The Crown's Entrapment

Freya, along with Gideon and Osman had already heard the news about the current situation inside the Element Forest from Cordon Arena, where the three of them had just wrapped up the tournament.

"Do you think my brother's awake now?" Freya asked. "We should hurry back to the castle and find out."

Gideon nodded. He then looked to Osman and said, "I'll have Freya riding on my back. We'll be traveling in my wolf form." He chuckled as he teased,  "Do you want to hop on?"

"You two go on ahead," Osman shook his head in mirth. "I'll feel weird riding on your back. Besides, I still have a stopover to do." Gideon nodded in understanding, and the two of them promptly left the premises.

Left alone, Osman sighed as he looked in Bartos's direction. He was way too worried for Bella's well-being, and he wondered if there could be a way to pull her out of the competition without too much trouble. After some time witnessing the tournament along with the contenders, he could feel that something was off.

Their King was right, Nasser would surely try and manipulate the tournament to his own advantage. And based on his observations, most of those who qualified seemed to be Nasser's allies from different smaller packs.

'These traitors,' Osman annoyingly mused.

"Aren't you heading out?" Bartos asked when he passed by him.

"I was, but I decided to wait for you after a while," Osman replied. "I'd like to have a word..."

Bartos nodded, and the two of them started walking.

"I have to make my way to the market to buy some things my wife needs," Bartos nonchalantly commented. "How about we talk while you accompany me?"

Osman agreed, and the two headed out to the markets. There they could hear the same topic from every angle as they passed by. Almost every Cordonian had the same talks regarding the current situation inside the forest, and it was clear that Xen's actions had sparked a bit of a buzz throughout the kingdom.

.

...

"They both fell in! She jumped in for him and screamed out His Majesty's name! That means she recognized our king!!! She didn't leave him behind even if he was wearing the face of another man. I'm sure she passed that trial!"

"But how cruel can those guardians be?! How can they stop the vision right after that blazing white light erupted?" complained most of those who watched the vision. Rightfully so just as the scene was about to make them rise out of their seat, it stopped the moment that blinding white light filled the vision.

.

...

"I'm sure he's back to us already. My wife predicted it yesterday, after all," Bartos proudly stated. "She said that the Princess had definitely already recognized His Majesty and that by today, our King will come back to us safe and sound."

Osman chuckled. "I heard the Princess and your wife are like sisters, so I guess Lady Jayra knows Princess Xenia well enough," he nodded in agreement.

"I've seen the determination of the Princess myself during her training, so I'm also quite confident she'll do fairly well inside the forest. Plus, we now know that she is someone that has something special inside her. As we've seen, her powers have already been activated..."

Bartos nodded in agreement.

Stopping by a particular stall, Bartos began picking up some of the things his wife supposedly needed. Likewise, Osman saw the opportunity to do some window shopping for himself.

He found a nice hairpin that he thought would look well on Bella, but it had quite a few colors to choose from, and he found himself wondering as to what color Lady Bella would prefer.

"She loves bright colors by the way," Bartos nonchalantly chimed in as he continued on with his shopping. "Anything bright attracts my sister, I mean..."

Heeding the advice, Osman smiled as he picked up a hairpin with a bright red flower design on it. It would definitely look good on Bella's black long hair.

"About Bella, is there a way we can pull her out or disqualify her from this tournament?" Osman suddenly asked as they made their way to another stop.

"I know I have no right to ask of this, and that meddling with the tournament could be considered as me stepping out of the line... It's just that this tournament is very dangerous, and I'm sure you know what I'm talking about."

He grumbled, "It's not confirmed yet since our men are still investigating the matter in the shadows, but I have a bad feeling about most of those who passed the first few rounds."

"I know what you mean... And trust me, my sister has probably already noticed something off in this tournament," Bartos let out a long sigh as he explained.

"Instead of scaring her off, it'll just give her more of a reason to stay and fight. She might look like someone who's carefree or doesn't have a care in the world, but Bella's a lot more than that. She now knows how important the Princess is to her sister-in-law, so she'll definitely not back down just to watch the Princess's back... And Clara..."

Another sigh came out from Bartos. This time, he stopped walking as he turned to Osman and said, "Bella loves Clara like a sister. Those two might've had some misunderstandings in the past, or even up until now... but Bella won't just sit still knowing that someone she cares about will be in danger."

"So even if we wanted to protect Bella, we can only monitor the situation and make sure that every opponent she'll fight will do so square and fair," Bartos further explained. "That's why I'm making sure to check for all the weapons that they're using; to see if there are any traces of poison or anything else that could be lethal that will go against the rules..."

He then flashed a faint smile and scoffed, "Still, I can't believe what I'm doing and saying right now. I guess my wife would be happy if she happened to witness me coaching you like this..."

Osman chuckled. He wasn't naive, and he understood what Bartos meant with his words. He had already noticed how Lady Jayra seemed to favor and help him out regarding Bella, and he appreciated the gesture.

"Well, I'll be forever grateful for this either way," Osman declared in a straightforward manner. "Rest assured that my intentions for Lady Bella are pure and sincere."

"Well, I hope so," Bartos chuckled. "If not, I might just kill you."

Sharing a laugh, the two of them continued walking on the streets. They were almost about to pass a corner when a familiar carriage passed by.

"Nasser," Bartos grunted with gritted teeth.

It was indeed Nasser who was inside the carriage, the same one who picked up his niece Pinra from Cordon Arena. Inside the carriage, the man was sitting opposite Pinra, his face dim with dismay due to how things turned out with the trial inside the forest.

"I'll make sure that most of the contenders that will enter the finals are from our group. That way, you'll have some assistance in executing our plans," Nasser said with a frown.

"Remember, your main goal is to kill the Princess of Ebodia if she ever happens to come out alive from that realm. If we're lucky and she dies, then kill everyone that comes your way to get the crown."

Then, with a smirk, he handed something to Pinra and said, "Use this to achieve our goals."