I will kill you today, Half-wife.
“Take it back, I’m not hungry,” I blurted, and the attendant looked at me with a confused and scared expression.
“But, Pr—”
“Really, I’m not hungry,” I insisted, and she turned to take it back.
Fine! This time, I would read five pages.
I sat down on the couch and immersed myself in the next five. As soon as I finished the last word on the fifth page, I clapped twice.
An attendant approached.
“I want dinner,” I stated again. She nodded before leaving.
But as soon as I saw an unfamiliar face again, I smashed my head on the book.
“Take it back,” I said again. My inner conscience growled in frustration.
Ten pages this time. I read and finished, and called an attendant for dinner, but she didn’t come again. I sent her away. Another twenty pages, another attendant, not her, again; fifty pages, dinner, still not her, again. I didn’t realise it then, but I had become frustrated and angry, and was truly hungry. I had lost track of how many times I had called them. Finally, I finished the book and clapped once more.
An attendant arrived, her face pale.
I tried to speak in a slow, soothing voice.“Dinner, please.”
She gulped. I sensed her nervousness and fear.“Ji,” she nodded and walked away.
I rose to my feet and walked back and forth.
Where the hell are you, Sumanika Ji, my half-wife?
Settling onto the bed, I reclined, closing my eyes with one knee bent over the edge. My heart raced, and a slight uneasiness churned in my stomach. Honestly, I was just worried about her health. That was it.
As I heard a faint sound of footsteps, I quickly lifted my head to glance at the entrance. My eyes fell on her, and I sighed in relief.
Thank god!
She appeared pale in her simple yellow outfit. Her eyes looked tired as I watched her walk toward the table to set the plate down.
“Your dinner,” she said.
I sat up to look at her.“What took you so long?”
She frowned at me.“For what?”
She knew the answer, yet—
“For bringing me dinner.”
She momentarily lowered her gaze and said,“There are other attendants as well, Kunwar-sa. You didn’t stay hungry if someone else served you in the last four years. What changed?”
“I wanted to see you.” I gritted my teeth, my words unintentionally sharp as I approached her from the bed.
Her eyes met mine, and I noticed the distance between us shrink.
She swallowed hard and blinked quietly before responding in a slow voice,“Since when did a prince want to see a maid?”
Her words hurt me. She sounded upset and blunt.
