Jaipur, India

The grand halls of Rajmahal Palace sparkled beneath magnificent crystal chandeliers as India's wealthiest and most influential families gathered for the annual charity gala. Laughter echoed through the ballroom while camera flashes captured every important guest. A live orchestra filled the palace with soft music as business tycoons discussed billion-dollar partnerships as effortlessly as they admired priceless works of art... Luxury surrounded every corner...

Yet despite all the glamour, Aakarsh Singh Oberoi felt completely out of place...

At just twenty-three years old, he was already known as the future king of India's corporate world. Calm, disciplined, and always in control of his emotions, Aakarsh had attended the gala for only one reason…………

His grandfather insisted. But the truth was... He had always found boardroom meetings far less exhausting than social gatherings like this...

After greeting several guests, Aakarsh leaned slightly toward his grandfather...

"Dadaji, I'm going outside for a while. It's getting suffocated here..."

Veerendra Singh Oberoi looked at his grandson before smiling knowingly...

"Go. Sometimes, silence is more valuable than noise. I'll call you when it's time to leave..."

Aakarsh nodded respectfully and quietly walked away from the crowded ballroom. With every step he took through the peaceful palace corridors, the music and conversations behind him slowly faded...

A few moments later, his eyes landed on a large wooden door. A polished brass plaque read—

ROYAL LIBRARY

Curiosity stirred within him. He gently pushed the door open and stepped inside...

Floor-to-ceiling bookshelves filled the enormous room. The comforting scent of old books and sandalwood lingered in the air. Compared to the glittering ballroom outside, this place felt peaceful... almost magical here...

For the first time that evening, Aakarsh felt relaxed. Just as he took another step.......

Click.

The entire palace suddenly went dark. From somewhere outside, he heard a few startled voices before silence settled over the palace once again...

Instinctively, Aakarsh switched on his phone's flashlight. Almost at the same moment, another soft beam of light appeared from the opposite side of the library...

He turned toward it and saw a young woman standing beside one of the bookshelves. She held a novel in one hand and her phone in the other...

What surprised him wasn't that she was alone. It was that she wasn't frightened. Unlike most people, she remained perfectly calm...

"Looks like the entire palace lost power." Then her gentle voice broke the silence...

Aakarsh tried to see her face clearly, but the darkness hid most of her features...

"Looks like it," he replied quietly as he swept his flashlight around the room, making sure there was somewhere safe to wait.

The young woman looked toward a reading table near the window.

"If you don't mind... you can sit here," she said politely. "It's better than standing in the dark..."

There was no hesitation in her voice. No curiosity. No excitement about discovering who he was. That alone caught Aakarsh's attention...

For the first time in a long while... He wanted to know someone. He walked over and sat across from her. For a few moments, neither of them spoke...

"So... Do you like reading books?" Then she smiled softly and spoke...

Aakarsh glanced at the leather-bound book resting on the table...

"I do," he answered. "Whenever the world becomes too loud... books are where I find peace..." 

A small laugh escaped her lips...

"Then I guess we both came to the right place..."

For reasons neither of them could explain, the conversation flowed effortlessly. It didn't feel like two strangers meeting for the first time...

They spoke about books that stayed with you long after the last page... About quiet places... About silence... And about how sometimes silence could say more than words ever could...

After a while, Aakarsh asked, "So... what brought you here...?"

She smiled.

"I love books. I heard this palace has one of the oldest royal libraries in Jaipur, so I couldn't resist coming to see it..."

Before Aakarsh could reply, the emergency generators came to life. Golden lights flooded the library once again...

And for the first time... He saw her clearly...

She wore a pastel blue Anarkali embroidered with delicate silver thread. Her long black hair rested over one shoulder, and there was a quiet elegance about her that outshined all the luxury outside...

For a brief moment... He simply forgot to look away...

"By the way..." he said gently, "I never asked your name..."

Before she could answer, another young woman rushed into the library, "There you are! I've been looking everywhere for you!..."

The girl sighed dramatically and said, "Riri... you know exactly where I'd be..."

"Come on, everyone's waiting for you..."

The newcomer never noticed Aakarsh. The bookshelf beside his chair partially hid him from view.

The girl picked up her belongings in a hurry.

"I should go now. Bye." She smiled politely before leaving with her friend...

As she lifted her novel... A handmade bookmark slipped quietly onto the wooden floor. She didn't notice...

Aakarsh remained standing, staring at the doorway long after she had disappeared.

Something about her... It felt different. As if all the warmth in the library had left with her...

His eyes finally dropped to the floor. The bookmark. He bent down and picked it up...

It was handmade, decorated with delicate watercolor flowers and tied with a thin blue ribbon...

Written neatly across it were the words—

"Kindness is the greatest success."

Aakarsh gently ran his thumb across the handwritten quote.

Outside the library, he heard someone call—

"Mimi! Hurry up!"

Without realizing it...

He whispered the nickname to himself.

"Mimi... Is this her name?"

Carefully, he slipped the bookmark into his wallet.

He had no idea...

That destiny would one day bring them together again.

Or that he had unknowingly left his heart behind in a royal library...

.

.

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AUTHOR'S NOTE 💙

So... Prologue khatam! 👀

Ab ek chhota sa question...

Library mein Aakarsh ke saath kaun tha? 🤭

Koi guess kar sakta hai? Ya phir aapko already lag gaya hai ki woh kaun ho sakta hai? 👀

Apne guesses comments mein zaroor batana. Bas itna hint dungi... har cheez waise nahi hoti jaisi pehli nazar mein dikhti hai. 😉

Aur don't worry... saare answers milenge, but thoda patience rakhna padega. The journey has just begun. ❤️

Agar prologue pasand aaya ho, to vote karna mat bhoolna aur apna feedback bhi zaroor dena. Your comments literally make my day! 🥹✨

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