In the dim light inside the cave, Snigdha's eyes were burning like those of a wild beast. Her body was twitching in desperation to save her own skin. Suddenly, she noticed a sharp flintstone lying on the ground, just a foot away from her hands. Gritting her teeth and ignoring the excruciating pain in her body, Snigdha twisted and leaned toward the ground. After a lot of maneuvering, scraping her skin and drawing blood, she somehow dragged that sharp stone closer with the tips of her fingers. Then began a life-and-death struggle to cut the ropes. She repeatedly rubbed the sharp edge of the stone against the bonds on her hands. As she rubbed, the threads of the rope loosened, and with a sudden jerk, she freed her hands. The moment her hands were free, she cut the bonds on her feet as well.
Once free, Snigdha didn't look even once at the unconscious Prafulla and Prabhasha lying beside her. They had suffered blows to their heads; whether they lived or died was none of her concern. Following the faint light of the cave, she slipped out like a thief and ran toward the outside world.
However, she did not return to the palace. If she returned to the palace, the guards would ask where the Prince and the younger Princess were! Therefore, she went straight to that secluded corner of the forest, where she used to engage in her secret romance with Rupanjan every afternoon. Slumping onto a rock there, she began to pant heavily.
Even at this extreme moment, no love for Rupanjan crossed her mind. She had become so hideous and selfish that she didn't think of Rupanjan even once. With a sinister laugh, she began to mutter to herself, "Uff! Thank goodness, I managed to save my own life and escape somehow! What do I care if those two die? Mother Arohi isn't here, Father Aditya isn't here—now there is no one to boss me around in this kingdom. That Prafulla used to think of himself as a grand lord, and that brat Prabha, being a rival's daughter, would come to show her authority over me! Now let both of them rot and die there. Let Prafulla go to hell, and let that disgusting Prabhasha die like a dog out there! I don't give a damn about them!"
Brushing the dust off her clothes, she began to think in an even more vile manner, "But yes, I have returned alive for now. However, if those two somehow die and become ghosts, and I return to the palace alone, people will suspect me. I need to cook up a solid excuse right from now. How will I face everyone or Mother and Father, what drama will I perform to show how I tried to save them and somehow managed to escape myself—I have to map that out perfectly. And Rupanjan? Let that burnt-faced, jobless farmer's son go to hell! I don't need to headache myself over where he has gone to die. First, I must secure my own future, then look into other things."
In the absence of Mother Arohi and Father Aditya by her side, all of Snigdha's nobility washed away, transforming her into an utterly vile, cheap, and demonic woman.
Meanwhile, inside that dark, dungeon-like cave, Prafulla slowly regained consciousness. He groaned in agony from a pounding headache. The surroundings were pitch-black; the sacrificial fire that had been burning earlier was now completely extinguished and cold. Prafulla blinked, trying to see through the dark. Realizing he was tied up, he called out in a weak voice, "Prabha... Prabha, open your eyes, sister! Are you alright?"
Hearing Prafulla's voice, Prabhasha also opened her eyes, writhing in pain. Bursting into tears, she said, "Brother! My head feels like it's splitting open, Brother. Where are we? Who struck us on our heads like that?"
Prafulla looked around while trying to break free from his bonds. In the faint darkness, he saw Snigdha's pillar was empty. He screamed in terror, "A catastrophe has occurred, Prabha! Snigdha isn't here! The ropes on her pillar are cut! Where did she go? Did the ones who struck us on our heads abduct Snigdha? Or did they cause her some grave harm? Oh God, my heart is breaking!"
Prabhasha narrowed her eyes in the darkness, looking toward the ground. She saw a blood-stained sharp stone lying beside Snigdha's pillar. With her sharp intellect, she said, "No, Brother! It seems no one abducted Didi. Look here, a sharp stone is lying beside her pillar. It appears Didi cut her own ropes using this stone. Brother, you try to reach that stone too. Cut my ropes and yours quickly with it!"
With great effort, Prafulla dragged his chest along the ground and reached the stone. Then, gripping the stone with his teeth, he somehow managed to cut the ropes on his hands. The moment his hands were free, he untied Prabhasha's bonds as well. Both stood up, trembling with pain.
Prafulla said, "Come Prabha, we must get out of here first. Then we have to search for Snigdha. I don't know what danger my sister has fallen into!" (He still had no idea that his own twin sister had abandoned them to face death).
But the danger was far from over. As the two of them groped their way toward the entrance of the cave and reached the mouth, their hands struck a massive, solid wall of stone! They were stupefied. Someone had completely sealed the giant stone door of the cave from the outside!
It was pitch-black all around, without a single torch or any light. The fire that was burning earlier had also completely gone out and turned cold. On top of that, a harrowing thought hung over their heads like a sword—where did Snigdha go? Was she even alive, or had some human monster imprisoned her? Trapped in that blocked darkness of the cave, the hearts of Prafulla and Prabhasha wailed in absolute terror.