Untitled.

Prakriti's P.O.V.,

"Brother, this is the room of Maa and Pita-Shri~!"

"Brother, this is where Pitamah live~!"

"Brother, it is place we bath~!"

"Brother, this is the place we keep horses~!"

"Brother, this…"

"Brother…"

….

After getting the permissions of his father and mother, Duryodhana eagerly dragged Karna to each and every corner of the palace, leaving a selected few like the treasury, the abode of the Pandavas and Devi Kunti.

It's just…

During his tour of the palace, Karna had to bear the full brunt of Duryodhana's childlike talkativeness, something that will soon fade away with the passage of time… Turning a pure consciousness into an egoistic and greedy Duryodhana-the true incarnation of Kali, that we all know.

However, before that, Let's enjoy this innocence a bit more, shall we?...

…

A few hours later,

As the Sun finally rose in the blue sky and illuminated the surface of Prithvi (Earth) with its magnificent brilliance, marking the end of Purvanha Pahar, the voyage of Duryodhana finally reached their final destination… The room of the Kauravas!

Rather than an ordinary room or chamber, it would be appropriate to call it a huge hall!

Within the grand palace of Hastinapur, surrounded by the natural barriers of fog, this room is situated at the safest position! And that's too is not without proof.

After all, the four paths leading to this room, all of them are guarded by the esteemed Maharishi, the wise Mahamantri, the mighty Maharathi and Maharaj Dhritarashtra himself.

Nevertheless, it wasn't even the least of its wonder. The four walls that stood tall while safeguarding the young Kumars were all inscribed with various mantras, pictures of great deities and blessing of the elders of Hastinapur, providing it great protection against both physical and astral beings who dared to enter with malicious intentions.

In the room, there are exactly one hundred and one beds with ninety-nine of them occupied by little Kauravas ranging from age of some months to three years i.e., there are still in their infancy.

There is equal number of maids taking care of the royal infants with great care and attentiveness, not daring to slack off in the slightest. With their sanity still intact, none of them dare to neglect the young princes.

Therefore, when the voyage led by Duryodhana entered the room, all they saw was a grand chamber filled with many babies, tended by maids.

Despite running around the royal palace and covering the distance of roughly ten kilometers with his little feet, Duryodhana didn't expressed any signs of exhaustion, clearly indicating towards his constitution, superior to any other children of his age!

Instead…

"Brother, this is our room where we, hundred and one brothers, live~" eagerly spoke Duryodhana as soon as he entered the chamber, followed by Karna and a bored dove resting on his right shoulder.

Hearing the energetic tone of Duryodhana, Karna gently smiled at him before glancing in the room, where aside from two naïve children, every other Kaurav was soundly asleep due to their state as baby and spoke "Anuj, but aren't our siblings too young to greet us?"

Duryodhana felt a little embarrassed due to his silliness. Therefore, in order to hide the blush creeping onto his baby face, he replied swiftly to change the subject, "Haha! You are right Bhrata-Shri. But… Meet Anuja Yuyutsu and Anuja Dushasana!"

Saying so, he brought Karna to the center most row, where Devi Sughada is feeding milk to a sleeping baby under the gazes of two curious children, calmly sitting beside her, who probably are the only surviving Kaurav, Yuyutsu and the infamous sinner, Dushasana.

"Shush…."

Hearing the loud voice of Duryodhana, Devi Sughada put one of her fingers on her pink lips, signaling the eager Dushasana, Duryodhana, Karna and Yuyutsu to keep their voices low to not awaken the calm and innocent children.

Seeing her signal, everyone followed her suggestion. The younger siblings remained silent but stood up from their seats to greet their elder brother (Duryodhana), while the elders greeted Devi Sughada with appropriate respect, in a low voice.

"Pranam Mata Sughada."

"Pranam Mata Sughada."

"Hmm~^^"

Devi Sughada tenderly smiled at them and gave her blessings by putting her hands on their heads before…

She gently signaled everyone to leave the room as their presence might disturb the little devis.

And… to deal with ninety-nine weeping Kauravas at once, right in the morning, is something neither or anyone wished to!

….

"Jyeshta, meet my younger brother Yuyutsu, the son of Mata Sughada~ And, this little one is the Dushasana~"

"My dear brothers, he is Jyeshta Bhrata Karna-the son of Uncle Adiratha and Mata Radha~"

After coming out from his abode, Duryodhana escorted everyone to the training grounds and introduced them to each other with cheerfulness, which was bereft of the dissatisfaction he showed towards Yuyutsu in the later part of Vijaya Samhita.

…

When Karna gazed at the three of them, standing together with no hard feelings for themselves, a few drops of warm water threatened to fall down from the corner of his eyes….

Behind his three younger siblings, he imagined their reflection of adult, the time before they fall in the great battle and the bitterness between them…

He saw the brotherly bond between Yuyutsu and Duryodhana break into countless pieces, when… Yuyutsu refused to fight alongside the Kauravas…

Instead, he stood on the side of the Pandavas…

Though Duryodhana didn't expressed his true feelings… Rather, he harshly berated Yuyutsu for betraying him!

Karna was aware that… deep inside his mind, he was glad for Yuyutsu's choice of choosing the right side…

His harsh words were nothing more than to made Yuyutsu's resolve to remain on the side of the Pandavas, stronger.

Hah…

Duryodhana is really silly…

***

Notes:

#1- I am aware that some of you might not know that Maharaj Dhritarashtra had married Devi Sughada before conceiving Yuyutsu. It's because, a woman isn't a thing that can be used by any male to fulfill his desires or deliver a baby. She is a human too. Therefore, Maharaj had to rightfully marry her.

#2- Despite marrying Maharaj, her status lifted from a mere head maid to the wife of Maharaj (Not an Empress), and yet, she remained her job as the personal caretaker of Devi Gandhari, a job without any income.

#3- Yuyutsu was either elder than Duryodhana or they born on the same day. However, from the start, I had portrayed him as the younger one. Thereby, to prevent the plot from collapsing, let's assume him as a day younger than Duryodhana, Shall we?

#4- In olden times, whether it was Aunt, Tai-ji, Kaki, or any other title, can be replaced by 'Maa/ Mata'. As often seen. Additionally, Badi/ Chhoti, prefixes are used, according to their seniority. 

(This volume will probably end tomorrow, followed by an action packed time chap~ So be ready for it~)

(See you soon~)