The Crown's Entrapment

At Hindman Manor

For the duration of Princess Xenia’s Trial, Jayra had decided to stay at the Hindman Manor with her in-laws. Currently, she was helping her mother-in-law prepare the dinner table for Chancellor Talon and Bartos’s arrival when Bella suddenly appeared.

“Looks like Princess Xenia is starting to gain the admiration of the Cordonians,” Bella offhandedly commented as she comfortably took her seat in the dining hall. “She showed great skill in passing the fireball trap today according to the news. It’s only too bad that I’m unable to witness it since the registration ate up most of the time inside the arena.”

“But there’s more to come, and I’m sure Princess Xenia will earn everyone’s respect in this journey,” Jayra proudly stated. “She worked hard during her training, aside from her prior learned skills from our kingdom, of course.”

Of course, Jayra cheered her friend on. She was able to watch her progress, and she couldn’t help but cheer loudly, not minding the other members of the Lock Heart pack who were watching the same thing with her at the sacred castle ruins where the symbol was engraved. There were also a lot of viewers from their pack who were curious to see how the Princess of Ebodia was doing inside the Element Forest.

“Hmm… Look at you. You’re like a proud sister,” Bella jokingly teased. “Will you also be proud of me if I reached the finale of the trial, Sister-in-law?”

“Of course, I will,” Jayra chuckled with a smile. “But remember your promise to yield it’s not Clara that you’ll have to face.”

Bella chuckled, only nodding at Jayra’s reminder.

“Only Clara? How about Princess Xenia?” Livia interrupted. “Won’t you yield if you have to face her?”

Jayra looked at Bella, who simply shrugged as she said, “It would be nice to experience fighting the Princess as well, but I’ll also yield.” She wondered aloud, “Maybe I should just ask the Princess for a friendly spar some other time when this is all over.”

Cheerfully talking amongst themselves, the conversation between the three women ground to a halt when Chancellor Talon arrived along with Bartos. Jayra was quick to greet both her father-in-law and her husband, the latter of which she boldly gave a peck kiss on his lips to.

“Ughhh… Can you all at least show me some slack?” Bella complained upon seeing each couple’s sweet gesture before her; Jayra’s kiss to Bartos, and her father’s hug and kiss to her mother.

“Don’t worry, we’ll organize your Masquerade Ball soon,” Jayra chuckled as they all sat to their respective seats. “I’m sure these trials will be finished in a week, so I plan to start the preparations by then. We’ll make it memorable; a ball that everyone will envy with you, my sister-in-law, as the star of the night.”

Bella’s eyes glimmered with excitement as she exaggeratedly replied, “Oh, I can’t wait to see and meet a lot of men then… I’ll just have to cast my line and get the best fish out in the ocean.”

“Alright, that’s enough talk about men,” Livia interrupted as she began putting out some dishes on her husband’s plate. “Let’s start eating. I’m sure your father and brother are both starving already after having such a busy day.”

Of course, Jayra instinctively did the same to Bartos who also put some dishes on her plate.

Bella scoffed at all the sweetness in front of her. With a pout, she mumbled, “Heavens… Seeing too much sweetness will kill me…”

Jayra could no longer control her laughter upon seeing her sister-in-law’s frown. Bella was obviously getting fed up with all the public displays of affection in front of her, not just by just her and Bartos, but also by the Elders. Well, her mother-in-law was simply passive, but her father-in-law was definitely unstoppable in showing his dedication to his wife even before Jayra married Bartos. Chancellor Talon was naturally a very sweet and affectionate man. One who would be very showy in his love for his wife no matter what might happen.

“Alright, we’ll be less affectionate whenever you’re around,” Jayra commented with a grin.

“Well, thank you for being considerate of my loveless life, Sister-in-law,” Bella hummed in satisfaction before they all ended up chuckling.

Seeing her family, Jayra felt good as she enjoyed her meal with her loved ones. Soon, the dinner ended. The Elders retired to be early, but Bella wasn’t in the mood to rest early just.

“Can I borrow my sister-in-law for a moment?”

“Sure thing,” Bartos nodded.

Seeing her husband’s approval, Jayra could only let herself be dragged away as Bella pulled her into her room. Just from the way her sister-in-law locked the door, the mage was sure that this was about something serious.

“I… I need advice…” Bella admitted with a mutter.

Jayra raised an eyebrow as she smiled. “What kind of advice?”

“Uhm… One that would’ve gotten me killed, for one,” Bella weakly joked. “But no, I’m having second thoughts about joining the trial by combat.”

“How so?”

“Well, I don’t really have much of a stake in all of this,” Bella sighed as she crossed her arms. “I’m only there for Clara, and even then I feel like it won’t be worth all the pain just to fight her.”

“I see,” Jayra hummed. “But you still want to fight her, right?”

“Well, yes?”

“Then why not just go ahead?” Jayra suggested. “After all, you already said you’ll just forfeit any match that you know wouldn’t be worth it.”

“I guess that’s true,” Bella sighed. “But…”

“But what?” Jayra smiled. “You’ll do fine. You’ve wanted to fight Clara for years now, right? Just go with the flow. I know for a fact that you’re good at that sort of thing.”

Bella couldn’t help but smile, “I suppose you’re right there, Sister-in-law…”

Jayra smiled warmly as she pulled Bella in for a hug. While her Princess was competing in the very same trial, that didn’t mean that she couldn’t cheer on yet another contestant on the board. There were always exemptions when it came to cherished family members, after all.