A melancholy silence had descended upon that early morning light of the palace. Burying her face in Prafulla's chest, Prabhasha was still sobbing convulsively. After some time had elapsed, Prabhasha gradually managed the torrent of her tears. She raised her head from her brother's chest. Her two eyes had turned red with tears, but within the deep corners of those eyes, a strange stubbornness and determination were playing. Wiping her eyes with the corner of her veil, she looked at Prafulla and said in a calm yet grave voice, "Brother, do not worry about me so much. I am absolutely fine. And all these questions you are asking me right now, I will not be able to give you their answers in any way at this moment. Let the time come; when the time is right, I will personally open up and tell you everything."
Saying only this much, Prabhasha did not stand there for another moment. Emerging from Prafulla's room, she walked with rapid steps toward her own chamber. But Prafulla's mind could not rest in peace. He could not leave his beloved sister alone in such an extreme state of mental devastation. It felt to him that behind this weeping, behind this tearing of the photograph, there was inevitably some massive mystery hidden, which Prabhasha was concealing from him. This agony of his sister was piercing Prafulla's chest like an arrow. Desperate to know the real truth, he followed Prabhasha toward her room and entered inside her chamber before she could even realize it.
While sitting on the bed of her room, Prabhasha was trying to halt the storm of her mind, right then, seeing her brother enter the room, she was somewhat startled and annoyed. Standing up from the bed, she said, "Brother! You have followed me all the way here too, in the end? I told you clearly that whatever has happened, I will tell you later. Please Brother, do not ask me another single question. I cannot tell you anything right now, try to understand the state of my mind!"
Holding his sister's two hands in his grasp, Prafulla said in an extremely pleading tone, "Prabha, you are my little sister. I cannot tolerate these tears in your eyes. Please tell me, what is it that you are hiding from this brother of yours? Telling me will lighten the burden of your mind, sister!"
Seeing this continuous insistence of her brother, Prabhasha flew into a pure rage this time. Unable to control her emotions and anger, she snatched Prafulla's hand in a single jolt and pressed it upon her own head. At that time, a fire of rage was dripping from her eyes. She said in an extremely stern and trembling voice, "Since you have such a great desire to know, then listen, Brother! My swear shall remain upon you; until I myself reveal all the facts of this matter to you, you shall not even attempt to know anything from me! If you come to know about this mystery in some other way through your own intelligence, then that is completely a separate matter, I have nothing to say there. But beware, Brother, you shall never try to force this truth from my mouth! This is my final word!"
Hearing the vow upon his own life from his sister's mouth, all language seemed to vanish from Prafulla's lips. He stood stunned for some time. Then, letting out a deep sigh, he said, "Prabha, with what a difficult bond have you bound me by risking my own life? Why did you give me such a hard vow? Alright, since you do not wish for me to hear anything from your mouth, I will never ask you anything ever again. But remember this, sister, I will not be able to tolerate this silent agony of yours for long. You have closed my mouth, that is true, but I am the prince of Junagarh. Using all my might, I will see to the end of this mystery as soon as possible and I will inevitably unravel its real truth. Because I will never be able to watch you suffer bit by bit like this. I might not have heard the truth from your mouth today, but I myself will find out what the real mystery is!"
Uttering these few words, Prafulla emerged from Prabhasha's room with an extremely heavy heart and returned to his own chamber. On the other side, Prabhasha held the window of her room like the iron bars of a jail and began to shed tears again, looking toward the distant sky.
Meanwhile, far away from the kingdom of Junagarh, Rupanjan had arrived in another unfamiliar and massive kingdom. Though he was the son of an ordinary farmer, he was extremely honest and benevolent. But drawn by the love of Snigdha and harboring a chest full of dreams to keep her happy in the coming days, he had come to this new kingdom to build his future. He had thought that by securing some good work here, he would change his destiny, so that he could provide his love with all the comforts and happiness, if not a lifestyle like a royal palace.
Due to the intense scorching sun and hunger, Rupanjan had become thoroughly exhausted. Roaming the streets of a village in that unfamiliar kingdom, he was searching for work by going from door to door of ordinary people. Standing before the house of a middle-aged man, he folded his hands politely and asked, "Salutations, sir. Can you give me any lead or information regarding some work? A lead for a good job is extremely necessary for me. I am ready to do any kind of manual labor."
Looking at Rupanjan from head to toe, that man flashed a smile of ultimate disdain. He shouted in a foul tone, "Oh dear father! The people of our own village do not get work as it is, and here he comes dropping out of nowhere to claim a place! On top of that, he says he wants a lead for a good job! What pure drama! Such beggar boys should be thrown out of the village by their necks. There is no certainty as to which wild village you have come from, you don't even look like you belong to our civilized village. Strangers like you should be kicked out of the village by the roots of their hair!"
Hearing such filthy and arrogant words from the man, Rupanjan's self-respect received a massive blow. Standing up straight, he said in a grave voice, "Sir, when you cannot give me any work, simply state that there is no work. But what benefit are you deriving by speaking obscene and foul words to an ordinary human being like this? Is there any profit?"
