Catching crazed roosters.

The sounds of musicians playing songs of merry died down and the crowd settled down before the loud sounds of King Kian giving a speech transmitted through the passageways.

Freya pulled up her hair to tie it into a high bun when she caught a glimpse of Isabella whispering something to her maidservant. Their gaze met and Isabella smiled slightly like she was looking forward to something.

If it were anyone else they would be anxious but Freya was calm like she was in her element. She looked forward with no change in expression and Isabella sneered. She couldn't wait for Freya to get what was coming to her. Pained sounds of her crying in agony will be like music to her ears and nourishment to her soul. That would teach her to not covet other people's things.

At the end of King Kian's speech, there was the sound of trumpets and drums. "Please proceed forward," said the young woman from earlier and the group of women stepped out onto the centre of the Colosseum.

Thunderous jeers loud enough to cause a tremor followed as the citizens of Odasal showed their support for their favourite. Some were placing bets while others raised banners with names.

Among them were citizens who had travelled from all corners of Odasal to support the young women hailing from their hometowns. The benefits that would come from their fellow becoming a part of the ten finalists were immense so yes, they would be here to show their support and encouragement.

Freya looked up to the audience and after looking around for a minute she caught a glimpse of her cousin being pulled down by his mother after he excitedly waved at her.

The commotion there attracted the attention of not only the nobles but Crown Prince Roan. He glanced in that direction while taking a sip of wine from the crystal glass in his hand. Linox happened to be looking in their direction and the two people's gazes met.

The crown prince wasn't wearing his mask today but he was still as terrifying if not more. Linox didn't shy away from him. He glanced back his gaze cold and indifferent like he felt nothing towards this person.

Crown Prince Roan let out a soft throaty chuckle as he moved his gaze away. He raised his hand and took another sip.

Queen Rhea saw this interaction and clenched the armrest of her chair tightly. She was now more than certain that crown prince Roan had something to do with the Wright family.

This could only be the reason why they rejected her proposal for cooperation. It was a good thing that she made arrangements otherwise he would pick Freya in the end. After this she would be disfigured and let alone Roan, no man would be interested in her.

"Who do you think will win your majesty?" she asked her voice loud enough for crown prince Roan to hear her.

Roan traced the rim of his glass with his forefinger his expression distant. He didn't pay attention to his father's response nor did he care for it.

The corners of his lips quirked slightly into a menacing arc as he said, "I thought that had already been determined... so why does her majesty feel the need to ask this question?"

The implication was that Queen Rhea had already found ways to help Isabella and her win was already preplanned. In their eyes, this was just a formality with the end result already predetermined but this was a game that they weren't predestined to win.

At the beat of the drum, the beautiful young women dashed into the maze like rats. Freya signalled Rose and instead of running in the direction Isabella was running into, they took the first left.

Everyone seemed to know that Isabella probably had the cheat sheet for the competition so they followed her which most likely angered her half to death.

Freya and Rose began to frantically searched through the miscellaneous things in the first deadend they ran into. After searching for two minutes with no luck she heard the sounds of someone screaming and the two of them looked at each other as they paused stiffly for a second.

Freya started tossing the straw on the ground. Unexpectedly she found three flags. She grabbed the green one and tossed it to Rose. "Catch," she said and Rose caught it before asking,

"Isn't it that you found it first? You should keep it for yourself."

Freya shoved the other of the flags down her pocket while saying, "You keep them for us. When we reach the exit we can divide them equally." Its not that Freya trusted her but that she was afraid Isabella would look for trouble for her and she would lose all of the flags in the scuffle.

Rose nodded her head and they walked out to the long stretch passageway when they were met by an unexpected scene. They saw two girls whose hair and clothes were like they had just survived through a battle being chased by a flock of crazed roosters that looked like they were high on something. 

Freya: "..."

The crowd cheered even louder seeing this. These noble ladies had never even caught a chicken before and seeing them now being chased by them pleased the common folk so much that they let off thunderous laughter.

The common folk might have found this amusing but the families of the two young women had on ugly expressions.

Freya pulled Rose back before the two young women bumped into them. The pair might have prevented a collision but the roosters wanted them to join in on the fun so they started chasing after them as well to peck their faces.

Freya gritted her teeth wishing she had her bow and arrow. She would shoot them all down and have them shoved down that arrogant man's throat feathers and all.

Freya managed to drag Rose away to safety but as the roosters passed their hiding place she suddenly noticed the slowest one had something wrapped around its neck.

She turned to Rose who was panting heavily and signed with her hands that she was going to go grab that rooster. Rose didn't know why Freya wanted to chase after those deadly things but she didn't question her.

"I will search here," she whispered and Freya nodded her head before tip-toeing out her back plastered to the wall of the maze.

The enthusiastic master of ceremony's voice ripped through the air retelling what everybody could clearly see. "... as a maidservant this young woman might not have a problem catching a rooster, right? The way she moves lightly seems like she is well versed in the art of catching chickens."

Crown Prince Roan chuckled softly watching her crawl on all fours trying not to alert the other crazy chickens.