The night was deep. The entire Nexus palace was drowned in silence. Maharaja Hirdoy walked slowly through the corridor, leaving his bedchamber. There was no peace in his heart; the memory of Sundeep's mysterious transformation and the blue light haunted him.
Suddenly, a strange sound broke the silence of the corridor. It wasn't the normal sound of human footsteps, but the rustling of silk on the stone floor, mixed with a hauntingly sweet melody.
Hirdoy froze. He looked toward the dark corridor ahead.
In the dim light, he saw a shadow approaching. It was Sundeep. But her way of walking had changed. She wasn't walking straight in a military fashion; instead, she was swaying forward in a rhythmic, dance-like motion.
As Hirdoy drew closer, his blood ran cold.
Sundeep's enchanting golden eyes were gone. Her pupils were now glowing like intense red gems—exactly like the tint of blood. On her lips was that same mysterious smile Hirdoy had seen in her sleep moments ago.
As Sundeep passed Hirdoy, she was singing a song. Her voice was now much deeper, carrying the pull of some ancient power. The song was in that forbidden language Hirdoy had uttered before.
The song was: "Vedergällningen" (The Retaliation/Retribution).
Sundeep was humming:
"Blut für Blut, Geist für Geist... Vedergällningen ist nah..."
(Blood for blood, spirit for spirit... Retribution is near...)
The melody was so cold that Hirdoy lost the ability to move for a few moments. He realized that this was no ordinary song; it was Alisa's old oath, taken before her death.
"Sundeep?" Hirdoy called out in a trembling voice.
Sundeep did not stop. As she passed Hirdoy, she looked at the Maharaja once with her red eyes. There was no love in that gaze, only hatred and extreme mockery. She continued to disappear into the darkness of the corridor, laughing.
The ancient power within Hirdoy now awakened. His own eyes once again glowed with a piercing blue light. It was the protective force of the Nexus Law, activated by the signal of Alisa's sinister return.
Hirdoy leaned against the wall to steady himself. Sweat beaded on his forehead. He whispered:
"She has come again... Alisa has returned."
He realized that Sundeep was no longer just his wife; she was now a living weapon of Alisa's vengeance. This battle between red eyes and blue eyes was no longer just personal—it could be the beginning of this empire's destruction.In the freezing darkness of the corridor, Alisa's chilling laughter echoed from Sunlight's form. There was no mercy in that laugh; it contained only the concentrated venom of a hundred years of stored hatred and revenge.
Sunlight (whose body was now possessed by Alisa's soul) suddenly stopped. She slowly turned her neck to look at Hridoy. Those two blood-red eyes glowed like fire even in the darkness. An unknown terror gripped Hridoy, paralyzing him.
From Sunlight's mouth came Alisa's mocking and piercing voice:
"What are you looking at? Huh? Surprised?"
She gestured toward her own body and laughed even louder, a demonic sound.
"Take a good look at your beloved new wife! This is the beauty, this is the body for which you forgot everything. Look at your 'perfect' wife! Does she even know who lives inside her now?"
Hridoy stood like a statue. His blue eyes trembled with a mixture of tension and fear. He couldn't believe his ears—that such unholy words could come from the mouth of his beloved Sunlight.
Alisa (in Sunlight's voice) moved closer. Coming right up to Hridoy, she whispered in his ear:
"Did you think you could bury me under a monument and live in peace? Did you think you could start a family with someone new? The one you held and kissed today—I am now in every drop of her blood. When you touch her, you are actually touching me. Tell me, Hridoy, how does it feel now?"
Hridoy gnashed his teeth and roared, "Leave Sunlight, Alisa! She is innocent!"
Alisa began to walk backward, humming the tune of the song Vedergällningen. Her red eyes glowed like a snake's in the dark.
"No one is innocent, Hridoy. Everyone in this Nexus Fortress is a criminal. And this wife of yours... she is now the vessel of my revenge. Watch your wife as she leads you to destruction!"
With that, she vanished into the darkness, leaving only the echo of her terrifying laughter in the corridor. Hridoy realized that even the power of his blue eyes was wavering before this sinister force.
The King's Desperation
Hridoy's voice finally broke. The brilliance of his blue eyes seemed to dim for a moment. He leaned against the wall, barely managing to stand. His long years of rule, power, and nobility—everything felt meaningless at that moment.
In a choked voice, almost pleading, Hridoy said:
"Alisa, I beg of you... let her go. She is a good girl. She has committed no crime! She knew nothing of the politics of this empire."
Hridoy tried to take a step forward, but he was blocked by that strange power emanating from Alisa (in Sunlight's body). Hridoy spoke again:
"Your anger is with me! Your fight is with my laws! Why are you dragging Sunlight into this? She only came here to love. Don't destroy her like this, Alisa!"
A crooked smile appeared on Sunlight's lips. It was impossible to look into those red eyes. She replied in an extremely cold voice:
"A good girl? Yes, just like I was, right Hridoy? Have you forgotten? You used to tell me—'Alisa, you are such a good girl.' And then what did you do? You sent your 'good girl' to a living grave in the name of your laws!"
Sunlight placed her hand on her chest, where Alisa's pulse now beat.
"It is because she is 'good' that I chose her. Her pure body and beautiful mind are the perfect fuel for my fire of hatred. The more you love her, the more I will torture her. You want to save her? Then listen..."
She took a step toward Hridoy.
"To get your 'good girl' back, you must break the Nexus Law. You must admit to everyone that you are a murderer! Can you give up your throne? Can you grind the laws you created into the dust?"
Hridoy stood stunned. He knew that breaking the Nexus Law meant the fall of the entire empire. Alisa had placed him at a crossroads: on one side was his empire, and on the other, his beloved Sunlight.
