That night, Arjun sat in his study, reviewing reports.
Captain Reddy had been busy. Dossiers on everyone Rohan had met during his journey. Financial records. Weaknesses. Leverage.
If Rohan betrays me, I destroy everyone he cares about.
But maybe he won't. Maybe Ishani's right. Maybe there's hope.
A knock at the door.
"Come in."
Rohan entered, looking uncomfortable. "Your daughters are... interesting."
"They are."
"The little one—Ishani. What is she?"
Arjun considered lying. Then decided against it. "I don't know exactly. She's always been perceptive. After her mother died, it got stronger. She sees emotions as colors. Knows when people lie. It's... unusual."
"Useful."
"Dangerous. For her. If the wrong people find out—"
"I won't tell anyone."
Arjun looked at him. "Why?"
Rohan was quiet for a moment. Then: "Because I had a little sister once. She died when my parents did. She would have been Ishani's age."
Silence.
"I'm sorry," Arjun said. And meant it.
"Me too." Rohan sat across from him. "The seal. I've been thinking. There might be a way to strengthen it without a Desai guardian."
"Tell me."
"Ancient texts mention something called the Bloodline Transfer Ritual. It allows the guardian's duty to be passed to another family. Willingly. Both sides must agree."
Arjun's mind raced. "Another family? Any family?"
"Any bloodline strong enough to bear the burden. The ritual transfers the seal's connection from Desai blood to... someone else's."
"And if that someone else agreed? Willingly?"
Rohan met his eyes. "Then I could walk away. Live my life. And the seal would still hold."
Freedom. For Rohan. And safety for the world.
"Would you do it? Transfer the duty to another family?"
Rohan hesitated. "I don't know. It's been my family's burden for seven hundred years. To just... give it away?"
"To protect it. To ensure it lasts. The Desai bloodline ends with you, Rohan. If you die without children, the seal breaks anyway. Transferring it ensures the seal survives—even after you're gone."
Rohan stared at him. "You've thought about this."
"I've thought about everything."
"You're always ten steps ahead, aren't you?"
"Minimum." Arjun smiled. "Find me a family willing to take the burden. One with strong bloodline, good values, and no desire to use the seal for evil. I'll help you negotiate."
Rohan nodded slowly. "I'll research. See if it's possible."
As he stood to leave, he paused at the door.
"Arjun."
"Yes?"
"I still hate you. For my parents. For my childhood. For everything."
"I know."
"But... thank you. For giving me another option."
He left.
[EMOTION DETECTED: GRATITUDE]
[SOURCE: ROHAN DESAI]
[INTENSITY: MODERATE — BUT GENUINE]
[POINTS GENERATED: 1,800]
[NEW BALANCE: 59,000]
Arjun leaned back, staring at the ceiling.
Step one: Make him see me as human. Done.
Step two: Give him a path that doesn't end with one of us dead. In progress.
Step three: Make him an ally instead of an enemy.
Step four: Use his protagonist luck for my own purposes.
Step five: Win.
He smiled.
This might actually work.
---
Three weeks later, Rohan found it.
An ancient text in the Desai archives—hidden, forgotten, but preserved by Arjun's foresight. The Bloodline Transfer Ritual was real. And it required three things:
1. A willing recipient family with strong cultivation bloodline
2. A ceremony at the original seal location
3. A sacrifice—something precious from both families to bind the transfer
Rohan brought the text to Arjun.
"The recipient family," Arjun said. "Any ideas?"
Rohan hesitated. "There's one. But you won't like it."
"Tell me."
"The Varma bloodline."
Arjun went very still.
"Your family," Rohan continued. "You have no cultivation heritage, but your daughters do. Leela's talent is real. Kavya's intelligence. Ishani's gift. The potential is there. And you have seven daughters—more than enough to continue the bloodline."
"You want me to take the Desai burden. Make it a Varma burden."
"I want the seal protected. Your family is the only one I trust."
Arjun stared at him. "You trust me?"
"I trust that you'll protect your daughters. And if the seal is connected to them, you'll protect it with everything you have." Rohan met his eyes. "That's enough."
Silence stretched between them.
Then Arjun laughed—genuine, surprised.
"Rohan Desai. You want to make my family the guardians of an ancient demon prison."
"I want to make sure the demon never escapes. Your family is the best chance."
Arjun thought about his daughters. Tara, who already managed a household. Leela, who trained daily to protect them. Kavya, who researched ancient texts. Riya, whose music affected emotions. Anya, who climbed and scouted. Diya, who healed. Ishani, who saw truth.
They're stronger than they know. And if the seal connects to them, they'll have purpose. Power. Protection.
"I need to discuss this with them," Arjun said finally. "This affects their lives. Their futures. I won't decide without their consent."
Rohan nodded. "I understand."
---
That evening, Arjun gathered his daughters.
He explained everything—the seal, the demon, the Desai burden, Rohan's proposal. Seven faces watched him with varying degrees of understanding.
Tara spoke first. "Dad. If we do this... what changes?"
"Your bloodline becomes connected to the seal. You'll feel it, probably. Sense when it's threatened. And you'll have a duty to protect it—forever, passed to your children."
Leela's eyes lit up. "We'd be guardians? Like ancient heroes?"
