Tournament Day 2 Part 2

Lady Bodum and her group found themselves racing out of Hayden's room. One of Lady Bodum's people had informed her that Hayden had returned to the castle.

"That bastard! How dare he cause me to escape so disgracefully like this! I should've done something even worse. Hmph!"

The group of them hastily made their way down the hall opposite of Hayden, leaving trails of dirt behind them.

A few moments later, Hayden could be seen approaching his room. As Hayden passed the palace guards on his way to his room, he could tell that something was off. Their usual suspicious gaze was now mixed with something else. He thought about it for some time then pushed the thought to the back of his mind. He continued on his way and while doing so noticed some dirt on the floor. As he got closer to his room, the traces of dirt continued, there also seemed to be dirt going down the hall away from his room. Rather than inquiring about it however, Hayden just continued on his way. He opened the door to his room and froze in place. Hayden appeared horrified as he looked at the scene before him. The palace guards who were close by couldn't help but wonder what Lady Bodum and her people had done. Hayden swung his head towards the guards and glared at them. As he did this, the guards quickly turned away. Hayden went inside the room and slammed the door shut. About 80% of the large room was covered in dirt and there was something else. It wasn't just the earthy smell of the dirt, it was the smell of rotting flesh. There were these things… these bodies. Three bodies were in the centre of the room, hung to the ceiling with thick ropes around their necks. They had cheap crowns on top of their heads and next to them was another rope, tied into a noose. Hayden slowly approached the bodies. The clothes that covered their bodies might have well been rags. If not for the protruding bosom, he wouldn't have been able to tell that one of the bodies was that of a woman, as her long hair covered her face. And on either side of the woman were two young children, a boy and a girl. The children had their throats slashed and their tongues pulled out. It seemed as though their mouths were ripped open. Their skin seemed to be peeling away. The stench repulsed him yet Hayden couldn't turn away or cover his nose. Before realizing it, tears started to run down Hayden's face and the room was set ablaze. Hayden fell to his knees while grabbing his head. He rocked back and forth while shouting but nothing he said could be deciphered as actual words. The room was specially reinforced to stand against nature magic of varying kinds but it was gradually being worn down. Flashes of the scene before him and the scene years ago kept popping up in Hayden's mind. He couldn't contain himself, his sorrow, his pain, his grief, his anger. The flames seemed to roar. The flames gradually drew closer towards himself instead of away from him. Hayden's shouts and cries filled the room along with the fire and smoke. His shouts and cries soon started to reach the guards in the hall. The men argued among themselves as to whether they should go in or not.

Soon the smoke began to escape the room. The smoke sneaked out from beneath the door. A masked man dressed in all black made an appearance through a window. The man grabbed Hayden and shook him while calling out to him. Hayden kept wailing as he pulled at his hair. At the same time, one of the palace guards called out to Hayden. After multiple calls and no response, the guard tried to open the door. As soon as he grabbed the handle of the door, he quickly pulled his hand away and hissed in pain. He shook his hand back and forth and blew on it. The heat from inside had reached the door. The palace guards then decided it was time to intervene. A few of them left to get water and something to open the door.

The masked man was still trying to get Hayden to come back to his senses but realized that his efforts were fruitless. The flames had already consumed the dead bodies there and he couldn't hold it back. Finally, he decided on another course of action. The masked man knocked Hayden out and escaped from the room while carrying him over his shoulder. By the time the palace guards got into the room, the flames had reduced in size, Hayden was gone and everything was burned to ash.

Back at the outer forest, a fierce battle had come to an end. Neither the Princess' nor the other group were able to pull the red and orange spotted ferret away from the other so in the interest of time, they had decided that the two members would keep the red and orange spotted ferret restrained and the other members would battle for the ferret. The victor would then be able to take the red and orange spotted ferret away. The Princess' group had seven members and the other group had six members. As a member from each group was restraining the red and orange spotted ferret, it was a 6 v 5 match, but this didn't mean that the Princess' group had an advantage. The other group had members which were more proficient in the use of nature magic and considerably stronger. In order to close the gap, the Princess' group had to rely on wit and the fact that they were being greatly underestimated. Luckily, they were able to outsmart the other group and came out on top. The area of their fight was evidence of their struggle and success.

The Princess panted heavily. "Have him release the ferret… You should honour our agreement."

"Tsk… let it go," said the group's leader as he held his side and glared at the Princess.

After collecting the red and orange spotted ferret, the Princess and her group prepared to depart. The other team's group leader watched as they walked further away. Then he suddenly disappeared. He reappeared a short distance behind the Princess, ready to attack. The Princess' group members heard his scream as he was about to strike the Princess. Their faces were filled with horror. The Princess on the other hand smirked. In a quick motion, she spun with her leg raised and landed a kick to the group leader's face. The young man was sent flying. His group members quickly rushed towards him and tried to prop him up. The Princess looked down at him, her smirk still intact.

"What a shame… you could've saved yourself the embarrassment," said the Princess before walking off with her group.

The other group members could do nothing but watch as they left. Was this still the same delicate princess?

Many of the generals praised the Princess and her group's performance. It was certainly an unexpected turn of events. As the King heard their words he couldn't help but turn the corners of his mouth into a smile. While this was happening however, the Queen was missing.

"Where have you been?" asked the Queen.

"Replying to Her Majesty, I left a 'special gift' for Hayden," replied Lady Bodum.

