The golden hour descended over the sprawling Shamshabad estate, casting long, peaceful shadows across the mango orchards. The chaotic, joyous energy that had consumed the farmhouse for the last four hours was slowly beginning to settle into a warm, comfortable exhaustion.
Out on the gravel driveway, the Rao family was preparing to leave. Subba Rao and Vikram Deva stood near the door of the Rao family's sedan, deep in conversation about astrological charts.
"I will speak to Sastry garu tomorrow morning," Vikram said, clasping Subba Rao's hands. "Bring her Janma Kundali on Wednesday. We will have the priest match the charts, look at the planetary alignments, and lock in the Muhurtham for the engagement and the wedding."
"Wednesday it is, Vikram garu," Subba Rao nodded, a deeply contented smile on his weathered face. "We will find the most auspicious dates. Drive safe, and tell the boy to get some rest."
A few feet away, Krithika lingered by the porch steps with Siddanth. She had her arms crossed, the cool platinum band on her left hand catching the fading sunlight.
"Are you going to post a picture of us?" Krithika murmured, looking up at him, her tone carrying a mix of curiosity and slight apprehension. "To announce it?"
Siddanth looked down at her, a soft, mischievous glint appearing in his eyes. "No. Let the internet guess."
Krithika raised an eyebrow. "Guess?"
"We've managed to keep this relationship completely hidden for nearly five years," Siddanth smiled effortlessly, reaching out and tucking a stray lock of hair behind her ear. "Let's see how long it takes the world's media and a billion fans to actually find out who my Sita is. If they can't figure it out, we will formally reveal your identity on the day of the engagement."
Krithika rolled her eyes playfully, though her cheeks flushed a soft pink. "You're treating our engagement like a global scavenger hunt. But fine. I'm okay with that. Just... give me a warning before you drop the video. I need to put my phone on airplane mode."
"I'll give you a ten-minute head start," Siddanth promised.
After a final round of hugs and goodbyes, the Raos, along with Riya, Kavya, and Anjali, piled into their respective cars and drove down the long, winding driveway, disappearing past the heavy iron gates of the estate. Sameer, Arjun, and Feroz had left shortly before, returning to the city to prepare for the inevitable logistical nightmare that Arjun was already drawing up on his tablet.
Siddanth walked back inside the farmhouse. His parents were already in the living room, quietly discussing guest lists and catering options with an intensity usually reserved for military campaigns. Siddanth smiled seeing that and quietly excused himself.
He walked up the staircase, pushed open the heavy oak door to his bedroom, and stepped inside.
The silence of the room was profound. Twenty-four hours ago, he was standing in the middle of the Eden Gardens, surrounded by 65,000 screaming fans, holding the World Cup and the MVP trophy. An hour ago, he was on one knee on this very hardwood floor.
He walked over to his massive oak desk and sat down in the leather chair. He looked at the small, red velvet box resting near his keyboard. It was empty. A deep, quiet sense of absolute fulfillment settled over him.
It's time, he thought.
He opened his secure file directory and pulled up the master file: Project_Mithila_Final_Render.mp4. He had spent hundreds of hours under the Eiji Niizuma Sync, meticulously crafting every frame, every lighting particle, and every cel-shaded texture to honor their heritage.
He opened his internet browser. He pulled up his official Twitter account. With over 45 million followers, he held the record for the highest number of followers among individuals in India.
He then tabbed over to his official Vibe account, the flagship social platform of NEXUS, which sat at a staggering, record-breaking 65 million followers—cementing his status as the undisputed king of the Indian internet. He hadn't posted anything since a generic team-PR photo holding the World Cup last night.
He dragged and dropped the 3-minute, high-definition video file into both upload boxes. Thanks to the proprietary compression algorithms he had personally coded for the NEXUS servers, the massive 8K file was uploaded and processed in less than ten seconds.
He clicked on the caption box. He didn't write a long, emotional paragraph. He didn't tag any PR agencies. He didn't name Krithika. He kept it exactly as straightforward as he was.
He typed three words:
She said yes.
