Morning:

Pithampur Palace:

Gauri's room:

It was 8am and Gauri was already awake sitting on the window seat. She had a tough night. The bed was so uncomfortable that when she had enough, she got a blanket and went on the window seat to sleep. She managed to get a little bit of sleep but not much. Her mind was filled with so many questions and so many thoughts. I mean she got the biggest shock of her life yesterday which was that she was actually a princess. 

She got up from the window seat and went to one of the drawers. She opened the top drawer and found the ring which Natasha gave her to wear. She picked it up and looked at it. So now that she was 18, she had to marry a guy that she never met in her life. Wasn't life amazing? The day before she was a 17 year old girl soon to be 18 and had no intention to marry anytime soon, now she had no choice but to marry. 

As she was in her thoughts, she didn't noticed the door opening and closing. She snapped out of her thoughts when....

Natasha: Rajkumari Gauri? 

Gauri turned to face Natasha.

Gauri: ji Natasha mam?

Natasha: you don't have to call me mam first of all and second of all, it is 8:07am, time to get ready for breakfast.

Gauri: ek minute? I have to dress fancy for breakfast?

Natasha: ummmm yes. First freshen up, you see that door?

Gauri nodded.

Natasha: that leads you to an en suite. You will find in the bathroom cabinet toothbrushes in the packet, toothpaste, face wash, body wash etc...don't take too long. Also remember at 9:15am, your hair will be straightened and servants will put contacts on your eyes to make them hazel.

Gauri: okay, thank you.

Natasha: and...

Natasha went into the massive walk-in closet which was already filled with so many clothes. She got out a hanger and box and said: this is a sari which was delivered to Pooja by the Oberois last week. 

Gauri: I have to wear a sari?

Natasha: yes, it will make the Oberois happy to see their soon to be daughter-in-law wearing a saree gifted by them when they reach here. Also they delivered these bangles and necklace which you have to wear which are in this box.

Gauri: fine, give me the hanger and box.

Natasha: here. Now hurry up, remember that breakfast is at 8:30am. 

Gauri nodded and went into the en suite. God, why did all these rooms look so expensive? She sighed, rolling her eyes as she freshened up. After freshening up, she looked at the saree and then the jewellery.

Gauri: why on earth do these stupid royals wear so much jewellery and long dresses? Also if I sold this mirror...the money could feed the whole village! Why did these Oberois want me to wear a sari? I have never worn a sari in my life! I should have listened to Maa now when she tried to make me wear a sari on Diwali. Why did I have to leave my phone in Indore? I am such an idiot! 

She heard a knock on the door.

Gauri: who is it?

Natasha: it's me Rajukumari Gauri. It's 8:20am. You have 10 minutes left. Are you ready?

Gauri in mind: maybe she can help me (speaking) no, how do you wear a sari?

Natasha: let me in and I will help you. 

Gauri opened the door and Natasha came in to help her set the sari. As Natasha was helping Gauri with the sari, Gauri spoke: did Pooja wear a lot of sarees?

Natasha: not really, she wore branded clothing like branded jumpsuits, branded long dresses, branded blouses etc, she would wear sarees when meeting with other royal families or on festivals like Diwali.  

Gauri was about to say something else when Natasha spoke before her: done, you can wear the jewellery after breakfast now come on.

Gauri nodded, thanking her then went downstairs for breakfast. Thankfully she was on time. She looked at the table, it was so long and there were so many chairs. Her house back in Indore only had a very small table with three chairs for three people; herself, her maa and her sister Ekta. Yes there was another child in their house called Ekta, she was her maa's real daughter but Gauri knew since yesterday that heart relationships were stronger than blood relationships.

Ahana, Siddharth and Ranveer were already sat down and waiting. Ahana turned to see Gauri just standing there.

Ahana: Happy birthday Gauri. The sari they gifted you suits you, also you are right now on time. Do sit now.

Gauri nodded and was about to take a seat next to Ranveer when Siddharth spoke: that is Pooja's seat. You are not allowed to sit there.

Gauri: then where do I sit? 

Siddharth: next to Ahana.

Gauri in mind: how lovely! Next to my so called mother. 

Gauri didn't argue but she did gave the royal family a dangerous glare as she sat next to Ahana. She wasn't the biggest fan of anyone in the royal family, the only reason she was planning to sit next to Ranveer was probably because in this matter, he was not the culprit, I mean the matter happened years before he was born so really she had nothing against Ranveer but she did hate her so called parents especially her so called mother with all her heart. 

Siddharth started to eat which meant that everyone else was allowed to eat. Gauri looked at all the food on the table...she never ate all these rich food in her life so all she did was put some strawberries on her plate and ate them because it was the only thing she liked. 

After breakfast, some servants came to take Gauri upstairs so they could make her fully look like Pooja. She was made to sit on a chair in front of the mirror and she watched a servant using some sort of machine on her hair that turned her wavy hair straight. Within 10 minutes, her hair was fully straightened and the servant styled it a little. Natasha came to put the jewellery and engagement ring on Gauri and something else....

