The same night, a lone maid stepped out of the quarters, rubbing her eyes. The corridor was dim, humming faintly with the laundry machines deeper inside.

A shadow moved.

She jerked, nearly dropping her basket.

Neel leaned at the doorframe, posture relaxed. "Long night?"

"I, I was just finishing up, sir," she said quickly.

Neel watched her, unreadable. "Strange times for us, aren't they? Break-ins... Then a prince almost gets hit by a car." His voice sharpened in mock curiosity. "Makes a man wonder if the royals are careless, or jinxed."

Her fingers tightened around the basket. "Sir... I don't understand why you're asking me? I'm just support staff. I don't go near the royals."

"You don't." Neel nodded slowly. "You're just a simple woman. A wife."
His eyes shifted, shaper. "Whose husband happened to guard Raghav's cabin ten days ago."

Her breath stilled.

"It's interesting," Neel continued, nodding as he pushed himself off the door. "If someone wanted to slip inside, they would do it during that guard's turn. Easy and quiet." He clicked his tongue. "Especially the wife. The husband wouldn't betray her. He loves her too much to protest anyway."

She took a step back, face draining of color.

"And," Neel added calmly, "congratulations on booking the honeymoon trip."

She froze.

"You already had one three years ago. Odd time to plan another, isn't it? Unless it's your boyfriend this time."

Her eyes widened, before she ran past him, the basket dropping with a clutter.

Neel exhaled sharply, before tapping his earpiece. "Mole confirmed. Heading ten o'clock, east wing."

"What?" Raghav's voice snapped over a man's screams. "I already have the second mole detained—"

"There are three!" Neel shot back. 

"Copy! Lock down the East Wing. Seal stairwell two and the service exit. Guards, converge on ten o'clock!" he heard Raghav order.

Neel sprinted down the hallway.

The maid barreled down the staircase, gasping. She burst into the lobby and slammed to a stop at the sight of Neelakshi.

The maid froze, eyes frantically wide, before she made a run again.

Neelakshi blocked her path, hand shooting forward. She jabbed her fingers at a pressure point below the maid's ear. The woman screamed, staggering as she clutched her head. She crumpled hard to the floor as pain blacked her vision. 

Neel skid to a stop beside them, slightly out of breath. "Is she dead?"

Neelakshi glared at him pointedly, exasperated with her younger brother. "Not yet. And try not to chase suspects alone next time."

"That was the plan, di," Neel replied curtly. "But the situation changed."

"Where is Raghav even?" She huffed, incredulous and upset with the lousy man.

Raghav and his team arrived seconds later, shoes thudding down the busy corridor. He took one glance at Neelakshi and grimaced when she glowered at the sight of him, fuming as she trailed his every move.

God... what had his brother-in-law instigated now?

"Boys, secure her," Raghav ordered, back to work, ignoring his failing love life.

Neelakshi exhaled sharply but said nothing more to him, stepping aside as the team restrained the unconscious maid. She walked away to inform the King. Men could wait!

           The old palace dungeon smelled of rust and cold, damp stone. The ancient prison was officially shut down in papers, but in reality, they the royal family still used it to hold interrogations. 

Agney stood in front of the interrogation table, face unreadable. Prince Yuvaan stood to his right, looking bored, hands clasped behind him.

The maid sat trembling in the metal chair, hands cuffed to the sturdy wooden armrest, face damp with tears. A dark bruise darkened the side of her neck where she had been struck.

Raghav paced behind her, arms folded, face dark with barely restrained rage. Three moles...

At first, he had only suspected one guard. Then, he uncovered that both were involved. Andn now... a third.

"Start talking," Raghav demanded.

The maid's lips parted, eyes blinking rapidly, then her mouth clamped shut. She hesitated, her gaze darting to every face in the room, before they landed on her unconscious lover.

"I... I..." she stammered, shaking her head. "Sir! I didn't want to... please, this isn't my fault!"

"Spare us the excuses," Neel muttered. "We know you used your husband's access."

"No, no, I—" she choked, then retreated when Raghav's eyes flashed.

"She won't answer the easy way!" 

His hand slammed, hitting the table near her.

She flinched, panicking. Her shoulders squared up. "Okay! Okay... Please, don't hurt me. 'll talk." 

Her breathing hitched, swallowing the sob as she tried to compose herself, blinking rapidly.

"I stole my husband's pass key," she whispered, lips trembling. "And copied Raghav sir's pattern. I meant to make it look like my husband did it. I don't love him. My... Satish and I..."

Her voice broke as her eyes drifted to the bruised, unconscious man on the floor. She cried, shaking her head.