He hit the post on both platforms simultaneously.
He closed the browser, leaned back in his chair, and let out a long breath.
---
For the first sixty seconds, the internet reacted the way it normally did to a Siddanth Deva post. Tens of thousands of likes flooded in purely based on his name, mostly from fans assuming it was another World Cup celebration post or a sponsor advertisement.
Then, people actually hit play.
Across India, and rapidly across the globe, millions of smartphone screens lit up with the breathtaking, sweeping aerial shot of the Kingdom of Mithila.
Initially, the confusion was palpable. Was this a trailer for a new NEXUS video game? Was Siddanth Deva funding a high-budget mythological movie? In 2016, the animation industry had never seen anything like this. The aesthetic—a flawless, hyper-fluid hybrid of 3D modeling and hand-painted, oil-canvas textures—was five years ahead of its time. The physics of the clothing, the dynamic lighting of the storm clouds, the sheer weight of the Shiva Dhanush—it was a visual masterpiece.
Gamers and anime fans, who usually overlapped heavily with his tech-bro demographic, immediately began sharing the video onto Reddit and Discord servers, absolutely losing their minds over the render quality and the fluid sakuga (high-quality animation) of Prince Rama breaking the bow.
But as the three-minute video reached its climax—as Princess Sita placed the garland around Rama's neck, and the screen faded to black—the true nature of the post was revealed.
Will you be my Sita?
And then, they read the caption.
She said yes.
At exactly 7:14 PM IST, the Indian internet fundamentally broke.
Down in the subterranean server room beneath the farmhouse, VEDA's cooling fans roared to maximum capacity. The traffic spike on the Vibe application was so violent and instantaneous that the AI had to autonomously divert processing power from three backup data centers in Mumbai and Singapore just to keep the servers from melting into slag.
Simultaneously, VEDA initiated a quiet, lethal background protocol, aggressively scrubbing any facial recognition matches of Krithika across the public web, ensuring the "guessing game" remained incredibly difficult for the media.
The Devil of Cricket. The 24-year-old billionaire tech mogul. The most eligible bachelor of India.
He was engaged.
---
Within twenty minutes, #SiddanthEngaged, #DevilIsOffTheMarket, #WillYouBeMySita, and #WhoIsSita were the top four trending topics worldwide.
@bhogleharsha (Harsha Bhogle - Verified): I have spent the last month trying to find the right words to describe his batting, bowling, and fielding. Now I have to find the words to describe this video. A masterpiece on and off the field. Congratulations, Siddanth! A beautiful homage to our roots. 🙏
@imVkohli (Virat Kohli - Verified): About time you made it official, brother! The whole dressing room is absolutely buzzing. Massive congratulations to you both! But you still have a lot of explaining to do when we meet! ❤️💍
@FanGirl_Sid: I AM LITERALLY CRYING IN THE CLUB RIGHT NOW. 😭😭😭 THE DEVIL IS ENGAGED?! WHO IS SHE?! WHO IS SITA?! I'M JUMPING OFF A BRIDGE.
@TechBro_Ravi: Wait, hold up. Let's talk about the render quality of this video. The volumetric lighting? The cel-shaded textures? There is NO studio in the world doing this right now. Did NEXUS build a secret animation studio?! This looks better than Pixar!
@AnimeSakuga_Daily: We need to talk about Siddanth Deva. The man wins a World Cup and casually drops a 3-minute animation that single-handedly redefines the 2.5D animation industry. The frame pacing when the bow breaks is god-tier. Respect. 🎬🔥
@SiddanthDevaFC (Fan Club - 2M Followers): He didn't rent a yacht. He didn't buy a billboard in Times Square. He spent hundreds of hours animating a beautiful, cultural, mythological masterpiece to propose to his girl. We stan the DEVIL! 👑💙 #DevilOfCricket
@VirenderSehwag (Virender Sehwag - Verified): First, you break the bowlers, now you break the hearts of millions of girls in India! 🤣 Beautiful video, Sid. Wishing you both a lifetime of happiness!
