sudden proposal...!!??

"then please date me" Erissa said with utmost sincerity in her voice and eyes.

he probably thinks I am an idiot, what am I even doing there is no way he is going to date some idiot who just blurted it out like that.

"why...why me...??" he said looking almost on the verge of tears and voice trembling.

Startled from the unexpected question Erissa murmured slightly, "cause you can save me..." realising she had said that out loud she put both her hands on her mouth one upon other.

and peeked up to have a glance at his reaction.

surprised Arhon by sudden proposal didn't really hear what she murmured later and just asked sincerely, "do you know me, or do you know what kind of person I am, or even what I have done in my life"

taken aback by the sudden questions, Erissa flinched and then answered, "I only know what I have heard about you from others..., but I want to get to know you myself without getting mixed with any prejudice."

"it really is half true if we look at it, I didn't really design any of the special characteristics for you in the novel, so I only know about a few highlights." Erissa thought to rationalise her guilt of lying to him.

trying to find a bit of fear in Erissa's eyes Arhon looked at her sternly but wasn't able to find even a hint of it, so he sighed inwardly and said, "you know dating me for whatever reason is not a good idea I am not someone who you can be happy with, you should find someone as cheerful and enthusiastic as you, I can not make you happy." he said with a lots of pain in his voice as though remembering a distant painfull past.

"I will find that for myself" Erissa said with resolute reflecting in her voice, "I don't have to be happy with I just need to live with you to stay safe" Erissa thought as she clenced her fist tight.

finding Erissa's reaction amusing, Arhon suffered to get his words out straight, but he said even more resolutely, "I can't have your life put in danger for me, so I think it's better for me to take my leave now"

just as he was trying to get himself up, Erissa jumped in front him and said, "I said it doesn't matter, it doesn't matter what you do Or how you are like I will find that out myself, so even if you are going to reject me give me a valid reason, don't go on saying that you won't date me because you want to keep me safe." getting desperate Erissa said the words out loud which left Arhon speechless.

"then...,I can't date you because I don't like you" Arhon said seeming to hold back a little.

"what...?? " reply left Erissa speechless.

but then she snapped out and said, "that's okay, I don't like you too"

Erissa's remark made Arhon wonder and he asked, "why do you want to date me then...?? " quite irritation visible in his voice.

Erissa smiled at him as though caught some rat in trap and said, "I don't like you, but I am interested in you and attracted to you..., so let's date even though we don't like each other to see if we can like each other in future..., that's what everyone does right... "

admiring Erissa's way of thinking, Arhon was intrigued and thought "I do find her interesting and attractive, she looked like some angel getting down from clouds in that white off shoulered dress which complimented with her flawless white skin and that red hair of hers only gave way to her shinning in night view... her eyes are cute too, they are round and small with dark blue colour in them."

just as Arhon was pondering, Erissa interrupted his thoughts and said, "do you not find me attractive enough, can you not date me because you not interested in me even at slightest"

looking at Erissa's dejected face Arhon sighed and said, "let's date, then" after a few seconds of pause he continued, "let's date till either of us falls apart and leaves other."

upon hearing Arhon's words more than feeling happy Erissa felt incredibly guilty of using his innocence like that, she tried to reason with herself but wasn't able to put out any words.

seeing Erissa go silent, Arhon asked in a low voice, "do you not want to date me now...?"

Erissa snapped out of it and exclaimed quite loudly "I DO" which got a chuckle from Arhon.

while Erissa looked at him smile she felt relived and said, "you look nice when you smile"

taken aback from Erissa's remark Arhon flinched as it was his first time getting such a compliment, Arhon was a handsome young man, and the fact wasn't hidden to the people of capital but no one ever told him he looked pretty or handsome and was only called beast which made him think that he wasn't beautiful but was ugly instead.

having his heart go wild with remark Arhon blushed and said lightly "thank you"

getting an unexpected reaction from Arhon, Erissa thought of him as quite cute for the first time but then dismissed it by thinking there is no way someone called beast can be cute.

Arhon then calmed himself and said, "should we go back then, mademoiselle"

"let's go..., but don't you think you should change the way you address me since we are dating now"

Arhon flinched at the question, they had now gotten up from their spot and were walking towards the palace.

Arhon then asked fidgeting under her gaze, "what should I call you then"

Erissa found him cute unconsciously but couldn't admit to it due to her prejudice of him being a beast and said, "you can just call me "Eri" like my family does"

Arhon shocked from the response asked, "can I really, isn't that someone really close to you should call you"

"No, you really can call me that, since we are going to date now and you are going to be closest to me now don't you think" Erissa replied looking excitedly at him.

Though Erissa presented the idea of them dating nonchalantly it was her first time dating someone, even in her past life she couldn't date anyone due to strict indian norms which didn't really had any respect for the girls and boys dating before marriage or engagement.

getting to date for the first time had Erissa excited and nervous at the same time, she had always wanted to do lots of things with her date ever since from her past life, but wasn't really able to do so and now was the chance for her to get to do everything she had wanted to do and the very first of them was to call each other by cute pet names.

"okay... then you can also call me by any name you find comfortable" said Arhon having his ears beat red.

getting overly excited while flapping her hands Erissa said, "okay then, let me call you..., what should I call you... I can't really think of anything... hmm.. "

getting expectant and excited Arhon waited for her to give him a name.

"okay then it's decided I am going to call you "Ari" it also sounds quite similar to me, what do you think?" Erissa said with visible stars in her eyes.

and it made Arhon's heart beat faster.

and he said nothing but gave a nod, blushing from his neck to his ears.

*TO BE CONTINUED*