The atmosphere in the Junagarh royal palace is incredibly heated today. Although the servants are joyful to see the Queen Mother miraculously recovered, a smoldering fire of resentment burns within the new Queen Subarnalata, alias Sushila. Long after the sun had risen, Sushila lay in bed, snoring loudly. When Arohi was the Queen of this palace, she would bathe and offer prayers in the temple before the first light of dawn. And this Subarnalata? She is like a living Kumbhakarna!
After ten o'clock, the Queen Mother, leaning on a staff, came limping to the front of Sushila's room. Knocking on the door, she said, "Mother Subarnalata, it is quite late! It does not suit the brides of a royal lineage to sleep until this hour. Get up, child; today is the worship of the family deity in the palace."
Inside the room, Sushila opened one eye and muttered, "Ugh! This old hag returned from the jaws of death and still hasn't stopped pestering me! Just wait, I'll grab you by the neck and give you such a shaking that all your bones will come loose." She shouted loudly, "Mother! My body feels very sluggish; I can't get up now. You just go!"
The Queen Mother thought in astonishment, "What an uncivilized girl! Talking to her mother-in-law like this?" As she entered, she saw Sushila lying messily on the bed. When the Queen Mother affectionately tried to touch her head, Sushila jerked her hand away. She thought to herself—
"Take away that rotten hand of yours! Don't try to show too much affection. Wasn't it enough throwing you from the stairs yesterday? If you talk too much now, I'll grab that clump of white hair and slam you down so hard that you'll fall straight from Junagarh to Kanchangarh! Why don't you just die?"
Sushila got up from the bed and let out a massive yawn, making the Queen Mother shudder. Does a princess yawn with her mouth wide open like that? To break her lethargy, Sushila sat on the bed and kicked the dining table with all her might. There was a loud thud, and the table leg snapped with a creaking sound, tilting to one side. Aditya was entering the room just then. He said in surprise, "Subarnalata! What is this? The bed broke yesterday, and today the table? Are you wrestling in the room?"
Seeing Aditya, Sushila gave an amiable, enchanting smile. "Oh no, beloved! Actually, I'm a bit of a sturdy girl; I went to sit down, and it suddenly broke with a snap. Are our Junagarh furniture pieces made of cheap wood?" Poor Aditya is so maddened by his wife's beauty that he said sheepishly, "No, no, why would that be? Alright, I'm calling men to fix it."
During lunch, Sushila caused another scene. She couldn't care less about royal etiquette! When she was served dal and rice on a silver plate, she tossed the spoon aside and began mixing it with her hand in such a way that the dal trickled through her fingers down to her wrist. The Queen Mother and the Maharaja stared, mouths agape. Sushila was stuffing rice into her mouth and chewing with a disgusting slurping sound.
The Queen Mother said in a low voice, "Child, eat slowly. What will people say if they see you?"
Sushila immediately shouted with a mouthful of rice, "Shall I not eat? I'm hungry, shall I not eat? Do you want to kill me by starving me? Did Arohi used to stay without food?" Hearing Arohi's name, Aditya froze. Sushila giggled internally—
"Shall I not eat? Should I perform your father's funeral rites instead? This old woman is always finding fault with my eating. Just wait, I'll mix so much chili in your food tonight that lava will erupt from your mouth like a volcano! And Arohi? I've already kicked that woman out of Junagarh; now I'll erase her name from this palace too."
In the afternoon, Sushila went for a walk in the garden. The Queen Mother was giving instructions to the gardeners. Sushila crept up from behind and subtly pinned the hem of the Queen Mother's saree under the soil. As the Queen Mother tried to walk, she almost tripped. Sushila then held a handkerchief to her nose, laughing, and said, "Oh my! Are you putting on a circus act in your old age? Walk carefully!"
The Queen Mother stood her ground and said, "Subarnalata! I know you did this. I can see the devilry in your eyes. Who are you? Are you truly the princess we thought you were?"
Sushila's heart skipped a beat for a moment. Was she about to be caught? She immediately began her act. She sat down, holding her forehead. "Oh Aditya! Come see! Mother is calling me a witch! She says I'm a devil! I won't tolerate this insult!" Aditya rushed over and began scolding the Queen Mother. "Mother! Have you lost your mind because you were sick? Subarnalata is such a good girl, and you're saying these things to her?"
The Queen Mother wiped her tears and went inside. Resting her head on Aditya's shoulder, Sushila exploded with diabolical triumph internally. She thought—
"Aditya is now a puppet in my hands. Oh you innocent child, you don't even know who you're living with! I'll fix that old woman so well that she won't even recognize her own face in the mirror. Pushing her from the stairs was just the trailer; now I'll show the whole movie!"
As it struck twelve at night, Sushila's familiar 'form-changing' game began. She had already made Aditya drink a glass of scented milk mixed with a sleeping potion. While Aditya slept soundly, Sushila stood before the mirror, looking at her original hideous, skeletal face and laughing hee-hee. She stuck out her tongue at the mirror and said—
"The throne of Junagarh belongs to this Sushila now! Tomorrow morning, I'll send that Queen Mother to the cowshed and mix poison in the Maharaja's tobacco pipe. Everyone will go to the kingdom of death one by one, and I will sit in this palace and enjoy royal feasts! Arohi, your Aditya is now groveling at my feet!"
Meanwhile, in Kanchangarh, Arohi was guarding her twins and lighting a lamp before the idol of God. Her heart feels very restless today. Placing her hand on the foreheads of her two children, she whispered, "Oh God, please remove the magical darkness that has gathered over my Aditya. Just like my parents, please protect my in-laws too."
