"The crown grew heavier with each passing year.When the Venerable Bodhidharma Mahanayake Thero had - so reluctantly - first placed it upon his head, Prince Kalidasa was surprised by its lightness. Now, twenty years later, King Kalidasa gladly relinquished the jewel-encrusted band of gold whenever court etiquette allowed" is the opening paragraph of:

This opening paragraph appears in Arthur C. Clarke's 'The Fountains of Paradise,' a science fiction novel about the construction of a space elevator. The passage describes a king burdened by his crown, contrasting with the novel's themes of technological and spiritual transcendence. The other options - Asimov's Foundation (sci-fi empire), Austen's Sense and Sensibility (romance), and Ellis's American Psycho (psychological thriller) - do not match this content or style.