Karna tucked Ira into bed in her allotted room and sat at the desk to write letters to Karthi and Aryan. He instructed them to thoroughly check the reports of other ministers against the previous ones they had submitted. Their goal was to identify any corrupt officials and inform the current King of Padmaksha so he could keep an eye on them. If the right situation arose, they should ensure that these officials were placed in different departments. Additionally, they were to find out where all the corrupted money had been placed so far and, when the time was right, raid those locations. After finishing the letter, Karna tied it to Pranav's legs, instructing him to fly quickly so he could reach them before they left the Hastinapur border.

After advising Meera to take some rest, Karna left Ira's room and started walking towards his own. Hearing footsteps, he slowed down to avoid compromising his position. But when he clearly heard what the person was saying, he began to move quickly before any damage could be done.

Meanwhile, as they were talking, their Mata Kunti came inside and asked them where they had gone because she couldn't find them and was worried, especially after what had happened at the evening function. Seeing them standing like statues, Kunti turned towards Yudhishthira and repeated the question, asking where they had been all along. Yudhishthira was in a dilemma, torn between his vow to never lie and their Pitamah's instruction not to tell anyone about the issue. As he was about to say something, Karna intervened at the right moment, saying, "They came with me for a night walk, Rajamata. I apologize for making you worry unnecessarily."

Seeing Karna suddenly, Kunti didn't know how to react or what to say to him. Hearing his words, she smiled and replied, "If they are with you, I have nothing to worry about. Thank you for looking after them." With that, she left, thinking that if all her sons accepted Karna, she would finally be able to tell them the truth about him being their elder brother. But destiny had other thoughts.

After Rajmata Kunti moved out of earshot, Rajkumar Yudhishthira thanked Karna, but Bheema said, "Don't think that this means you can be friendly with us. I will never forgive you for raising harm against my brother."

Karna simply replied, "I only helped because I didn't want others to know about Ira's involvement in the operation. They are dangerous, and I don't like it when someone puts her in danger." With that, he nodded at them and left the place to return to his room.

Yudhishthira turned towards Bheema and said, "He didn't do anything against us, then why do you hate him?"

Bheema replied, "He raised his weapon against our Anuj and helped Duryodhana. That's enough reason for me to dislike him."

Seeing that their Bhrata was about to speak about Dharma, Nakula interjected, "Okay, let's sleep. We also need to know what will happen tomorrow in the Royal Court, right. And we need to get my dagger back from Rajkumari Ira," added Arjun.

With that, everyone retreated to their own rooms to sleep as silence enveloped Hastinapur.



The next day, Ira decided to match her outfit with Karna's, so she wore an orange and yellow dress and proceeded towards the Royal Sabha. Since they were the only guests, they needed to arrive before the Royal Family. As she arrived, the ministers and other guests were already there. Most of the Rajkumaris, eager to form marital alliances, had their dresses and makeup top-notch. Ira thought to herself that if these people lived in her previous era, they could easily surpass models. But at least, thanks to Hastinapur Royal family, she could see all kinds of beauties in one place.

However, time seemed to crawl, and in reality, only a minute or two had passed since she arrived. To pass the time, she took an apple from Meera and started eating. As she took two bites, the Pandavas and Karna appeared from the opposite side of the pavement leading to the Royal Sabha. Ira mused that it looked like time itself enjoyed being dramatic sometimes.

Both sides stopped and looked at each other without entering. Her other side of the brain started to play the background music of "Oru Thayin Puthirare / Ek Maa Ki Santane" as they stood on opposite sides. Ira wondered why the Pandavas were angry at Karna since he hadn't done anything like humiliating Arjun for making Duryodhana happy. Then why were they like that, she thought.

The tension in the air was so thick it could be cut with a knife. Ira couldn't believe how thick-skinned they were, not feeling the eyes of others on them. It was so embarrassing how they could look at each other for so long without talking. As if hearing her thoughts, Bheema opened his mouth to say something, but from the look on his face, it wasn't going to be good.

How could they be like this just because Karna raised his weapon against his brother? And the others were okay with it? It felt like bullying-five against one. Ira thought, "Wait till you guys knows about him being your brother. I will make sure you all pay for this. I will never let others bully my Bhrata Aditya."

She took a fresh apple from Meera and threw it in Karna's direction. He caught it swiftly and looked in her direction, only to see Ira take her own apple and lightly raise it before taking a bite. Smiling, Karna followed the same gesture, took a bite, and proceeded to his seat, continuing to eat the apple.

As all eyes turned to Ira, shocked by her throwing the fruit in the Royal Sabha, they couldn't say anything as the Sabha hadn't started yet. The Pandavas, particularly, were taken aback by what had happened, and they proceeded to take their seats. However, Nakula continued to look at Ira. Seeing this, Ira raised an eyebrow and smiled. She took another apple from the basket Meera had brought and threw it towards Nakula. He caught it, smiled at Ira, and was about to take a bite when his brothers gave him a look that said, "What are you doing?" Ignoring them, Nakula started to eat his apple, which was promptly snatched by Sahadeva, who finished it himself.

As the Kauravas arrived, minutes later, the front gate soldier announced the arrival of Mahamahim Bhishma and Mahamantri Vidur. Moments later, Maharaja Dhritarashtra arrived with Gandharaj Shakuni.

After finishing the matters that needed to be covered, Mahamahim Bhishma stood up and informed Maharaja Dhritarashtra that he had one more important issue to address with him and the court members. As the Maharaja inquired what it was, Mahamahim signaled Mahamantri Vidur to stand up. Vidur proceeded to inform the court about the poaching of elephants and other animals in Hastinapur, which shocked everyone present. Gandharaj Shakuni slyly closed one eye while looking at Bhishma, who remained focused on the Maharaja.

They began presenting evidence, carefully omitting any mention of Gandharaj's involvement. Mahamahim and Mahamantri acted as if they were unaware of Shakuni's role, which only angered Rajkumar Bheema. Everyone assumed his anger was directed at the animal hunt. Maharaja Dhritarashtra, shaking with rage, demanded to know how they had not yet found the person behind this atrocity. Shakuni closely watched Bhishma and Vidur, while the Pandavas kept an eye on Ira, curious to see her reaction since Shakuni involvement hadn't mentioned.

Bheema and Sahadeva silently prayed to the gods for Ira to make her move. Meanwhile, Ira played with the end of her shawl, discreetly observing Shakuni to gauge his next move. As the Maharaja dismissed the court, Ira calmly rose and joined the others, her eyes meeting Shakuni's in a silent challenge. But gone unnoticed by him as he was in deep thought about what happened on Royal sabha.