Chapter 9: The Price of Survival

The Raja left at the end of the fifth watch the next day. The mute attendant came in and presented a thick stack of notepaper.

Ramesh’s hands trembled as he handed it over, his eyes darting nervously. I leafed through it, page by page.

Every word, every half-muttered phrase, every desperate hope Priya whispered at night was recorded. Finally, I pieced together the truth from between the lines.

It turned out Priya’s strategy mission was to become Maharani. If she failed, this body would suffer unbearable pain and die.

That’s why she was so desperate—willing to switch with me, even if it meant becoming the maid she always looked down upon.

In other words: If I cannot become Maharani within five years, I will die.

My fate now hung on a thread spun of intrigue, desperation, and a strange, borrowed power. Outside, the monsoon rain poured down, drowning the old palace in thunder. But inside me, a storm far fiercer was just beginning.