After witnessing the horrifying rampage in the dungeon and the display of the tantrik's miraculous powers, Jishnu, trembling in terror, had run away to save his life. Meanwhile, once the turmoil in the dungeon was somehow resolved, Prince Prafulla and the sweet princess Prabhasa exited the subterranean chambers and came back upstairs. Together, they entered Prafulla's elegantly decorated and peaceful room. To relieve themselves of the mental stress caused by the stormy rampage and ominous events outside, they shut the heavy door behind them and sat down for a private conversation.
Prabhasa sat down on the silk couch with a deep sigh. Her sweet face still carried traces of panic.
Placing both hands on her cheeks, Prabhasa said, "Oh lord, Dada! What a terrible danger was averted in the dungeon today, tell me! Honestly, I could never have imagined even in my dreams that Tantrik Boudi would suddenly chant spells and transform Jishnu Jamaibabu into a gargantuan python! I was frozen stiff with fear, Dada! My heart is still pounding in my chest! Truly, if I hadn't seen Tantrik Boudi's miraculous and extraordinary powers with my own eyes today, I would never have believed it!"
Prafulla was standing near the window, gazing out at the palace courtyard. Turning around, he looked at his sister and offered a soft smile to reassure her.
Prafulla said, "Yes, Prabha, the scene was indeed deeply eerie. But if the tantrik hadn't instilled such fear, that uncouth and arrogant Jishnu would never have learned his lesson. At any rate, the punishment for his wickedness ended right there; there's no need to lose your peace of mind overthinking it."
Breathing a sigh of relief, Prabhasa adjusted her drape neatly. Then, with a sweet, shy smile blooming on her face, she said, "Oh well, Dada! Whatever happened has happened. Forget those rotten matters. Now, if Rupanjan's and my wedding goes off smoothly and happily, I'll be relieved! Tell me, Dada, when would be a good time to hold the wedding? I was thinking, how would it be if we wrapped up our wedding within next week itself? Shall I ask them to pick an auspicious day next week?"
Right at that moment, Snigdha had come creeping softly outside the room to stand by the door! Listening in on others' private conversations was Snigdha's natural habit. Pressing both her ears tight against the gap in Prafulla's closed door, she was listening intently to every single word they said!
The moment the words "wedding with Rupanjan next week" left Prabhasa's lips behind the door, the blood in Snigdha's head boiled to a fiery temp! Consumed by rage, jealousy, and arrogance, Snigdha began jumping around wildly right outside the closed door like a lunatic!
Clenching her fists and gnashing her teeth, she roared in her mind, 'WHAT! What sheer nerve! Supposedly Prabha's wedding with Rupanjan is to take place next week? And over here, my wedding with that cowardly donkey Jishnu is also supposed to happen next week! Then a grand opportunity has landed right in my hands! When all the arrangements are made next week, I will sneak away from the royal palace that very day, fooling everyone's eyes! I'll run straight to Rupanjan and forcibly marry him! Let's see what this witch Prabha can do then! Prabha's face will turn as black as an abrasive cinder-stone! I'll rub cinder right on Prabha's face! Oh my sweet sister Prabha, while you put on airs, I'll sit back with folded hands and watch! Someone ought to hit your face with a broom and land flurries of shoe-blows! I feel like planting both feet on your body and crushing you to pulp! Don't you utter these absurd, fake-innocent words in front of me, understood?'
While Snigdha was standing outside the door making frantic soliloquies and jumping around with wild hand gestures, Queen Arohi happened to be walking down that very corridor! Prafulla had locked her inside her room a short while ago, so she was already quite furious. Seeing Snigdha standing from afar with her ear glued to Prafulla's door, Arohi's temper shot straight through the roof!
Charging forward like a gust of wind, Arohi stood before Snigdha and roared, "What are you doing here, Snigdha? I can hardly stand the sight of you these days! What are you eavesdropping on here again, you vile girl? Pressing your ear to the door to hatch your rotten schemes? Someone ought to grab your ear and rip it right off your body in one jerk, you know that?"
Snigdha was startled by her mother's loud shout behind her, but instantly recovering her sly, contemptuous air, she twisted her face.
Waving her hand, Snigdha said, "Agh, Mother! Why are you shouting so suddenly? Well, by the way, didn't Prafulla lock you inside your lavishly decorated room and fasten heavy chains from the outside? How did you get out so fast from there, Mother?"
Wrapping her saree pallu tightly around her waist, Arohi made a face and snapped, "How else would I get out? Did you think your brother Prafulla would lock me up and I'd just sit there imprisoned? Your biological father, King Aditya, came himself and unlocked the door with the key!"
Hearing this, Snigdha clapped her hands and burst into a scornful laugh—"Ha ha ha! Father came and opened it? Bravo! You two old folks sit around in the royal palace and do only this! All day long, it's just drama and quarreling! Oh well, do whatever you like, I don't care in the slightest! I am only going to seize this massive Junagadh Royal Palace and all its crores worth of wealth!"
The moment Arohi heard such audacious words from Snigdha's mouth, her eyes bulged out in shock!
Arohi roared, "What did you say, Snigdha? How dare you have the nerve to stand right in front of my face and tell me what you're going to seize?"
Realizing her slip of the tongue, Snigdha cleverly turned the conversation around. Making a mock face, she sneered, "Agh, Mother! What property am I going to seize? I was saying that I'd snatch up all the brand-new, expensive clothes kept in the palace wardrobes! Got it? Don't go shouting unnecessarily in front of me!"
Giving Arohi a forceful shove, Snigdha brushed past her and marched briskly toward her own lavishly decorated room.
Entering her room, Snigdha slammed the door shut with a loud bang. Then, collapsing onto the silk bed, she placed a hand on her head and began hatching a deep plot. She began plotting in her mind how, on the day of Prabha's wedding next week, she would win over Rupanjan and forcibly marry him, how she would use the dungeon's tantrik and her own mother, and how she would get all the properties of Junagadh registered under her own name! In Snigdha's eyes, there bloomed the toxic light of an ominous, dark conspiracy!