@Priya_Reddy: The fact that he used the Swayamvar of Sita and Rama as an allegory for his proposal... the standard has been raised so high it's currently in orbit. My boyfriend better start taking animation classes immediately. 🥺
@GamerGod: Deva is one of us. Only a true gamer/weeb would propose using a custom-rendered animation. But seriously, NEXUS needs to release this as a full RPG game immediately. I want to play as Prince Rama.
@YUVSTRONG12 (Yuvraj Singh - Verified): First the World Cup, now a wedding?! The Devil is moving fast! Congratulations brother! But I am demanding a proper Punjabi bachelor party! 🕺🍻
@BCCI (Official BCCI - Verified): Congratulations to the Vice-Captain of the Indian Cricket Team, Siddanth Deva, on his engagement! Wishing you a wonderful innings ahead in your personal life! 🇮🇳💍
@Deva_Supremacy: I am unwell. I am taking tomorrow off work. The love of my life is engaged to someone else. I will be listening to sad Bollywood songs for the next 48 hours. Goodbye. 💔
@DesiMomDaily: Every Indian mother right now: 'Look at Siddanth! He wins World Cups, runs a billionaire company, respects Hindu mythology, and makes his own proposal videos! And you are still playing PUBG in your underwear!'
@IrfanPathan: What a beautiful way to honor our culture and traditions. Absolutely stunning video, Siddanth. Mubarak ho! 🎉
@Sita_Search_Party: DAY 1 of trying to find out who the real-life Sita is. She has to be the luckiest girl on the planet. We need a name, Sid! Drop the tag! The internet detectives are on the case!
@ArjunReddy_NEXUS (Arjun Reddy - Verified): To everyone asking: No, NEXUS is not opening an animation studio. He made this entirely by himself in his bedroom between cricket matches.
@BollywoodGossip: Is the mystery girl a Bollywood actress?! A supermodel?! An heiress?! Sources say Siddanth Deva has kept his relationship completely hidden! The ultimate secret romance! Who is the mystery Sita?! 🕵️♀️
@TheBarmyArmy: He hit us for six yesterday, and now he's breaking the internet today. Can this guy just take a day off? Respectfully, congrats from England. 🏴🏏
@SidxSita_Forever: I don't even know who she is yet, but I am ready to defend her with my life. If he loves her this much to make this video, she must be a queen. 👑🥺
---
Over on Vibe, Siddanth's native platform, the comment section under the video was a warzone of emojis, heartbreak, and awe. The interface was struggling to load the volume of text pouring in every millisecond, creating a cascading waterfall of digital reactions.
@KingDeva_01: BRO THE RENDER QUALITY?! Did you use Unreal Engine?! What is this wizardry?!
@Ria_Sharma: I am physically sick. My chest hurts. But the video is so beautiful, I can't even be mad. Be happy, Sid. 😭😭😭
@CricketMemeLord: Bowlers: "He's unplayable." Tech CEOs: "He's untouchable." Single Girls: "He's unavailable." 💀
@Neha_Styles: WHO IS SHE?! WE NEED A NAME RIGHT NOW! WE NEED TO INSPECT HER! 🔪
@NEXUS_Fanboy: The fact that he coded the lighting physics himself... this man's IQ is actually terrifying.
@Sanjana_99: "Will you be my Sita?" I would have passed out immediately. Like, medics would have to be called to the scene.
@Rahul_Cricks: Mahi bhai is going to have a field day teasing him about this in the dressing room. 😂
@Vedic_Aesthetics: Honoring the epic of Ramayana in 2016 for a proposal. True Indian values. Massive respect to you, Siddanth! 🙏🚩
@Kavya_Heartbroken: My mom just came into my room and told me Siddanth Deva got engaged and told me to study harder because my backup plan is gone. Thanks, Sid. 🥲
@TechGuru_India: Can we talk about how he dropped this right after winning the World Cup? Ultimate flex. The world is his simulation.
@Ananya_P: I've watched this 40 times. The way Rama looks at Sita... he definitely modeled that micro-expression off his own face. I'm sobbing.
