Roaring cheers sent chills all throughout his body. The other team sagged down, one by one as they realized they lost. The Overlord confirmed their victory seconds later and guides, along with a dozen other tournament officials, appeared to assist exhausted participants.

“Quite an impressive performance from both sides indeed,” said Kaal’un as he addressed the crowd. “Because of such an intense battle, we have decided to give members of the second team a chance to prove themselves in one on one matches.”

Faces of his teammates dropped but as he continued to explain, they sighed in relief. The tournament would have two separate brackets running at the same time, one for the winners and one for the losers. Unlike traditional winner and loser brackets, the loser and winner brackets wouldn’t mix together.

Instead, for their efforts, the winner of the losers bracket would receive the same reward as the third place winner. The decision didn’t bother him much, because he wouldn’t have to face off against those twin monsters at any other point, but if the Overlord was prologing the tournament for the reasons Kieran thought, a mixed bracket would have made more sense.

Also, it kinda didn’t feel fair. Sure, the best they could do was get a third place prize but they essentially got what amounted to a second chance while everyone in the winners bracket were stuck with single elimination.

The crowd didn’t care. They cheered at the announcement.

He was helped off the arena grounds and taken to a spell circle located in a room adjacent to the reception area. It was significantly smaller and less detailed than the ones in the palace. Instead of taking the entire floor, it made up only the back half. Exhausted people went on first.

What he expected when he stepped onto the circle was a cool spring morning breeze, but what he got instead was slightly wet, pollen touched air. It healed him anyway but the rate was slower and he wasn’t in top form.

Restored as much as he could be, the tournament staff sent them back into the reception room while they cleaned the area and set up some strange crystals.

Their guide congratulated them on their victory before telling them who would fight first, “You have ten minutes to do as you’d like before the match starts. If you are not part of the eight participants I mentioned, your matches will be held tomorrow.”

He also told them they could leave if they wanted. Otherwise, everyone was welcome to enjoy the tournament from a section of the stands reserved for them. Teal waved from the hallway and Alexandra was next to her.

“Young Master, you did amazing!” She said as her eyes gleamed. “How did you subvert the rules?”

Kieran grinned, turning away and stroking his chin. “Well, I figured since Overlord Kaal’un threw in a spymaster, there was more he wanted than a simple fight.”

“What do you need?” asked Freckles.

“Your sewing supplies. You still have them, don’t you?”

Her head tilted to the side, brows knit, but she dug through her pocket anyway. Out came a dull needle and a half-empty spool of black thread. As he reached for it, she pulled back, “What do you need this for, Mr…”

“D-Dewy Dubur,” he said as he pinched his arm, trying to hold his childish laughter back. “I can’t tell you but I promise I won’t break it or anything. I’ll even buy you some more thread after this.”

She eyed him twice over and forced herself to drop it into his open hands. If the needle tip hadn’t been broken, there might’ve been some blood. He cleared his throat and followed with a gulp, “Can you go over there?”

“What are you planning to do?”

“I can’t tell you.”

“Why not?”

“Because it’d be ruined if I did.”

Bilal chuckled, “You heard Dewy here, go and scram.”

She reared back, chambering a fist. Bilal flinched. He quickly transitioned it into a sneer but the others on his team saw it and snickered.

“Alright,” said the lanky man. “Just go over there so we can at least hear out the rest of his plan.”

Freckles shrugged, satisfied with the reaction she got out of Bilal and stomped away. The blonde noble girl sighed when Bilal looked her way.

“Which one of you guys has the king’s mark?” Kieran asked.

“I do,” said the lanky man, showing it off.

“Good, just keep it like that for me. Does anyone know how to sew?” There had to be at least one person other than Freckles who knew how. Noblewomen were expected to know these kinds of things, right?

Knowledge from his world couldn’t be trusted here but it was all he could go on. Fortunately, the blondie raised her hand.

“What do you need me to do?”

“I need you to copy the king’s mark.”

