After Empress Arohi delivered that stinging slap, the very air in the royal court seemed to freeze for a moment. Flushing red in excruciating pain, Snigdha clutched her cheek and stumbled back two steps. She could not believe that her own mother could publicly slap her like this in a regal court packed with hundreds of subjects and noble guests from neighboring kingdoms!
However, there were no tears of remorse in the corners of Snigdha's eyes—instead, they gleamed with ultimate, venomous pride and vengeance!
Shrieking in intense rage, she spat, "Mother! You slapped me? That too before so many people? I can't even fathom that you could slap me like this! Didn't you always lecture your children about grand ideals? And now I see you've learned to lay your hands on people at the drop of a hat! Why, during my childhood, you never laid a finger on me or hit me! How dare you lay your hands on me today in this grand assembly, in front of such a huge crowd? Where do you get such nerve, Mother? If you were so eager to discipline me, you could have taken me aside into private and beaten or scolded me! But you hit me right in front of everyone?"
Hearing such repulsive and insolent words spill from Snigdha's mouth, Arohi could no longer control her fury. Stepping forward, she delivered another violent slap—CRACK!—right across Snigdha's other cheek!
Disgusted to her core, Arohi condemned her, "How did you become so ill-mannered and vile, Snigdha? I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes! You dare show such insolence to the mother who gave you birth?"
Turning around with anxious eyes to look at King Aditya, Arohi pleaded, "Look, Aditya, look! Look at how rudely and hideously your pampered daughter is behaving! Look at how she speaks to me in front of so many people! Why aren't you saying anything?"
Rubbing her burning cheeks, Snigdha let out a hideous laugh and sneered, "What will Father say? Father knows very well what an uncivilized woman you are! Marrying you was the biggest mistake of Father's life! Even our Sushila Mother in that jail was a thousand times better than you!"
The moment she heard such venomous words directed at her revered mother and father's personal life in a packed royal court, Prince Prafulla grew blind with rage and roared!
Charging forward, Prafulla yelled, "Snigdha! Will you shut your mouth now? How dare you drag internal family matters into the open before everyone? Do you have a single grain of judgment or common sense left? You could have said these things after going home! I feel like slapping you repeatedly and throwing you into the darkest dungeons of this royal palace! You have no humanity, no conscience, no sense! Who knows what you've turned into over the past few days! Surely this utter downfall of yours has happened under the influence of this devilish Jishnu! Who on earth is this Jishnu anyway? He was claiming you are his bride-to-be! Explain everything to me right now!"
Holding her cheek and glaring, Snigdha snapped, "Why should I explain anything to a devilish brat like you? Speaking about my husband's name..."
Mid-sentence, Snigdha gasped in shock and halted! The word 'husband' had almost slipped out of her mouth, but she caught herself just in time and fell silent.
Glaring suspiciously, Prafulla demanded, "What were you about to say? Why did you stop? Were you about to say husband?"
Letting out a heavy sigh, Arohi said in a pained voice, "Let it go, son Prafulla! You don't need to say anything more to her. Her language has turned so disgusting—it is beyond imagination. I had thought that after seeing me after so many days, she might rush over in joy and embrace me... but there is no love in her, no affection of a child! Whether she even loves me at all, I do not know."
Turning her eyes away from Snigdha, Arohi looked at Prafulla with maternal warmth. Placing a hand on Prafulla's head, she asked, "How are you, Prafulla? And where is my sweet daughter Prabhasa? Prabha, how are you, my sweet child?"
Prabhasa could no longer hold herself back. Rushing forward, she touched the feet of Arohi and Aditya in respectful greetings, then wrapped Arohi in a loving embrace. Tears streamed down the corners of Prabhasa's eyes. In an earnest voice, she sobbed, "Mother! I never imagined that you and Father would show up here so suddenly! I am doing very well, Mother! Father, how are you?"
Aditya placed a fond hand on Prabhasa's head, bestowing his blessings. For a brief moment, they shared a deeply touching family reunion.
Just then, the Emperor stepped forward. Looking at Aditya, he spoke in a humble tone, "Emperor Aditya, may I now commence my auspicious ceremony? To tell you the truth, my new Prime Minister has been waiting behind the stage curtain for quite a long time. He must be uncomfortable too, right? I would now like to draw aside the curtain and seat him upon my invaluable golden throne."