➸ 𝓦𝓸𝓻𝓭 𝓬𝓸𝓾𝓷𝓽:  ３ １ ０ ０ 

➸ 𝓢𝓾𝓶𝓶𝓪𝓻𝔂: 𝒲𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝒾𝒻 𝒜𝓈𝒽𝓌𝒶𝓉𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓂𝒶 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒦𝒶𝓇𝓃 𝓈𝓉𝑜𝓅𝓅𝑒𝒹 𝒟𝓊𝓇𝓎𝑜𝒹𝒽𝒶𝓃𝒶 𝓌𝒽𝑒𝓃 𝒽𝑒 𝓌𝒶𝓈 𝒹𝒾𝓈- 𝓇𝑜𝒷𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒟𝓇𝒶𝓊𝓅𝒶𝒹𝒾? 
𝒲𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝒹𝑜 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓎 𝓁𝑒𝒶𝓇𝓃? 

➸ 𝓑𝓪𝓬𝓴 𝓢𝓽𝓸𝓻𝔂: 𝒯𝒽𝑒 𝒫𝒶𝓃𝒹𝑒𝓋𝒶'𝓈 𝒽𝒶𝓋𝑒 𝓁𝑜𝓈𝓉 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓂𝓈𝑒𝓁𝓋𝑒𝓈 𝓌𝒽𝒾𝓁𝑒 𝓅𝓁𝒶𝓎𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒹𝒾𝒸𝑒 𝑔𝒶𝓂𝑒 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓃𝑜𝓌, 𝒹𝓇𝒶𝓊𝓅𝒶𝒹𝒾 𝓉𝑜𝑜. 

➸ 𝓡𝓮𝓵𝓪𝓽𝓲𝓸𝓷𝓼𝓱𝓲𝓹𝓼: 𝒩𝑜 𝓃𝑒𝓌 𝓇𝑜𝓂𝒶𝓃𝓉𝒾𝒸𝑒 𝓇𝑒𝓁𝒶𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃𝓈𝒽𝒾𝓅. 
𝒞𝒶𝓃𝑜𝓃 𝓅𝒶𝓇𝒾𝓃𝑔𝓈 𝑜𝓃𝓁𝓎. 

 ⋆ ——————————✧◦♚◦✧——————————⋆  

THE ROYAL FAMILY OF KURU was not sure of what to say of the scene in front of them. 
It was astonishing, surprising, strange.  
It had left them all stubbed, silenced, appalled. 

Duryodhana was a few feet away from them, his back towards them along with Karn and Ashwatthama. They were sitting on a the ground, in a semicircle kind of thing and were laughing at something. 

And it came as a surprise because they were really laughing. They really sounded like the young men they were. The sound of their laugh was loud and was reverting against the walls of the palace of Anga. 

They could not believe that the second eldest prince of Hastinapur had in himself to laugh like this. He was always so moody and harsh. How could someone like him be the same person as the one they were seeing currently. 

There has to be something wrong with Duryodhana. 

-- 30 hours ago -- 

THE ROYAL FAMILY WAS having dinner when the solider came. 
The solider had brought a letter with himself. 

"Letter?" Maha Raj (King) Dhritarashtra frowned. "Letter from whom?" 

"Ang Pradesh, Maha Raj." (King) The solider answers. 

Everyone perks up at his answer. 
Was everything al right? 
Why did Karn write them a letter after saying that he would not let them contact Duryodhana? 

"What does the letter say?" Maha Rani questions immediately. 

The solider clears his throat and opens the letter to read. 

𝙺𝚞𝚛𝚞 𝙵𝚊𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚢, 

𝙶𝚛𝚎𝚎𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜!  

𝙸 𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚞𝚙 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚕𝚒𝚋𝚎𝚛𝚝𝚢 𝚝𝚘 𝚠𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚊 𝚕𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚘 𝚒𝚗𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚖 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝙳𝚞𝚛𝚢𝚘𝚍𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚊 𝚒𝚜 𝚠𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚗𝚘𝚠. 𝙷𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝚗𝚘𝚠.  
𝚈𝚎𝚜, 𝚠𝚎 𝚍𝚒𝚍 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚒𝚗𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚖 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚘𝚗 𝚋𝚎𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚢 𝚝𝚘 𝚏𝚊𝚌𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚘𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞. 𝙷𝚎 𝚒𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝚊 𝚋𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚗𝚘𝚠. 𝙷𝚎 𝚒𝚜 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚝𝚑𝚢 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝚊 𝚋𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚝𝚎.  