Arohi does not know that a blood-sucking serpent is now wandering in the Junagarh palace, ready to strike the royal family at the first opportunity. But will this pure prayer of Arohi's motherhood be able to pierce through that magical darkness and open Aditya's eyes?
A sinister madness has now begun within the walls of the Junagarh palace. No sooner had the light of dawn broken than a diabolical power seemed to possess Subarnalata, alias Sushila. Rising from her bed, she began rushing out of the royal palace like a maniac, only to return to her room a moment later without any reason. Seeing this strange running about, even the palace guards began to whisper among themselves in astonishment. But Sushila paid them no heed.
She went straight toward the stables and began to violently kick Aditya's favorite horses. The helpless animals shrieked in agony. Not only that, seeing the peacocks dancing with their feathers spread in the garden, Sushila ran and throttled the neck of one peacock. There was a demonic joy in her eyes. The peacock struggled and somehow managed to fly away to save its life.
Just at that moment, Aditya was standing on the balcony. He was stunned to see this terrifying form of Subarnalata with his own eyes. He shouted and rushed downstairs, "Subarnalata! What are you doing? Have you gone mad? Why are you hurting these helpless animals like this? I am going to teach you a proper lesson now!"
Hearing the words 'proper lesson' from Aditya's mouth, the demon within Sushila woke up. Burning with rage, she glared into Aditya's eyes and roared, "You will teach me a lesson? I will kill you and leave your corpse right here! Remember, the command of this palace is mine now!"
Hearing such foul words from the mouth of the beautiful Subarnalata made Aditya's blood run cold. He took a step back. When Sushila saw that Aditya was frightened, she immediately changed her expression and began to giggle. She held Aditya's hand and said in a cooing voice, "Oh my! Beloved, you really got scared! I was just having a little fun with you. How was my acting? Could I really kill you?"
Aditya sighed and said, "Ugh! You nearly killed me with fright. I thought you had truly gone mad. Never play such a joke again." Aditya was trapped in her magical web once more. He brought Subarnalata into the room and told her to sit down calmly.
Afterward, Aditya went to bathe. Seizing the opportunity, Sushila crept outside the bathroom and forcefully shut off the main water pipe. Aditya was applying soap at the time. Suddenly, the water stopped coming from the tap. Rubbing his eyes, Aditya began to shout, "Water! Where did the water go? Subarnalata! Mother! Father! Where are you? Someone give me some water, soap is getting into my eyes!"
Sushila stood behind the door, muffling her laughter. After a while, she said in an enchanting voice, "Oh dear! No water? Wait, I'm checking." She opened the pipe again. Aditya came out after his bath and was furious. He saw the Queen Mother standing outside. Aditya directly addressed his mother, "Mother! What are you doing? Shutting off the tap is something only you would do. Do you want to kill me? Soap got into my eyes!"
The Queen Mother was thunderstruck. She said, "Aditya, I didn't even go near your tap! Why would I do such a thing?"
Sushila then chimed in from the side, "Aha Mother, why are you lying? Aditya is not a child anymore. You probably did it by mistake." After pouring poison into Aditya's mind against his mother, Sushila said to herself—
"Bravo! This is exactly what I wanted. Now Aditya will think of his own mother as an enemy. That old King is already withered and bedridden; he'll pass away one day. If I can just remove this old woman, I will be the sole Queen of this empire!"
Beside herself with joy, Sushila suddenly did something outrageous in front of Aditya. She ran and climbed onto Aditya's shoulders! Caught off guard, Aditya struggled to keep his balance. Sushila was jumping on his shoulders and chanting rhymes like a child, "I've climbed onto the shoulders! I've climbed onto Aditya's shoulders! Tok tok tok tok tok tok!"
She began to dance so hard that Aditya could not bear her weight and momentum. Aditya's foot slipped, and he fell flat on the floor with Subarnalata, landing with a heavy thud. Falling underneath, Sushila suffered a severe blow to her waist. The Queen Mother rushed over to pull Aditya up. Groaning in pain, Aditya said, "Subarnalata! Have you really lost your mind? Does anyone jump onto someone's shoulders like that?"
Sushila began her act of crying again, "I was just having fun, beloved! I am your favorite crazy wife! Do you not love me at all? Will you scold me if I act like a child?" What else could Aditya say? He fell silent. The Queen Mother poured water on Sushila's head and helped her up. The Queen Mother sighed inwardly and said, "Oh God, what a mad wife my Aditya has ended up with! Will he find no peace until he dies?"
Sushila laughed to herself and thought, "Yes, old hag! All this is arranged for your death. I won't stop until your heart fails."
Five months passed as these incidents continued. Sushila's tyranny in the Junagarh palace grew day by day. A thick veil of illusion seemed to have fallen over Aditya's eyes. He had completely forgotten Arohi and begun to accept every word of this devilish girl as the ultimate truth. The Queen Mother and the Maharaja were withering away day by day because Sushila was secretly mixing something in their food to keep them constantly ill.
Meanwhile, in Kanchangarh, Arohi's twins are now five months old. They have learned to smile and play by waving their hands and feet. Looking at them, Arohi forgets all her sorrows. She does not know that in the Junagarh palace, her in-laws are now suffering the agonies of hell. But every day Arohi prays to God, "Oh God, make a way for my children to reach their father. May all darkness be removed by the light of truth."
An invisible battle is now raging between Junagarh and Kanchangarh. On one side is the deception of illusion, and on the other is the power of pure love. Who will ultimately win this battle, only time will tell.