Several days passed amidst great joy and festivity...
The next day was a special royal ceremony. Arohi had decided that she would attend the event wearing her most beloved and expensive diamond-studded necklace. Before going to sleep, she had placed the necklace with great care on the table in front of her mirror. But the wheel of fortune does not take long to turn.
That night was a pitch-black night of the new moon. In the deep darkness, the entire palace seemed covered in a silent shroud. While everyone was fast asleep, a shadowy figure appeared at the door of Arohi's room. It was none other than one of the palace's most trusted maidservants. Seeing the brilliant shimmer of the necklace, the maid's eyes gleamed. She could no longer resist the greed for the jewel. Stepping into the room on silent tiptoes, she picked up the necklace, hid it carefully within the folds of her clothes, and slipped out of the room.
The next morning...
Upon waking up, Arohi reached for the spot where the necklace was, only to find it empty! Her screams woke the entire palace. "Where is my necklace? Who took it? It was so dear to me!" Hearing Arohi's cries, Aditya and the King came rushing in. Every corner and every room of the entire palace was searched thoroughly, but not a single trace of the necklace was found. For by then, it was already in the Minister's secret hideout!
Meanwhile, in a dark chamber of the royal palace, Minister Shilajit took the necklace from the maidservant's hand and let out a cunning laugh. He began to mutter to himself, "I have endured for a long time! The King insulted me and removed me from my ministerial post; he did not marry Aditya to my daughter—I have never forgotten this insult. Now, I will show my true colors! I will lay Junagarh to waste." After this, Shilajit went to the King and recounted the previous incident.
The King was a very kind and simple-hearted man. When Shilajit fell at his feet and begged for forgiveness, the King thought— "Ah! Perhaps the poor man had only drifted away out of hurt because his daughter's marriage proposal was rejected. This is a small matter; I will not keep an old associate away any longer."
The King did not know that it was this very Shilajit who, out of jealousy in the past, had put his own child Aditya into a basket and set him adrift in the middle of a river. He thought Shilajit had reformed, so with great affection, he reappointed him to the post of Minister. But the kind King could not realize that he was actually sheltering a venomous serpent within his own home—one who would destroy the royal lineage of Junagarh the moment he got the chance.
The soldiers turned the entire palace upside down, but not a single trace of the necklace could be found. Aditya's patience had finally snapped. A flame of fury was burning in his eyes. He roared, "I can no longer remain patient! General, are the soldiers so incompetent that they cannot find a simple necklace? I hereby declare—if the thief confesses on their own, they might be granted mercy. But if I find them, they shall be impaled alive! There will be no forgiveness!"
Hearing Aditya's terrifying roar, Shilajit's heart skipped a beat. He realized that if the thieving maid spoke out of fear, he himself would not be safe. Therefore, that very night, Shilajit showed his true colors. In the silent darkness of the night, he summoned the helpless maidservant to a secluded room. Then, without any mercy, he hacked her into pieces. To erase the final shred of evidence, he threw the remains deep into the forest so that jackals and wolves would devour them. He ensured not a single bone or drop of blood remained—the evidence was completely obliterated!
The next morning, Shilajit arrived at the royal palace with a strangely calm demeanor, as if he knew nothing. Arohi was still sitting with a somber face. Shilajit stepped forward slowly and said, "Mother Arohi, weep no more. Here is your necklace! Actually, you all searched the entire palace, but perhaps you forgot to look in the garden. While I was taking a stroll this morning, I found it lying on the grass. Perhaps it had somehow slipped from your veil and fallen into the garden."
Upon receiving the necklace, Arohi's eyes brightened with joy. She thanked Shilajit with gratitude, saying, "Minister, you have done such a great favor! Had it not been for you, I might never have found the necklace."
The kind King was also very pleased. He patted Shilajit on the back. Yet, no one knew that behind the recovery of that necklace, an innocent life had been lost, and the greatest enemy of the Junagarh throne was now standing right beside them with a smiling face.