𝙸𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚊𝚕𝚜𝚘 𝚋𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚢 𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚒𝚌𝚎 𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚢 𝚕𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚔𝚎𝚙𝚝 𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐. 𝙸 𝚊𝚖 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚒𝚗 𝚛𝚎𝚐𝚊𝚛𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚎𝚗𝚚𝚞𝚒𝚛𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝙳𝚞𝚛𝚢𝚘𝚍𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚊'𝚜 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚑. 𝚆𝚑𝚒𝚌𝚑 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚒𝚗𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚖𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝, 𝚗𝚘𝚠. 𝙸 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚜𝚞𝚐𝚐𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚛𝚎𝚏𝚛𝚊𝚒𝚗 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚗𝚢 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚕𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚞𝚜. 

𝙴𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝙸 𝚑𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚊𝚖 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚙𝚕𝚎𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚊𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚝 𝚒𝚝. 𝙸 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚎𝚡𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚍 𝚊𝚗 𝚘𝚏𝚏𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚊𝚕𝚕. 

𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚟𝚒𝚜𝚒𝚝 𝙳𝚞𝚛𝚢𝚘𝚍𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚊, 𝚘𝚗𝚌𝚎. 𝙸 𝚍𝚘 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚒𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚌𝚒𝚛𝚌𝚞𝚜 𝚊𝚝 𝚖𝚢 𝚙𝚊𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚞𝚜, 𝙸 𝚊𝚖 𝚒𝚗𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚘𝚗 𝚙𝚛𝚒𝚘𝚛 𝚋𝚊𝚜𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚢𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚎𝚡𝚌𝚎𝚙𝚝 𝙼𝚊𝚑𝚊 𝚁𝚊𝚗𝚒 𝙶𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚒 𝚌𝚊𝚗𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚢 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎. 
𝙽𝚘, 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚗𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝. 

𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚖𝚊𝚢 𝚟𝚒𝚜𝚒𝚝 𝚞𝚜 𝚝𝚘𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚛𝚘𝚠 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚛𝚎𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚗 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚍𝚊𝚢. 
𝙷𝚘𝚠, 𝙸 𝚍𝚘 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚗𝚎𝚒𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚍𝚘 𝙸 𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚎.  

𝙰𝚗𝚍 𝚏𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚔𝚕𝚢 𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚊𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝙸 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚒𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚒𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚍𝚎𝚌𝚒𝚍𝚎 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚍𝚛𝚘𝚙 𝚋𝚢. 
𝙼𝚢 𝚜𝚘𝚕𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚋𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚕𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛, 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚋𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚊𝚗𝚜𝚠𝚎𝚛 𝚘𝚏 𝚟𝚒𝚜𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚛 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚟𝚒𝚜𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚞𝚜 𝚟𝚒𝚊 𝚑𝚒𝚖.  

𝙿.𝚜. 
𝙼𝚊𝚑𝚊 𝚁𝚊𝚗𝚒 𝙶𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚒, 𝙸 𝚊𝚙𝚘𝚕𝚘𝚐𝚒𝚣𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚍𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝙸 𝚌𝚊𝚗𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚑𝚎𝚕𝚙 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚝𝚎𝚌𝚝 𝚖𝚢 𝚏𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚍 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚒𝚜 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚊 𝚋𝚛𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝚊𝚗𝚢𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐. 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚊 𝚖𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙸 𝚌𝚊𝚗𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚍𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚒𝚗 𝚘𝚏 𝚔𝚎𝚎𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊 𝚖𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚠𝚊𝚢 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚘𝚗.  

𝙿.𝚜.𝚜. 
𝙰𝚕𝚜𝚘, 𝙸 𝚍𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚗 𝚘𝚏 𝚖𝚎 𝚒𝚏 𝙸 𝚍𝚘 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚘𝚠 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜. 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝙸 𝚛𝚎𝚚𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚊𝚜 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚜𝚘𝚗 𝙼𝚊, 𝚙𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚎 𝚍𝚘 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚊𝚜𝚔 𝚖𝚎 𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚢 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚜𝚎 𝚙𝚎𝚘𝚙𝚕𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚕𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎. 𝙸 𝚌𝚊𝚗𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚍𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝, 𝚎𝚡𝚌𝚎𝚙𝚝 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚖𝚊𝚢𝚋𝚎 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚋𝚛𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚜. 

 𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚔 𝚢𝚘𝚞! 

 🄰🄽🄶 - 🅁🄰🄹 

  𝙺𝚊𝚛𝚗 

Maha Rani Gandhari started to cry silently. Her red cloth was wet from the tears. 
The boy was so good. I knew it from the moment I met him, he is a diamond amongst all coal. He is the best person my son could get as a friend. And then there is Ashwatthama, he is a jolly young man always spreading happiness amongst the people he comes in contact with. God bless the trio of theirs. 

Rani Kunti was in pain. Her own son did not even look at her while addressed her sister- in- law as 'Ma'. How cruel was the world really? 

Maha Mahim was surprised but still happy that Duryodhana had such a friend. Friends like these were hard to find, and Duryodhana was lucky to have not only one but two such people. 
God bless the three of them, maybe he was wrong about them. 

Maha Raj Dhritarashtra was fuming. How dare he? How dare that Suta- Putra think that he would stay away from Duryodhana? Duryodhana was supposed to sit on the throne of Hastinapur, be his successor. He would bring Duryodhana back with himself. 

Maha Mantri Vidur prayed to the gods above, thanking them. At least his nephew was better now. Now, all they have to do is take small steps. Every thing could be better in no time. 

Gandhar Raj Shakuni was cursing the time he made this plan at. There must have been some thing un- favorable of that time. And now, it had all become a mess. And this Karn and Ashwatthama were becoming the main reason of the same. 

Kauravas were playing with their food. Yes, they felt better now knowing that the eldest of them all was fine but not having met him they still could not find their calm. 

The Pandeva's were busy nicking food from the table, trying to seem as interested as they could. They did not know of what they had to be interested. It seemed they never really knew Duryodhana or how the dynamics of the three friends worked. 

Draupadi was not sure of what to feel of the whole ordeal she was just as confused as much as lost she had been. Maybe she could now be the Queen of Hastinapur, after all Duryodhana was gone now. And thus, her Arya Yudhishthira would be crowned the Yuv- Raj and she will be the Yuv- Rani. Making her the net queen in line. 

And thus, that is how they all found themselves heading for Anga. They were all wanting to meet Duryodhana for their own reasons.  

-- Back to Present -- 

DURYODHANA WAS A FEW FEET away from they stood, his back towards them along with Karn and Ashwatthama. They were sitting on a the ground, in a semicircle kind of thing and were laughing at something.  

And it came as a surprise because they were really laughing. They really sounded like the young men they were. The sound of their laugh was loud and was reverting against the walls of the palace of Anga.  

They could not believe that the second eldest prince of Hastinapur had in himself to laugh like this. He was always so moody and harsh. How could someone like him be the same person as the one they were seeing currently.  

There has to be something wrong with Duryodhana. 

"You do not mean that!" Ashwatthama's voice floats to where the family stood. 
His voice was filled with mock betrayal? 

"Of course, I mean that." Duryodhana laughs, his tone was the flooding with obviousness in it. 

"Look at him, mommy, he is being a brat!" Ashwatthama turns to Karn and complains. 

"Aren't you the daddy, honey?" Karn derides. "Do what you have too." 

"But momma!" Duryodhana says in a silly pouty voice, looking up at his friend and blinking his eyes continuously like a innocent child. "I wuv you, oni."  

The Kuru family choked on their breath. Was this their prince? Their crown prince? 

"Gosh! That was bad!" Ashwatthama exclaims as Karn snorts at it. 

"My family will have an heart attach if they heard this." Duryodhana comments, ironically. 

"They will have an heart attack, if they ever hear us talking." Ashwatthama corrects his friend. 

Silence follows the declaration.  
The Kuru family was not sure as to what they had to do. Or even say for that matter. 

The silence was broken by Ashwatthama, once again, "You know, Vasu was about to kill your father." He nods at Karn. 

Duryodhana looks at his friend, "What stopped you?" 

"You would cry," Karn replies in a bored tone. 

Duryodhana shakes his head and laughs at the answer. 

"Truth to be told, I would have killed Gandhar Raj." Karn says. "Ashwatthama stopped me." 

