Tournament Day 3 Part 1

Princess Cecilia stared listlessly out the window of her carriage. It had been an eventful morning. Whether it be Lady Bodum running out of her room screaming, barely dressed and in a panic, a disturbance at Lady Baulm's residence or Hayden's re-appearance at the castle, it was enough to cause the castle to be buzzing.

"I guess everyone will have something else to focus on now," said Princess Cecilia, seemingly disappointed as she stared out the window of her carriage.

Just as she was absorbed in her thoughts, a small branch passed the window, gently tapping on one of the corners. Princess Cecilia's trance-like state was broken and she looked out the window, a bit shocked by what she saw. The trees seemed to be moving in an unnatural manner and the small birds were being spun around in various directions. It was as if some force was moving them. Princess Cecilia gradually calmed down and the disturbance seemed to stop as well. She looked around anxiously but didn't notice anyone strange.

Back at the castle, the King, Queen, a few palace guards and Hayden were in the audience hall.

"So you're saying Lady Tasie Bodum, one of the Queen's ladies in waiting, was responsible for setting the fire in your room? What proof do you have to support this? What reason would they have to do that? And why didn't you control the fire?" asked the King as he stared intently at Hayden.

The King felt that Hayden's claim was plausible but there were still points which seemed strange.

"Who knows… maybe I mistakenly offended someone or maybe this is their way of telling me that I've overstayed my welcome. I couldn't control the flames because while I have gotten stronger, my magic isn't at the level it used to be. As for proof, it seems she didn't care much for hiding her tracks. After all, I'm now just a poor man with no backing, wouldn't it be easy to target me? But if you think about it, why would I set my own room ablaze, little brother?

The room went silent. There was no hiding Hayden's mocking tone.

"You insolent bastard! He is your King and you should address him as such!" remarked the Queen coldly.

"Oh? I didn't realize that as an elder brother, I could no longer educate his Majesty. I was simply pointing out something that would be peculiar. Dear sister in law, is it that you don't want me to defend myself or maybe this is about something else? Did I misunderstand who the culprit was…?

"You!"

"That's enough! I'll have your claims looked into. In the meantime I'll have you under protective watch. Another room has been arranged for you. These men will escort you," said the King as he gestured for the assigned palace guards to lead Hayden.

Hayden wasn't surprised but instead very calm. He smirked slightly, "Blessings to the Crown."

After Hayden and the men left, the King ordered the other palace guards to leave as well. Neither the King nor the Queen uttered a word for some time. Although they were seated next to each other, they might as well have been miles apart. It also didn't help that the wind which blew in from a slightly opened window brought a chill with it. It was a cold, empty room where only the two of them could remain.

The Queen, not interested in remaining in the mind-numbing silence, decided to leave. She got up from her seat and made her way to the door.

"Why'd you do it?" asked the King.

The Queen stopped in her tracks. At first she didn't intend to entertain the conversation but then she shrugged her shoulders and said "He's been gone for so long, maybe he's delusional now..."

The King didn't say a word. Seeing as the King responded with silence, the Queen decided to leave.

"I never gave you permission to leave," said the King coldly.

The Queen halted yet again. She tightly gripped the door handle before releasing it. "Did I need your permission?"

Soon the Queen could hear footsteps getting closer and closer.

"You shall look at me when you speak and address me as Your Majesty," said the King. His voice was devoid of all emotion.

The Queen slowly turned around to face him. She returned the cold gaze which he greeted her with.

"You've crossed the line," said the King as he further lessened the distance between them.

"... I… I have crossed the line?"

"Regardless of what has happened in the past or now, Hayden is still my blood, he's still my brother!"

The Queen hung her head for a moment then she seemed to be shaking. "... Ha… Haha hahaha haha ha…"

The Queen laughed as though she was possessed then lifted her head. "I've crossed the line?! He's blood?! I didn't realize that you cared about your blood so much when you killed your own!"

*Smack*

The moment those words left her mouth, the King silenced her. The slap wasn't hard enough to knock her down but instead left a large reddish mark on her cheek.

"I did what had to be done. Never bring this up again!" After saying those words, the King pushed the Queen to the side, then left the hall, slamming the door behind him.

