Empire of India: Rise of the Ruthless Prince

The salty breeze caressed the port city of Goa. The city was waking up from the morning warmth. Your next read is at m v|l-e'm,p| y r

It was a fine morning and ships were lined up against the dock as waves crashed into the rock, creating splashes of water. Stall owners began to set up shops as the sun began to rise.

Workers were moving towards the ship to finish their work as usual.

The sunrays filtered through the curtains of a mansion. The sunlight flashed on the Krishna Deva Raya face, jolting him awake.

He sat up groggy from the sleep and tousled his hair. He yawned and stretched his body; his naked body barely covered by the blanket.

Luisa lay naked beside him after a sensual night. He poked her cheeks playful, getting her to wake up.

"Amor, let me sleep for a bit." She groaned, watting his hand away.

Krishna sighed. "Sure, I will go freshen up."

After freshening up, he came back to see Luisa getting dressed. He grabbed her by the waist from behind and kissed her neck.

She giggled playful at the kiss. "Stop. It tickles. I need to go take a proper bath. You went wild last night."

"Really?"

"Look at these marks on me." Luisa pushed him away and complained as she went to bathe.

They had breakfast after Luisa also freshened up.

For the two months, they were touring the various places in the Empire discreetly.

They wore disguises while walking through the cities to avoid getting caught by any nobles or others.

They were enjoying their time together as they visited various temples, landmarks, and destinations.

"Amor, let's take a break today. I feel like just resting today," said Luisa as she tugged at his sleeves.

"Where do you want to go?"

"Can we go to that rooftop garden again? It is a good place to relax." She asked with her twinkling eyes.

Krishna smiled warmly at her adorable reaction and complied.

Guards followed them discreetly from the distance. Although he had ordered them to keep distance to give them privacy. He still had guards because he was important for the Empire despite Harsha taking over the throne.

Luisa skipped around the rooftop garden with a bright grin as she felt the cool breeze and enjoyed the view of the sea and the city of Goa.

"It feels good, Amor." She looked a bit envious, looking down at the happy family walking through the streets. "Wish we could stay like this forever."

"Someday, we could." He grinned.

"Can we?."

He stroked her cheek with a warm smile.

"Let's have some tea."

They sat down for tea, as they were served the tea by the guards at a single wave of Krishna's hand.

Luisa looked worried as she sipped her tea.

"What happened, dear? You looked worried."

"I was thinking if it was too soon to burden that child with such a huge responsibility of being an Emperor."

Krishna Deva Raya let out a hearty laugh at her worry.

"Don't worry about him, He is different than you think. He can manage just fine."

"Really? He looked like a sweet and innocent child to me."

"Haa." He sighed.

'So he behaved well in her presence.'

"I got some reports from Rakhtasura about the situation in the capital."

"What did he say? Is everything alright?" She asked with a worried look.

"He has done many things in just two months. He made a council, created new reforms for the military, created reforms in the feudal lord system and made some sort of new standardized measurement system."

"Ohh…. So He is doing well." She exclaimed with a bright smile.

"Yes, even better than me. At this age, I was just a nervous wreck trying to navigate through the political mess."

"After all, He is your son. He inherited your might and her bravery."

Krishna went silent at that statement. A bad memory came to his mind. He could feel the difference in the demeanor of the Harsha for the past year.

The first change he noticed was when he had recommended building roads. He had a faint feeling that his son Harsha was no more. There was someone else who took his place.

He couldn't shake off the uncanny feeling every time he took a look at Harsha's eyes.

He just dismissed it as maturing, as he didn't believe in magic or such for someone to replace his son's soul with someone else's.

"Any news about my son! God knows what the hell he is doing these days." She exclaimed. "I rarely see that boy. He is still stuck like glue to that girl."

Krishna laughed.

"Let him live. He is an adult; if he likes her, let him be, dear."

"But…."

"Harsha gave him some work to do. So he must be busy with that." He added with a smile.

"I see… When I can see him. I miss him a lot and I also want to talk to that girl!."

Luisa had a curious expression about her son's love life. She loved Alfonso a lot and spoiled him. He was still a child in her eyes.

She didn't push him towards the throne, as she wanted him to live for himself, not for her ambitions.

Alfonso's carefree and playful behaviour was the result of her upbringing. He became a ball of bright energy, and despite this, he knew when to become serious if the situation warranted it.

He got a bit of his father's shrewd nature as well.

"I heard he will be coming to Goa soon. We can meet him at that time."

Luisa's expression brightened quickly. "Really? I can't wait."

After a bit of spending time in the rooftop garden, they visited a nearby temple to pray for the evening.

Luisa had converted to Hinduism after the marriage with Krishna Deva Raya.

She initially converted to gain the favor of Krishna Deva Raya, but she quickly came to love the traditions and practices of the religion.

The fact that surprised her the most was that she wasn't forced to practice the religion even after converting. She just began to learn more, came to love the religion and became a believer.

Finally, after praying in the temple for the health of her family members back in Portugal, her husband and all her kids. She considered Harsha and Bhairava her own kids, as they didn't have a motherly figure left in their lives and prayed for their good health.

They went back to the mansion to rest.