The chamber beyond the lion's gate was not what they expected. Instead of a cramped cave filled with cobwebs, they stepped into a vast, domed hall that looked like an underground temple. The walls were lined with white marble, and the "golden glow" they had seen was reflecting off a massive pile of ancient coins, jewelry, and statues made of solid gold.
Riko gasped, his camera nearly slipping from his hands. "It's... it's real. It's all real. We're billionaires, Ayan! We can buy the whole city!"
Ayan walked slowly toward the center of the room. In the middle stood a high stone pedestal. On top of it sat a beautifully crafted sword with a hilt shaped like a phoenix and a leather-bound scroll sealed with red wax. Surrounding the pedestal were thousands of gold coins, shimmering under the light of their torches.
"Don't touch anything yet," Neel warned, his eyes scanning the room suspiciously. "Look at the floor. The tiles around the gold... they aren't flush with the ground."
But Riko was already enchanted. The glittering reflection of a ruby-encrusted goblet caught his eye. Before Ayan could stop him, Riko reached out and picked it up.
Click.
The sound was small, but in the silence of the tomb, it sounded like a thunderclap. Suddenly, the golden glow turned into a haunting crimson as the phosphorescent symbols on the wall changed color. The heavy stone door they had entered through slammed shut with a bone-shaking thud.
"Riko, put it back!" Ayan yelled as the ground beneath them began to vibrate.
From the ceiling, heavy stone blocks started to descend, slowly but relentlessly. The "Trial of Greed" had begun. The map's warning flashed in Neel's mind: 'Beware the heart that covets, for the mountain swallows the greedy.'
"It's a pressure-sensitive trap!" Neel shouted over the grinding of stone. "The weight on the floor has to stay balanced. Putting it back won't work now; the mechanism is already tripped! We need to find the counter-weight!"
Ayan looked at the pedestal. He saw the sword and the scroll. Unlike the coins scattered on the floor, these two items were placed with honor. "The treasure isn't the gold, Neel! It's the sword! It's the symbol of the King's authority!"
Ayan lunged for the pedestal. He grabbed the phoenix-hilted sword and, in one swift motion, swapped it with the ruby goblet Riko was still holding in his trembling hand.
The vibration stopped instantly. The descending ceiling halted just a few feet above their heads. A heavy silence returned to the chamber, broken only by the sound of their ragged breathing.
"You almost got us flattened, man," Ayan panted, glaring at Riko.
"I... I'm sorry," Riko whispered, his face pale. "I just... I wasn't thinking."
Neel stepped toward the pedestal and picked up the leather scroll. He carefully broke the wax seal and scanned the ancient text. His eyes widened as he read. "Guys, this isn't just a list of treasure. This scroll... it's a diary. It says King Pratapaditya knew his empire was falling. He didn't hide this gold to get rich later; he hid it to fund a revolution that never happened."
Neel looked up at his friends. "But there's more. This scroll mentions three other vaults located across Bengal. This room? This is just the 'Vault of the Lion.' There's a Vault of the Serpent, the Eagle, and the Shadow."
Ayan looked at the sword in his hand. It was perfectly balanced, the blade still sharp after centuries. "So, this isn't the end of the journey."
"No," Neel said, a spark of excitement in his eyes. "The map we found in the Crimson Manor was just the first piece of the puzzle. To find the others, we need to follow the clues in this scroll."
They knew they couldn't take all the gold—it was too heavy and clearly trapped. They each took a handful of gold mohurs (coins) that were scattered outside the trap zone—enough to fund their future travels—and carefully made their way to a small escape tunnel revealed behind the pedestal.
As they emerged from the cave and felt the cool night air on their faces, the three friends looked at each other. They had entered the forest as boys looking for a story; they were leaving as keepers of a lost history.
The mystery of the Crimson Manor was solved, but the legend of King Pratapaditya's legacy had only just begun.