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The Next Morning
As soon as Jaswant woke up early the next morning, he froze in shock.
Someone was lying on his bed — a girl! And she wasn't exactly… dressed.
Jaswant himself was wearing only his shorts, and now there was an unknown girl beside him. He stared in disbelief, his mind spinning. Then suddenly, he jumped up in panic, which startled the girl awake as well.
When she sat up, Jaswant turned bright red and blurted out,
"Hey! What are you doing here? And where are your clothes? Have some decency — there's a man standing right in front of you! If not for me, at least think about your own respect! Quickly, cover yourself before someone sees us like this. If anyone walks in, this will be a total disaster!"
He hastily grabbed a blanket and tossed it toward her.
The girl still looked half-asleep, but as soon as the blanket hit her, she blinked and looked around. Realizing the door was still closed, she gave a small smile — and to Jaswant's horror, tossed the blanket aside again.
Seeing that, Jaswant panicked even more.
"H-hey! What are you doing? Why'd you throw that off again? Have you lost your mind?"
He quickly tried to cover her again with the blanket.
But the girl frowned, clearly annoyed.
"What are you doing? Instead of staring at me, you're trying to hide me? That's not very flattering, you know."
Jaswant looked like he might cry.
"Oh great… this girl's going to get me killed," he muttered under his breath.
The girl smirked and suddenly gave him a playful shove. Jaswant fell back onto the bed, completely caught off guard. Before he could get up, she leaned closer with a teasing smile.
For a second, Jaswant's brain simply stopped working. He didn't know what to do — or even what was happening. Everything was spinning out of control.
But the moment he realized what was happening, he panicked and tried to push her away. His efforts were useless — the more he struggled, the tighter she wrapped her arms around him, trying to seduce him.
Slowly, she began to touch him inappropriately, kissing his neck as Jaswant struggled helplessly. Then her hands started moving across his chest, slowly sliding down. As her hand reached further, Jaswant's eyes shut tightly in shame.
Then suddenly—
A voice echoed in his ear.
"Brother! Big brother, wake up!"
Jaswant's eyes shot open.
"Help!" he shouted instinctively.
The next thing he knew, Vihaan was standing in front of him, staring at him like he'd gone mad.
Jaswant blinked rapidly, looking around the room — everything was normal. No girl. No chaos. Just his ordinary bed and Vihaan's confused face.
He sighed in relief, muttering to himself,
"Oh, thank God… It was just a dream. Ugh, what a ridiculous dream!"
His face darkened in embarrassment as he buried his head in his hands.
After which Vihaan gives Jaswant a cold look and says, "Badi Maa is calling you, I just came here to call you."
Jaswant was little confused at this point, so he didn't pay much attention to what he said and agreed.
Seeing Jaswant not reacting much, Vihaan kept looking at him for some time after which he left the place in a hurry.
Meanwhile Jaswant was still thinking about that dream.
Jaswant sat there for a while, still catching his breath. His heart was racing, not just from embarrassment — but from something else. The dream had felt too real. The girl's face, her voice, the strange pull in that moment — none of it seemed random.
He ran a hand through his hair, trying to laugh it off, but the feeling wouldn't fade.
"Why did it feel so real?" he muttered. "And why do I feel like… I've seen her before?"
Just then, a faint echo of the dream's voice brushed past his ear — soft, almost whispering:
"Soon… we'll meet again."
Jaswant froze. The room suddenly felt colder.
He glanced toward the window — the sky was bright, the morning calm — yet something inside him knew this wasn't over. That dream wasn't just a random fantasy.
It was a warning — of something that was about to begin.
---
Although Jaswant didn't know much about it, he decided to let the matter go for now and went to freshen up. As the cold water hit his bare body, he felt a bit of the tension lift away.
Within a short while, Jaswant was completely ready. Right after that, he walked toward the living area where his family was supposed to be waiting for him. But as soon as he reached the dining table for breakfirst, he stopped dead.
Only Vihaan was there.