Hridoy's eyes glowed blue again, but this time, the light held the resolve of sacrifice.
"I will not let her die, Alisa. No matter how good she is, or how evil I am—I will see this fight to the end."
The Lawbreaker's Confession
Hridoy's roar made the air in the corridor heavy. He did not back down; instead, he stepped forward and looked directly into Alisa's eyes. His blue eyes were now burning like fire, but there was no guilt in that light—only an ultimate truth.
Hridoy said in a grave voice:
"You think I fear the Nexus Law? Alisa, you are too late! The law you speak of—I shattered that Nexus Law a long time ago!"
Alisa's red eyes froze for a moment. Hridoy laughed—the laugh of a cruel but powerful ruler.
"The moment I placed Sunlight on this throne, the law was broken. In the Nexus Law, there was no place for a 'fifth' wife, but I changed the rules. I didn't just make her a wife; she is already the Queen of this empire! And you cannot control an Empress by entering her body."
Hridoy moved even closer, right up to Sunlight's form.
"You say I am a murderer? Yes, I am a murderer! I murdered my own laws to keep my power. Sunlight is now the law of this empire. Every drop of her blood is royal. You, a dead soul, cannot rule a living Queen!"
Hridoy reached out as if to throttle her, but he didn't touch her. The brilliance of his blue eyes was now so intense that Alisa's red aura began to fade.
"Get out of her body! This empire no longer runs on your memory; it runs on the will of Sunlight and me. I don't follow the law; I am the law!"
Hearing this fierce self-confidence and the confession of 'breaking the law,' the soul of Alisa within Sunlight trembled. Alisa had thought Hridoy was trapped in the web of his own laws, but Hridoy had torn that web long ago.
Suddenly, Sunlight's body began to shake violently. The red eyes flashed once, then slowly turned pale. Alisa's hideous laughter turned into a scream of agony.
"You... you broke your own law? You've changed this much, Hridoy?" Alisa's final scream escaped Sunlight's mouth.
Hridoy said coldly, "I can destroy everything for Sunlight. Now, leave!"
A sharp gust of wind swept through the corridor. A dark smoke billowed out of Sunlight's body and rushed into the darkness. Sunlight stumbled and collapsed against Hridoy. The redness in her eyes was gone, replaced once again by those familiar, enchanting eyes.
The Lingering Whisper
As the sinister shadow of Alisa left Sunlight's body, the air around them calmed. The intense glow of Hridoy's blue eyes faded, returning to his normal gaze.
Sunlight had collapsed onto Hridoy's chest. Her body was still trembling. After a few moments, she slowly raised her head. The blood-red glow was gone; in its place was only deep confusion and exhaustion.
Clutching Hridoy's shirt, she whispered:
"My Lord... what... what happened to me? Why am I here? And you... why are you holding me like this?"
There was a strange helplessness in Sunlight's voice. She looked into the darkness of the corridor as if searching for something.
"I feel very strange. It feels as if someone was stealing my breath from inside. I... I was hearing a song, Hridoy. A very sad song. Then everything went dark."
She looked at Hridoy's face. She saw him panting, beads of sweat on his forehead.
"Why are you trembling? Did I do something wrong? Did I hurt you?" Tears welled up in Sunlight's eyes. She remembered nothing—not the red eyes, not the German song, and not Alisa's demonic laughter.
With great tenderness, Hridoy took Sunlight's face in his palms. He didn't want Sunlight to know this terrifying truth yet. He wanted to keep her away from this horror.
Hridoy said softly, "Nothing happened, Sunlight. You were just sleepwalking again. Perhaps the new environment of this fortress is too much for you."
Sunlight nodded, trying to convince herself. "But I dreamt that you were telling someone you broke the law. Who were you talking to?"
At this question, Hridoy froze for a second. He realized that in her subconscious, Sunlight had heard some of his words.
He pulled her close and pressed a long kiss to her forehead. "It was just a trick of your mind, my Queen. Come, it's late. You need to rest."
Hridoy picked her up in his arms and began walking toward his bedchamber. Sunlight closed her eyes against his chest, but a question remained in a corner of her mind—why were the walls of this fortress talking to her?
The Final Warning
Just as Hridoy began walking toward the bedroom with Sunlight in his arms, the surroundings became unnaturally silent again. Sunlight had her eyes closed, but suddenly, a freezing shiver ran down her spine.
Hridoy was still walking, but to Sunlight, it felt as if time had stopped. There was no wind, no sound of footsteps. At that very moment, right next to Sunlight's right ear—directly into her ear—a female voice whispered.
The voice was filled with that familiar melancholy of Alisa:
"He is lying, Sunlight..."
Sunlight's eyes snapped open in fear, but her body felt paralyzed. She wanted to call out to Hridoy, but no sound came out. The whispering didn't stop; instead, it became clearer:
"He doesn't love you; he is only using you to hide his own law-breaking. The price for the law he broke must be paid by you. Just watch... these blue eyes will one day drink your blood."
The lobe of Sunlight's ear turned to ice from that freezing breath. Before the voice vanished with a strange cackle, it spoke one last time:
"Vedergällningen has begun, Queen. Don't forget to look at your eyes in the mirror."
Suddenly, everything returned to normal. Hridoy entered the bedroom and laid Sunlight down on the bed. He noticed her face had turned pale and she was shaking uncontrollably.
"Sunlight? What's wrong? Why are you trembling again?" Hridoy asked anxiously.
Sunlight could not look into Hridoy's eyes. The blue glow in Hridoy's eyes was now dim, but Alisa's words continued to echo in her ears—'He is lying.'
Sunlight only said in a low voice, "My Lord... can I stand in front of the mirror once?"
Hridoy froze. Hearing her ask to see the mirror in the middle of the night, the blue light of apprehension flared up in his heart once again.