PROLOGUE

The cold was always a lie.

Rudransh Singh Shekhawat stood at the edge of the terrace, overlooking the sprawling lights of Jaipur. The icy control etched into his face since childhood was a fiction—a piece of dark armor he wore without flaw. Tonight, that armor felt dangerously brittle.

Below, the palace glowed like a jewel in the desert night, hosting a hundred guests celebrating an alliance Rudransh had just secured. Not through quiet diplomacy, but with surgical finality.

A man was dead.

Not by Rudransh’s hand directly—that kind of amateurism was beneath the Crown Prince. But the order had been given, the execution was flawless, and the political threat that had plagued his syndicate network for three months was neutralized. The report, concise and bloodless, rested inside the inner pocket of his velvet achkan, detailing the sudden "unfortunate accident" that had befallen their target two thousand miles away.

He felt nothing. No guilt, no regret, no satisfaction. Only the grim, metallic taste of necessity. This was the true cost of the Throne. This was the burden of the Shekhawat name. To protect his bloodline, he had to become the wolf others only feared.“You look like you’re planning a funeral, not preparing for a wedding,” a voice murmured.Abhimaan. His brother, and the only soul permitted to breach the fortress of his composure.

Rudransh didn’t turn. “The wedding is the funeral of my personal peace.”

“It’s a strategic alliance, Yuvraj,” Abhimaan corrected, using the formal title as he stepped into the moonlight. “You have a duty to secure the line. The Rathores are strong, and their daughter is a sheltered weakness—easily contained with the right kind of court pressure.”Rudransh ran a slow thumb over the polished marble railing. Akriti Rathore.

He had seen the dossier. He had studied her photographs. Flawless royal grace. Fierce, dark eyes that carried an unbroken dignity. A spirit that looked far too alive for the gilded cage of a political marriage. Abhimaan was wrong; she wasn't a girl to be easily contained.

“She is a complication I don’t need,” Rudransh said quietly.“She is a necessity you cannot avoid,” Abhimaan countered. “The landscape is shifting beneath us. We need the Rathore leverage, and you need a wife who won’t shatter under the weight of this crown.”

Rudransh looked out into the darkness beyond the palace walls. He had spent his entire life eliminating risks. He had spent this very night erasing a man who dared to challenge his family’s reign. Yet looking at the pale desert moon, an inexplicable sense of doom settled in his chest—not from his rival syndicates, but from the princess he was about to claim.

He knew how to break a treaty. He knew how to break a man. But looking at her photograph, he knew with chilling certainty that this woman was the one destined to break him.

The price had been paid. The stage was set. And the royal bride about to enter his world had no idea she was stepping into a lair where the monster she needed to fear was the very King sworn to protect her.

LEADS             

Ruransh Singh Shekhawat

Typical male lead with a twist of tradition and culture. Belonging to the royal family of jaipur the Crown prince.

Akriti Rathore

The strong headed female lead, with a positive vibe. Grown up watching people teaching her royal etiques, she discovers a passion of her own.

The only princess of Rathore lineage.

Family Tree

The Shekhawat family

•Abhimanyu Singh Shekhawat(80)~ Yashwant kanwar (75) (grandparents

Rajender Singh Shekhawat (father)(56)~ Sunaina kanwar(mother) (54)

>Rudransh Singh Shekhawat (ML)(28)     

 >Abhimaan Singh Shekhawat(24)

>Digvijay Singh Shekhawat (20)

•Kuldeep Singh Shekhawat(54) (Kakosa/Chachu) ~ Sonika Rathore(52)(kakisa/chachi)

>Aviraj Singh Shekhawat(25)

>Samaira Shekhawat(19)

•Meenakshi Kanwar(Bhuasa/Aunt)(50)~ Yashraj Singh Rajawat (Fufosa/uncle)(54)

>Sara Rajawat(18)

>Avni Rajawat(15)

Friends

:Avyansh Rajvansh(28)

:Agastya Singh Chouhan(28)

The Rathore Family

•Raghuveer Singh Rathore(78)~ Neelam kanwar (74)  (grandparents)

•Shivansh Singh Rathore (56) (father)~ Komal Ranawat (mother) (dead)

>Abhishek singh Rathore (Brother) (28)

>Akriti Rathore(FL)(23)

Friends

: Nehal Garg (23)

: Anushka pareek (23)

Further characters will be introduce in the story.