Chapter 3

The deafening silence was like the calm before the storm. Suddenly, chatters exploded within the central plaza along with the forest.

"Did I hear her right? She said she was surrendering?"

"Damn, that girl is crazy!"

"I can't believe this, haha. I love that girl!"

While differing opinions spread throughout the plaza, no one could ever describe how angry and indignant Lord Sane was when he heard her. His temper flared and exploded, a threatening aura looming around him as he stared at the woman on the arena, "What are you talking about, you crazy witch?! Victory is yours and you decided to throw it away?! I demand this match to be invalid, surrendering at the moment of victory is utterly ridiculous Lesley!"

Lord Sane was nearing insanity at this moment, he couldn't figure out how that woman's mind work and he doesn't want to know either.

"What are you talking about, Lord Sane? Your representative will be the one to make the choices and you shall have no opinions about it either. You were the one who chose your representative and everything she does—you'll have to be responsible."

Heaving a heavy sigh of relief, Lord Ray grinned, his smile reaching up to his ears.

"Who are you to decided that? Remember that majority of the outcome of the battle comes from the spectators! Do not celebrate just yet. It is clear that Lesley is the winner!"

"Yes, she is clearly the winner. But, haven't you heard what she said, you old man? She surrendered. Surrendered," Lord Ray put heavy emphasis on the last word, grating the words in Sane's ears. It seemed like he especially enjoyed annoying the leader of the Vance Faction.

While all of this was happening, the announcer was just as dumbfounded as the others. It took him a while before he regained his voice.

"Lesley of the Vance Faction has surrendered! GusionPaxley of the Paxley Faction had attained the victory! According to the treaty between the two opposing faction, Land of Dawn has earned another powerful ruler and is now under the jurisdiction of-"

"Wait a minute, announcer. I'd like to make a comment for the viewers of this fight," Lesley halted the young man before walking towards one of the crystals that projected the fight to the plaza. Her gaze was unwavering as she looked directly at the screen.

"I understand that most of you are confused to what is going on. However, for this fight, I'd like to give all the rights of deciding who the winner is to you, the spectators. As the supposed winner, I am giving you the full rights to choose who you think is the suitable ruler to direct the Land of Dawn to its glory, thank you."

After ending her speech, Lesley turned around and immediately disappeared along with nature. She left behind all the chaos and the constant barrage of voices that Lord Sane desperately tried to get to her mind.

.

.

.

Three months later, in a deserted area of the city.

After finishing her daily training, Lesley sat on a large rock near her area and let out a small breath out of tiredness. Her magenta hair clung to the sides of her face as sweat trickled down which glistened occasionally as it hit the light of the warm sun.

Suddenly, loud noises of a bird chirping entered her range of hearing and Lesley sat down in tension. As far as she knows, no living being was able to enter the barricade that a friend of hers made for her personal practice area unless the creature possessed high enough intelligence to spot the occasional loopholes in the barrier and enter.

A bird a size of a normal cat was spotted on Lesley's vision and she immediately aimed her rifle at the animal with wariness evident on her eyes. The bird was one of a pure white color, with several linings of baby blue that lined its majestic wings. The tail at the end of its body was unusually long and was adorned with a blue shade that reminded her of the calm waves of the sea. The bird sported an ethereal feeling that made Lesley slightly waver. Clearly, the bird was colored after the primary colors of the Praxley Faction.

The bird landed in front of her, its beak opening as it chirped lightly. The rhythm that it went on made it sound like heavenly music. After stopping, the bird nudged its head towards the woman and motioned for the letter that was clipped on its collar.

Lesley hesitated for a moment before she reached out for the letter. The bird sensed the weight gone on its neck and opened its beak once more to chirp. After that, it flapped its wings, readying for its flight before flying away. It flew away and disappeared among the moving clouds.

"From the Praxley Faction. What on earth do they want?"

After the fight between her and Gusion three months before, the spectators had casted their votes and the Praxley Faction won with an overwhelming gap versus the Vance Faction. With the support of the townspeople, the Praxley Faction finally ruled over Land of Dawn and immediately moved to stabilizing their authority on the land. They also made Gusion the next heir to inherit the throne after Lord Ray finished his time whileno one knows where the Vance Faction disappeared to after facing such humility.

Lesley opened the letter, the smell of lavender faintly visible.

Dear Lesley,

This is GusionPraxley of obviously, the Praxley Faction. After I woke up from my injuries, I was informed that we were selected to be the one to rule the Land of Dawn. I was confused, for it was clear that you and your faction were the winner. I had asked around and apparently, you gave the choice to the spectators to choose who will rule over the land.

After finding about it, I am beyond confused as to why you did such acts. It is very apparent to me that you are a sharp-minded person and you would've surely predicted the outcome if it comes to the case that the majority of people would get to choose. Also, as we are of opposing factions, I see no reason why you betrayed the Vance Faction—that is my opinion only, however.

No matter your reason though, I still insist to thank you for all the actions that you have taken that ended up benefitting our faction. If I may ask of you, I'd like to meet once again in theVeverian Forest near the waterfalls up north. I will be waiting for you there once I send out my carrier and until then, I will wait for you until you decide to show up. Once again, I am in debt to you for life and I thank you.

Sincerely yours,

GusionPraxley

Once Lesley finished reading the letter, her cheeks warmed up a little. For a long time until now, she had only received letters from her brother and that would count up to one hand before it stopped and the tragic accident that would forever taint her soul happened. Unfortunately, her brother—Harley had become a victim of a notorious serial killer where the young boy had witnessed what happened and immediately got executed. At that time, Lesley and Harley got separated among the sea of people and she wasn't able to save him on time. The moment that she arrived where he was, the only thing that greeted her was his dead cold body.

That was the darkest moment of her time, for her brother was the only thing that managed to cage up the insanity inside her after witnessing her father's death and make her smile.

Small drops of water landed on Lesley's face and broke her out of her stupor. And as if mourning together with the feelings of the desolate woman, light rain drizzled out of the clouds and came into contact with her.

Lesley quickly took cover beneath the trees, her eyes unusually stoic and much darker than before. While she waited for the rain to stop, her attention finally diverted to the wet letter once again before hesitating.

Who knows what might happen when she decides to meet him? They were after all still of opposing factions. You will never know whether they still hold grudges against the Vance Faction. But, whatever happens, Lesley was determined to know their motives and she was sure that she can escape from the dangers if ever things were to go awry.

In the end, she decided to go home and organize herself first, before she went on her way towards the Veverian Forest.