Gauri: what? Makeup? Why do I need to wear makeup?

Natasha: to make yourself look a bit more representable in front of the Oberois.

Gauri: but I don't want to wear makeup.

Natasha: you have no choice. The women of every royal family wear makeup when meeting other royal families, festivals or other important events. You don't have a choice.

Gauri: you won't do heavy makeup on me like they do on the actresses in the TV serials.

Natasha: of course not, just light makeup.

Gauri: fine. 

Natasha started doing her makeup, Finally once that was done she left and another servant came and carefully kept the contact lenses in Gauri's eyes. Once they were put into her eyes, Gauri blinked a couple of times before looking at herself in the mirror. Once she looked at herself in the mirror, she couldn't recognise herself. Who was this girl in the mirror? It was definitely not her.

One servant: wow you really look like Rajkumari Pooja.

Of course that's who she looked like, Pooja. No one wanted Gauri, everyone wanted Pooja, just Pooja. Her so called parents wanted Pooja, all these servants seemed to want Pooja and the Oberois wanted Pooja. She couldn't be herself, she couldn't be Gauri, she had to be someone else who looked a lot like her but other than that, was a completely different person from her. 

She got up and went downstairs. Gauri looked around...now which room was the throne room? She walked around and then found the throne room and walked towards to the royal family. Gauri was about to talk when a servant came in carrying a flower bouquet. 

Another servant: Raja Siddharth, Rani Ahana, the Oberois are here.

Ahana: already?

The servant nodded and gave Gauri the bouquet.

Another servant: you will need to give this bouquet to the king and queen of Mumbai. 

Gauri nodded and then Siddharth spoke: they weren't supposed to be here yet..oh well, let's go and meet them.

Ahana nodded as they got off their thrones and walked to outside the palace where the Oberois were. Gauri was standing next to Ranveer, looking at Mumbai's royal family. Ranveer whispered to Gauri: the man with the long hair is your fiancé.

Gauri whispering: I figured that out. So his name is Omkara.

Ranveer whispering: yes.

Gauri nodded.

Siddharth: welcome Raja Tej and Rani Jhanvi to Pithampur.

Jhanvi: thank you. Sorry for coming here a bit earlier than expected.

Siddharth: it's perfectly okay, welcome to the palace. Pooja, give them the bouquet.

Gauri nodded, smiling as she came forward and gave a smiling Tej the bouquet.

Tej and Jhanvi: happy birthday Pooja.

Gauri: thank you.

She noticed Om who was just standing there in silence. She looked at him from head to toe. He really looked handsome like a movie star but...but she couldn't just marry someone just because they looked hot. She wanted to marry someone for personality and for the sake of true love. 

Ahana: namaste Om beta.

Om: namaste Rani Ahana.

He came forward and bent down to touch her feet but Ahana stopped him.

Ahana: first of all you don't have to call me Rani Ahana, I am soon going to be your mother-in-law, just call me Maaji.

Om gave a smile making Gauri think: wow he has such a nice smile.

Ahana: and second of all, family doesn't touch one another's feet, we hug.

Om: you're right Maaji.

Ahana smiled as they hugged then Om and Siddharth hugged. Om came in front of Gauri. Her hazel eyes looked at his black eyes and his black eyes were drilling into her hazel eyes. Gauri couldn't help but think that she had never seen such dark eyes with so much light in them.

There was just silence between the two when Siddharth spoke: Rani Jhanvi and Raja Tej, I think we should all go in and send Omkara and Pooja to the garden so they can talk.

Tej: excellent idea. 

Siddharth: great, Tina please bring Omkara and Pooja to the garden. Once you bring them to the garden, leave them alone to talk.

Tina nodded and led Om and Gauri to the garden then she left. The garden was gorgeous. The bonsai trees lined the perfect lawn in their wooden boxes. In the centre there was a pond as large as a small lake with flowering lily pads and a wooden bridge that crossed the middle so you could look down at the koi carp. The flower beds were a riot of May colour and even on close inspection they were weed-free. There was a round white table with white chairs on the patio. Om pulled out a chair, signalling Gauri to sit down on it. Gauri sat down then Om went to sit on another chair.

Silence lingered in the air for a few minutes. Om and Gauri didn't know what to say to one another. Om hadn't seen Pooja in years and Gauri...Gauri has never ever met Om until now.

Om took a deep breath and finally broke the silence: happy birthday Pooja.

Gauri: thank you.

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This chapter is done for the day. I am really sorry for a boring chapter. If you liked the chapter, do vote and comment.

Questions of the day:

Will Gauri warm up to her real parents?

Will anyone get to know about Pooja?

What happened to the real Pooja?

Will Om get to know about Gauri?

Will Om fall for Gauri a.k.a Pooja?

Thank you for reading. Have a lovely day.

Target: 20+ votes and 7+ comments