After finishing their afternoon meal in the dining hall, Prafulla and Prabhasa waited for a while, but there was no sign of Snigdha. Ever since she had stomped out leaving her plate behind, she seemed to have vanished into thin air. Witnessing Snigdha's erratic and frantic behavior upon seeing the sheer expanse of the royal palace had already sparked concern in Prafulla's mind. Looking at Prabhasa with a worried face, he said, "Prabha, let's go outside and check if that girl has stirred up some new trouble again! I don't have an ounce of faith in her. Wherever she goes, she drags our lineage's honor through the mud!"
Prabhasa agreed and replied, "Yes brother, let's look for her. I am already deeply embarrassed after her rude behavior before the Emperor. It is best to check where she went alone."
Together, the two stepped out of the dining hall and began searching thoroughly for Snigdha across the palace's long corridors, vast courtyards, and even the picturesque royal gardens outside. They questioned guards and checked near the fountains, but found no trace of Snigdha anywhere. Neither Prafulla nor Prabhasa's simple minds could have ever guessed that Princess Snigdha was not in any garden or courtyard—rather, she was locked inside a stranger's private chamber, engrossed in manipulative romance and sinister scheming! It was completely beyond Prafulla and Prabhasa's imagination that Snigdha was busy charming Jishnu out of pure greed for his gold and grand palace. Failing to find her, the exhausted pair stood waiting to one side.
Meanwhile, the urgent royal letter dispatched by Snigdha reached Emperor Aditya and Empress Arohi via the high-speed horse-riding messenger guard. They were currently stationed in a far-off realm on urgent trade business. Seeing the official seal of Junagarh on the letter, both grew curious and anxious, and began reading the missive together.
However, as they progressed through each sentence of the letter, Aditya and Arohi's eyes widened in sheer shock and sorrow! The toxic letter penned by Snigdha's own hand laid bare her boundless arrogance, insolence, and blind greed for wealth! The very Rupanjan who had devoted himself to tireless labor for days on end to honor Snigdha's love was now insulted on every page of the letter as a 'cow', a 'donkey', a 'farmer's son', and a 'barnyard slave'! Not only that, merely because he promised to construct a massive royal palace, Snigdha had selected Jishnu, the wealthy landlord's son from their own Kingdom of Junagarh, as her future husband. She even intended to announce her royal wedding this very evening before the Emperor of Rupnagar presented the new Prime Minister to the public!
Upon finishing the letter, Emperor Aditya held his forehead in utter despair and sat down. A drop of humiliated tear glinted in the corner of his eye. Empress Arohi also stood petrified, staring blankly at the letter.
Letting out a heavy sigh, Aditya spoke to Arohi in a deeply shattered and heavy voice, "Look Arohi, look at the rock-bottom degradation our own daughter has fallen to! We never imagined in our wildest dreams that Snigdha could be so selfish, arrogant, and shameless! She weighed love on the scales of money and sold it away? A girl who can insult a pure and devoted boy like Rupanjan for the sake of a mere palace and gold ornaments can truly belong to no one! She has dragged the dignity of her own family into the dust."
Pausing for a moment, Aditya continued, "Never mind Arohi. Since she chose her life partner without our permission, disregarding our presence, and wishes to announce it in this evening's assembly, let her drift away into her own doom! She will have to pay the price for her blind greed down to the last penny someday. Yet, as parents, we cannot simply turn our backs. Trade business can wait. Come, let us depart for the Kingdom of Rupnagar right now. We must witness with our own eyes how much lower Snigdha can sink in the royal court of Rupnagar!"
While preparing for their journey to Rupnagar, Emperor Aditya and Empress Arohi together penned a top-secret royal letter addressed to the Emperor of Rupnagar. In the missive, they wrote:
"Deeply Revered Emperor of Rupnagar,
Please accept our respectful greetings. We were relieved to learn that our children have safely arrived in your realm under your gracious invitation and royal hospitality. However, temporarily suspending our trade trip, we too shall be arriving at your Rupnagar Palace very shortly.
The reason for writing this special missive to you is that—our daughter Snigdha has taken an extremely reckless decision. She has taken a liking to a landlord's son from our kingdom named Jishnu, and wishes to declare him as her life partner before everyone in your royal court this evening. Furthermore, we have learned that Snigdha intends to display the insolence of making her own announcement even before your much-awaited new Prime Minister is revealed to the public!
Displaying such insolence and disrespect as a guest in another kingdom is not in the blood of our royal family. We humbly request you to conduct your well-organized assembly as planned. First, unveil your new Prime Minister before everyone with grand honor. Only after everyone beholds his face should Snigdha be given the opportunity to declare Jishnu of Junagarh as her future groom. We are arriving at top speed.
Yours,
Aditya and Arohi
(Junagarh Royal Family)"
Writing the letter, it was entrusted to a trusted royal messenger to be delivered post-haste to the Emperor of Rupnagar. After dispatching the letter, Aditya and Arohi spurred their chariot toward Rupnagar.
In a very short time, the letter reached the hands of the Emperor of Rupnagar via the messenger. Upon opening the letter and seeing that the beloved rulers of Junagarh, Emperor Aditya and Empress Arohi themselves, were coming to his realm, the Emperor's face lit up with a smile of immense satisfaction! He thought to himself, "Ah! The arrival of Aditya and Arohi will make this auspicious evening even more dignified!"
However, upon reading the subsequent section of the letter detailing Snigdha's plot and audacity, a subtle, knowing smile spread across the Emperor's lips. A gleam of deep, humorous mystery sparked in his eyes!
Because no one in the palace except the Emperor knew the ultimate secret! The very Rupanjan whom Snigdha had trashed in her letter as useless, a donkey, a farmer's son, and a dung-collecting slave—that very Rupanjan was the newly appointed, supreme, and highly powerful Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Rupnagar! Rupanjan was ascending to the highest seat of governance and premiership in all of Rupnagar solely through his intellect, merit, and valor!
Folding the letter and slipping it inside his royal attire, the Emperor mused to himself, "Ha ha ha! This is truly a magnificent and poetic twist of fate! The very person Snigdha tossed aside in her blind arrogance, mistaking him for a 'farmer's son'—how will she react when she sees the royal crown of the Prime Minister upon Rupanjan's brow in tonight's assembly? Snigdha doesn't have the faintest clue that Rupanjan holds supreme authority over this vast realm of Rupnagar!
Then it will be a sight to behold—will this arrogant Snigdha remain standing hand-in-hand with her temporary landlord's son Jishnu, or will she realize her blunder upon witnessing Rupanjan's majestic royal presence and drop to her knees to beg at Rupanjan's feet once more? Rupanjan's grand royal welcome and the downfall of Snigdha's pride—tonight's court drama will truly be a hilarious and unmissable spectacle! The royal assembly of Rupnagar is set to witness a truly astonishing moment of history!"
Smiling slyly, the Emperor instructed the guards to arrange the royal assembly and evening feast even more flawlessly and splendidly.