"Like your new responsibility. One you didn't ask for."
Kavya was already thinking. "The seal is ancient. Seven hundred years of Desai research must exist. We could study it. Understand it. Maybe even strengthen it."
Riya looked uncertain. "Would I still play piano?"
"Yes. More than ever. Music affects emotions—including whatever's in that prison."
Anya bounced. "Can I visit the seal? Is it cool? Does it glow?"
Diya held her pigeon tighter. "Will people get hurt? The ones inside?"
"The demon wants to hurt people. Our job is to make sure it never can."
All eyes turned to Ishani.
She sat perfectly still, eyes distant. Then: "The seal is purple. Dark purple. Like Rohan used to be. But there's gold inside it. Tiny. Waiting."
Everyone stared.
"Gold?" Arjun asked.
Ishani nodded. "Something good. Trapped. Waiting to be free."
No one knew what to say.
Finally, Tara spoke. "Dad. If we do this... we're not just your daughters anymore. We're something else."
"Yes."
"Will we still be a family?"
"More than ever."
She nodded slowly. "Then I'm in."
Leela: "In."
Kavya: "In."
Riya: "In."
Anya: "In! In! In!"
Diya: "If it helps people... in."
Ishani: "I was always in, Dad. You just had to ask."
Arjun looked at his seven daughters—his strange, wonderful, impossible daughters—and felt something he hadn't felt in years.
Hope.
[EMOTION DETECTED: LOVE, TRUST, DETERMINATION]
[SOURCE: TARA, LEELA, KAVYA, RIYA, ANYA, DIYA, ISHANI]
[INTENSITY: PROFOUND]
[POINTS GENERATED: 15,000]
[NEW BALANCE: 74,000]
---
The ritual was set for the next full moon—three weeks away.
Rohan and Arjun spent those weeks preparing. Researching. Training. Building something neither had expected: mutual respect.
Rohan trained with Leela, pushing her harder than Meera could. The girl improved rapidly under his harsh instruction.
"You have talent," he told her one evening. "Real talent. If you keep training, you could reach Energy Master by twenty-five."
Leela grinned. "Faster than you?"
Rohan almost smiled. "We'll see."
Kavya devoured Desai archives, cross-referencing with her own books. She found references to the gold Ishani mentioned—something called the "Sealed Heart," a cultivation treasure hidden within the prison, waiting for the right guardian to claim it.
"Dad," she reported excitedly, "if the ritual works, if our bloodline connects to the seal, we might be able to access the Heart. It could boost our cultivation exponentially!"
Arjun filed that information carefully.
Riya composed. Music filled the mansion day and night—songs of hope, of protection, of waiting. The little ones slept better. Even Rohan seemed calmer when she played.
Anya scouted the seal location—an underground cavern beneath the Desai ancestral home. She reported back: "Big cave. Glowy rocks. Scary statue. Also, someone's been there recently."
Arjun and Rohan exchanged glances.
"Who?" Rohan asked.
Anya shrugged. "Don't know. But they left footprints. Fresh. Maybe a day old."
Someone else knows about the seal.
---
The night before the ritual, Arjun and Rohan stood on the mansion roof, watching the city lights.
"Tomorrow changes everything," Rohan said.
"Yes."
"Your daughters will be bound to the seal forever. They'll feel it. Sense it. Dream about it. It'll never leave them."
"I know."
"And you're okay with that?"
Arjun was quiet for a moment. Then: "My daughters are the strongest people I know. They've lost their mother. They've faced threats. They've trained and researched and prepared. If anyone can bear this burden, it's them."
Rohan nodded slowly. "You're a good father, Arjun. I didn't expect that."
"I'm a villain who happens to be a good father. It's a niche."
Rohan almost laughed. Almost.
"Tomorrow," he said. "After the ritual, I'll be free. No more seal. No more duty. Just... me."
"What will you do?"
Rohan looked at the city—his family's city, now home to his parents' killer and seven girls who'd become... something like family.
"I don't know. Travel, maybe. See the world. Find out who I am without revenge."
"And if you decide revenge is still worth it?"
Rohan met his eyes. "Then we'll settle it. Fairly. No tricks. No surprises."
Arjun smiled. "I look forward to it."
---
They descended from the roof, ready for the night's rest.
But as Arjun reached his room, his phone buzzed.
Captain Reddy's voice was urgent. "Master. We have a problem."
"What kind?"
"Someone's leaked information about the ritual. About the seal. About everything. There's a crowd gathering at the Desai ancestral home. Hundreds of people. And they're not friendly."
Arjun's blood ran cold.
Someone else knows. Someone wants to stop us.
"Captain. Get everyone ready. Meera, Dr. Sanjana, all available summons. We leave in ten minutes."
"Yes, Master."
Arjun turned, heading for his daughters' rooms.
But Rohan was already there, blocking his path.
"I felt it," Rohan said quietly. "The seal. It's agitated. Something's wrong."
"Someone's at the ancestral home. A crowd. Hostile."
Rohan's eyes hardened. "Then we go. Together."
"Your revenge—"
"Can wait. The seal comes first."
For a moment, they stared at each other—villain and protagonist, enemies and allies, bound by something neither had expected.
Then Arjun nodded.
"Let's move."
[CHAPTER 3 END]