The younger one looked up with a sly grin, "Well, well… big brother, up so early? What's the rush? You could've slept a little longer."
Jaswant caught the sarcasm instantly. He didn't bite. Instead, he asked calmly, "Where is everyone? It's unusual to see this place so quiet in the morning."
Vihaan leaned back in his chair, stirring his cup lazily. "Ah, when people are done catching up on their precious beauty sleep, they might figure out what's happening in their own house." He shrugged. "Anyway, it's not my problem. But—" he paused, eyes glinting, "I'm sure you do know the Awakening Assessment is in two days, right? And the Academy entrance exams start three days after that."
Jaswant's brow twitched slightly.
Vihaan noticed — and smirked. "Oh… judging by that face, maybe you forgot? Hah. Typical. Not that it matters." His tone turned mocking. "You are prepared, aren't you? I mean… after what happened last year — when your precious 'innate talent' got destroyed — I just thought—"
He didn't finish.
The air turned heavy. Vihaan froze as an invisible pressure filled the room. Jaswant's eyes were cold, his gaze sharp enough to cut through steel.
Vihaan swallowed hard. That killing intent was real — and it was aimed straight at him.
Jaswant spoke in a low, steady voice, "If you're done running your mouth, why don't you tell me where everyone actually is? Why is this place empty today?"
Before Vihaan could stammer out a reply, a sudden voice broke the tension.
"Because they're not supposed to be here."
Both brothers turned.
At the edge of the hallway stood a girl — barefoot, her hair slightly damp as if she'd just stepped out of the rain. A faint glow shimmered around her, subtle but unmistakable.
Jaswant's breath caught — It was her.
The same girl he had seen in his dream — lying on his bed, wrapped in light and shadow, her eyes holding that same haunting calm.
For a heartbeat, time stopped.
Vihaan's confusion deepened, but Jaswant couldn't move, couldn't speak. His pulse quickened, though his expression remained unreadable.
The girl met his eyes and smiled faintly — as if she'd known him forever.
"I told you," she whispered, "we'd meet when the veil began to break."
And with that, the air around them rippled — like reality itself was about to shift.
Confused, Vihaan gave the girl a strange look — as if he had no idea why she was even there. With that puzzled expression, he said,
"Laila? You're here — how? I thought you went out with the others. What brings you back?"
Seeing Vihaan's surprise, Laila smiled — then spoke in a soft, teasing tone, almost seductive.
"Oh, what's this? Aren't you happy to see me here? I came especially to meet you… wanted to give you a little surprise. And besides, since it's just the two of us today, shouldn't we spend some time alone? After all, our wedding is just around the corner."
The word wedding made Vihaan annoyed for a moment. But before anyone could notice, he quickly composed himself and smiled awkwardly.
Meanwhile, Jaswant was having a completely different reaction.
The moment he heard the word wedding, he froze — shocked. A storm of confusion hit him.
What the hell…? he thought. "If she's going to marry this damn Vihaan… then why was she on my bed in that dream?"
Just then, something seemed to click in Jaswant's mind, and he muttered under his breath,
"Wait a second… how could I forget these two clowns?"
Seeing Vihaan and Laila together, it didn't take him long to figure out who might be behind whatever was about to happen next.
Saying nothing more, he shot Vihaan a cold, intimidating look — the kind that could silence a room — and turned to leave.
He had no interest in listening to the nonsense those two were about to start.
As Jaswant walked away, Vihaan and Laila exchanged a strange glance — then both started to smirk.
Laila tilted her head slightly, her eyes glinting like sharpened glass.
"Did you see that?" Walking away without a word — like we don't even exist."
"The arrogance… the way he looked at us. As if we were beneath him."
She smirked darkly, A small, unsettling smile curved her lips. "But don't worry — I'll make sure he learns exactly who Laila really is. If I don't make him crawl at my feet one day, then my name isn't Laila."
And with that, she started laughing — a sharp, almost psychotic laugh that echoed through the room.