Roaring fiercely, Snigdha shouted, "Hey you devil of a girl, Prabha? Have you gone completely deaf in your ears? Or should I land a flurry of hard shoe-blows right across your ears so your rotten ears can finally hear? Today I'm going to grab you by your hair and shake you right down to the dust of the floor! You seem to have grown immensely arrogant and puffed up with pride over the news of becoming Rupanjan's Queen, haven't you? Why? Looking at me, can't you even recognize who I am? Acting as though some unknown stranger has dropped in from a distant universe whom you won't even deign to notice? Today I'm going to land two stinging slaps across your face, tear that pretty head right off your neck, and play football with it, understand? You uncouth, devilish wretch!"
Screaming at the top of her lungs like a lunatic, Snigdha sprinted down the corridor right behind Prabha. The sound of Snigdha's unbridled, toxic abuses and ear-splitting shrieks made the entire Junagadh Royal Palace tremble once again!
Hearing such ugly chaos echoing through the palace corridor, Queen Mother Arohi and King Aditya rushed out from their chambers, driven to the absolute limit of annoyance. Prince Prafulla also hurried over anxiously from the neighboring room. Arriving on the scene, they stood there completely dumbfounded by what they beheld!
They saw sweet princess Prabhasa walking forward with an exceedingly calm, steady, and detached expression, while right behind her, Snigdha was chasing her like a hideous, wild beast—flailing her arms, distorting her face, and hurling uncouth abuses!
Seeing Prabha's calm demeanor and Snigdha's dog-like behavior, Queen Mother Arohi could no longer contain her rage! Bursting with indignation, she roared directly at Snigdha.
Arohi shouted, "What is the matter with you, Prabha? Why aren't you saying a word to anyone? What has happened to you? Where are you walking off to all alone in such silence, my child? And you, wicked Snigdha! What on earth must you do to Prabha before you're satisfied, you venomous black snake? I feel like ripping both those legs right out of your body in one jerk and hanging them outside the grand gateway of the Junagadh Royal Palace! Let every single person in the entire kingdom see what the legs of a cursed, ill-fated girl look like! Come and witness what the feet of this devilish she-serpent look like!"
Yet Prabha paid not the slightest heed to her mother's abuses. Abruptly abandoning Prabha, Snigdha turned around, threw both hands up in the air toward Arohi, made a mock face, and snapped, "Agh, Mother! What is the matter with you? Why are you whining and squawking so pointlessly right in front of me? Can't you see I'm trying to have a very important conversation with this Prabha here? And she refuses to utter a single word! She's turned completely dumb and deaf, heaven knows what kind of disease has seized her brain!"
Even as she said those words, a fierce, panicky storm was raging inside Snigdha's mind! She was terrified out of her wits, thinking—'Could Tantrik Boudi's toxic, magical potion have actually worked for real? Has Prabha genuinely lost her mind and gone completely insane? Or is she deliberately putting on an act and staying silent just to torment me?' Snigdha was consumed by a burning, agonizing impatience to uncover this absolute truth. On the other hand, witnessing her mother's incessant nagging and whining only doubled Snigdha's fury!
Right at that exact moment, reaching the middle of the wide, open corridor ahead, Prabhasa suddenly halted her steps. She stood there completely motionless and still.
Seeing Prabha stop so abruptly, Snigdha assumed that Prabha was finally frightened or ready to speak. Stepping forward with a supreme, arrogant, and cunning smile plastered across her face, Snigdha sneered, "There! You've stopped at last, you devilish, wretched girl! Well, what's the matter? Finally felt the urge to speak with a Queen like me? Or has your rotten brain finally recognized my face and realized that I am your most revered and only older sister?"
The very instant those words left Snigdha's lips, that unprecedented, unbelievable, and extraordinary event occurred!
Prabhasa, who had been standing so calm and steady just a moment ago, spun around on her heel in a single flash! Without uttering another word, without a single curse, she raised her right hand with the speed of the wind and delivered a heavy, thunderous slap straight across Snigdha's cheek—
"THWACK!"
The massive, cracking echo of that ferocious slap reverberated through the towering stone corridors of the royal palace! From the sheer impact and force of the blow, Snigdha lost her balance, stumbled backward several paces, and crashed hard against the wall! Clutching her cheek with her hand, she stared at Prabha with eyes dilated in utter, stupefied shock!
Everyone present in the palace froze in a single heartbeat! King Aditya, Queen Mother Arohi, and Prince Prafulla—all their jaws dropped in sheer disbelief! The very air in the room seemed to grind to a halt!
History bore witness that until this very day in the Junagadh Royal Palace, it had always been this arrogant Snigdha who tyrannized her younger sister Prabha, laying hands on her whenever she pleased and slapping her at will! Yet today, that exceptionally calm, gentle, and sweet younger sister Prabha had raised her own hand and dealt such a thunderous slap across the cheek of her older sister Snigdha in the middle of the crowded palace! Witnessing a younger sibling raise a hand against an older sister, everyone present stood there with their mouths agape!
Placing a hand on his forehead in utter bewilderment, King Aditya stammered in shock, "What... what is this, mother Prabha? You... you raised your hand against your own older sister like this, my child? What has gotten into you?"
However, witnessing Prabha's fierce new avatar, Queen Mother Arohi was swept away by a wave of supreme satisfaction and sheer delight! Stepping forward toward Prabha with clapping hands, she roared, "You did the exact right thing, Prabha! You did the most fitting thing! Go on, grab her and land two more stinging slaps across her face! Day after day of eating slaps from my hands never taught this uncouth witch any lesson! At least today, if taking a slap from her own younger sister manages to jolt that rotten pride of hers and crush that mountain of arrogance into the dust once and for all, let it be! Hit her, Prabha, hit her harder!"