“It’ll take me a little bit,” she said, not wasting a moment. She took his glove and the sewing supplies. Kneeling, she began working on replicating it but the thin red outline caught her attention. “You’re the assassin? Why do you need the king’s mark then?”

“Because of those twins you were talking about. If they’re so scary, then they wouldn’t leave the roles like king and bodyguard to anyone else. I’m betting that they’ll take those roles and then beeline to whoever the king is.”

Most of his teammates nodded at his logic and the blondie restarted her work on the glove.

“And how would you know that?” remarked Bilal.

Kieran shrugged, “I don’t know for sure but like I said, I’m betting that they will. And if they do, I’ll be ready to assassinate the king.”

“If you can hit them, that is,” said the chubby noble. “Dewy, is it? I’m Raimund. Your plan holds some water but I think we should try something else first. Instead of risking our assassin right away, we should trap them. Then, if it turns out they’re not king and bodyguard, we’ll at least be rid of the two strongest on their side.”

Raimund went on to explain the formation. All the defenders were pale faced after the details were given.

“About the king’s-” Bilal was cut off.

“I don’t know about this,” someone said.

“Then you can stay back. I’ll be one of the bait,” said another.

“I’ll volunteer too. I want to win.”

“Yes, yes, go volunteer. What I want is-”

“I don’t like it, but same here. It might work.”

Soon enough, the spots were filled with volunteers. Morale had risen quite a bit since the start. Raimund showed his bodyguard marking and he was paired off with the lanky king. Bilal, who tried to get a word in throughout the process, was silenced and put with Kieran’s group, much to both their dismay.

“Here, finished,” said the blonde noble girl as she handed him the glove. She brushed off the dust from her dress, rising an entire head over him, the same as Teal.

“Thanks…”

“I’m Josette.”

“Thanks Josette. This looks pretty good.” Compared to the original king’s mark, this star was a bit thicker and less pointy at the ends. It’s circular shape was now an oval, squeezed in from the sides but from a distance, it’d have to work. The crowd’s complaints were growing louder after all.

“How are we supposed to hide who the real king is, though?” Josette asked.

“Why do you think we didn’t include Freckles over there in this conversation?” Kieran smirked, flashing his fake king’s mark. “Tell her to answer all the questions honestly when you guys get into position.”

Teal lit up, “So that’s why! She believed it was true so she wasn’t lying. I’m very impressed, Young Master. Your plan worked wonderfully.”

While Teal praised him, Alexandra was silent the entire time. The most he’d seen out of her was a simple head nod.

“Aren’t you glad as well, Ma’am?” Teal asked all of a sudden. His breathing stopped as he waited for her answer.

With a single nod, she said, “Yes, you will now have more opportunities to further your combat abilities.”

Teal glanced at him. He shrugged. It was Alexandra. What was he expecting anyway?

“Let’s go watch the next match.”

A few hours later, after all the matches for the day were over, they fought through crowd after crowd of people. Ever opportunistic merchants were still peddling their wares. City guards stationed at the entrances of the colosseum and at the streets leading to it watched the crowd with heightened focus.

Sure enough, they had their hands full dealing with a few belligerent drunkards.

Alexandra set their pace and their route back to the palace. More than once he broke into a brisk jog to keep up. Mixed into those extra exertions were childish skips, only one or two at a time.

The area surrounding the gate to the palace and its grounds were devoid of other people. Behind the cover of a building, just outside of the guards’ sight, Teal undid her magic affecting their appearance. In an instant, she dropped on all fours as cold sweat covered the nape of her neck. Kieran tried to help but she waved him off.

“What’s going on?” he asked.

What kind of magic was this? Was it that the side effects were only coming in now or was she bearing with the strain the entire time?

“I’ll be fine, Young Master. It’s just not magic I’m used to manipulating yet,” she said. Maybe she was pushing herself. Maybe she was fine after all. In a couple of minutes Teal was back on her feet and they were let inside.