Hearing these direct words from Rupanjan's mouth, that neighboring man flew into a rage instantly. Gathering more people around from the surroundings, he began to say, "Hey, all of you come and see! Look at how big a saint this boy is pretending to be! Words are popping from his mouth like popped rice! You boy, get out of here right now, otherwise I will straighten you out with a beating. There will be no work for you in this village. I will tell everyone else in the village that a new nuisance of a boy has entered this village, there is no certainty as to where he has come from, yet he is dying for work! Before asking for work, give your real identity, brother! Who are you actually, that you have come to this village demanding work like a landlord?"
The people from the surroundings then surrounded Rupanjan and began to look at him with eyes of suspicion. Rupanjan saw that if he did not reveal his identity now, they might mistake him for a thief or a dacoit and beat him up. But he did not want to get entangled in any royal complications right now. Lowering his head, he said in a calm voice, "I cannot give you any more of my identity than this right now."
The man grew even more furious and said, "When you cannot give your identity, then get pushed out of this village by your neck!"
In the end, having no other alternative, Rupanjan decided to reveal his true identity. Looking toward the people around him, he said in a clear voice, "My name is Rupanjan. I have come from Junagarh, the kingdom adjacent to this kingdom of yours. I am the son of an ordinary farmer there."
The moment the names 'Junagarh' and 'Rupanjan' were heard, the entire atmosphere around changed in a single flash, just like magic! That neighboring village man and the rest of the villagers looked at one another's faces, freezing in fear and astonishment. For, the people of other kingdoms also knew very well about that infamous and highly discussed lover of Princess Snigdha of the Junagarh kingdom. They all understood that this boy was that very famous Rupanjan, madly in love with whom the eldest princess of Junagarh had left her palace.
That angry man immediately softened his tone completely and said, while trembling with folded hands, "Oh dear father! You are that very Rupanjan? The real lover of Princess Snigdha of the Junagarh kingdom? Oh prince, rather the lover-babu of the princess, please forgive us! We made a mistake in recognizing you, we did not know that you are associated with such a grand household! We should have spoken to you with extreme respect, we have uttered so many nonsensical words without understanding, please do not take offense at our crime!"
Seeing their sudden flattery, Rupanjan smiled in his mind. Raising his hand, he said in a calm voice, "No no, do not show me so much respect, there is no necessity for it. It is true that I have come from Junagarh, but I am merely an ordinary migrant laborer here. I haven't even secured any work yet. Until I do some work through my own merit and stand on my own feet, what respect or identity do I possess? I will have nothing. If you can, then please arrange an ordinary job for me."
The man then said, overflowing with joy, "Yes yes, absolutely we will! Why won't we? Do one thing, this afternoon you come with us to the Maharaja of this kingdom. A lot of people are required in our royal court. Our King will surely be able to arrange some good work or the other for you."
Hesitating slightly, Rupanjan said, "Go to the King? But I am a mere ordinary person from an outside kingdom, what work will I even ask from the Maharaja?"
Reassuring him, the neighboring man said, "Do not worry about that, you will definitely get work. The king of our kingdom is extremely benevolent and charitable. He will surely be pleased upon seeing an honest boy like you."
Remembering the name of God in his mind, Rupanjan said, "Alright, since you all are saying so, I will go. I will take your leave for now then."
Holding Rupanjan's hand to stop him, the man said, "Arrey, where will you go in this broad afternoon, Rupanjan Babu? Have you found any place to stay in this kingdom?"
With a pale smile, Rupanjan said, "No, I have no place to stay anywhere. I just sit beneath the shade of that massive tree far away. In fact, I haven't even eaten properly since last night. When I haven't even found work, from where will the lodging and food come, tell me?"
The village man then employed his cunning commercial intellect. Patting Rupanjan's back, he said, "Alright, there is no worry. Today you stay in this poor house of ours, eat and drink here to your heart's content, and have a little sleep. Then in the afternoon, we will go to the King together. But Rupanjan Babu, I have one small condition!"
Curious, Rupanjan said, "What condition?"
Flashing a sliver of a shrewd smile, the man said, "The condition is this: if you go to the King in the afternoon and secure a good job, and receive a hefty sum of money or salary from there, then however many days you stay, eat, and sleep at my house now—all those expenses and money must be repaid to me down to the last pie, with interest calculated! Meaning, right now you can eat comfortably, sleep, do everything, I will not place any obstacle. But when you receive money from the King, then do repay all the debt by giving me good money! Do you agree?"
Though Rupanjan felt pain in his heart witnessing the form of this extremely selfish world, he had no other alternative at this moment. Thinking of Snigdha's beautiful future, he looked toward the man, nodded his head, and said, "Yes yes, of course I agree. You are providing me shelter during this time of peril, that itself is a lot. As soon as I get work, I will hand over all your money and pies, you do not have to worry about that in the slightest."
In this manner, staying in an unfamiliar kingdom under the shelter of a selfish human being, Rupanjan commenced a new and difficult chapter of struggle in his life, on the other end of which lay hidden a terrifying truth.