"Oh, *hehe* I suppose you finally got the opportunity to do so. We still have some time. Why don't you fill me in on the type of 'gift' he received, hmm?"

Lady Bodum smirked. "It would be my pleasure!"

Back at the outer forest, the Princess' group was the last to arrive at the meeting point before the time limit was up. They ended up running with the last bit of strength they had to get there. They sat on the ground while the event's overseers began checking each group's results. The Princess scanned the crowd to see those who were successful. Before she had realized it, she had locked eyes with Eulis. Eulis smiled at the sight of her. His bright, relaxed aura was a huge contrast to the Princess' exhausted and drained one. He and his group seemed to have completed the event easily. Just who was that guy?!

After some time, the results were announced. There were four groups which completed the event with full points, including the Princess', a large number that got the majority of animals for the hunt and a few that either didn't arrive within the time limit or didn't get even half the listed animals. With these results, there were some changes in the rankings but it remained the same for the Princess, Eulis and a few others. After having some refreshments, the participants were then transported back to the B.A.D Box.

As soon as the participants arrived, there were large crowds waiting for them. There were many that had banners up for those they were supporting. The Princess was also surprised to find that she had garnered many supporters. It was more than she had expected and something new for her.

"Strange huh?" asked Eulis.

The Princess jumped slightly. She was surprised to see him, especially since he was so close. His face was right next to hers. The Princess quickly turned away from him, hiding her blushing face with her hair.

"Huh?! uh, y-yeah. It is a bit strange."

Eulis smiled. "Well, I'm sure you'll get used to it. See ya tomorrow Princess!"

As the Princess watched him, he slowly disappeared into the crowd. She wondered if his shoulders were always that broad, if his hair was always that shiny, if he was always that captivating. The surrounding crowd seemed to have vanished and her mind was only on him.

Hayden had finally regained consciousness after a few hours. He held his head and groaned as he sat up. The room he was in was barely large enough for the bed he was on. He got up slowly and made his way to the window. There were trees all around and no clear path to be seen. As he was peering outside through the glass of the bedroom window, the masked man entered. He brought a tray with a glass of water, a glass of orange juice and a small basket with some bread. The masked man informed him that they were at one of the smaller safe houses. Hayden acknowledged him but didn't seem to care much about where they were.

"Who… who did it?"

The masked man took a deep breath before responding. "It was one of the Queen's ladies-in-waiting, Lady Tasie Bodum and a few others under her command."

"Where did they get the um, the uh-"

"I was still looking into it but it appears they may have gone grave robbing. There haven't been any reports of missing corpses from medical centres or any recent murders… How do you want to handle this?"

"I'll 'greet' her when I go back later… Tell them we need to move things up."

"But sir! We-"

"I didn't ask for your opinion. Did I?"

"No, sir. I'll ensure that they're all informed."

Hayden then took the glass of orange juice and two pieces of bread and kept peering out the window.

After the Princess returned to the castle, she decided to visit the King right away. He was locked away in his study. It had become normal recently for him to spend hours locked in his study, sometimes without even coming out for some food.The Princess stood in front of the door, constantly raising and lowering her hand. After a few minutes, and the palace guards glancing at her from time to time, she decided to knock on the door.

"Who is it?"

"It's me, Princess Cecilia, Your Majesty."

"...You may enter."

The room was dimly lit and freezing cold. How could he have sat in a room like this for hours? The King's appearance was also worrying. It was vastly different from how he looked during the tournament.

"Well, what do you have to say?" asked the King impatiently.

"Oh, yes! I have a report to make."

"What could you possibly be reporting on?"

"... During today's hunt I noticed traces of hunting and camping where there shouldn't have been. It, it seems highly likely that there were squatters or outsiders residing in the outer forest."

After a moment of silence the King responded. "Who else have you told about this?"

"No one, Your Majesty."

"Good. I'll have it looked into. If there's nothing else, you can go now."

"Uh, yes. Nothing further to report, Your Majesty."

The Princess turned to leave. She couldn't hide her disappointment. Then as she was about to leave, she was stopped by the King.

"Do your best tomorrow."

The Princess was stunned for a moment but nodded in acknowledgement then left. As she closed the door behind her, she leaned against it and smiled lightly. She then used her hands to push herself forward and went to her room.

Later that night, there was a bit of commotion in the kitchen. A group of female servants were befuddled by the situation they were faced with.

"I can't believe she called for her again!" exclaimed a female servant.

"She hasn't even recovered yet!" added another female servant.

"Isn't this too much?" asked another female servant as she folded kitchen towels.

"But what can we do? If not her then it may be one of us!" said a female servant as she gripped her uniform skirt.

The servants continued their conversation without paying much attention to their surroundings.

"Her face was swollen that time too."

"She could barely walk for more than five minutes."

"Lady Baulm seems to get angry easily these days. Let me tell you, I saw them taking a lot of bloody rags from her room and -"

"What exactly did Lady Baulm do?" interjected the Second Prince.

"Oh! U-uh, Your Highness. It, it's nothing we were just talking and-"

"And I'd like to know what it is that you were talking about," said the Second Prince sternly.

The female servants, realizing they had no choice, told the Second Prince all they knew. After hearing their stories, the Second Prince rushed towards Lady Baulm's room.

"Hold on, hold on for me, please!" repeated the Second Prince as he ran through the halls.