@Deva_Stats: Runs: 21,000+. Wickets: 570+. World Cups: 5. Engagements: 1. Hearts Broken: 300 million.
@GamerGirl_X: The cel-shading! It looks like a moving painting! Please Sid, just fund a whole anime series!
@Pooja_Hegde (Verified Actress): This is the most romantic thing I have ever seen. Setting impossible standards for every man in India! 😍
@SRH_OrangeArmy: OUR CAPTAIN IS GETTING MARRIED! HYDERABAD IS GOING TO THROW THE BIGGEST PARTY! 🧡🦅
@Simran_Kaur: I bet she's just a normal girl too. He doesn't seem like the type to date a celebrity. That makes it hurt even more! 😭
@Design_Nerd: The fluid dynamics on Sita's silk dress during the wind storm... my laptop would literally catch fire trying to render that.
@Ayesha_Khan: I'm not crying, you're crying. Okay, we're all crying.
@Cricket_Shitpost: Siddanth Deva hits a 150kph yorker, runs a billion-dollar company, and animates better than Disney. I can't even fold a fitted sheet properly.
---
Siddanth sat at his desk, watching the view counter on Vibe literally glitch out as it tried to calculate the millions of hits per minute. He chuckled softly, shaking his head. He had expected a big reaction, but the internet was completely tearing itself apart. The 'Who is Sita' guessing game had already spawned thousands of conspiracy threads on Reddit.
Suddenly, his phone began vibrating violently against the oak desk.
He glanced at the screen. It was an incoming group video call on Flash Messenger.
The caller ID read: The Blue Asylum.
Siddanth sighed, a massive smile breaking across his face. He propped the phone up against his monitor and hit the green accept button.
Instantly, the screen split into four squares, and his bedroom was flooded with unadulterated chaos.
"ABOUT DAMN TIME!" Virat Kohli's voice boomed out of the speaker before his face even fully loaded. He was sitting in a hotel room in Mumbai, pointing an aggressive finger at the camera. "We have been watching you two make heart-eyes at each other in VIP boxes for years! Congratulations, Sid!"
"Bro, my phone is melting!" Shikhar Dhawan's signature, booming laughter echoed from the top right square. Dhawan was holding his camera way too close to his face, showing off his twirled mustache. "The whole country is having a meltdown trying to figure out who the mystery girl is!"
"I am furious," Ravindra Jadeja deadpanned from the bottom left square, twirling a cricket ball in his hand, looking completely scandalized. "Not about the engagement. Congratulations on that, Sid. But I am furious about the sheer logistics of this."
Siddanth leaned back in his leather chair, laughing loudly. "Good evening to you too, boys. Glad to see you all made it home from Kolkata safely. What logistics are you talking about, Jaddu?"
"The paparazzi!" Kohli interrupted, his voice rising in sheer, genuine exasperation. "Sid, you have been dating Krithika for nearly five years! Five years! I step out of a hotel to buy a cup of coffee with Anushka, and we are on the front page of the Bombay Times in ten minutes! How have you hidden a five-year relationship from the Indian media?! They literally think you are celibate!"
"It's true," Dhawan chimed in, shaking his head in disbelief. "Not a single leaked photo. Not a single tabloid rumor. The media follows you everywhere, Sid. How do you do it?"
Siddanth maintained an innocent smile.
Well, you don't have an Artificial Intelligence actively scrubbing CCTV footage, suppressing facial recognition algorithms, and deleting social media background photos in real-time, Siddanth thought to himself.
"I just value my privacy, boys," Siddanth said out loud, offering a modest shrug to the camera. "And Krithika isn't exactly the type to seek out the cameras. We just kept our heads down."
"You are a ghost," Jadeja muttered, still shaking his head. "Anyway, the animation was ridiculous. Rivaba was literally crying while watching it. You're making the rest of us look bad, Sid. Now my girlfriend is asking why I didn't learn 3D rendering to propose like that."
"When is the wedding?" Dhawan asked eagerly. "Because the Punjabi boys are demanding a bachelor party."
