He arrived with no entourage. No silks. No banners.
Just worn boots, dusty sleeves, and the weight of a thousand turning gears behind him.
The Queen stood on the dais, tall and sharp.
"Why do you disrupt what we've built?" she asked.
Sharath replied, calm but firm: "Because what you built wasn't enough. People starve waiting for your permission."
The nobles seethed.
He spoke of water tables, yield ratios, wage inflation.
She interrupted: "And your end goal?"
Sharath looked her in the eye.
"Independence."
A silence fell so deep, even the guards shifted.