The Crown's Entrapment

Inside the Great Hall of Cordon Castle, the King found himself being engrossed in watching the vision coming from the disc in front of him.

He had even particularly paused the court meeting he was about to attend as soon as he found out that the visions showing Xen's progress through the Element Forest had reappeared. It was of no consequence. He wanted everyone present in the Great Hall to witness Xen's attempt at the trial by air anyway.

Darius didn't know whether or not the guardians received his letter and heeded his request, but nevertheless, he was glad that the vision showing his beloved was back. If he remembered correctly, the trial by air was the easiest according to Osman. By that logic, he shouldn't be worried that Xen would fail the trial at all.

Despite knowing this, however, he still felt a bit anxious as he watched Xen struggle with every step and jump that she made. He even found himself holding his breath when he saw that she had to jump a large gap. But eventually…

"She did it!"

As soon as Darius saw Xen pass the last step of the trial and reach the goal, he loudly cheered for her success. There was silence inside the courtroom after the fact, but his lingering smile was so wide that it almost reached each end of his ears.

"I guess we won't be needing to proceed with setting up an alternative to trial by air then," Darius proudly declared, his bright smile remaining etched across his handsome and taunting face as he scoffed. How he loved that Nasser's expression was getting darker the more he gloated about his wife's achievements.

"Yes, Your Majesty. Congratulations on this wonderful news about Princess Xenia," everyone accompanying him inside the hall greeted.

"With this, Princess Xenia is now guaranteed to advance to the final fight," Nasser remarked with a cold smile. "Now, we just have to wait for her to return safely back to our Kingdom."

Darius flinched at Nasser's smile. He knew that smile... The Elder definitely had something up on his sleeve with the way he was acting.

The king gritted his teeth. Due to his position, he wasn't allowed to personally pick Xen up from outside the forest.

In fact, he wasn't allowed to even get near her or give out any kind of assistance to her while the tournament was still ongoing. Still, he had already instructed his Elite Moonlight Shadow Warriors to stand by in the vicinity outside the Element forest, just to make sure that Xen would safely arrive back in the Capital City without incident.

Of course, that might still not be enough on the off-chance that Nasser wanted to try something. At this rate, the Elder might get desperate enough to do everything in his power just to ensure that Pinra would succeed in taking the crown.

Knowing that Darius knew the possibility of an ambush as soon as Xen was out of the forest still existed. It would be a bold move on Nasser's part, but nothing was impossible these days. All Darius had to do now was to not put his guard down.

The silence and tense atmosphere inside the Great Hall lingered for a few minutes before it was interrupted by Gilas's arrival. He had brought with him the final results regarding the contenders that advanced to the final twelve. Gideon was also with him and telepathically reported to Darius, [Lady Evelyn and Lady Benet made it, but unfortunately, one more of Nasser's possible pawns made it into the final twelve, Sire.]

Darius simply nodded. Lady Evelyn and Lady Benet were among some of his most loyal people that simply joined the competition to watch for his wife's back.

He sighed deeply at the results. The rest of their support network was unfortunately lost to the ebb and flow of the tournament, but luckily, Bella and Clara were still in it. He was at least glad that Evelyn and Benet succeeded in making the cut to assist them. They would just have to do their best to control Pinra and Nasser's pawns.

[Four against eight isn't a bad number, Sire,] Gideon remarked. [Still, it will most certainly be a bloodbath.]

That was true. A lot of blood will be shed that day, and as much as possible, Darius wanted Xen to only participate in the last fight…

After Gilas formally announced the names of the final twelve before the court, he then added, "Trimming the twelve down to the final four for the female werewolves' trial by combat would commence the next day on the fourteenth day of the tournament."

He explained, "From there, the final four female werewolf finalists will then proceed onto a one-on-one battle by single elimination. After which, the last one standing will fight Princess Xenia for the crown the next day."

"That is assuming that Princess Xenia will arrive in time, but what if she doesn't?" Nasser insisted the same point he had been repeating for days now. "Should I remind you all that traditionally, the rules only allow a maximum of fifteen days for this tournament for the selection of a queen to be completed?"

Darius was about to rebut Nasser's repeated insistence when Gilas suddenly decided to drop a monumental piece of recent information.

[I already marked Clara, so there's no way that she can wear the crown…] Gilas untimely announced telepathically to both him and Gideon.

"What?!" Gideon unknowingly burst aloud. Realizing his mistake before the court, he quickly sported an awkward smile and said, "My apologies. I didn't mean for this reaction to pertain to Elder Nasser's point. It's just that a very unexpected piece of personal news just came in telepathically…"

Meanwhile, Darius only sighed deeply at the news. Why only now did Gilas inform him that Clara wouldn't be available to him as a backup Queen? Then again, who even said anything about him getting a backup Queen in the first place?

Looking at the court officials before him, Darius coldly said, "I assure to everyone in this hall that my wife will arrive in time for the tournament to start. But for the sake of Eder Nasser's peace of mind… Yes, the final trial will still proceed according to tradition."

"Thank you for that reassurance, Your Majesty," the Elder in question nodded with a sinister grin. "It's truly nice that we still obey our tradition and rules for the sake of peace and order in our Kingdom. After all, why else would it be there in the first place?"

[I really can't wait to tear this trash into pieces,] Zeus growled in annoyance.

[Patience… Zeus…] Darius reminded not only his wolf but also himself. His level of patience for the traitor was really starting to run thin the longer he had to interact with him.

Turning his gaze to Gilas, Darius authoritatively declared, "The Great Constable will handle my wife's pick-up detail as soon as she comes out of the forest. Failing to deliver my MATE and wife safely in one piece in your care before the last day of the tournament begins will cost you your life. If that happens, I will behead you myself."

Everyone in the hall gasped at the declaration, and Nasser's face darkened as he promptly refuted, "But that's unacceptable, Your Majesty! Gilas is a high-ranking official; almost being the next in line to become King! How can you threaten his life this easily?! Please withdraw your order, Your Majesty!"

"Are you saying that the Great Constable, who you deemed in a mighty position I might add, wouldn't be able to do such a trivial task as escorting my wife back to the safety and security of my own kingdom?" Darius fired back with a blazing glare. "If he isn't capable of doing such a trivial task, then how did you deem his capabilities to be great?!"

Everyone present in the hall was tongue-tied, including Nasser who couldn't even think of a way to somehow pull Gilas out of doing such an order.