Neelakshi fumed in disgust. Goodness! They compromised the crown's safety for their messy love triangle?

Agney finally spoke, voice low and controlled. "Who hired you?"

The maid took longer to compose as she panted. She licked her lips, trembling.

"A man," she whispered. "It was a man's voice. We never saw his face. He called from an unknown number. He knew... he knew everything. He contacted us the day after Prince Harsh arrived. Said the breach had to happen quickly." Tears spilled. "He sent half the money at once. We thought... Satish thought, it was our chance."

Yuvaan unclasped his hands, stepping forward. "How did the intruder get inside?"

"I've.. I've known from my husband that the guards take an unofficial break at 2:10," she said. "I gave the key to Satish that night." Her face squeezed to panic. "I swear that's all I know! I don't know who that man is! Please leave me! I don't know anything else!"

Raghav pinched the bridge of his nose. "Her story matches his..." he muttered, looking up.

Agney frowned. "The phone number? Bank account?"

"Faux accounts, your Majesty. Their owners are dead. Someone is playing a dirty game."

Agney straightened afterwards, a lethal as he watched the traitors. "Hand over all three to the police. Make sure they don't see the daylight for a really long time." 

The maid broke into sobs.

           Agney and Yuvaan stepped in the King's study, Yuvaan closing the door after him.

"There's an eighty percent chance someone else built the code," Yuvaan said.

Agney's jaw tightened. "And the remaining twenty?"

"The creator has breached it."

Agney closed his eyes briefly. "Send Neelakshi in. Goodnight."

"Bhai—"

His neck craned to the side. "I said, goodnight."

Yuvaan swallowed the frustration, rolling his neck once. He walked out, jet lag finally taking its toll on him as his mind grew foggy. Slowly, he straightened his collar, exhausted. Arguing was futile. Agni bhai was too stubborn. He regretted informing him of the findings.

"Neelakshi," he said, a polite, tired tilt of his head towards the study.

She sighed, and stepped inside the study after Prince Yuvaan left. "Yes, Your Majesty?"

"Arrange a meeting with Ericsons Security," Agney said, back to her as he leant on his desk, anxiously fidgeting with his sapphire ring.

"You suspect them?"

"I suspect everyone," Agney said quietly.

She hesitated "Your brother and your mother trusted them deeply."

Agney stared at the wall before him. "I don't..." he said, simply.

Neelakshi hesitated, before her concern won.

"Agni?"

He stilled, and slowly turned to Neelakshi. She was frowning, vexed. Her gaze lowered once, heart heavy after accidentally having slipped that name. It had been a long time since she last called him by that. She stepped forward once she realised she had to voice herself, for the sake of her dead best friend and his family.

"Do you any idea how powerful our enemy is if they can convince the Ericsons?" She warned, bluntly. 

Agney stared at her, before he blinked rapidly. "I know." His jaw clenched as he met her gaze, before looking away.

Neelakshi searched his face, worry and pity softening her features. He glanced back at her, and felt a flicker of irritation, hate even, at the sympathy in her eyes. He didn't need pity. He didn't have room for it. Yet, he felt the resolve strengthened in his heart. He would protect them, enemies be damned! The crown was his responsibility and he lived for it.

His family wouldn't bear another loss.

She sighed at last, resigning to the fate when she remembered he was carrying the weight of the crown. Her mother used to say its burden could break even the strongest of men. She prayed Agni was right in his judgment, and put her trust in him. There was no easier way out of this. 

Duty reclaimed her, eyes stern as her head tipped forward, lips pursed.

"As you wish, your Majesty."

***

The car ride was awkward in the absence of Shay. Harsh rubbed at his gritty eyes, miffed. He wanted to know why the quieter twin wasn't accompanying them, but the sheer intensity of the bull's scowl made him hesitate. Better to postpone the question, he decided, though curiosity gnawed at him. He was clueless at Jay's sudden one-eighty mood swing, the way his jaw clenched, shoulders stiffened, and how he slammed the door shut before settling into the backseat beside him.

Harsh sensed the irritation radiating from the guy beside him, his piercing glare sweeping across everything. The bull was angry at him, he figured. But why? He couldn't tell.

He had even agreed to the useless truce!

He sat rigid, arms clutching the bag to his chest as he deeply missed the quieter twin, more than he wanted to admit. Atleast Shay didn't huff every two seconds...

"What?" he snapped, eyes blinking slowly as he flinched at another sharp exhale from the grumpy twin.

Jay pressed a button with a sharp, irritated flick. A tinted divider slid up, sealing them off from the driver. The cabin fell into a muffled, enclosed hush.

"What?" The older prince snapped, finally looking at him, lips pressed in a thin, impatient line.

