everything seemed rigged...

Freya had never wanted to bash someone's skull in as much as now. She concealed her malicious feelings burying them deep alongside her resentment for this entire family.

She bowed her head respectfully and stepped forward before taking out a few red flags from the small bag tied around her waist.

Because the bag was small she had resorted to hiding some flags in her sleeves and one in her muddy boots.

Seeing all the places Freya had hidden the flags, Crown Prince Roan smiled amusedly. This was the first genuine emotion he had shown in front of people in years and he wasn't even aware of it.

Tapping his finger on the table he asked, "Is that all?"

Freya secretly gritted her teeth and turned away before pulling out several more red flags from inside her corset.

She placed the flags in the tray in front of her and Roan followed her hand his eyes filled with laughter.

"Interesting," he said with his finger resting on his upper lip, "but you picked the wrong colour. I asked for green flags but you... picked the red ones. Why?"

Crown Prince Roan had been watching her the entire time she was in the maze. She kept picking the red ones and he could guess why but he wanted her to say it. Freya who was done with this silly little game answered immediately, "Answering your Highness, the Keres crest is a red flag. Denying these flags would mean denying allegiance with Keres which is a great offence."

Loud gasps followed after her words and the Wright family couldn't help but worry. Freya deliberately picked the red flags because they were plenty and they weren't what people were looking for.

For years she had familiarised herself with the enemy and their rules. Denying that flag was like denying being a Keres mercenary let alone its leader. Freya thought this rule was a little weird when she read about Keres' history. When she vowed to avenge her parents she made it a point to know everything about the enemy both their strengths and weaknesses.

Crown Prince Roan knew this was public knowledge but it still stunned him that she would think of this. "Count them," he said to the servant meaning that Freya wouldn't be disqualified.

Isabella yelled, "Bu-," about to voice her dissatisfaction when her mother glared at her sharply in warning. She wasn't the only one who was dissatisfied. The other young women were either pouting their lips or lowering their heads to hide the resentment in their beautiful eyes.

Unlike the others, Rose wore an expression vastly different. She honestly thought that Freya would be disqualified but that didn't end up being the case. She had undoubtedly made a new enemy and would have to watch her back from now on. She glanced in Freya's direction but the person didn't even look at her like before. Rose suddenly felt a sense of loss.

To be fair, Freya didn't notice her because she was busy struggling to suppress the darkness threatening to spill out each time she laid eyes on the king. This was the man who at his command ended the lives of the two most important people to her.

Her jaw clenched tightly as she lowered her head suppressing the anger choking her throat. Roan showed a satisfied smile after the servant mentioned she had twenty-one flags.

He was about to say some mocking words when he noticed some redness on her porcelain jade-like skin. Roan's blood surged suddenly as he leaned back in his seat his different coloured eyes as dark as a storm cloud.

***

Freya wasn't in the mood to celebrate with the other girls. The top ten finalists to go through training and exams to win the title of the future queen of Odasal had finally been determined after sifting through close to a thousand girls.

To others that should have been cause for celebration but if one took a closer look everything seemed rigged. Except for three girls including Freya and Rose, all the other young women were from prestigious noble families eager to get a big chunk of this pie fallen from the sky.

Freya asked to leave early and Amelda scurried over to lead her away. Since she wasn't allowed to see her family, Freya just bowed her head as a servant should. If she was overly enthusiastic like the other young women seeing their families her identity as a servant would be questioned.

Soon they reached what would be their new living quarters in the south of the grand palace. Each door had a name plaque to avoid conflicts. Freya instantly spotted her room at the far end of the smaller garden but there was someone standing there with the setting sun shining on the side of their face.

She instantly furrowed her brows as she noticed that childish face brimming with arrogance. She had only met him once but who could forget that face?

Amelda immediately bowed her head her body trembling slightly. After that incident earlier, she had been summoned by Prince Kian several times and each time he would ask her about Freya with questions ranging from her likes and dislikes to what she did the day before. Fearing Prince Kian's retaliation she spilt everything but who would have thought that he would show up at Freya's doorstep?

Prince Kian looked at Freya his expression still so haughty but his ears were red. He was crossing his fingers that Freya would lose the maze but when he heard the news he escaped from his chambers where his mother had locked him up just to see her.

"Congratulations," he said to Freya who was bowing her head. Seeing that she didn't look at him he stammered, "You you can raise your head... here, I thought you might like th-."

When she raised her head his voice died down having caught a glimpse of the redness on her cheek. "What happened," he asked reaching his hand to touch her.

Freya took a step back dodging his hand with a look of confusion. "I am sorry," he blurted out before pushing the delicate brocade box into her hand and running off.

Freya: "..."

She turned to look at his fleeing figure feeling quite confused. She wasn't the only one vexed. Ignis, who had followed her watched from the shadows. She couldn't wait for this interesting piece of information to reach Crown Prince Roan's ears.

She was hoping when their relationship was discovered the crown prince would divert his attention elsewhere or have her kicked out. The crown prince had no interest in truly finding a wife among this group of vipers but a puppet to temporarily fill this position.

The most basic requirement for this puppet was to be at least faithful and not have a scandalous affair with the witch Rhea's son. Ignis showed an eerie smile before her figure disappeared into the shadows again.