"I had given that responsibility to Arjun. He has already been informed that his property is being commandeered," Siddanth laughed. "I'll let you guys know the dates as soon as the parents finalize them. But you are all invited."
"We better be," Kohli grinned, his competitive edge softening into genuine warmth. "Seriously, though, congratulations. She's a great girl. She keeps you sane. Really happy for you. Go get some rest, you've had a crazy 48 hours."
"Congrats, Sid!" Dhawan and Jadeja echoed.
Siddanth disconnected the call, still chuckling. But before he could even lock the screen, the phone buzzed again.
This time, it wasn't a group call. It was a standard voice call.
The Caller ID simply read: Mahi Bhai.
Siddanth immediately picked it up. "Hello, Mahi bhai."
"I leave you alone for one day, Sid," MS Dhoni's calm, unmistakable baritone drifted through the speaker, carrying a dry, distinct amusement. "And you break the internet harder than you broke the English bowling attack."
"Guilty as charged, Skip," Siddanth smiled.
"Congratulations, Sid," Dhoni's tone shifted, becoming warm and deeply sincere. "It's the best decision you'll ever make. Cricket is a beautiful game, but it's a chaotic life. You need someone waiting at home who doesn't care about your batting average or your MVP trophies. Someone who just sees you."
Dhoni rarely offered unsolicited life advice, but when he did, it carried the weight of truth.
"I know, Mahi bhai," Siddanth replied softly. "Thank you. She's... she's exactly that."
"Good. Tell Krithika congratulations from Sakshi and me," Dhoni said. "Now, turn your phone off before the BCCI PR team has a heart attack trying to manage the media frenzy. See you at the IPL."
"See you, Mahi bhai."
The phone clicked off.
Siddanth let out a slow exhale, the sheer magnitude of the support washing over him. Over the next hour, his phone continued to light up with messages from cricketing royalty.
Sachin Tendulkar texted: "A spectacular innings off the field, Siddanth! Wishing you both a lifetime of perfect partnerships. Give my regards to the family."
He texted back: Thanks paaji. And also send Arjun to hyderabad since IPL is starting soon.
Sachin Tendulkar texted back: I will send him in a few days.
VVS Laxman followed up shortly after: "Hyderabad is very proud today, Sid! A beautiful video and wonderful news. God bless you both."
Siddanth spent twenty minutes replying to the legends, ensuring his tone was polite, respectful, and appreciative.
Finally, the notifications began to slow down.
He looked at the clock on his monitor. It was 11:45 PM.
The adrenaline of the World Cup victory, the immense emotional release of the proposal, and the chaotic digital fallout had finally drained his reserves.
He picked up his phone, opened Flash Messenger, and navigated to the pinned chat at the top of his screen.
Sid: The internet is officially on fire. The team knows. They are furious about the paparazzi thing. Mahi bhai says congratulations. Hope you have your phone on silent. The guessing game has officially begun. Goodnight, Shorty.
A few seconds later, the typing bubbles appeared.
Headache: My sister hasn't stopped screaming for three hours. Shes reading the conspiracy theories to me like a news anchor. You are a menace. Goodnight, Mama's Boy. <3
Siddanth smiled, locking the phone and placing it face down on the desk.
He stood up, stretched his broad shoulders, and walked over to the wall console. "VEDA, shut down the workstation and kill the main lights. Keep the scrubbing protocols active. Let them guess for a few more months."
"Right away, Boss," VEDA's crisp, synthesized voice echoed softly from the hidden ceiling speakers. "And for the record... the render quality was indeed spectacular. Goodnight."
The ultra-wide monitors powered down, plunging the room into a cool, ambient darkness. Siddanth collapsed onto the massive king-sized bed, closing his eyes.
[Passive Skill: Perfect Rhythm - ACTIVE]
Within thirty seconds, his heart rate slowed to a perfect, restorative 45 beats per minute. The Devil of Cricket, the newly engaged billionaire, drifted into a deep, dreamless sleep, completely oblivious to the digital inferno he had left raging across the globe.