"Yeah, what? Why are you huffing at me every two seconds?"

"I'm not huffing at you," Jay muttered, looking away with a mean, almost imperceptible curl of his lip. He was agitated by the brat's remark earlier this morning. He was still debating, whether he should install a motion sensor at the brat's door so that he could be notified if someone other than him and his brothers tried to invade the crybaby's privacy.

"Right, and I'm not a human."

"Yes, you're a dwarf," the older prince scoffed.

"I'm not a dwarf!" Harsh countered, pointing an accusatory finger at Jay. "You are a monstrous giant! You're even taller than the oldest! How is that even possible?" He glared daggers.

"Oh, and you think siblings grow in a serialized order?" Jay retorted, face sour with annoyance at his silly remarks.

Hesitation flickered across Harsh. He shrugged, blinking rapidly as he grew less confident.

"Well..." he hesitated. "You're younger. You shouldn't be the tallest. You're even taller than Agney, who is himself a giant." 

The bull's gaze sharpened, nostrils flaring. "First, Agni bhai. Respect him. Second, are you dumb? Did you fall on your head growing up? What rulebook says only the oldest can be the tallest? Height is random. It's encoded in DNA. Or did you skip your middle school education?"

Harsh huffed, rolling his eyes. To be honest, since he didn't have siblings, he didn't know what chronology they followed while growing up. However, having seen enough movies and read plenty of fiction, he had assumed the oldest was always the tallest. It didn't fit his mental picture for a younger sibling to tower over the older. What was the point of being the first sperm if you couldn't claim the advantage of height?

Moreover, when do younger siblings even outgrow their older ones? They are born later, when the older ones already have a leap of height. Then, how was it possible for the younger ones to outgrow the older ones? When do they outgrow? Wasn't it weird? It didn't make any sense to him.

"The oldest should be the tallest. It's natural."

"Why?"

"Because," Harsh began, leaning in. "If the oldest is the shortest, how one can take them serious?"

"By that logic, you should be scared of Agni bhai because he is taller."

"Only by an inch," Harsh excused pointedly. "That's why I'm scared of him only by this," he pinched his fingers, "amount." Which was negligible.

"What about me? You should be the most scared of me." Jay crossed his arms, chest puffing out slightly.

"Well..." Harsh squinted, trying to defend himself, fiddling with the strap of his bag. "There are other factors." He peered from under his lashes, nodding as if to educate him.

"Like?"

"Like, being smart? You obviously lack in that department. You're just a buff, brainless jock, and from all the western YA fiction I have read, I conclude, you're only a comic relief in my story."

Harsh leaned back, proud with his retort.

"You rely on fiction to understand the real world? God, what's wrong with you?" Jay sneered, face scrunched in contempt.

Harsh's smirk dropped, his chest tightening at everything that was stupid about him. He knew he was sounding dumb and naive, but then again, hadn't he been since... forever?

He inhaled deeply, brushing off the uncomfortable feeling. "Atleast I can read," he bit back, hoping the bull didn't catch the crack in his voice. "You know what? Your twin is so much better than you. He doesn't beg me for a truce first thing in the morning. Accept it. You're scared of me."

Jay scoffed. "You? I'm scared of you?" He chuckled, disregarding his entire existence. "You will stop surviving the day I don't want you to," he smirked. "You see, I'm being a little... merciful," he added, nodding in mock sympathy.

His eyes rolled, exasperated, looking out the window. "All bark and no bite," he muttered under his breath.

Jay's smirk faltered as he glared, jaw clenched. "What did you just say?"

"Nothing," he sing sang to the deaf prince, observing the sunny weather outside. Not a trace of rain was visible that had wrecked the weather two days ago. He wanted to be outside, instead of being cornered by this bipolar maniac.

"Why did Agney Rajvansh even assign me to you?" He began to lament to himself when he remembered Prithvi Rajvansh, someone rare, who made him want to crave and seek their company. "Even your twin is a hundred times better. Why didn't he assign me to Shay or Prithvi bhai? You're just... lame," he muttered, distasteful. 

"My twin is not your equivalent. Call him Shay bhai."

He had enough as frustration boiled over. "Why is everyone a bhai to me here? Bhai, bhai, bhai! I'm going to be insane with the amount of times I need to utter 'bhai' in a day!"

"Sounds like a 'youngest child' problem to me." Jay smirked, unapologetic. "Have fun, brat. Even though you don't deserve it."

"Oh, why don't you call your twin 'bhai'?" He retorted, glaring.

"Because I am the older twin," Jay began, amusement dancing in his expression. "He's six minutes younger."

"Then why isn't he calling you bhai?"