Once the King left, the Queen collapsed. She fell to the floor then slowly clasped her hands and used them as a pillow to rest her head. The cold floor seemed almost warm in comparison to her husband. As if in a trance, the Queen started to hum a lullaby. She would randomly hum loudly then as softly as possible to the point where she herself could barely hear it. While humming, she moved one hand and reached towards her stomach. She gripped tightly then mumbled, "my… ba… my… bab… my baby..."

In Lady Bodum's room were the castle doctor, Head Priest Zaylin, a few servants, Viola and the princes. It wasn't simply Lady Bodum's behaviour that attracted attention but also her appearance. It was said that there were streaks of grey lines that appeared on her face at the time of the incident. At that time, it gave those on the scene an eerie feeling. Despite the commotion earlier however, Lady Bodum was finally starting to show signs of calming down. Before, she was screaming frantically and reacted violently when others tried to console her. It wouldn't have been an exaggeration to say that she looked and acted as though she was possessed by something dark. It was a stark contrast to her usual behaviour.

Upon hearing the details of the incident earlier on, the Crown Prince called for Head Priest Zaylin, Viola and the Second Prince. At the time they arrived, Lady Bodum seemed to have become much calmer. The palace guards that were on site reported everything, not daring to leave the simplest thing out. The Crown Prince ordered the castle doctor to examine Lady Bodum first, then after it was confirmed that she was physically fine, he sent Head Priest Zaylin to check on her. As Head Priest Zaylin went over to check on Lady Bodum, much to everyone's surprise, Viola also accompanied him. For some reason she seemed to be particularly interested in Lady Bodum's case.

After examining Lady Bodum, Viola and Head Priest Zaylin took the princes to the side to speak with them. While they did this, the servants and doctor tried to make Lady Bodum more comfortable. At first Head Priest Zaylin was hesitant to speak but after looking at Viola and seeing her nod in agreement, he knew that his assessment was correct.

"Your Highnesses, I'm afraid that Lady Bodum's case is not a simple one… It seems that Lady Bodum was… inflicted by shadow magic, the dark magic most commonly referred to as sorcery."

The princes were collectively shocked. The practice of sorcery was banned in the kingdom, with some exceptions, after it was found that it can easily corrupt a user. It twists their morals, and fills their hearts and minds with thoughts of evil and destruction.

When the use of magic began to be widely practiced within the kingdom, those who didn't have the talent for fire, earth, water and air magic natures felt despondent. Seeing this, a few junior priests that had witnessed Blossoms using shadow magic recommended it as an alternative, as they were more likely to be successful using it rather than light magic. At first it proved successful, those who practiced shadow magic were able to turn their feelings of sorrow into power but that didn't last long. Once they were no longer filled with sorrow or depression, the shadow magic within them started to seek it out and absorb it from others, at the same time absorbing life essence and when that wasn't enough the shadow magic sought to create a source of negative emotions by having the user commit violent acts. Once the flaw in practicing shadow magic had been found, it had already caused the direct and indirect deaths of more than a thousand people. That period of time remained a dark time in the kingdom's history and strict laws were put in place to prevent a recurrence. It was to the extent that most texts regarding the use of shadow magic were hidden or destroyed and only a few extremely skilled priests were authorized to use basic sorcery and handle shadow stones. Of course, these laws did not include the Blossoms as they were beings who could not be corrupted by shadow magic.

After hearing the Head Priest's words, the princes were silent for some time.

"Have the effects worn off?" asked the Crown Prince.

"At the moment that seems to be the case," replied Head Priest Zaylin respectfully.

"I've also checked her body and found no lingering traces of shadow magic. However, the shadow magic used in this case appears to be the original form, before your kingdom restricted it and only poor quality practice methods could be used," added Viola.

"My lady is correct and that being said, whoever did this to Lady Bodum must have connections with high level priests or someone who took part in the use of shadow magic during 'that' period," said Head Priest Zaylin.

After discussing it a bit more, the Crown Prince decided to stay with Lady Bodum to get more information to see who could have a grudge against her. However, while it was a worrying situation, the Second Prince could care less about Lady Bodum's life and was more interested in staying with Viola, his mother and the female servant he had rescued. Viola, however, had some things to discuss with Head Priest Zaylin so the Second Prince allowed her to do so as he left.

At the B.A.D Box, it was almost time for things to start. It was the final day of competition, one on one fights, and would be the most brutal.