Past the gate and at the entrance to the palace, two of his siblings were there. Lyla jumped and threw a few playful punches while Hansgath, the second prince, laughed. Hansgath was a bit shorter than their eldest brother, his frame also slighter in build. Kieran made no attempt to hide and returned his brother’s greeting when he spotted him.

“Kieran,” he said with his measured voice. The ends of his sleeves were stained black with ink. “Alexandra and Teal as well. I heard you three had left to watch the tournament hosted by Overlord Kaal’un this year. I had hoped to catch you before you left but I suppose I was late.”

“We went looking but we couldn’t find you. Elder Brother Drastan wanted to give his regards too,” Lyla said.

Yikes.

He could feel heat building under his collar. Drastan would probably check in on his progress any day now.

“I apologize. Had we known beforehand we would have waited,” Alexandra replied, with a slight bow.

Then how would we have snuck me into the tournament?

“It truly is unfortunate. I planned to surprise you, Kieran, but I misjudged the timing,” he said, brushing his hair out of his eyes.

“I woke you up so early too,” Lyla added.

“If it pleases you, we would be more than happy to have Your Highnesses accompany us tomorrow.”

Both Teal and Kieran shot her a look.

Are you OUT OF YOUR MIND? Tomorrow is MY match!

He was always too scared to yell at Alexandra but right now he kinda wanted to slap her. She was the reason he was fighting in the tournament to begin with.

“Yes-”

“Ah, as much as we would love to, I have to return to the battlefront. The Theocracy is no longer hiding their animosity toward us. Lyla also cannot go because of her promise to Mother,” he said.

“Oh,” Lyla’s slumped, “That’s right."

She simply nodded at their response as if she already knew what it would be. Hansgath rested a hand on the dejected Lyla. Clear calluses were forming on his palm, the skin around it was discolored and in disharmony with the rest of his hand. The only other callus being on the topmost knuckle of his middle finger.

“Did you enjoy the matches today?” asked Hansgath.

He coughed, “Uh, yeah. I had a lot of fun.”

“That’s great to hear. Which one did you like the best?”

Please just stop.

“Uh, I don’t really know. Teal, which one did you like the best?”

She almost jumped, “Huh? Me? Oh, uhm… I liked the first match the most. It was very exciting.”

Fuck me. I should have asked Alexandra.

“I too enjoyed the first match the most. I believed the Warf twins would win based on the rumors but the other team played the game very well. Their manipulation of information won them the match. Their supposed ‘king’ piqued my interest. He looked similar to you, Kieran, don’t you think?”

He shrugged, managing to gather his cool in face of the mounting pressure, “It was a bit hard to see.”

Hansgath continued, “I asked Overlord Kaal’un for the young man’s name but he was quite busy arranging the next match. I couldn’t reveal myself and greet that young king either. Well, if you find out his name tomorrow, I’d love to hear it.”

“Of course,” Alexandra answered.

“It’s getting late, why don’t I take you back to Mother before she gets worried?” he grabbed Lyla’s hand. “Have a good rest of your evening.”

Heaving a sigh after somehow surviving that situation, Kieran and Teal broke off from Alexandra. Upon escorting him to his room, Teal left to rest. He jumped onto his bed and rolled himself into a burrito. It ruined the pristine look his bed had, with the blankets tucked in and all, but after those fights he deserved a break.

Just as the word ‘break’ entered his thoughts, dread crept up his back even when wrapped in the blankets. He unraveled the burrito and marched over to the servants quarters.

“Have you found out anything new?”

The room was empty except for Kalstras who was busy reading a book. Realizing who came in, he set the book aside. “It was as I thought, Your Highness. None of the male servants helped carry in your possessions that day. All I could find out was that there were five different maids who were assigned to that task. It appears I made a careless mistake by carrying around this book.”

“What do you mean?”

Two days ago, Kieran, Kalstras, and Teal had gone to the library together to grab a book for his studies. While Kull searched for the book, he noticed Kalstras eyeing the bookshelves and told him he could grab one if he liked.

