The Marriage Festival

'Bruh, am I invisible or something because they definitely havent seen me.' He said before sighing.

The boy who was bleeding started to walk away from the crowd so that he wouldnt accidentally be trampled by them.

He came across a pond and washed his wounds off of their blood. The wounds on the back of his head had stopped bleeding but the wound in his gut was still bleeding a bit.

He had a shallow 2 inch horizontal cut on his stomach.

The pond he had found was partially covered by 6 metre long trees, so the people couldn't see the half naked kid.

He rested there for around 10 minutes, then he started to walk in on the roads which were packed with people.

While he was walking, most of the people ignored him but some gave concerned gazes when they saw dry blood on his leather top but none confronted him.

....

He had been walking around aimlessly for a while now.

'Should I ask someone for where this place is.... no that would be too suspicious and what will I be able to do even if get to know where I am.

Its best if I roam around and gather some information, then I will decide what to do.'

He had deduced that there was some kind of a festival going on because he saw a lot of stalls and a lot of people but he found something strange that children his age were hardly visible.

He didn't make much of it.

Later, he entered a tavern and sat on the only empty table, which was right beside a table in which some men in armour were seated.

His back was facing them so they didn't know that a kid was eavesdropping on their conversation.

"Hey I just heard that Count Vergleis's son, Lord Cannet chose a bride."

"Wow, that's good news. The girl must be a beauty."

"Yeah and the girl is very familiar, do you want to know who it is?"

"Yeah, who is the lucky bitch?"

"The lucky bitch is your daughter you idiot."

Right after the man said that, other men on that table burst in laughter.

"What? She is taking part in the event? She is just 7 years old... Oh wait that was 3 years ago."

"Hahaha, it's good that she is going to get married, otherwise she would have to be stuck with an ass for her father."

"Really man how could you not even know that your daughter is taking part in the event."

"I didn't even remember that I had a daughter in this part of the county until now."

"*Sigh* your children are so unlucky to have a father like you."

"How old is the boy?"

"He is 9 years old too."

"Oh, how could I forget this. Do you know some other kid challenged the lord for your daughter's hand."

"Oh really, who is that gutsy kid to challenge the lord."

"It turns out that he is just some random farmer's kid."

"A farmer's son!"

"Yeah I know, he is a farmer's son and he also doesn't that good of looks. He even wore leather clothes to such an event."

"What? How can someone be that stupid?"

"Heres the thing, some people tell that he is a ditch."

"A ditch, which family's?"

"We don't know that."

He kept on listening to their conversation and also the conversations of other people.

He got a lot of information he had no idea about but still kept on listening.

He sat there for around 5 minutes before a waitress came up to him "Hey kid what do you want?" She asked in a very unwelcoming voice

He was surprised when he heard her

"Ummm.... Can I just sit here?"

"No" she replied in a very straightforward manner.

He couldn't do anything but to walk out of the tavern since he didn't have any money on him to buy anything.

Even if he sat there for only 5 minutes, he still got a lot of information.

....

Since he got kicked out of the tavern he was walking around the streets not knowing where to go.

He stopped when he saw a huge board on a huge wall. At first he thought it was a notice board or something else but when he got closer, he could read the contents written on it properly.

The rules and regulations along with the complete explanation of the event was given on the board, it also had the purpose and origin of the event on it.

He read it very carefully, not missing any point.

After about 20 minutes he was done reading it.

This festival would take place every 10 years, for only one day and it is said that if a marriage is fixed in this festival then their children would be born with more magical talent than the average children. Because of this saying everybody wanted to marry in this festival.

But there is a catch, only children above 8 years of age and children below the age of 16 can participate in this festival, meaning the maximum time a person could participate in this festival would be one time and thats not even the main catch.

A child would participate in the festival after they had pre-enrolled their name to the concerned authority. They could participate only if they were the hundred people who arrived early and pre-registered. Yeah, only hundred children could participate, fifty girls and fifty boys irrespective of their age.

They did this because they had a system.

The system is that, each kid participating would be shown the list of every other child which are also taking part in the competition. Each of the kid could choose 3 possible bride or groom and the child could choose any one of them and marry them if the other child also agrees.

They wouldnt be able to marry anybody else in the competition except the three bride or groom they chose.

But If one of them chose the other person but the other person didnt choose them but both of them agree for marriage then they could still marry.

(A/N:- if you aren't understanding it's okay, it ain't that important.)

There was another rule saying that the parents of the children who are participating arent allowed to interact with their children.

He still didnt get the reason for why such a festival was held but he guessed that the government or the king or the monarch or any other ruler probably earns a lot of money out of this.

...

He had been roaming for a while.

'Hmm, what should I do now? Its evening and the festival ends at night. Should I get out early and meet my parents or should I stay here and get more information of the world?' He thought for a few seconds and replied to himself 'Lets stay and gather more information.'

Just as he was about to go gather information from the people standing nearby a stall, a horn blew.

Everybody was surprised and shocked to hear the horn.

-"What, its over already?"

-"It hasnt even been daybreak."

-"Why is it ending so early?"

The boy understood what was happening by seeing the reactions of other people. Even he got surprised as to why the festival was ending so early.

He and the others got the answer to their questions after they heard a shout.

"Emperor Dallosius is going to arrive at the entrance in a few minutes."

They couldnt see who shouted that but when they heard what he said they all were even more surprised.

-"Why is emperor Dallosius here?"

The boy was now curious to see who this emperor Dallosius was.

He chuckled when he thought 'I don't even know my own name but I am learning the names of other people.'

The crowd had started rushing to the entrance gate of the festival.

Even he started to rush towards where all the people were going.

He was going there to see who this emperor Dallosius was, but also because he wanted to get the way out of this festival.