Warrior Princess; Her Quest to the throne

"What do you mean you need money?" both Ishani and Yash looked at Mriga in surprised dismay.     

They were sitting with their breakfast trays in the foodhall. Mriga had thought about it and decided that she needed to tell her friends about the change in her daily schedule before they found out about it themselves.     

Her training had begun at 4 am this morning and she already ached in places which she didn't know, had existed. At the beginning of the session, she prided herself on her agility and fitness. But Ramanujam sir had put her to shame within the first fifteen minutes of the session.     

Ignoring the protesting muscles, she looked at the two people who meant the most to her. She was feeling bad about lying to them but she had no other choice.     

"I, uh… that is to say, my parents are going through some financial crunch and I don't want to be a load on them. Even though the education is free, I don't want to ask them for even the sundry monthly expenses which I incur. So I have decided to take up multiple odd jobs on and off campus. Since I am a student, and not yet fifteen, I haven't found one which can hire me full time or pay me enough. So I shall be keeping odd hours till the end of this semester. I just wanted to let you both know," she said, with her eyes lowered.     

Yash felt agitation travel at a lightning speed in his body. He couldn't bear to see her distressed like this.     

"There is no need for you to worry about it. I am going to ask my mother to help find you a comfortable job with a good pay. As you know, she is the current zilla head in the South zone and holds enough connections here as well," he told her, immediately.     

"Noooo, I mean… please don't do that. I do not wish to do this by asking for favours from anybody. I want to support myself and my parents with my own ability," she tried to dissuade him, immediately.     

He was going to derail her carefully laid plans with one stroke.     

"What favour? I am asking my own mother. How is that a favour?" he frowned.     

"Yash, I appreciate your sentiment but it will make me extremely uncomfortable being indebted to your mother. How about this? I promise you that if I can't cope up with my situation, I will come and look for you. Is that ok?" she cajoled him.     

With visible reluctance, he nodded his head.     

"So basically, you mean to say that we won't be seeing you except during common lectures everyday?" said Ishani, who had been quiet till now.     

Mriga gave her a look filled with regret and nodded her head.     

"But atleast, you will not be working on the last day of every week, right?" Yash asked hopefully.     

Mriga paused before answering. She tried to rack her brain but couldn't remember if she was supposed to be training on all seven days or not. Irrespective, her training was only in the mornings and late evening. She would be able to spend enough time with them during the day.     

"I don't think that weekend should be a problem," she said with a shy smile.     

"Uh… Yash, will I get to see my friend on the weekend then?" Ishani asked him, tongue in cheek.     

He could feel his face getting red and mumbled something about getting some porridge before making an escape from there.     

"You are really mean. Why do you have to tease the poor guy? Now you have made him get up and look for porridge while he already has a bowl full of it, in his tray," Mriga said reproachfully to her best friend.     

"Oh God! They aren't even dating yet and she has already cast me aside and started defending him with all her might. How lonely is my life going to be, henceforth?" Ishani clutched her heart and uttered the words dramatically.     

Mriga rolled her eyes at her friend's theatrics and punched her lightly on the arm.     

"If you are done lamenting, can we finish the breakfast and go to the classroom? At this rate, you may need to do this in front of the teacher as well," she started pulling her.     

The next morning, Mriga had an unexpected visitor waiting outside her classroom.     

"Uh, Vandit? Are you waiting here for me?" she asked the serious looking boy, in surprise.     

He nodded his head and asked her, "is it true? Were you asked to leave the Admin department?"     

Mriga felt her face heat up but she kept her expressions calm.     

"Yes, I was and that's alright. I guess even I had realised by the end of the three weeks that I wasn't cut out for the tasks which you guys were managing to do with ease. So it's only fair that I am out of the department which I am not suited for," she said, trying to keep her face impassive.     

"Umm… I don't know if that is a fair assessment. But I am glad to see you taking it in your stride. Don't let it bother you too much. It is better to find one's niche in order to bring out the best in oneself. So what department are you going to intern with now?" he asked her.     

"No, I have actually asked for an exemption from the internship program. Due to some unforeseen circumstances, I am in need of some money. So I have picked up a couple of part-time assignments," she told him.     

In case a student chose to have real work experience, he or she had the option of exempting themselves from the internship. All they needed to do was to show the employment letter from the workplace which had selected to hire them. This was the strategy which Mriga had come up with, which took care of all unnecessary question which could have arisen under the circumstances.