Chapter 48 - Brown/Blonde

"So the rules are pretty simple." Topher glanced at the two little girls and then continued.

"I will ask a few questions about things that you should have already learned from Marquess Samed or by keeping your eyes and ears open about your surroundings." He nodded as though he was happy with the rule he just made.

'Is he just making the rules up as he goes?' Yvonne scoffed at his unprofessional methods but did not interrupt him.

"I will judge the answer based on your speed and accuracy. This means that you should be faster than your opponent AND need to give the correct answer." He explained thoroughly in order to not get any complaints from either one of them when they lose.

'A sore loser is never a pleasant sight to behold.' He cringed when he thought of his classmates at the Academy who would refuse to admit defeat just because it would hurt their pride.

'Gee thanks for clarifying that.' Yvonne forced a smile at him and nodded her head.

Seeing both Rika and Yvonne's approval, he cleared his throat and took a step forward.

"Let us begin!" He declared and the girls clapped their hands to cheer for Rika.

"Who is the founding God of the Rosenhyde kingdom.." Before he could finish his question, someone had blurted out the answer.

"Lord Asmodeus!" Rika Kiron yelled out and then turned to Yvonne with a mocking smile.

'Where did that cute little girl go?' She was bewildered to see that a small quiz had turned Rika into someone totally different from her earlier persona.

This was because all Rika wanted was to be Princess Felicia's friend and playmate.

However, whether her motives were pure or not was something that only she was aware of.

Topher raised an eyebrow at the over-enthusiastic child and shook his head.

'But that is the correct answer!' Yvonne protested in her mind when she saw his refusal.

"Let me complete my question before you answer it." He chided her and then repeated the question.

"Who is the founding God of the Rosenhyde kingdom and what words are used in our history books to honor him?" He smirked at the little girl when he saw her pale face.

Aleena noticed her sister's struggle and tried to prompt her what the words were but when she felt Taylor's angry glare, she quickly looked away.

'This was the most basic question that big brother could ask!' He sneered at her and then turned back to find Yvonne smiling at Topher.

"God and protector, Asmodeus Del Ovin. Benevolent and merciful." She parroted the same words she had said to Marquess Samed when they had their first class together.

'The first question was about that blue bird.' She sneered at this thought.

Rika put her head down and clenched her dress because she knew that she had lost the first point.

"Correct. Miss Yvonne gets one point." Topher nodded his head.

"What is the name of the previous King of Rosenhyde?" He asked the next one.

"Late King Greggor Rosenhyde." Yvonne's clear voice rang in the silence.

"Correct. Two points." He looked at Rika in a comforting manner but his kind gesture was not appreciated.

"No! I was waiting for Topher sama to finish his question which was why I did not answer! I know what the answer was for that question!" Rika's voice sounded as though she had been wronged by this group of people.

Topher narrowed his eyes at her and then shook his head.

"That was my question and Yvonne answered it so this point belongs to her. I had already informed you that speed and accuracy both are required, just like in swordsmanship." He lectured her, not caring about her puffed up cheeks which made her look like a cute hamster.

Taylor noticed the sparkling eyes that appeared on Howard's face and kicked his shin to make sure that he did not interrupt the competition just so that he could start singing Topher's praises.

Howard flinched due to the pain which acted as a reminder of the situation that they were in right now and the compliments that were on the tip of his tongue were pushed back inside.

"Yvonne - 2 points. Rika - 0 points." Damien interjected and gave them the current standings.

"Who is known as the 'Unofficial' Prime Minister of King Ophire?" He looked at their puzzled faces and gloated.

He could have used easier words to form that question but why would he want to make things easy for these two who claimed to be so smart.

Rika pondered over the question while Yvonne was just staring at Topher.

'Prime Minister? Was there such a character in the script?' She tried to recall ever reading about this but failed.

Neither in the script nor in Sullivan's teachings had she heard about this person.

"Duke Brodie!" Rika's excited scream woke Yvonne up.

"Correct. Duke Brodie, the King's right-hand man is sometimes called his unofficial prime minister." He was pleased with the way she had connected these two links to find her answer.

The girls went berserk when Rika got her first point. They even rushed forward and gave her a hug to show their support.

"Yvonne - 2. Rika - 1." Damien's mechanical voice once again reminded them of the new scores.

'I was aware that Duke Brodie was the King's right hand but not about the other thing.' She accepted that she was not sure what the answer to that question was.

Yvonne was one of those people who would not speak unless they know all the details about a certain something. 

So she was silent about her defeat and did not make any fuss about it.

Her impression in Taylor's eyes surged once again and he smiled at her in a charming way in hopes of motivating her.

Yvonne smiled back which showed her dimples and Taylor felt an arrow shoot straight through his heart.

"The next question, Topher!" Damien reminded him after seeing Taylor's red face.

Topher looked at his best friend and then at his brother, shaking his head at them, he moved onto the next question.

"The knights that serve at our borders are called?" He asked a question whose answer was not known to many of the children there.

"Silver Serpents."

"Silver Snakes."

Two answers were heard at the exact same time. The crown looked at both the girls to try and make out who was right.

'Sullivan mentioned a little about them and they seem intriguing.' Yvonne was confident in her answer.

Topher had been watching Yvonne, so he knew that her answer was the correct one.

"Yvonne gets one point. Silver snakes is the correct answer." He announced and looked at everyone to make sure that they were alright with his judgment.

Topher felt merciful for today's host's family so the next question was an easy one.

"What is Prince Fritzen's hair color?" The moment these words left his mouth, he heard his brother's scoff.

Who in their right mind would not know what the Prince's hair color was?

"Blonde."

"Brown."

The crowd went silent when two different answers were heard.

Everyone paused and stared at Yvonne as though she had grown two heads.

"Brown? Oh… Do you have a problem in recognizing colors?" Aleena smirked at her which made the other girls giggle.

'Why are they looking at me like that? I am sure that the pig had brown hair when I met him.' She recalled the drowning incident and he definitely had brown hair back then.

When Damien noticed her contemplative face, he realized something vital about her.

'So she knew that it was Fritz and yet she treated him that way? Yvonne St. Claire, you sure are something.' He looked at her from top to bottom and chuckled in a low voice.

Yvonne glared at him when she heard his annoying laughter and then turned to Topher with a big confused face.

Not knowing what to do, Topher could only explain the most commonly known fact in the entire of Rosenhyde.

"Every child in the Royal family is born with bright blonde hair, Yvonne. This includes Prince Fritzen as well." He pursed his lips because he had not expected her to be so ignorant about this subject.

Marquess Samed had not gone into too much detail about the next descendants of the Royal family because Yvonne had asked him not to.

She was already aware of what happens with Fritzen and Felicia so she was not interested in them.

Her indifferent attitude had cost her the chance of learning more information which would have been of use today.

But she was not yet aware of her own folly.

Yvonne's eyes widened when she heard this and she began to doubt her memory.

'Did I really see brown or just some dirty and greasy blonde?' She tried to understand how she had missed that.

Damien watched all her expressions and smirked in derision. 

He could guess what she was trying to figure out and he also knew that she couldn't get any satisfactory answers.