Princess Snigdha woke up early in the morning and dressed in her glittering, diamond-studded, priceless outfit. With exaggerated makeup and a spark of arrogance on her face, she was rushing back and forth along the royal corridor of the palace, calling out to everyone loudly, "Hey, where did all of you go? Hurry up, hurry up, we are getting late! We have an early morning invitation at the Kingdom of Rupnagar! Don't we need to go quickly and feast on those royal delicacies to our hearts' content? Or will all the food run out? Come on, move fast!"
Hearing Snigdha's absurd antics and uncalled-for yelling, Prafulla and Prabhasa stepped out of their respective rooms. Feeling deeply embarrassed and annoyed, Prabhasa looked at Prafulla and whispered, "Brother, has sister gone completely mad? Why is she acting so strangely? Why is she shouting 'we have to go eat, we have to go eat' in front of all the palace attendants and royal staff? Hearing her talk like this, everyone will think we are going there merely out of greed for food! Ah, she is dragging the honor of our entire Junagarh royal family through the mud! Please stop her, brother!"
Gritting his teeth, Prafulla said in a grave tone, "You are absolutely right, sister! She truly lacks any common sense!"
Saying this, Prafulla marched forward to face Snigdha. With his voice hardening in intense anger, he said, "Will you shut up, Snigdha? Have you lost your mind? Why are you shouting like an uncivilized person right in the middle of the royal palace? And whom are you calling by saying 'everyone come on'? Father and Mother are away on business, so isn't it just the three of us—you and the two of us—in the palace right now? Or are you planning to drag someone else along too? Has even the slightest bit of your sense evaporated?"
Snigdha tilted her head arrogantly, widened her eyes, and snapped, "I felt like saying it, so I said it! It's my mouth, I will say whatever I want! What is it to you, brother? Who are you to stop me? Why do you always come meddling in my matters? If you don't like it, turn your face away! Get out of here!"
Having said that, Snigdha turned around and looked at Prabhasa. Today, Prabhasa was wearing an exceptionally elegant, finely detailed, princess-like royal dress in a serene blue hue. With light cosmetics and fresh flowers pinned in her hair, Prabhasa looked remarkably fresh and stunningly beautiful.
Looking at Prabhasa with venomous eyes, Snigdha boasted, "I don't even need to answer you! Tell me, Prabhasa, how do I look today? Will I steal all the spotlight in the Kingdom of Rupnagar?"
Refusing to engage in an argument, Prabhasa said softly, "Sister, you look truly beautiful. Now please calm down and let's go, the guards must be preparing the carriage."
However, Snigdha's eyes became fixated on the exquisitely beautiful dress Prabhasa was wearing. Stepping forward, Snigdha gnashed her teeth in jealousy and said, "Wait a minute! Prabhasa, where did you get this dress from? Yesterday, I personally ran a pair of scissors through your beautiful royal gown and chopped it into tiny bits! So where did you suddenly pull this dress from? And why do you look so beautiful? What outrage—how dare you attempt to look more beautiful than me?"
Seeing Prabhasa's breathtaking beauty, the fire of envy within Snigdha doubled. Losing control, she shouted, "Hold on! I will ruin this boast of your beauty in an instant! Let me see how pretty you look now!"
Without a moment's hesitation, Snigdha ran toward the courtyard of the royal palace and grabbed a handful of wet mud from a flowerpot! Before anyone could comprehend what was happening, she charged forward and smeared that dirty mud all over Prabhasa's beautiful, impeccably made-up face!
Prabhasa's lovely face was covered in mud; her eye makeup and the cosmetics applied to her cheeks were completely smeared and ruined in the muddy mess!
Prabhasa broke down in tears, holding her forehead in deep pain and distress. Sobbing, she said, "Sister! Why are you truly so filthy and envious? What harm did I ever do to you? I dressed up so lovingly since morning, and you ruined all my makeup and adornments! Now I have to wash my hands and face all over again to get ready! How could you become such a low-minded person?"
Deriving immense satisfaction from her demonic act, Snigdha clapped her hands and laughed out loud, "Ha ha ha! There, go now! Go show everyone your washed-off makeup! Let's see what the people of Rupnagar say when they look at you now!"
Right at that moment, the specially sent, beautifully adorned royal chariot and carriage from the Kingdom of Rupnagar arrived outside the palace! The guards reported that the Rupnagar carriage had arrived to escort the three of them in grand ceremony.
Witnessing this horrific sight, Prafulla exploded in rage at Snigdha. Roaring in fury, he shouted, "Snigdha! Are you not ashamed of committing such a despicable act? The special royal carriage from Rupnagar is standing right at our door! And you smeared mud over Prabhasa's face? How is she supposed to attend such a grand royal festival with a face like this?"
Showing no remorse, Snigdha tossed her head back and replied, "Let her figure out what to do herself! Why should she try to look more beautiful than me? I cannot tolerate this at all!" Saying this, Snigdha ran ahead and settled herself into the best window seat of the royal carriage.
Meanwhile, instead of weeping further, Prabhasa quickly ran to the water tap in the palace garden. Using the cold tap water, she thoroughly washed away all the mud and artificial makeup from her face.
However, what happened after she washed her face was nothing short of miraculous!
With the makeup and artificial cosmetics washed away, the natural freshness and genuine beauty of Prabhasa's face radiant outward in an instant! As she washed her fair and serene face with the cold morning water, a heavenly glow spread across her features. Even without any artificial colors, Prabhasa looked so flawless, innocent, and stunning that the artificially made-up Snigdha wasn't even worthy of the dust beneath her feet!
In her attempt to harm Prabhasa out of envy, Snigdha had inadvertently brought out Prabhasa's true, natural beauty—a divine glow that Snigdha herself, let alone anyone else, could never have envisioned!
Seeing this gorgeous, natural form of Prabhasa, Prafulla's eyes filled with immense joy. Smiling, Prafulla said, "Do you see, sister? Whatever the Almighty does, He does for the best! You look a thousand times more beautiful and like a true princess right now than the cosmetic-laden Snigdha!"
Gifting her brother a sweet smile, Prabhasa walked swiftly with him and boarded the royal carriage. The moment Prafulla and Prabhasa were seated, the driver cracked the whip over the horses, and the royal carriage kicked up dust, speeding away from the Kingdom of Junagarh toward Rupnagar!