Shakuni who was standing beside his brother- in- law, gulps. Thinking about what would have happened had, Ashwatthama not stopped his friend. 

"Why did you do that, Ash?" Duryodhana turns to Ashwatthama. 

"I was wearing my favorite dhoti!" Ashwatthama protests. 
Duryodhana makes a face as Karn bursts out laughing. 

"What?" Ashwatthama raised an eyebrow at his friend, "I am not lying!" 

"You know they are coming here today." Duryodhana says all of a sudden, as if he just remembered that piece of information. 

"They are already here." Karn corrects his friend. 
Two heads snap in Karn's direction as the said man stretches. 

"What?" Karn raises an eyebrow. 

"They are here?" Duryodhana questions. 
Karn simply nods in the direction of where the Kuru family stood, awkwardly looking around. 

The two scramble up on seeing the Kuru family. 

"You both really did not realize their presence?" Karn looked at them amused. 

"You knew!" They accused him.  

"Of course, I knew." Karn said in a 'duh' tone. "I knew since they arrived here." 

"Should you not be greeting us then?" Maha Raj Dhritarashtra asked the people in front of him. 

"Let's get this one thing clear, Maha Raj!" Karn begins, his tone sharp and cold like ice. "We do as we please here, you maybe the King of Hastinapur but here, nobody gives a damn about your post or title. Here in my country, everyone is treated the same, it maybe a royal or a Suta. Every one gets equal respect and rights. So, the best would be if you go on according to the same." 

"You!" Maha Raj seemed to be enraged but Maha Rani Gandhari placed a hand on her husband's shoulder, stopping him from saying anything.  

"Mata Gandhari!" 

"Ma Gandhari!" 

"Mata!" 

Were the three cries that were heard as the three kids rushed to the said lady. And bent ahead in sync to take blessings of the lady. 

"May all of you live long!" She blesses them. 

Cupping Duryodhana's cheek's she says, "How are you, my son?" 

"I am wonderful, now. Mata! No worries!" Duryodhana smiles as he looks at his mother. 

The cloth tied on Maha Rani's eyes was wet with tears as she cried. Duryodhana wiped off the few tear drops that had fallen on her cheek and kisses her hand, "I am fine, now, Mata! Don't cry, na, please!" 

For the sake of her son, Maha Rani Gandhari tries to stop her tears. 
"Thank Mahadev, you are alright." She says as she once again runs her hands over his shoulders. 

"Where is Karn?" She questions. "And Ashwatthama?" 

Instantly Karn and Ashwatthama each grab one of her hand and place it around their cheeks. Holding her hand tightly, as if assuring her of their presence. 

"Thank yo-" She begins but both Karn and Ashwatthama cut her off instantly. 

"Mata!" 

"Ma!" 

"What?" Maha Rani Gandhari looks worried. 

"We are your son's, na? Then-"  

"- How could we not save our own brother?" Ashwatthama begins but Karn completes his sentence. 

"We love him a lot, Mata!" 

"Yes, we cannot let him get hurt, regardless of anything." Ashwatthama and Karn nod along each other's words. Nothing they were saying was a lie, they believed in it in their hearts, completely. 

"May god bless you both!" She smiles at them. 

"You are with us, Mata. We have already been blessed." Karn grins at her. 

Irritated, Maha Raj clears his throat. 
They were here to take Duryodhana back, not chit- chat like this. 

"Pita Shree." Duryodhana steps towards his father and takes the man's blessings.
And once he raises, he nods at Maha Mahim in silent greeting. 

"We came here to bring you back to Hastinapur." Maha Raj says in a monotone. "Pack your bags, we will be leaving, soon." 

Duryodhana looks up at the man who was responsible for his existence, the man who was a father just because he contributed in his creation. He exhales and says, "I am sorry." 

"For what?" Maha Raj questions. 

"I will not return back to Hastinapur with you." Duryodhana says. 

Everyone standing there stares at the young crown prince, What was he talking about? 

"What to do you mean?" 

"I mean, just what I said father." Duryodhana says, his voice strong and unwavering. 

"This Suta Putra told you say that, right?" Maha Raj asks, anger in his voice. 

