In the stifling atmosphere of the courtroom, the sound of Prabhasha's angry breathing could be clearly heard. Prafulla sat on the throne, looking at the terrified villager with a grave expression. Beside them, guards stood with whips in hand. Prabhasha pushed the guilty guard aside and stood directly in front of the villager.
Prabhasha spoke sharply, "Listen, you foolish villager! Stop crying now and tell me what your problem is. What justice have you come rushing to the palace for? Speak up! Let me hear your trouble first, then I'll break every bone in that scoundrel guard's body."
The man trembled, joined his hands, and said, "O Great King, please give me justice! I have come to you in great danger..."
Prafulla raised his hand to stop him and said in a calm tone, "Listen, I am not the King. I am Prince Prafulla. King Aditya and Mother Arohi are away on trade, so the responsibility of this kingdom rests on me for now. I do not consider myself King, but as a Prince, I will do everything in my power to ensure you receive proper justice. Speak your mind without fear."
The villager felt a surge of hope at the Prince's humble yet firm words. Wiping his eyes, he said, "My heart is filled with gratitude hearing your words, Prince. I knew you wouldn't turn us away. The truth is, this morning while I was at home, a horrific, rotting stench suddenly made my stomach churn. I went outside and saw—a massive dead tiger lying there! Half of its flesh was rotting away. I was frozen in fear. There are no such dangerous jungles in our Junagarh where tigers would live, so where did this tiger come from? And it's not just my house, Prince; another dead tiger was found at my neighbor's house as well. I asked him to come with me for justice, but he had some urgent work and couldn't make it."
Upon hearing this, Prabhasha and Prafulla looked at each other in shock. Their eyes widened. Prafulla shouted, "What are you saying? Today, in the exact same way, a rotting tiger was found inside the royal palace! We thought it was just a conspiracy against the palace, but now it seems tigers are appearing in the homes of common people too? This is impossible!"
At that moment, the guilty guard standing aside spoke up irritably, "Look, Your Majesty, I can't stand here listening to these nonsensical stories. Am I supposed to take a beating and stay here just to hear these tall tales about where tigers are dying? Enough is enough; I'm leaving."
Hearing such insolence from the guard, Prabhasha's temper flared. She lunged forward, grabbed the guard's collar, and gave it a violent yank. Prabhasha screamed at the top of her lungs, "You have this much audacity? You call a serious discussion in the royal palace 'nonsense' to our faces? The lives of our people are being toyed with, and you think this is a joke? You should be whipped with double punishment! I will have you impaled right now!"
The guard began to tremble violently with fear. Cold sweat broke out on his forehead. He whimpered, "Prince, forgive me. Impale me or do what you will, but just let me go now. I don't want to stay here for a single moment."
Prabhasha's sharp eyes did not miss the guard's sweat and agitation. A suspicion took root—why was this man so terrified? An ordinary guard would be annoyed, but in his eyes, there was a fear of death! Prabhasha called out to the other guards, "Where are the rest of you? Come quickly! Arrest this guard this instant. Bind his hands and feet and throw him into the dark dungeon. I don't want him moving an inch until this judgment is over!"
As the guard was being dragged away, he was shaking like a leaf. Prabhasha whispered to Prafulla, "Brother, my suspicion is clear now. There is a deep connection between this guard and the mystery of the tigers. The way he was sweating and trying to flee... there is definitely something fishy going on!"
Prafulla nodded with a worried face. He looked at the villager and said, "You are right. There are no tiger jungles in Junagarh, and rotting tigers don't just fall from the sky, do they? There must be some evil power or a massive conspiracy behind this. You go home; I will send spies across the kingdom today. I must solve this tiger mystery."
A heavy silence hung over the royal court. Between the terror of the rotting tigers and the mystery of the treacherous guard, a dark shadow had begun to loom over the kingdom of Junagarh.