Meanwhile, seeing her plot succeed, there was no end to Snigdha's joy! Skipping away from there, she floated toward her room, dancing with delight, because a storm was raging in her mind that the moment morning broke, Prabha would surely drink that milk and lose everything!
Over in his room, Prafulla had been lying down at night thinking that Snigdha was surely up to some ominous act or conspiracy, but due to severe exhaustion from the whole day, he fell into a deep slumber while still pondering, and thus never came around to check on Prabha's room during the night. Everyone in the royal palace was fast asleep then.
The next morning, the moment the sun rose, Prabhasa woke up. Glancing at the glass of milk resting on the room's table, she remembered the story of Queen Mother Arohi's blessed milk she had heard from the maid the previous night. Without wasting another second, Prabhasa drank down the entire glass of milk in one breath.
Overjoyed, Snigdha had been boiling with excitement since early morning! Eager to witness the state of Prabha's room and how she was behaving with her own eyes, Snigdha scurried straight to the doorway of Prabha's room! From behind the door, she cunningly peeked inside.
Just at that moment, Prabhasa was walking around inside her room and caught Snigdha peeking through the door!
Laughing cheerfully, Prabhasa said, "Oh, Didi! What is the matter, tell me? Why are you standing out there peeking from behind the door? Come on in, step inside my room! What's with all this peeking and hiding just to enter my room, Didi?"
Instantly concealing her inner wickedness, Snigdha launched into a grand act! Pouting with a pitiful expression, she said, "Oh dear! Do I have the right to just walk into your room without asking your permission first? There's no telling—if I walk into your room and you happen to be busy with some private task, you'll start screaming unnecessarily all over again! That's exactly why I was standing outside, too scared to move! Only if you graciously grant me permission will I find the courage to step inside!"
Seeing Snigdha's bizarre behavior and act, Prabhasa simply burst out laughing. She said, "Oh, stop it, stop it! You don't need to put on hundreds of dramas, Didi! You can naturally come into my room; you are my dearest and only older sister! Come inside, why are you just standing there?"
Waving her hand dismissively, Snigdha gave a dry smile and said, "No, no, it's alright, never mind!"—saying this, she quickly retreated and walked away.
A sudden, strange sense of suspicion flickered through Prabhasa's mind regarding Snigdha's weird behavior. But pushing those foolish thoughts aside without dwelling on them, Prabhasa headed out toward the courtyard to attend to her chores.
The moment Prabhasa stepped out of the room, Snigdha crept inside like a thief. Stepping into the room and spotting the empty glass of milk on the table, Snigdha's eyes gleamed with delight! Seeing the glass completely empty, Snigdha started jumping and dancing around like a lunatic out of pure joy!
She thought to herself, 'Prabha has drunk the whole glass of milk! Now everything is over for her!' Without wasting a single moment, Snigdha picked up the empty glass and bolted out, hurling it away into the secluded, dense bushes of the thick garden across the rear palace lake so that not a single trace of evidence remained in the royal palace!
Meanwhile, Prabhasa went straight to Queen Arohi's lavishly decorated chamber and stood there with a radiantly happy face, saying, "Oh Mother! That special blessed milk you sent through the maid for me last night? Well, I drank it the very moment I woke up this morning! Honestly, Mother, ever since drinking it, a strange and wonderful surge of energy has been flowing through my body! My mind feels wonderfully refreshed and so cheerful, Mother! I don't know why I feel such a miraculous strength, but my heart and soul are brimming with peace!"
Arohi stared in utter astonishment at Prabha's face. Knitting her brows, she said, "What milk are you talking about, Prabha? When on earth did I go about sending you milk? Have you lost your mind?"
Looking bewildered, Prabhasa said, "Why, Mother? Last night you sent a maid covered in a large shawl to deliver milk to my room! The maid explicitly said that Mother Arohi had sent it and instructed me to drink it first thing in the morning! So I drank it right upon waking up, and truly, I am feeling fantastic and sharp-witted!"
Waving her hands and shaking her head, Arohi said, "Nonsense! I didn't send you any milk at all! Come along now, let's see which maid supposedly gave you milk! Who are you talking about?"
Thinking for a moment, Prabhasa said, "Agh, Mother, the girl had wrapped a large shawl around her body and covered her face, so in the sleepy haze of deep night I couldn't pay close attention! I didn't even get a good look at the maid's face! But there was no doubt that you sent it! That empty glass is still sitting right on my table, come, let me take you and show it!"
Walking together, Arohi and Prabhasa returned to Prabha's room. But stepping inside and glancing at the table, Prabhasa was struck dumb with shock! Neither in the corner nor on the table was there any glass to be found anywhere! The entire room was completely empty!
Witnessing this, Arohi threw both hands up in the air with a scornful gesture and exclaimed, "Well, well, well, Prabhasa! You too are turning out just like that wicked older sister of yours, learning how to concoct and tell smooth lies! Your sister Snigdha is another devilish child! There's no telling where Snigdha goes and what vile misdeeds she pulls off! She hasn't an ounce of brains in her head; I feel like going over and smashing her head to a pulp and feeding it to her! I've never seen her possess a shred of intellect or common sense. All day long she goes around harassing people and spinning false tales. And now I see you've turned into just as grand a liar like her? Where is the glass, pray tell? Where is the empty glass? Are you playing these stupid tricks and games with me bright and early in the morning, Prabha?"
With a deeply melancholic and mortified expression, Prabhasa said, "Believe me, Mother, the glass was right here! I don't know what suddenly happened or where the glass vanished! Alright, Mother, don't get angry now, you should go back to your room." With that, Prabhasa pacified Arohi and bid her farewell from the room.
Muttering under her breath, Arohi marched off toward her own quarters. Standing at her doorway, Prabhasa placed a hand on her forehead and muttered to herself in bewilderment, "Just a short while ago, the clean glass was right here! I have no idea what on earth is happening to me!"
Meanwhile, hiding behind the doorway, Snigdha was deriving immense pleasure from Prabha's confusion and her mother's scolding, pressing her hand over her mouth to stifle her silent laughter!
Floating in the supreme arrogance and euphoria of her own mind, Snigdha thought to herself, 'Come what may, the actual deed is done! Prabha has completely drunk that toxic powder-laced milk! Now all we are waiting for is for Prince Rupanjan from Rupnagar to come face-to-face with Prabha! The moment Rupanjan appears before Prabha, she won't even recognize him! No memories will remain in her mind! And this is precisely what I wanted—for Rupanjan's name to be erased from Prabha's life forever!'
Engrossed in the fantasy of her own creation, Snigdha broke into a triumphant, arrogant laugh, completely oblivious to the fact that, thanks to Tantrik Boudi's herbal powder, Prabha's intellect and memory had now become a thousand times sharper and more acute than an ordinary human's—and this foolish scheme of Snigdha's was soon going to drive her straight toward a monumental punishment!