But in order to get him to that place, Jaya would have to work extremely hard. And what did she know about love, really? Or how to make a boy fall? She was completely out of her depth, a gladiator hoping to disguise herself at a debutante’s ball.

Well, at the very least, this whole thing with Grey—pretending to be in love—could be practice for the real thing. Jaya had known from a very young age that she was meant to marry another Indian royal. Someone like Kiran Hegde. He knew what Jaya’s life was like, what was expected of her. The Raos and Hegdes had a good relationship, likely because the Rao dynasty was slightly bigger than the Hegde dynasty and they shared little competitive interest, being historical allies. There was no need to be unfriendly when you already had the better piece of pie.

And, of course, Kiran had proved himself to be a valued ally when he’d connected Jaya with the journalist to get to the bottom of who was behind the scandal. They had a lot in common. Tradition and decorum were important to the both of them, for instance. Kiran wanted to go to an engineering college, which was somewhat interesting. And they both… well…

Jaya bit her lip and regarded herself in the mirror. The truth was, she wasn’t exactly attracted to Kiran, not in the strictest sense of the word. Physically, he was gorgeous—tall enough, dark, and princely. But there was no emotional spark between them at all. According to Amma, that’d come later. What was important was that they had a solid foundation to build on.

Kiran had the same expectations for himself as she did for herself. To him, there was nothing more important than the Hegde line. He could wax on for hours about the strength and virility (that he’d want to talk about the latter Jaya found… baffling, but she let it slide) of the Hegdes and how they were meant for even bigger things. Kiran might even be more passionate than Jaya about his position, which she found rather pleasing. There was something that could bind the two of them together. After Isha’s scandal, things had gotten a little… quiet with Kiran. A little cooler, probably because he was worried how being scandal-adjacent might affect the Hegdes. But Jaya was confident she could bring things back on track.

Perhaps when she was done with Grey Emerson, Jaya would even be a master flirter (but still a subtle one, so as to not be gauche). She was okay at it, but she knew she had room to improve. If only that had been one of the courses she’d studied at any of the private schools she’d attended over the years.