"Because I favor him. Not you."

Harsh sulked, wanting to punch something. He racked his brain to bite back, but he had nothing to say. He hated being upperhanded.

He looked away. He glared at the city traffic, before his neck craned to the side. "Why didn't your twin join us today? Is it favoritism too?" he grumbled.

Jay smirked, chin high and looking ahead. "Changing subjects, are we?"

Harsh narrowed his eyes, knowing the bull was deliberately rubbing salt on his wounds. "I'm not changing subject, mind you. I want to know what made him stuck me in your stupid presence." 

Jay's gaze drifted to Harsh's wrist, clad in tracker, lips weaving in a cruel smirk.

Harsh scowled. "Don't!"

"It's not the first time you're stuck." Jay chuckled, full-blown, leaning slightly towards him. "Your location is synced to our systems. I don't think anything can stuck you more than that."

Anger simmered inside his chest. "Ha, ha, ha, very funny," he deadpanned, before he grimaced. "Stop now!" He yelled, irritated by his unwavering mirth. "That's a sexual innuendo. Shut up now!"

The older prince's laughter finally died down. He exhaled heavily, face softened for a fleeting second as disappointment flickered in his eyes. Harsh felt a strange sinking feeling in his stomach. He had never seen that look on Jay before.

"Here you go again.... sexualizing everything," Jay muttered, low and disgusted.

His gaze dropped on its own, unable to meet the intensity of disappointment. However, as soon as the feeling registered in his head, he huffed to himself.  

Why did he even care?

Jay too, composed himself, disgusted as he muttered, "Playboy is the male version of a slut. Just with money. Facts." 

"I don't need to know such facts. Thanks, princey."

Thick, awkward silence fell between them for the first time. Jay didn't reply, not knowing what to say, and Harsh, hesitant to disturb the fragile peace, stayed quiet too.

The bull exhaled loudly after a minute, looking away from the brat's small, cheerless face. His meek demeanor always triggered something in him, getting on his nerves. He didn't like seeing him so quiet, especially since the brat had a habit of spewing so much rubbish. "My twin doesn't like going out regularly," he began, "He prefers staying in. An introvert, he is," he ended, looking back at Harsh's face with reluctance.

Harsh frowned as he took in the new information. He had his hunch about Shay being an introvert, but he wasn't sure until Jay confirmed it. Another realization struck him.

It was their first normal conversation ever!

He turned to look at Jay, stunned, eyes flickering with tenderness and gentle curiosity. 

Jay frowned at the gentle look in the boy's honey eyes. Something tugged at his heartstrings, the same way it had when his eyes had landed on him for the first time. The wide eyed look made Harsh soft, earnest and small. Not the brash, shameless brat he knew. But someone docile... tender. 

Kshitij stomped on the feeling immediately, face twisting into a sneer. "He doesn't roam around anywhere like a wild, loose cat. Unlike you." 

Harsh gritted his teeth, eyes hardening. Take back his words! This bull could never be normal!

"Says the gym freak," he retorted, voice tight.

"Was that the only thing you could come up with? Pathetic." The older prince smirked, eyes glinting. "But I'm not surprised."

Harsh rolled his eyes and looked away, energy draining suddenly. He didn't reply as he slumped.

Jay's fists clenched in frustration before he too looked out the window, face taut.

The rest of the drive passed in heavy silence.

               College started on an unexpectedly good note. One of his classmates greeted him as he occupied his usual seat behind her. Next moment, they were immediately paired for a group project, and he quickly joined hands. Kruti wasn't his type exactly, so he wasn't distracted. Besides, she was clearly disinterested in him. She seemed to be only wanting a pure, academic collaboration, and he was going to honor her wishes.

He was engrossed in a conversation with Kruti, exchanging numbers since they had forgotten to do it earlier, when Jay passed by them in the courtyard with his jock friends. The discreet scrutiny made Harsh roll his eyes. He felt the pointed glare on him even from meters away, tracking every move. It only deepened the pounding in his temple, which he had been trying to mask since dawn.

He forced a charming smile at his new acquaintance, though it came tired and lazy. As she walked off, Harsh glared at the bull from across the courtyard. It looked like the guy and his stupid crew were about to skip class for some reason.

"Someone is back on his guard dog duties," A voice muttered.

"Huh?" Harsh blinked, glancing over his shoulder only to find Devraj.

"Nothing, minor. Later," Devraj said, striding ahead.

He frowned, confused by the remark. Did Jay frequently surveil people? He couldn't understand why Devraj was so sour about him?

Were Shay's friends and Jay on bad foot? Why?The twins were close. By that logic, they should be close to each other's friends.

Or was that not how brothers worked?