Chapter 67 - The First Round

"Begin!" 

At the signal, all the participants who had their arrows ready let loose their bows in unison. 

Loud cheers and hoots erupted from the spectators in the lower class. Those on the upper deck didn't move at all and not even a sound could be heard from them. Trying to maintain elegance seemed to be their goal. 

Well, almost all of them. 

It was impossible to miss such an extreme and extravagant anomaly that happened in the rows of emotionally deprived nobles. 

"Go! Go! My son!! My boy!! Make daddy proud!!!" 

In his hands, a large sign covered with various flowers and heart drawings swayed dangerously as Derek moved side by side vigorously. His face was red from all the shouting he did and he acted nonchalant at the weird stares he received. 

He was doing something that not even the head of Zero, who was known for his daughter complex, had the guts to do. 

Besides, in his opinion, they all should be accustomed towards his behaviour as he did this every year. Why were they still shocked? 

Beside him, Lynn was suffering, yet he still did his job earnestly by occasionally throwing the flower petals around Derek to create a majestic image. 

He moved from the left to the right side of Derek to throw the petals without stopping. All the time, Lynn had his head bowed and the tip of his ears were red in embarrassment. As much as he wanted to cheer for Zeke, they could do it in many different ways. No need to shout like this--! 

"My Lord!!" 

Lynn's eyes almost bulged out of his skull when he noticed how close Derek almost fell off the railings of the upper deck as he leaned over too much to cheer for his son. 

"Be careful, you idiot!" Lynn grasped the back of Derek's suit and pulled. He put all his weight onto his thɨġhs to hold Derek's slightly heavier mass. 

The idiot paused and realized that he now had a stable pivot; which was Lynn; he turned back and continued cheering like a mad man. 

The white-haired Alpha's jaw almost went slack at the audacity of the other man. 'Goddammit! You're lucky you are handsome enough or I will definitely let go and let you fall from this height!' 

He would have to serve a dish called "Derek Meat Pie" if he did! 

In the eyes of passersby, the two looked like they were reminiscing a scene from titanic where Rose, with her arms spread wide in each of her side, was standing at the edge of the ship with Jack holding her waist, whereas here, Derek was the one playing as Rose and Lynn wasn't as romantic as Jack to hold Derek by his waist. 

If taken a closer look, Lynn looked like he wanted to take a voodoo doll and jabbed the needle million times into it. 

XXX

At this moment, Zeke wished he had gone to the mortuary and booked a room for himself. 

Maybe he should have just booked it for his dad. 

The moment that cheesy cheering from his dad reached his ears, he was sure he was going to die from embarrassment. Every year, he had told his old man to stop, yet he never listened! 

Forget booking a room, he would just dig the ground right now and bury himself in it. 

Pouting, he adjusted the bow in his hands. Zeke had done a few warmed up in the waiting room and relaxed his muscles. Standing in line, he watched a few participants before him as he waited for his turn. 

The sound of arrows slicing through the air echoed loudly. Most of them hit their target, but some of them didn't. In the end, there were a few that were eliminated. When it reached Mika's turn, Zeke almost looked proud. This friend of his was amazing. Hitting bullseye with almost every arrow. 

Zeke was sure Dong-Hyun would have passed this round easily, but that man never had any interest in participating in tournaments like this. 

He said it was useless as he just wanted to inherit his father's business. 

Next one was Lloyd. 

The blond guy actually did better than last year as Zeke observed him. He managed to score eighteen out of twenty! Looked like he practiced a lot. 

Finally it was Jian Yu's turn to step up. Zeke quickly watched as Jian Yu calmly raised the bow and fired his arrow. 

Thud! 

His arrow pierced the target. 

Bullseye. 

Only one single shot and Zeke already brightened up. 'My wife is so amazing!' 

Jian Yu fired his remaining shots with effortless grace. His slightly longer hair swayed as the wind blew over his face and Zeke immediately suċkėd up all the beautiful images, storing them in his mind for later inspection. 

He gave off the feeling of an immortal elf hunting magical creatures in the forest. Zeke was sure he would see it in the next round. 

"Perfect score!" 

Zeke gasped in awe at the announcement. 

"Woow-- ah!" 

"See something you like?" Clement stood on her tiptoes, looking for the source of Zeke's entertainment, before making a 'ahh~' expression as she found Jian Yu in the front lines. 

Zeke flushed at the fact that he was so noticable and grumbled. "Mind your own business." 

"Oh, he is indeed good. Hitting the bullseye repeatedly." Clement mused as she ignored Zeke. "He must be good at using firearms as well." 

She continued before pausing as she sniffed something unpleasant in the air. Pinching her nose, she hissed. "You are like… Three or four days from your rut?" 

"3 actually." Zeke huffed. 

"And you actually still join the tournament?!" She looked scandalous. 

"This is not the first time and I took my pills regularly." Zeke shrugged his shoulders. "Besides, having pre-rut now makes me focus a lot more than normally and I'm more sėnsɨtɨvė towards the surroundings, which may help a lot in the second round." 

Clement didn't look convinced at all. "... If you said so." 

"Is that a worry I hear?" 

"Touch him during the rut and the Rodericks will have to worry for their next generation. I should say my condolences to Lord Roderick beforehand." 

Zeke immediately crouched and covered his 'little brother' to protect him from the evil gaze of the evil spawn, Clement.