"No, I took this decision myself." Duryodhana says firmly. "Karn was not aware of me taking this decision, at all."  

"You are the crown prince of Hastinapur!" 

"I do not give a fuck about the crown." 

"But Mere Bachhe," Mama Shree Shakuni intervenes. "What about the throne of Hastinapur, you are the crown prince." 

Duryodhana turned to his uncle, and smiled faintly, "Was it not because you wanted that?" 

"Me?" Shakuni scoffed. "I was doing this for you!" 

"For me?" Duryodhana gives a small chuckle, "Do you even have an idea what I want? What my heart really desires for?" 

"No," Duryodhana continues, talking harshly. "You only care about your power, your gain. And this not only about you Mama Shree. It is about everyone. Everyone standing here, does not give a damn about my wish, my thoughts, my needs. They have made a image of me in their mind and under every circumstance, they try to push me in to being the person they want me to be." 

"Duryodhana!" His mother, queen Gandhari stops him. 

"No, Mata. For these past thirty years, I have been listening to them. Now they have to listen to me." Duryodhana says. "I have been living a life of lie, conspiracies, bad mouthing, and a ton of other things. But that is it. I am done. I am fed up of all these things. I want a peaceful life. Is that so much to ask for? I am not even asking for anything from all of you except of the fact that I want you to leave me alone." 

He takes a breath before continuing, "I do not wish for the crown or for the throne or the palace or the money of the palace. I just want you guys to not disturb me. Think of me as a lost or dead person for all I care." 

"Suyodhana!" His mother scolds him. "Do not talk like that!" 

"Sorry, Mata." He apologizes. 
Before he return backs to stare at the rest of his so called family. "All of you had your own reasons to hate me, to dis- regard me, to ignore me. I do not mind it anymore, because at least I now know who really cares about me and who does not give a damn." 

"I am going to stay here in Anga. I am giving up the title I had earned of the crown prince. I do not want it." Duryodhana says calmly. "I will stay here, do what? I have not figured that part out yet but I will surely manage. I do not ever wish to return to Hastinapur unless and until there is some emergency concerning Mata or any of my Bhrata's"  

"Putra -" Maha Rani Gandhari begins only to be cut off by Duryodhana. 

"I am not going to change my mind anyway mother, if that is what you were talking about." He sighs. "I am very serious about this, Mata, I heard what happened, and I have been thinking since then, this was my final conclusion. I do not want to be part of politics at all, Mata. I just want a peaceful and happy life. Which I am sure to not get if I stay there." 

"Fine!" Maha Raj shouts. "Be an idiot. Do not listen to us, but remember this one day you will cry for the wrong decision you are making today." 

"I do not know about that, Pita Shree." Duryodhana shrugs. "But I do know this that, if I follow you guys, I will end up dead." 

Maha Raj Dhritarashtra's anger was reaching new peaks. "I disown you as my son." 

Maha Rani cries out, "NO! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" 

"Some thing that I should have done a long ago!" Maha Raj replies.  

"I am begging you, do not do this!" Maha Rani cries. 

"Mata!" Duryodhana brings his mother in a hug, "There is no need, I am still your son, na? I do not mind this. Its's all right." 

Maha Rani could do nothing but cry in her biological son's arms as her other kids envelope both of them in a large hug, trying to soothe her pain. And trying to calm her. 

And that is how, things changed. With two people raising their voice, the whole dynamics of Mahabharat changed. Blood shed was stopped and most of all a peace was set up. 
Maha Raj never accepted Suyodhana back up, but the boy himself never gave the fact a second thought. Whenever his mother or any of his brother's needed help he was always there. 

Ang- Raj Karn, Panchal Naresh Ashwatthama and Prince Duryodhana along side ruled the happy kingdoms of Anga and Panchal. Fell in love, got married, had kids. But that story is for some another time. 

Right now, just remember this that the person in front of you may not really show his true self, if you really care about the person, if you really want to know about him or her, you will need to break past their masks. You will need to be patient, understanding. 
And all so always be ready for what may lie beneath, it might be some thing to gruesome or reclusive for your liking.    

ᴄᴏᴍᴘʟᴇᴛᴇ! 

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ι αм єαgєяℓу ωαιтιηg ƒσя уσυя тнσυgнтѕ.