Night had fallen over the Immortal King's domain. The once-thriving lands of the Gautam Kingdom were now wrapped in a shroud of eternal twilight. The Black Lotus Palace stood as a monument to conquest—its towering spires piercing the sky, its halls filled with the whispers of ghosts long forgotten.
Shree Yan sat alone upon his throne, bathed in the dim glow of celestial lanterns. His crimson eyes reflected in the polished obsidian floors. He had everything. Absolute power. An empire without rivals. Yet, silence was his only companion.
The weight of his own existence pressed upon him. Immortality had stripped away the trivial fears of mortality, but it had also stolen something else.
Was it purpose? Was it feeling?
No. Those things were illusions.
And yet…
The golden-robed woman who had refused to kneel—her words still echoed.
"You are still bound."
His fingers twitched slightly.
Bound? To what?
He was Shree Yan, the Immortal King, the master of all that lay before him.
And yet, the flickering ember of her defiance still burned.
The Fire in Her Eyes
Far below, in the dungeons of the palace, Shidhara Gautami sat upon the cold stone floor. Unchained.
Shree Yan had not ordered her bound. Perhaps because he knew she would never run. Perhaps because deep down, he understood that no chain forged in steel or qi could ever truly hold her.
As the heavy doors to her cell opened, she did not rise. She merely looked up, golden eyes meeting crimson.
He stood before her, a figure of absolute power. And yet, in that moment, she was the one who seemed unbreakable.
"You should have killed me," she said.
Shree Yan stepped forward. "And why would I?"
"Because I still defy you."
A ghost of a smile flickered on his lips. "Defiance is not a crime. It is simply the voice of those who do not understand reality."
Shidhara scoffed. "Reality? Or the illusion you have convinced yourself is real?"
The air between them tensed.
For the first time in years, someone dared to speak to him as an equal. Unafraid. Unyielding.
Shree Yan could crush her in a single breath. Erase her existence like he had done to countless others.
Yet, he did not.
Instead, he asked, "What is it you believe I am missing?"
Shidhara tilted her head. "That is something you must answer yourself. But tell me, Shree Yan—if you have conquered everything, why do you still seek?"
He did not respond.
Because deep down, he did not know.
A Question That Could Not Be Ignored
As he left the cell, Shree Yan walked through the endless halls of his palace. The weight of immortality pressed down heavier than ever.
And for the first time in centuries, a single thought crept into his mind.
"What am I still searching for?"