SUMMIT - 6

"Huh, you're really asking me that? After getting beaten up so much." Heskel said with confidence.

"I guess it's my turn now." I said and punched him in the stomach with little to no power. He survived that but started coughing.

"This is you're true power, eh?" Heskel asked as he rubbed his hand on his stomach.

"Nah. It's just the start."

I kicked with a low strength side kick and he went flying to the other side. But he wasn't going to back down so easily because he got up again and came at me faster than before. He threw multiple punches at me but I dodged each of them. He was filled with rage at that point because he couldn't hit me even once suddenly. I kicked his thigh with my right leg and heard a clear cracking sound.

"Aaaarghh." He screamed. His left thigh had been splintered. He was on the verge of losing his consciousness but I didn't hold back. I threw an uppercut and he sprang up in the air.

The Colosseum was as silent as a grave. Those cruel Vampires couldn't believe what they had seen. It was an astonishing sight to behold. I peeked a look at the seat box and noticed Emberlynn's pale face. She was the most surprised of all people. Irene on the other hand gave an intense look. She was worried about Heskel's life but I knew he wasn't dead, since I hadn't used much strength to begin with.

Heskel crashed into the ground with a loud thump, unconscious.

"Th-the winner is S-sir Tristan?" The speaker couldn't fathom the situation. I gave him a stare and his interrogative tone changed to a declarative one immediately.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, give him a huge hand. Sir Tristan is the victor!"

Weak applause resounded throughout the Colosseum. That wasn't the outcome any of them had expected. The knights came into the arena immediately and checked the Prince's pulse.

"The Prince is alright. He is breathing fine although he might have multiple fractures across his body." One of them gave a thumbs up as to confirm that Prince was alright.

Whispers rose up across the Colosseum but Irene was relieved at the fact and looked happy.

"Well then. Now, that the match has been concluded, we shall get ready for the summit at the castle which will be held today. Every official and guest is requested to arrive the castle by the evening."

After the match, I went back to the room where I had met Irene earlier. After sometime someone knocked on the door. I expected that to be Irene.

"Come in." I said.

The door opened and Severn entered.

"Look at the champion. You've created quite a buzz. Almost ten senators asked me who you really are, just on the way here."

"Heskel said something about the human blood smuggling. What do you know about it?"

"Really? That man loses it whenever he's fighting."

"Tell me Severn. What do you know about this?"

"First of all, adress me as Lord Severn, I'm the one who rules this kingdom." He said in a commanding tone, "Secondly, you wanted to know about the traitor, right?"

"Yeah, that too. Would you be so kind to tell me, Lord Severn? Since it was the part of the deal anyways."

"That's a nice way. Here's your reward for behaving like a good Voçhter. The truth is that both the smuggling thing and the traitor thing are connected. I don't what kind of coincidence is that, since I was going to tell you about the smuggling today."

"What? How? And why is Irene connected to something like this?"

"It's because she knows about it too, the human blood smuggling, that is."

I couldn't believe what he had said. I felt like punching him at the moment, so I stood up and walked upto him but then I remembered something. It was the day I had first met Irene and the conversation I had with her in the forest that time.

"We can't hunt humans here. But we can hunt some small herbivore animals. They are not a delicacy but still suffice the hunger and taste moderate for our tongues." She said

"Wait, did you say we can't hunt humans HERE? Does that mean there's a place we can hunt them freely?" I asked

"I'll tell you about that later." She replied.

No way. She knew about this. Yes. She actually knew about it, but then why did she hide it from me? Questions popped into my head at that point.

"You look like you've seen a ghost. Ha ha. Was that too much for you?" Severn joked.

"She ignored the question earlier."

"What?"

"Few months ago, on the day I met her for the first time, I had asked something similar. She didn't reply properly at that time and ditched the topic. I didn't think anything of it but I think, now I get why she quickly changed the discussion." I explained.

"Ohh. So she lied to you, huh."

"No, she didn't. She just..."

"Just what? Hid the truth? Tried to avoid it? Isn't that the same as lying?" Severn said.

"Why are you saying things like that about your own sister. She must've had a reason."

"Yes. I know the reason ofcourse. But I know you like her. I'm just testing if you trust her completely or not."

"Is that so? And what about the traitor?"

"Oh yes. Pardon. I forgot about the main discussion. Ha ha." He said without a care in the world. I wouldn't have trusted a sly person like him but I knew that he had found the identity of the traitor. The person who was trying to kill Irene. He continued.

"The traitor is Bryce Noctis. Our brother. The second child of the heir of the Noctis Clan."

"Your brother? You mean your own sibling is trying to kill another sibling? Why would he do that?"

"He's not alone actually. He's been brainwashed by our aunt. The wife of the last head of the clan. She is our father's sister-in-law. Her name is Ordelia."

"Hey, are you telling me that your own brother and aunt are trying to kill your sister? Why would they do that?"

"Ask Irene yourself. I told you she knows about the blood smuggling. Once you hear the whole story from her, you'll be able to connect the dots easily."

Severn left after that. I didn't know what to say. I didn't know what to think. Irene knew about the human blood smuggling and somehow it was connected to her brother and aunt trying to kill her.

After returning to the castle, I tried to reach out to Irene but she was nowhere to be found. I searched for her throughout the whole megalithic place but failed to find her. In my search attempt, I ran into Emberlynn accidentally. She looked like she had cried. I felt bad for her since I had hurt someone precious to her but I didn't have time to chat with her. I walked past her without looking her in the eyes.

"You've won, Tristan. You should be more happy, since you've proven your strength." She called me out from behind. I turned around and replied.

"Heskel is strong. Very strong. But please try not to look down at other people so much just because you're a royalty, both of you. Take care of him." I bowed and returned to my search schedule. It came to my mind at that moment, if she also drank human blood but it wasn't the right time to ask her.

I returned to my room after searching almost the whole castle. I opened the door and surprisingly found Irene by side of my bed. Her back was facing the door, she turned around and gave me a warm smile. Under normal circumstances, that would have been enough to put me out of any stress but there was too much going on in my mind. I wanted to trust her completely, that's why, I had to ask her about the issue myself.

"Looks like you're my fiance officially now. Heh." She giggled lightly but when she noticed me glaring at her without giving a reply, she stood up.

"What happened Tristan? Did some-"

"What do you know about the human blood smuggling? You know about it, the place where they can buy it as much as they want."

She turned pale. She hadn't expected that. Her smile disappeared, leaving disquietude behind.

"I'm sorry, Tristan. I didn't tell this to you earlier." She said.

"Then tell me now. I trust you Irene. I've told you this already. So, tell me everything that you know."

We sat down side by side and she explained everything that had happened months ago.