Utterly dumbfounded by his most cherished daughter's fiendish demeanor and manic behavior, Aditya gestured with his hands and exclaimed, "What on earth is the matter with you, Snigdha? The girl merely gave you a simple slap, and you are screaming and carrying on with such uncouth madness over it?"
Sitting right there on the floor, Snigdha twisted her face and shrieked in a hideous voice, "A simple slap? Oh you old wretch! What did you just say? A simple slap? Why don't you go take that slap on your own cheek for once, old man! When your cheek burns like it's been scorched by a shoe, come back and tell me whether that slap was simple or a violently heavy one!"
This time, Aditya's self-respect suffered a severe blow. Widening his eyes, he roared in a stern, booming voice, "Watch your tongue, Snigdha! I am speaking to you with the respect due to my own flesh-and-blood daughter, which is why you have the audacity to address me with the informal 'tui' and shower me with abuses! How on earth do you possess such supreme insolence, you wretched girl? Have you forgotten that I am your most revered biological father?"
Sneering, Snigdha burst into a loud, mocking laugh and snapped, "Shut your trap, you old wretch! What kind of a father are you to me? A father born of what cursed destiny? I don't give a single paisa of value to an irresponsible father like you, nor do I recognize you as one! You lack the power to deliver justice for why that co-wife's daughter Prabha slapped me across the cheek, yet you come marching over here to put on a display of parental affection! If you were truly my doting father, the moment Prabha slapped my cheek, you should have rushed over right then and there and landed two hard slaps across Prabha's face! Instead of doing that, you come here playing the part of a good man! Let's leave that Queen Arohi out of this! Arohi never considered me her own child in the first place; she treats me like an enemy, just like a wicked stepmother! That precisely is why a younger sister like Prabha dared to raise her hand and slap my cheek, and why Arohi stood right there cheering in utter delight, saying—'Serves her right that she hit her, she should have given her two more!' But you? You always put on such a grand show of sympathy and affection for me? Then why didn't you go right over at that exact moment and slap Prabha, pray tell? Why are you coming before me now trying to put on a fake, hypocritical show of affection? Do you know what your true character is, old man? You are nothing more than a supreme two-faced snake! You want to enjoy the best of both worlds and live in utter bliss! Meaning, you want to eat off both plates, pick up the crumbs from below, chew on the old pit, and gnaw on the root as well! What an absolute, uncouth hypocrite you are, Father! You aren't even a two-faced snake; a hypocritical man like you has no place in this Junagadh Royal Palace! There's only one thing you ought to do—march straight off into some deep forest, celebrate the festival of Nag Panchami, mount a two-headed snake's severed head upon your own, and whisper-dance the serpent dance while you're at it! You uncouth old man!"
The moment such hideous, insulting, and uncouth words left his own flesh-and-blood daughter's lips, every remaining barrier of King Aditya's patience shattered into dust in an instant! The veins on his forehead and neck throbbed and swelled with rage.
Raising his hand, Aditya roared in a trembling, severe voice, "Watch your tongue, Snigdha! Close your filthy mouth right now! You are forgetting in whose presence you are standing and what vile abuses you are hurling! I am your father, I am warning you repeatedly! I cannot keep repeating myself, Snigdha! This time my hand really is going to strike you! I am going to kick you right out of this royal palace! Look at Prafulla over there, just look at him! How beautifully calm and silent Prafulla is standing; he isn't engaging in any pointless brawls or uncouthness! How on earth do you, a mere woman, possess such colossal nerve and audacity, you vile girl?"
Leaping up from the floor in a single bound, Snigdha pointed a defiant finger directly at Prafulla and sneered, "Yes! Prafulla has always been a spineless sheep! Prafulla is a sheer, unadulterated ox! All day long he just goes around trailing behind that Prabha like a groveling servant, mewing away! Heaven knows why he stayed so quiet today! He didn't even go stand by Prabha's side today, just standing there with his mouth agape like he was watching a circus! Truth be told, all of you have come here just to enjoy the circus! Prabha and Prafulla—these two have already become the ultimate poison to my eyes, and now you, old man, have turned into the biggest, rottenest poison of my life! You are the absolute worst poison! Just look at your colossal nerve, wanting to act as the grand patriarch of both sides! Why couldn't you stand right in front of Prabha and say—'Prabha, you did not do the right thing! As a younger sister, you have no right to lay hands on your older sister!' The truth is, everyone has figured out your true character now, Father! Just like in the past you married twice and couldn't manage either wife, locking one away in a dark prison out of your own mistakes while trying to play these two-faced games—exactly like that, today you've been caught red-handed trying to play your games with both your daughters! Your real face is now stripped bare and exposed before everyone, which is why you have no idea what to do! You go running up to Prabha playing the good guy, and you come running over to me acting like a deeply sympathetic, loving father! Seeing this uncouth drama of yours makes me want to rip this two-faced head right off your neck and hand it to you!"
King Aditya's dam of patience finally cracked and burst apart completely! Raising his right hand forcefully, he thundered, "Watch your tongue, Snigdha! Shut your filthy mouth right this instant, I say! Otherwise, I'll land a stinging slap right now and twist your face around! Where on earth do you get the nerve to speak rubbish about my character and my past? And what supreme cheek you have to say that I shouldn't have married Arohi in the past? If I hadn't married Arohi, a devilish girl like you wouldn't even have been born into this world! How on earth can such fiendish words pour out of your mouth? And what were you saying about me not showing impartiality before Prabha or failing to protect you? How on earth can you tell such a brazen lie, you uncouth, wretched girl? Everyone did the absolute right thing by slapping you so hard today! Arohi slapping you was completely right, and Prabha landing a blow across your cheek was an utterly correct deed! And right now, from the very bottom of my heart, I wish Prafulla would walk up to you one day and land two stinging slaps to knock that manic arrogance right out of you! Because no matter how much I abuse you, I have loved you from the bottom of my heart; since you are my daughter, I cannot bring myself to strike you with my own hands! But I swear to God, I pray Prabha slaps you hard all over again! You uncouth, immoral wretch!"—Uttering those words, driven by extreme humiliation and fury, King Aditya gathered his robes and marched off, muttering angrily under his breath.
Clinging to the wall of the corridor, Snigdha seethed with rage, her eyes practically shooting sparks of humiliation.
Meanwhile, standing silently in the corner of the room all this while, Prince Prafulla wore a clever, deeply satisfied smile across his face as he witnessed the entire spectacle. Filled with profound joy within his heart, Prafulla thought to himself, 'Oh well! At long last, this supreme villain and arrogant girl has received her fitting dues and lesson! Exactly what she deserved! Heaven knows what miraculous goddess or power has possessed Prabha, but whatever it is, it happened for the absolute best! Stunned by that thunderous slap from Prabha, Snigdha's pride has been crushed right down into the dust! Serves Prabha right for slapping her, it was her absolute rightful due!'—With a strange, settling peace in his heart, Prafulla stepped away toward his chamber, while Snigdha remained all alone in the toxic gloom of the corridor, burning in the agony of her own humiliation.