Hearing such blind obedience from Jishnu, Snigdha was simply beside herself with joy. Moving very close to Jishnu, she let out a sigh of relief and said, "Ah, Jishnu! You are truly the man of my dreams! Now listen, this very evening in the grand assembly of this Rupnagar Palace, I shall declare you as my sole fiancé and prince before everyone! Before that new devil of a Prime Minister is revealed, I will call everyone and announce our marriage! And listen, from today onward, you don't need to address me with so much formal respect as 'you'! Call me informally, got it?"
Smiling softly, Jishnu replied, "Alright Snigdha, I will address you informally from today. So, may I take a little peaceful rest now?"
However, the moment she heard Jishnu speak of taking a rest, Snigdha's arrogant temper flared up again! Widening her eyes in anger, she snapped, "What rest, Jishnu? Have you forgotten who you are talking to right now? I am your future queen from this moment on! Don't talk about avoiding me to rest! Instead, inform your parents immediately that I, the princess of Junagarh, have offered you a marriage proposal! They should prepare themselves right away as the groom's side! Doesn't a royal marriage proposal require the elders of the house to know?"
Pretending to look a bit sorrowful, Jishnu said, "Ah Snigdha, you don't know... no one is alive in my family anymore. My deeply revered father and mother—both passed away a few years ago. I am completely alone now! My vast estate, immense wealth, and boundless money—I manage everything single-handedly."
The moment she heard the news of his parents' passing from Jishnu, a fiendish smile of pure delight broke across Snigdha's face! Leaping with joy in her mind, she thought, 'Ah! What luck! It's like rain without even asking for clouds! Since Jishnu's old parents aren't alive, I won't have to bear the hassle of any in-laws at all! No serving grumpy old people, no following strict rules! I will reign supreme over Jishnu's vast wealth all by myself, go wherever I want, wear whatever I like, and fly around freely! What absolute bliss!'
Suppressing her excitement, Snigdha looked at Jishnu with puffed cheeks and said, "Oh! You don't have parents? Well, that is very sad! But tell me now, who else is there in your family?"
Glancing slyly at Snigdha, Jishnu asked, "You heard all about me, Snigdha! Now tell me, who is in your family? Who else resides in your parental home?"
Raising the tip of her nose with extreme disgust, Snigdha began to speak, "There's no one special in my family! There's me, my deeply revered parents, and my twin brother—Prafulla. Apart from them, there is a maid servant girl named Prabhasa in our palace! She is nothing more than a servant, of course! Though unfortunately she carries a drop of my father's blood, she is not my real mother's daughter! My father had a ugly second marriage, and that wicked stepmother is currently spending her days as a prisoner in jail! This Prabhasa is the daughter of that jail prisoner! That's why I never consider her a sister! She is nothing but a trivial maidservant in our palace! My only real family is—me and my twin brother Prafulla! That's it, no one else!"
Hearing such a nasty and ugly family secret about Prabhasa and her household from Snigdha's mouth, Jishnu began dancing with immense joy inside! Smiling cunningly, Jishnu thought to himself, 'Ha ha ha! I have stumbled upon a gold mine! So there lies such a shameful history regarding the birth of this sister named Prabhasa! In the future, if Snigdha ever tries to cross me or shows excessive arrogance, I can instantly shut her mouth by bringing up this stepmother and her prisoner sister! And wiping out this simple-minded family to swallow the entire Kingdom of Junagarh will be child's play for me!'
Thereafter, Jishnu and Snigdha sat in the room for a while longer, discussing various useless stories and plans. Toward the end of their conversation, Snigdha suddenly clapped her hands and said, "Jishnu! Such grand good news must be conveyed to my deeply revered parents immediately! They are currently in a far-off realm on urgent trade business. I will write an urgent royal letter with my own hands right now and send it to my parents via guards, so they can arrive at this Rupnagar Palace this very evening and take part in our wedding arrangements!"