Even if you are not a woman but a man, my love for you remains the same.
If not as life partners,
we can at least be friends.
Hearing this, Prince Susim blushes deeply.
"I have given a promise to Queen Takshika that I will appear before her only when I find Raatri.
I don't know where she is.
If I have to reach Raatri, I will need your help.
But before that, I will go to bring your friend."
"And as for how I came to know about you—
I had complete faith in Guru Rambh that he would definitely find the one destined to receive the powers of Raatri.
That is why I had placed my spies in his ashram,
so that whenever they discovered anything, the information would reach me immediately.
It was through them that I came to know about you."
"Kumar,
once again, I ask for your forgiveness… for breaking your heart.
You are truly a very good person."
Kumar smiles and says,
"I already know that."
"Come, let's go to Nalish Lok to bring your friend."
"Hm."
Both of them leave for Nalish Lok.
Meanwhile, in Subahu Lok, the demon guru of Nalish—captured by Subahu—speaks:
"Gurudev, will I remain imprisoned here for life?
You are a guru…
Don't you have any solution to this problem?"
"Forgive me, Maharaj, but if I had any solution, I would have told you earlier.
But do not worry.
The situation I am in today… soon, your dear friend Subahu will face the same fate."
"What do you mean?"
"Maharaj, you must know that the Prakashpunj is cursed."
"No, I did not know that."
"Then know this—the Prakashpunj is cursed, and whichever realm it becomes a part of, that realm also becomes bound to the curse.
Peace cannot last there for long."
"So you decided to tell me such an important thing only now?
Could you not have told me this earlier?"
"Forgive me, Maharaj.
Everything happened so quickly that I failed to remember."
"It is my mistake that I made you my guru.
With a guru like you, who needs enemies?"
Prince Susim and Kumar reach Nalish Lok.
There they learn that the Nalish demons have been defeated by Subahu,
and Nalish Lok is now under Subahu Lok.
The demon Nalish has also been captured and taken to Subahu Lok.
"Where is Subahu Lok?"
"I know," says Kumar.
"Where?"
"A few light-years from here."
"Then let's go."
As they begin their journey toward Subahu Lok,
Prince Susim suddenly starts feeling intense pain.
The energy of the Prakashpunj within his body begins to destroy him from the inside.
"O Dhritdev! What is happening to Prince Susim?"
Kumar cannot understand anything,
so he takes Prince Susim to Takshak Lok—to his father—
and tells him everything.
After hearing everything, Kumar's father understands the problem.
"Kumar,
Prince Susim is unable to bear the energy of the Prakashpunj.
That is why it is destroying him from within."
"Then how can he be saved?"
"There are two ways.
First,
Princess Raatri must invoke her energy and free him from the shared power bond."
"But how is that possible?
Where is Raatri? We don't even know!"
"Tell me the second way, father."
"The second way is the same method that Queen Takshika once used.
Prince Susim's powers must be shared with another person so that the burden of the Prakashpunj's energy can be endured."
"But…"
"But what?"
"Kumar,
there is no certainty that the person who shares his power will be able to bear the energy.
If they fail, they will die instantly."
"In such a situation, who would agree to marry him?
And he does not have much time left.
Within one watch (a short time), his body will burn and be destroyed.
How will you convince someone to marry him so quickly?"
After thinking for a while, Kumar says:
"I will marry Prince Susim."
"What?!" (shocked)
"You?!
But you are a man—how can you marry another man?!"
"Why is it not possible, father?
Marriage simply means giving social and religious recognition to the union of two people.
The rituals may vary.
We do not intend to have any physical relationship.
I only want to save his life."
"But what if you also cannot bear the energy of the Prakashpunj?"
"So what, father?
At most, I will die.
Even you have risked your life countless times to save your friends.
If no one else, at least you should understand my situation."
Emotional, Kumar's father says:
"You are right.
Come,
I will perform your Gandharva marriage with Prince Susim in the temple of Dhritdev."
Kumar, Prince Susim, and his father reach the same temple of Dhritdev where Susim and Princess Raatri were once married.
There, Kumar's father performs the wedding rituals himself in place of a priest,
and completes the Gandharva marriage between Kumar and Prince Susim.
As soon as the marriage is completed,
half of the Prakashpunj's energy leaves Prince Susim's body and enters Kumar.
The moment the energy enters him, Kumar loses consciousness,
and Prince Susim regains consciousness.
After waking up, Prince Susim finds himself in Takshak Lok and is shocked.
"What…?
How did I come to Takshak Lok?
I was in Nalish Lok…!"