Chapter 2: Rosalyn Brigets

The princess was lost. She did not know what to answer, what to think or even what to feel. All sorts of emotions were trying to take over- deluging her mind into bitter chaos.

"What… what do you want?" She sheepishly asked.

"Well, I am a merciful de-… ahem… human. What you deem your second most precious is enough." He replied in a narcissistic tone.

"Second most precious? That would be… the maids." Her voice was almost non existent when she said 'the maids', she felt pain deep in her heart.

"Exactly. I want you to sacrifice them. I want them as my slaves." He casually said.

"IMPOSSIBLE!" It was her turn to stand up.

"It is still not verified whether your words are the truth or not." She continued.

He sat back down and explained patiently, "I said I am merciful. I will take them only when everything is proven. I will also give you a clue to find evidence. You just have to agree. And you will not be losing anything. If I am correct, you won't have any problem handing over that maid. And as for the other one, she will still remain your maid but you just have to send her over when I make a call."

"You just have to agree."

She also sat down and tried to negotiate, "But still… If it's beauty you want. I can send over tens. No- hundreds. Besides, slavery is illegal here in-"

"Tsk. Now it's getting annoying." He clicked his tongue and made an annoyed face. She once again felt that he was a completely different person.

"I don't care what I get. I just want you to lose something. I want your precious maids, your so called 'sisters', to lose their freedom and be enslaved. And illegal you say? Since when did a royal fighting for the throne cared for laws? Don't make me laugh." He said all these in an authoritative tone, far different from the amicable front he was putting on earlier.

The princess was still hesitant, "But-"

"Don't make me lose my patience. Don't think that I have no other choice. Even though I don't have any intentions of joining your brother, as far as I know there should still be another royal who has a tier 4 affinity. Although she does not want to fight for the throne, I know her weakness. I can just make her the queen. Of course, it will be harder as I have to start from scratch. However, it is confirmed that I will have more authority if I make her the queen than make you one. It's just that I am too lazy. That's why I am giving you a chance. It's up to you whether you take it or not."

She was shocked from the moment she heard about the other possible candidate. It was a confidential piece of information. Only the royals knew of that person's tier 4 affinity. It's just that she was not interested in the throne. So, how did he know? That is not what troubled her the most. Rather, it was the fact that she might make an enemy of him if she refuses now. And knowing him, that is the last thing she wanted.

"I… I agree." She clenched her fists and answered.

"Great! I assure you, you will not regret making this choice." He smiled, returning back to his amicable self.

"Now, it's your turn to keep your end of the deal." The princess replied and readied herself.

"It's Stella."

Although she was prepared, she still found it hard to believe.

'Relax, it is not proved yet. Even if she slept with someone, it doesn't mean that she betrayed me. Maybe she fell in love or someone tricked her.' She tried to console her self.

"As for the clue, silently follow her tomorrow night. And don't use your 'pollen' property, I am sure the prince has prepared a counter for it."

"What if it's not true?" The princess asked.

"Well, I am a fair player. If it's not true… I will be your slave. How about it?" It was as if the notion that he 'might' be enslaved did not bother him at all.

His confidence scared her but she managed to keep her composure nevertheless.

"Fair enough." She stood up and began to leave.

"Oh, once you find the evidence, just send Mia. Speaking of Mia, you can trust her with your life." He also stood up and waved her farewell.

His last sentence did nothing but adding to her guilt. She finally left.

He went to the bedroom, jumped on the bed and stretched.

"Fuck. Finally! Some peace. What a hectic day it has been!"

He began to reminisce about what he had been through that day.

******

That morning.

A few minutes remained until the entrance examination of The Royal Academy of Nemphis.

Outside the academy gates was a humongous field stretching a few square kilometres. There were tents set up and carriages parked everywhere. Examinees from all over the Confederation, both nobles and commoners alike crowded the entire field.

A grand carriage arrived attracting the attention of the surrounding crowd.

"Hey, isn't that the insignia of the Darkheart family of Darkshore Kingdom?" Some youngsters began to converse.

"Yes, the only Duke family of Darkshore. Looks like we got another big shot here. Wonder who is going to take the tests?"

"Tch, as if three examinees from dukedoms were not enough. And now, another one is joining. It's getting tougher for us commoners."

"Cheer up. Coming from duke families does not mean that they have to be talented. Don't you remember that the young master of the Crimson family got rejected last year. Moreover, he was from duke family of this kingdom, let alone the Darkshore kingdom. You gotta appreciate the policy and power of the academy, even the dukes can barely do anything to it."

"Yeah, hopefully we will get in."

"Look! Isn't that Rosalyn Brigets?" Someone shouted. But this time, it was not a member of the younger generation. It was a man in his late twenties who was part of an examinee's entourage.

An alluring beauty stepped out of the carriage. Everyone was stunned regardless of their gender or age.

"Rosalyn Brigets? Who is she, brother?" A young lady who was with the man asked. Even though she was from a noble family, she knew little about the world.

The man looked up at the sky, seemingly in a state of reminiscence "She is a prodigy. She has tier 4 affinity and she is also at the top when it comes to our generation. She is only 27 years old and yet she is already a level 6 Circler. Not only is she a hero who made great contributions in the last war, she also got apprenticed by the Darkheart Duchess." He sighed.

He then looked looked at his sister expecting a stunned reaction from her. But her reaction stunned him. Yes, she was stunned but definitely not from hearing his fanboying speech. She was staring somewhere without even a single blink as if blinking would cause her a great loss. He followed her gaze and saw a young man, seemingly 16- the same age most of the examinees here, beside Rosalyn Brigets.

"Look, he is so handsome- definitely the most handsome I've ever seen." A female examinee declared.

"Even in the previous generation, few could compete against him with looks." A middle aged woman chimed in.

"He should be the Duchess's son. He should be Adrian Darkheart, right?"

There might have been many duchesses in the whole Confederation, but when someone said 'The Duchess'- it only meant the Darkheart Duchess.

"Most probably. Ah, I am seriously envious of the Duchess. Not only is she a supreme beauty herself, she has such a dashing son." A woman from the older generation sighed.

Envy devoured not only the females their but also the males, "Duke Darkheart, you lucky bastard. You managed conceive a son with the goddess."

"He has the Duchess as his mother and Miss Rosalyn as his guardian. Talk about luck."

In the entire spot, only the duo from Darkheart household had a calm appearance.

"Sis, looks like you are quite popular." Adrian smiled.

"But I can't make others drool like you are doing. Look at those girls." Rosalyn teased.

They were walking slowly side by side and looking around. Even though everyone was gossiping about them, none dared to approach them because of the tense relationship between the two kingdoms. Moreover, the Duchess was the reason for this strained diplomacy.

Adrian suddenly stopped.

"What's wrong?"

"Wait a bit." He began to walk towards a certain direction- towards a certain girl to be precise.