like a burning sensation on his tongue as he took another sip.

"Wait- - why is it suddenly-" And it hit him. Oh that spice!

His eyes widened in realisation as he noticed Aarohi whistling, casually playing with that box of chilli powder. He moved around, trying to find a space to spit the spicy liquid out. His brothers noticed too, but instead of helping him, they burst out laughing.

Nakul's face gave away a betrayed expression to his brothers, as he finally decided to swallow the coffee, not finding somewhere to spit it out.

"Aarohi! You're so mean!"

"Oh I'm sorry! You didn't know that already?" She retorted back with a sly grin.

"Why did you do that to me?" Nakul asked, hurriedly gulping down water.

"Don't worry Nakul, annoy her more and you'll find out quickly!" Bheem hollered and clapped Aarohi's outstretched hand, almost high-fiving.

"You know rajkumari, it feels so nice to finally see my brother who always pranks us get a taste of his own medicine!" Sahadev exclaimed, chuckling.

"I'll see you later Sahadev! Trust me you'll not like this prank!" Nakul argued as he finished drinking water.

"Oh no someone's angry!" Sahadev laughed once again and Nakul put down the glass of the horrifying drink.

"Why did you not finish your coffee Anuj? Me and Deva did! Are you judging the princess choices? Drink it you moron!" Bheem said, picking up the glass and running after Nakul mischievously, to make him drink it while the poor guy covered his mouth and tried to run away but Sahadev slid in front of his twin, holding him so he couldn't.

"Oh no no no! You can't go anywhere!"

Aarohi laughed so much as Bheem tried to make him drink it, that her stomach hurt.

But Nakul somehow slipped from their hold and ran out of the kitchen shouting. "Ahhhh- - jyeshth bhrata help me!!!"

Sahadev rushed after him, chuckling while Bheem grabbed some laddoos in a plate and kept the spicy coffee on the shelf.

"This was so fun, let's torture Nakul again sometime, Aarohi." Bheem snickered.

"Oh for sure! It would be my utmost pleasure." She answered back and Bheem laughed wishing Aarohi good night as he left.

Aarohi was still giggling, feeling unusually giddy.

She reached out towards the shelf to steady herself but stumbled, her leg reminding her that she was still badly injured.

"Ouch. I shouldn't have stood for so long." She leaned against it, feeling dizzy from the sheer amount of pain.

Her vision grew blurry and her grip on the shelf slackened. She almost fell forward, but was fortunately caught by someone. She felt nearly relaxed, until she heard that deep voice.

"Spending your midnights in the kitchen now? Weren't you supposed to be resting?"

'Arjun... goddamnit!'

"Why do you think you've got the right to question me about anything?" She quickly, but unsteadily moved away from him.

"I wasn't questioning, angry bird. I was just checking on you." Arjun said, coming closer.

"Riddle me this, now, why the hell would I need you, of all people checking on me? And don't call me angry bird." She moved a step back.

"No one else knows what happened, do they? Now be a good girl and go to bed." He walked one step closer.

"Since when do you think you can order me around?" She took another step back, which made her back bump against the shelf behind.

"Since I witnessed that incident that you don't want anyone else to know about." He whispered and gently tucked a strand of stray hair behind her ear, his soft gaze following along her jawline.

"Oh, so are you resorting to blackmail now Arjun?"

"Mmm... blackmail is such a harsh word. I would prefer, just delicately threatening you for your own good." He stepped even closer, their foreheads almost touching, bending down to her level as he rested his arms on either side of her, getting a hold of the shelf behind.

"Really? For my own good? And what would that be exactly?" Aarohi asked raising an eyebrow, she wasn't the one to back down from an argument, even if she was several feet shorter than her opponent.

"You were just about to faint because of the pain. Do you really want the answer to that question?" Arjun asked, making Aarohi's scoff.

"The raj vaidya clearly told you to rest up. We are going to be travelling to Anga from tomorrow, you'll complain if you don't get some rest. Let me help you back to your room."

"I don't need your help, I'll walk myself." The distance between them was getting close to none, making Aarohi's skin heat up as a shiver went up spine.

"Oh? So, you're refusing? Should I carry you back like last time? Maybe you prefer it that way..." Arjun teased while Aarohi's eyes widened in shock. This guy really knew just how to get on her nerves.

As she was thinking about a suitable reply that would shut him up, her eyes darted around to that spicy coffee, still on the shelf. Her mouth twitched as she thought of a plan.

Before Arjun could say anything else, Aarohi swiftly grabbed the cup and thrusted it forward towards him.

"I'll let you help me, but first you have to taste this." She said, with such nonchalance that it was impossible to suspect anything, not giving the man even a moment to think as she made him hold the cup.

Although bewildered by the sudden gesture, Arjun drank the coffee, thinking it must be tea, as it had the same colour.

But little did he know...

"Wait, what did you make me drink...?" He stopped and looked at the glass, puzzled. And then it hit him.

Oh that burning sensation~

All that was heard after that was Arjun's shouting 'AAROHI' and her ecstatic laughter coming out of the kitchen.

Despite the mean prank Aarohi had tricked him into, Arjun still helped her to her room. He grumbled a quick little good night and went away without waiting for an answer, he wasn't angry, irritated maybe, but he was definitely embarrassed about screaming in front of her.

'Alright that's enough fun for today.' Aarohi couldn't help but snicker.

She turned to enter her room.

But halted and turned to stop as she heard voices. Upon looking around the corner of the hallway, she saw Vrikasura happily joking about with Dushasan.

And that made her glare daggers at them.

You know, that feeling you get when you despise someone so much that it angers you to even see them smiling, yeah that's what Aarohi was feeling right now. She had to deal with horrifying nightmares after what he tried to do while he was out here enjoying?!

No.

Aarohi couldn't give him that satisfaction. She had to do... something.

Something that would rattle him so much that it would show on his face all the time.

Or even just make him a little mad.

She furrowed her brows, thinking hard.

It looked like the fun wasn't enough for today after all...

***

What do you think Aarohi's going to do? 😈💕✨

Be sure to ask questions about the characters right here, for the Q&A.👉 I'll answer them in the next part!

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