Trial (3)

"No!!! I wouldn't let you screw off with my baby's grade! In God's name, I would make sure to give you the punishment you deserv--- Ehhh??? S-grade???", Lucina screamed her prepared protest but regret overcame her as she realized her mistake. 

*kksksks* 

Seeing this, Don revealed a chuckle, taunting the other person. 

"Surely, I agree with Ms. Lucina here, I believe the grade of S-grade was too much, don't you think?", teased Don 

The butler removed his black cap and then positioned it towards his chest. After releasing a sigh, he spoke.

"It may be right, no one in the entire family had received a grade of S-grade. Even the current Headmaster had only received A-grade. However, as my fellow testifier, I'm certain that you wouldn't neglect the miracle that god had shown us through him. I believed that this is a prophecy ", said the butler, unwavering on Don's remarks. 

Of course, Don was just teasing Lucina for her blunder. In fact, she was doubtful inwardly… 

'This grade is too unbefitting! SS-grade should be the bare minimum!', she thought as she just heaves a sigh, pretending to understand the meaning behind the butler's words. 

Then, she nodded her head in agreement. "You are correct, Mr. Butler. Apology for my doubt oh god", she uttered with hints of regret. 

Meanwhile, Claire was silent the entire time. Her head sulked down, causing her eyes to be covered by her hair. This made her expressions turn fuzzy to the onlookers. 

'Had she gone mad?', Edward thought as he couldn't gauge Claire's expression too. 

With everyone looking at her, Claire's hand stretched upward then to their surprise, her palm reached her face with a loud *thud* 

*slap*

Claire slapped herself. 

This made everyone surprised as it was unlikely for Claire to hurt herself, after all, her safety was her topmost priority to the point that she would not hesitate to throw her cousin in a thorny path just to secure that she wouldn't get a bruise. 

However, this time, she slapped herself of her own accord. 

'Has she gone insane?!', they all thought. 

Don, with her hands trembling from anxiety, checked her daughter's face immediately. 

"You didn't hurt yourself, right, honey?", she said, looking at Claire's face.

"I'm fine, Mom, I didn't sustain any bruise", she assured, after all, the bruise wasn't tolerable for this family. 

Healing magic might be able to heal it in instant, but, this spell still had its limitations. 

Tilting her head, Claire looked at Edward with her eyes reclaiming their lost burning determination. 

"You! I will make sure to defeat you on the next trial!", she thought with her chest out, confidence reaching heaven. However, she didn't know that she would come to regret this claim sooner…

------

Upon hearing Edward's grade, Claire felt her organs shaking from rampaging mixed emotions. 

She was miserable knowing that she got defeated in the worst way possible. She suffered not only shame from her turned-out situation of lying on her filthy carpet but also, she was defeated by a great margin. 

'S-grade…' 

She was remorseful, but… she knew that Edward deserved such a grade. 

'With that kind of miracle, it is worthy of an S grade' 

With that in mind, she held her emotions off and firmed her resolve. 

'There is still a chance, the trial is far from over!', she thought then stretching her hands, she slapped herself. 

'Wake up, Claire, you got it! You had it planned, after all', she thought, remembering the piece of bread she gave to Edward beforehand. 'It's time to make you lose your coolness, Edward-boy!', she thought, revealing a smirk 

Her mom patted her back and she just replied that she was fine. Tilting her head, she looked at Edward and then uttered her words with outright confidence. 

"You! I will make sure to defeat you on the next trial!", she declared

Half an hour later…

"It's fine, Claire. I'm certain that with god's mercy, you will be able to stand a chance in the next trial!", assured Edward to the sulking Claire

The young girl, on the other hand, turned mad at this sarcastic remark. She got lost! 

'But how?', she thought

She had things planned. The bread was supposed to give Edward excessive flatulence during the second trial, but this never happened. 

In contradiction, it was Claire who felt a stabbing pain in her abdomen then after a while, she felt a sudden urge to fart. 

At first, she was able to hold it back, however, the gasses seemed to accumulate in her abdomen reaching her maximum tolerance, and finally…

*pooooot* 

A long fart echoed in the area. 

The parents and the butler that were sitting in the rear, watching the three candidates kneeling on the forefront praying earnestly, suddenly heard a deafening long fart…. Then came the stench smell.

"Who is that?!" 

"Brother, help! Its stinks!" 

The two little sisters of Arthur were the first to speak. They didn't see the source of the fart as their entire focus was on their brother that was deep in his prayer, trying to maintain his composure. 

But, the parents and the butler were not the same. They saw clearly the source of this foul stench. The butler was doing good maintaining his composure, though, that was not the case for Lucina. 

*giggle*

Her body was shaking constantly as she was trying to hold back her laughter. After all, this was a great shame for Don herself.

"Ahmmm, C--- claire?", called Don hesitantly towards the girl who had long lost her composure and was dying from shame. 

Without looking back, she ran out of the room as she could feel another series of farts coming their way. She wouldn't let any more things happen! 

Meanwhile, seconds after Claire left, Arthur also stood on his seat as the foul stench assaulted his nose. He was afraid that two more smells of this would spell him dead. 

The one remaining on the ground was Edward who kept trying his best to not let the fart overcome him. 

'Arghhh!! It stinks!', he screamed inwardly

Of course, the sudden flatulence that Claire had a moment ago was caused by him. Or more like, letting Claire taste her own medicine. 

As he presumed, the bread contained a substance that would cause him flatulence. Right at the start of the trial of composure, he felt a stabbing pain in his stomach. Then he was about to fart, he used the skill [Celestial Hand (Ex)] on himself, removing the flatulence. 

It was needless to say that with Edward's wicked thought, he passed the flatulence to Claire who was smiling as she prayed. 

This resulted in the current event. Edward persevered for a total of 30 minutes until the stinks finally got him. 

In the end, he received a rating of A grade, Claire being D grade, and Arthur received C- grade. 

"Now, shall we move on to the next and last trial?... The trial of skills", said the butler