see I told you it would be fun!" She said giggling.

"You are the silliest person I have ever met in my life!" I said. She made me climb the tallest (mango) tree of the garden and we were eating mangoes.

"These aren't fully ripe yet. They taste sweet as well as sour" I said.

"So what? It's fun to eat something sweet and sour altogether! It tastes better than a perfect sweet mango" she claimed.

We both were busy seeing the servants and the guards doing their duties from the top of the tree.

"So what brings you here?" I asked her suddenly just to see her reaction. To be frank, I had started liking her as a person and my mind was still not ready to believe that she was a thief.

"Well" She said looking at other direction for a minute "it is part of my profession" and I knew she was lying.

But then she looked at me eyé to eyé without battling an eyelid. "I love my profession. I am a sucker for history and a good archeological process. I guess it has always fascinated me to see what our ancestors used to do in order to survive and thrive. I love to explore the roots of the different cultures of the world..."

"I always found history boring and useless until I grew old and realised how important our heritage is" I confessed.

"You are so practical. Anyways think about that in this way. If you study history, you know what mistakes a person must not commit"

I smiled. She was right. It's always good to learn from others' mistake than commit our own.

"But why did you become a chef?" She asked.

Unfortunately I didn't know anything about cooking. I can only make tea. That's it. So there was no use of discussing how much I loved to cook.

"Well circumstances were such. I had to choose this profession" I said leaving her brain to imagine any situation.

"I think you are a good guy. I think maybe you are really authorised by the Royal family. Maybe you were not stealing the treasure that night" she said aloud as if reflecting her thoughts.

" Maybe you too are a real experienced Archeologist. I shouldn't have doubted you" I said deliberately only to notice a sudden change of expression of her face followed by an emotion of calm and composed face.

"Can I ask you for a favour?" She asked. I nodded.

Can you please ask the Prince to resume the process of Archeology. You see I am genuinely excited to uncover the artifices. You see I have a theory."

She said.

"What theory?" I asked amused.

"I think that the jewellary that is dug is not real" she said

And I felt my blood boiling. What the hell! How dare she say that? Does it mean that my family didn't possess any riches in the past?

"I know you are very loyal to the Royal family but it's true. You see the Ashwagadh fort was subject to the many attacks from the rulers. And yet there are so many known cases of plunderings and loots of wealth. Yet the Royal family never fell short of the wealth. Do you know what does it mean?" She asked

"No"

"The ancestors of the Royal family were smart. They dug the grounds just like other rulers did in order to hide the treasure. But it was a common practice. So in order to fool the invaders, they dug the grounds and wells but hid fake jewellery" she said with a slight smile.

"So you mean to say that there is no such thing as treasure?" I asked with an unknown emotion. However she failed to notice a strain in my voice.

"I believe that there was always a treasure but it was hidden somewhere else. Somewhere within the palace" she concluded.

"Is that why you were so excited to meet the Prince in order to resume the process?" I asked.

"Yes. I wanna know if my theory is correct or not." She said

"Then why did you stop me on the night of digging if you knew that the treasure was fake?" I asked.

" because that's just a hunch on my part. I can still be wrong" she said.

"So can you ask His Highness to resume the process as soon as possible?" She asked.

"Sure I will " I assured her.

*************************************

It was noon time and we went for the lunch.

"So what is in the menu?" She asked when we walked towards the castle. And I got reminded that I was a Chef for her.

"Well you will know soon" I smiled

************************************

"But sir She is just an ordinary guest. Don't you think she would be suspicious?" Asked Surprised Sursevakji

" ya she is but I want her to explore that part of the palace too" I said.

"But isn't she our suspect? I have asked an investigator to get her info. Till then we need to keep an eye on her. Allowing her on that part of palace will be equivalent to giving her a treatment of Royal guest." Said Sursevakji obviously surprised. But I was adamant.

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