The echoes of the death sentence were still vibrating through the royal court. At that very moment, an unthinkable event occurred. Upon hearing the word "death," Shilajit's body began to tremble violently, suddenly turning a sickly shade of blue. Clutching the left side of his chest with a frantic hand, he let out a muffled, toothless scream before his eyes rolled back, and he collapsed heavily onto the floor. A massive commotion erupted. The guards rushed to check his pulse and recoiled in shock, shouting, "Maharaja! Shilajit is finished! His heart has failed out of pure terror!"
Everyone was stunned. Arohi, Aditya, and the Rajmata looked at one another in disbelief. Aditya said suspiciously, "Is he really dead, or is this another act? There is no trusting this cunning man!" However, the royal physician arrived, examined the body, and shook his head gravely. "No, Prince, this is no longer a play. The vessel of this devil's sins is full; the God of Death has claimed him before he could even taste the prison's bread."
As Shilajit's lifeless body lay in the center of the court, everyone expected Sushila to break down in tears. But her reaction made everyone's blood run cold. With her hands still bound in chains, she walked over to Shilajit's corpse and delivered a forceful kick. Far from sobbing, she gnashed her teeth and shrieked with a distorted face—
"Hey, you old man! Did you think you could escape by dying? Did you think you'd die alone and leave me hanging from the gallows? You worthless wretch, couldn't you find a better time for a heart attack?" Sushila seemed possessed. Grabbing her dead father's hair and shaking him, she hissed, "Because of you! Everything happened because of you! I wrote to you and brought you here so we could seize this Junagarh palace together. I thought father and daughter would rule, but what did you do that got us caught? Today, I have to hang because of you, while you just die and go cold?"
Hearing these vile words, the Rajmata covered her ears in horror. Arohi stood frozen in shock. Sushila didn't stop; she stepped on Shilajit's chest and shouted, "Get up, old man! Stop acting! I will never accept that you get to die in peace while I face the rope. Just wait—I'll hang your dead body from the gallows myself! I won't let you go even after death, you maggot of hell!"
Aditya spoke with utter loathing, "Sushila, are you even human? Your own father lies dead, and you insult him like this?"
Sushila looked at Aditya and made a hideous, mocking face. She screamed, "Father? He was a useless piece of trash! He didn't just die, Aditya—he set me on fire and ran away alone. Hey old man, if you don't get up, I'll spit in your toothless mouth! Get up, I say!" Sushila began shaking Shilajit's still body like a maniac. Not a single tear fell from her eyes; there was only the fire of vengeance and the terror of her own fate.
The entire court was petrified by Sushila's atrocious behavior. The Maharaja ordered the guards, "Take this demoness away immediately! Take her father's body to the cremation ground, and lock this ghoul in the darkest dungeon. Her judgment will not be by man, but by God."
As the guards dragged Sushila away, she continued to kick toward Shilajit's body, hurling insults: "Die, die! You worthless old man! You won't even find peace in hell!" Shilajit's lifeless body remained on the court floor, while Sushila's foul curses echoed through the corridors. Arohi thought to herself: a woman who can insult her own father's death in this way—her destruction is the only salvation for Junagarh. As the guards dragged the lifeless body of the wicked Shilajit out of the royal court by his feet, it felt as though a sinister shadow had finally lifted from the entire palace. The Maharaja commanded that the tainted corpse be taken to a deserted cremation ground outside the city and burned without ceremony. There was no royal honor, no tears—only the quiet destruction of sin. As the leaping flames of the pyre turned Shilajit's body to ash, even the distant guards breathed a sigh of relief. Finally, a massive poisonous tree had been uprooted from the soil of Junagarh.
Meanwhile, a calm evening light descended upon the palace. After the day's horrors and Sushila's vile screams, Arohi felt utterly exhausted. Returning to her chambers, she checked on Prabhasha—the little girl was fast asleep. Arohi stepped out onto the balcony with weary feet. Aditya was already there, gazing at the sky as if searching for the four years of time they had lost.
Arohi approached from behind and gently took Aditya's hand. He turned and pulled her firmly into his embrace. Arohi rested her head against his broad chest. Four years of separation, humiliation, pain, and the struggle of surviving as a maid—it all finally found peace in this single sanctuary. Pressing his face into Arohi's hair, Aditya whispered, "Arohi, a massive weight has truly been lifted from my heart today. Shilajit's death and Sushila's downfall—it was all meant to be. But my greatest peace is that you are by my side again."
Listening to the steady thrum of Aditya's heartbeat, Arohi closed her eyes. She murmured, "All the turmoil has faded, Aditya. I pray no nightmares touch us tonight. I only want our beautiful family to be whole again." Aditya swept Arohi up in his arms and laid her gently on the bed. Arohi clung to one of his hands and rested her head on his chest as she lay down.
That night, the chandeliers of the Junagarh palace seemed to glow with an extra brilliance. Arohi felt the familiar scent of Aditya and the rhythm of his heart lulling her into a deep, serene sleep. There was no fear, no acting—tonight, she was simply Aditya's Arohi. Aditya pressed a tender kiss to her forehead and, holding her close, drifted into the world of dreams. For the first time in four years, the two of them slept in profound peace, free of worry, in each other's intimate presence.
Outside, Junagarh was bathed in silver moonlight. Nature itself seemed to be blessing the union of these two pure souls. Tomorrow would bring a new morning, and with that morning would begin a new countdown—the days until the return of Prafulla and Snigdha.