Shilajit thought that by returning Arohi's necklace, he had become a great man in the eyes of the royal family. But he did not know that sin can never remain hidden. That afternoon, while everyone in the palace was immersed in rest, another maidservant—named Ratna—silently entered Shilajit's chamber. She looked into Shilajit's eyes and let out a cunning smile.
Shilajit frowned and looked at her, "Why have you come here? What do you want?"
Ratna said directly, "Minister, give me a bag of gold coins. Or else, I will pour the truth of that dark night into the King's ears."
Shilajit roared, "What are you saying? How dare you! A bag of gold coins? Have you even seen gold coins in your entire life that you demand a bagful today?"
Ratna was not intimidated at all. She walked slowly toward Shilajit and whispered, "Give the coins without much talk. I saw with my own eyes how you brutally hacked the maid Nila into pieces in the middle of the night. If you want me to keep my mouth shut, then pay my dues."
The ground seemed to slip from beneath Shilajit's feet. For a moment, he was taken aback, but the next instant, gathering his courage, he said, "Lies! Who will believe you? Will the King suspect his Minister based on the words of a lowly maid? Do you have any proof?"
Ratna laughed, "Whether the King believes it or not, if the word reaches the ears of Arohi and Prince Aditya just once, they will not remain calm. Arohi is very shrewd, and you are already well aware of Aditya's wrath. Now think, what will be your consequence?"
Shilajit's pupils turned red like fire. He realized that keeping Ratna alive meant inviting his own death. He gritted his teeth and said, "Is that so? You have seen everything? Then what is there to do, it seems you no longer care for your own life. You don't know it, but the path I sent Nila on—you too must go that way!"
Shilajit pounced on Ratna like a wild beast. Ratna tried to scream, "This is injustice! I will scream!"
Shilajit muffled her mouth and said, "There is no use screaming! Once you have entered my room, you must leave from here only as a corpse."
Without wasting a single moment, Shilajit tied Ratna's hands and feet tightly. He stuffed a cloth into her mouth and hid her under the bed in such a way that no one from the outside could even tell. Throughout the entire afternoon, Shilajit acted normally, as if nothing had happened.
The Incident at Dead of Night...
When everything became silent, Shilajit pulled Ratna out from under the bed. The girl was struggling in fear, but since her mouth was tied, no sound could escape. He carried her on his shoulder toward the deep forest. After reaching there, he pulled out his sharp knife and cruelly slit Ratna's throat. The wild grass was drenched in blood. Shilajit did not get time to hack the body into pieces this time; he left it there and quickly returned to the palace and fell asleep.
The Next Morning...
A terrifying panic spread across the kingdom of Junagarh. A commoner found the body at the edge of the forest. The sight was so gruesome that the body was unrecognizable. Wild wolves and jackals had eaten half of it, and the throat was brutally slit.
Upon receiving the news, the King, Queen Mother, Arohi, and Aditya rushed to the spot. Shilajit was also present there, acting as if he was deeply disturbed. Looking at the mangled body, Arohi grabbed Aditya's hand in fear. Aditya's face was grim with rage.
The King sighed and said, "What ominous events have begun in Junagarh! Yesterday Arohi's necklace was stolen, and today this gruesome murder! Who is this girl?"
Arohi noticed that from the remains of the body, it seemed she too was a maid from the royal palace. She said in a choked voice, "Maharaja, could this be Ratna? She hasn't been seen in the palace since this morning."
Shilajit thought to himself, "If I had hacked her into pieces and fed her to the wolves like Nila, there would have been no evidence. Anyway, now I must continue to play the part of a good man." He feigned concern and said, "Maharaja, I think some new danger has struck Junagarh. We should investigate this immediately."
The King said with a heavy heart, "Very well, inform her family and perform the last rites with proper respect. We are trying to find out—what other new calamity is about to come to the kingdom of Junagarh."
While everyone returned in mourning, a sliver of a devilish smile appeared on the corner of Shilajit's lips. He knows he has washed away the bloodstains, but will Arohi's sharp gaze spare him?