Days passed, and with them, a quiet transformation began within Shree Yan. The pain of the past, though never fully gone, became something he could carry with a new sense of purpose. He no longer thought of himself as a king—immortal or otherwise. The world had never needed another ruler to conquer. What it needed was someone who could heal the wounds of the past, someone who could show that power wasn't the answer to everything.
As they neared the borders of the Gautam kingdom, the familiar landscapes emerged from the horizon. Shree Yan felt a strange knot in his stomach—fear, yes, but also something more. A sense of inevitability. He knew that the path back to the kingdom wouldn't be easy, that the ghosts of the past still roamed its streets, waiting to claim him.
Shidhara noticed the change in him. "You're thinking of going back, aren't you?"
Shree Yan nodded, his expression solemn. "The kingdom needs to see what it has become. It needs to see the man I am now, not the one they feared. If there is any hope for redemption, it will begin there. It will begin with me."
"But what if they don't accept you?" Shidhara asked, the concern in her voice undeniable.
"Acceptance doesn't matter anymore," he replied quietly. "What matters is that I face the consequences of my actions. I can't move forward without doing so."
The idea of returning to the very place he had once called home—where his name was synonymous with destruction—was daunting. But it was the only choice left. He had made too many mistakes, and he had to face them head-on. To leave the past in the past would be a betrayal of everything he had learned along this journey.
As they entered the kingdom's borders, Shree Yan could feel the tension in the air. The whispers had started before they even stepped foot on the land. Eyes followed them as they moved through the streets, and the weight of the gazes felt like a hundred pounds pressing on his chest.
Shree Yan knew they wouldn't be welcomed with open arms. There would be no warm embrace, no forgiveness handed out freely. He didn't expect it. But he was ready to face whatever awaited him. After all, redemption was not something given—it was something earned.
The gates to the palace loomed in the distance, and Shree Yan felt a pull deep inside, a final test of everything he had become.
"This is it," Shidhara said, her voice quiet but resolute. "Are you ready?"
Shree Yan turned to her, his eyes steady, his resolve firm. "I am ready to face what I have become. And whatever happens next… I will live with it."
The future was uncertain, but for the first time in his life, Shree Yan wasn't afraid of the unknown. He walked forward, no longer the Immortal King, but a man ready to make the hardest choice of his life.