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By the sidelines, Bella quickly noticed the malicious looks all being given to Clara. Scoffing, she couldn’t help but tease the woman as she said, “Aren’t you going to back down? Our King already made it clear that he’ll refuse to acknowledge anyone except for Lady Xenia.” She added with a lilting tone, “Ah, what a way to discourage his subjects to participate in this trial…”

Clara frowned and hissed, “You go and back down then if you want, Bella. I don’t even see the point of seeing you here anyway,” Clara hissed with a frown. “If I didn’t know any better, I guess that your presence here is solely aimed at simply  annoying me.”

Bella let out a crisp chuckle as leaned closer to Clara. With a smile, she whispered, “My my… So you’re not that dense when it comes to me then. I wonder why you’re being dense in acknowledging the fact that you have no hope in your obsession with our king then?”

Bella then stepped back. Playfully twirling her violet locks around her finger, she looked around at the other participants. “How about this, I’ll back down once you do,” she offered out with a wide grin. “You see, I only joined this boring contest to play around and showcase my fighting skills. Particularly, it’s to show everyone how much of a better fighter I am than you. Perhaps? Maybe? Or I might just be bored enough and start messing with you.”

Ignoring Clara’s flaring nostrils, Bella grinned and chortled, “Hmm… The King’s speech earlier is very effective though. Look how many of them are leaving.” She chuckled, “Ah, this is much better… At least I won’t strain myself going into the finals after having to go through too much competition.”

Despite Bella’s provocations, Clara remained silent as usual, and the former was already starting to yawn several times because of boredom. Shrugging, she patiently waited for the registration to finish as she checked on the other participants.

From what she could tell, every woman was allowed to participate in this trial. Bella was honestly surprised to see this many women enlisting for the event. But then, the King’s speech worked wonders, with many becoming too disheartened to join, knowing how their king was simply loyal to his mate. He even vulgarly mentioned how he would acknowledge the human Princess as his only Queen, essentially making the trials almost pointless.

Bella found herself thinking about her options. She should really just back down, but her main goal of facing Clara and knocking her down a peg was still on the table. Plus she was really just that bored with staying in their manor. She wanted some kind of distraction instead of just thinking about how to get over her feelings for Calypso… assuming she even wanted to do so in the first place.

“Looks like your own pack members can’t help but dream big,” Bella chuckled upon seeing eleven other women that she knew came from Clara’s own Midnight pack. “Well, at least they tried, right?”

“Mind your own business, Bella,” Clara grumbled with a dim expression. “It’s their right to join the trial, and I won’t deprive them of that.”

“Ah, I apologize if I’m talking too much. I’m getting sleepy, so I need to keep myself awake somehow,” Bella amusingly winked. “Besides, I’d rather have a good conversation with an old friend whom I’m still itching to fight within the finals. We’ll definitely see each other for sure out there, but who knows what the future holds? Maybe one of your members might get lucky and win over you.”

Clara fumed, and Bella was really enjoying her old friend’s short temper. Her friend’s cheeks were so beet red in annoyance at that point that it was a wonder why she was still trying her best to not snap at her. After some time, however…

“Do you think Princess Xenia will make it to join us in the finals?” Bella casually asked, her tone taking on a serious note. She had already given up on teasing Clara since she was just getting bored to death with the silence.

“Who knows?” Clara coldly stated. “But one thing is for sure, I will wear the Queen’s crown no matter what.”

Bella could only watch as Clara promptly left her alone, walking further away to stand in yet another silent corner.

***

[There’s still time to back out,] Sheba advised. [Also, someone’s staring at you closely.]

Hearing her wolf’s words, Clara raised her head, and sure enough, her eyes finally met with Lord Gilas’.

She gulped, a weird feeling going through her body again, particularly inside her chest. Knowing this, she quickly avoided Gilas’s gaze, turning her back to him without a second thought. Absently, she held a hand to her chest, deeply breathing in and out as if to release the tension that suddenly ran through her body.

And as if to add to her mixed feelings, her face reddened as she then recalled the kiss that they shared… Since then, things had become rather awkward as she tried her best to avoid him. Surely, her alibi about her being busy with the trials would work, seeing as the trial by combat was about to start. Besides, she could no longer spare enough time to accompany him in visiting her mother anyway, at least not till the trial ended.

[If only my sense of smell is working…] Sheba murmured.

[It doesn’t, Sheba, and I believe that’s just our fate,] Clara sighed, justifying her feelings. [It’s better that we don’t know about that stuff anyway since it’ll all be chaotic. I’m quite sure about my feelings for Darius, Sheba. I know I love Darius, if only because I wouldn’t be hurting like this if I didn’t…]

Her heart was still shattered after everything she had seen. The pain just kept stabbing her in the chest, especially after witnessing even just a fraction of the royal wedding. She couldn’t take it… By the end, she holed herself up in her manor, crying a river inside her bedchamber for the love she failed to win over.

Clara was still deep in her stupor when a loud drum roll echoed throughout the arena. It was a signal that the registration had been closed, which meant that they now had a definitive number of participants for the event.

“A total of five hundred and one participants registered for the Trial by Combat,” announced Commander Jargon. “Following tradition, participants from the same pack will have first to compete against one another until there will only one representative left for each pack. The tournament will start in this very arena before the sun rises. There will be an assigned officer for each pack as the elimination goes on. Everyone may now leave. Return tomorrow for the trials.”

Clara sighed as she walked away. This would be a long tournament even before reaching the finals. Thankfully, the King’s speech made a dent in the numbers, or else that five hundred and one might’ve ended up going up thrice its current value. Who would’ve thought that in this era, many Cordonian women were willing to take such a risk for their dream to become the Queen of Cordon?