“Servants and Royal Guards have no authority to access the palace library unless given permission by scholars or members of the royal family. I’ve seen a few of the servants around when I was a guard and rumors of the trial that day have been spreading. This book stopped them from speaking with me. I’m sorry, Your Highness.”

“No, no, it’s fine. Just knowing that none of the male servants were there narrows it down a lot. Thanks.”

He climbed the stairs and beelined straight to the maids’ lodgings. The dust and dirt that covered the rails and walls were gone. Halfway down, a commotion caught his ear. He slowed to a crawl and stealthed down a few more steps. Straining his ear, he listened in.

“Teal,” one of the women called out. “While I was doing the monthly check, I found this among your things.”

Teal gasped. Kieran crawled down another step and peeked through the opening between the wall and the staircase. The woman speaking to Teal was one of the upper-maids, meaning she’d been working at the palace for at least ten years. Because of her status, she also didn’t live with Teal in the cellar.

Kieran’s eyes almost popped out of his sockets. In her hand was the jeweled bracelet that was taken days ago.

“What do you have to say for yourself?” said the veteran maid.

Two other maids were in the room and he knew the faces of both of them. One was the plain jane, Janeth, and the other was Margret, the one who seemed to always have it out for Teal.

“I-I had no idea it was even there. There’s no way I’d have something like that…”

“And yet, I found it,” she said.

Margret shook her head, “This is His Highness’ isn’t it? How could you steal from your own master?”

“I didn’t! I-I… I swear I didn’t take it. Please believe me.”

Blood. He could hear his blood pumping through his body like a drumbeat. His arms were shaking and his fingers were cramping. He needed to be calm to help her. Deep breaths struggled to pass through his clamped teeth as he seethed.

“I will have to inform His and Her Majesty about this matter.”

“No,” Teal’s voice cracked.

Kieran stomped down the rest of the stairs, making his presence known.

“Your Highness,” the upper-maid bowed, as did everyone else. “I have something to report.”

He snatched the bracelet from her hand. She took a step back at the forcefulness of it. “No need. How dare you accuse Teal of stealing from me.”

“Y-Your Highness? I do not understand. She said she found the bracelet in her belongings. Surely-”

“Silence!” he cut Margaret off. “Teal is my caretaker. I gave this to her as a sign of my appreciation for her hard work.”

“But, why would she pretend not to know?” asked the veteran maid.

He sneered, “Because unlike the vain, backstabbing, vile people who seek only their benefit, Teal had no intentions of taking advantage of me. Had she told you, I’ve no doubt there’d be servants waiting at my beck and call hoping I would give them the same reward.”

He glared at them, “I will not tolerate this again. Do you understand?”

The maids nodded.

“Good. Leave us.”

The three maids bowed and left. After they shut the cellar, he turned to Teal who was dumbstruck. He tossed the bracelet at her and she juggled it in her hands.

“Y-Young Master. Why?”

“Because I already told them that lie,” he chuckled. “You didn’t steal it did you?”

“No, of course not.”

“Well, I knew it wasn’t you from the start. You wouldn’t steal from me.”

“O-Of course,” she held the bracelet awkwardly in her hands as she bit her lip. Since he declared it was his gift to her, she now had an immense amount of money if she could sell it. There’s no doubt it’d leave her shocked and feeling a bit guilty. Because of this situation, he effectively gifted something he hadn’t meant to give away.

“Who do you think it was?”

“Hm?”

“The thief. The person who framed you.”

“I’m not sure but I think it was Margaret.”

He nodded.

Figures.

With a shrug he started up the stairs. “Enjoy your present, and seriously, stop making that face.”

“What face?” she said, feigning innocence. All the while, he saw the ends of her mouth twitch into a smile.

“That one. If you’re not happy with it, you’re free to sell it or give it away. And in case you’re wondering, no, I’m not sad at all about losing it. I lied to protect you and I’d do it again.”

“You didn’t need to do that…”

He shrugged, “I have to run off to think of an excuse to give my brother if he asks about this.”

He left the ever still Teal in the cellar as she continued to gaze at the new property she owned.