Chapter 20-Bound to Create Enemies

A few minutes later, the fog that was shrouding the banquet area started to disperse.

They noticed that Isabella was standing there in a daze once the fog disappeared completely. Louise was also standing a few steps from her.

The guest's attention turned to the necklace that Louise was holding.

"Lady Isabella lost?" Some of the guests murmured.

Isabella snapped from her daze. She observed that she was no longer in the forest. Instead, Louise was standing a few distances from her. Isabella saw her turned and walked to her seat as if nothing happened.

"Just like that?" all of the guests have the same thinking.

They thought that it would be a one-sided battle. So it was but in a reversed manner.

On the other hand, Prince Roland's eyes widened but soon returned to normal. The Prince's attention turned at the girl who took the necklace. Isabella opened and closed her hands. She was not expecting to lose in the battle.

She looked at Prince Roland with a pitiful gaze. The Prince, who kept on tapping the table, showed a gentle smile to her. When Isabella went back to her seat, Anishina approached her and asked in a low voice.

"Isabella, are you okay with this? The necklace was already with Louise."

Isabella pursed her lips. Of course, she was not okay with it.

"What exactly happened?" Anishina pressed.

"Shut up!"

Anishina's eyes and mouth widened. Isabella pursed her lips. She did not even care whether the other party was offended or not.

The King coughed twice to broke the awkwardness and announced the winner.

"Thank you for giving us such an entertaining battle."

The guests rolled their eyes. Why did it become an entertaining battle when you could only see fog?

But, of course, this was also utter nonsense to King Weyman, but he had to use his glib tongue to soothe the tense atmosphere at the end of the day.

"I, at this moment, announced that the winner of tonight's battle was lady Louise of Duke Gerald Harrington's household."

The King also bestowed a money prize to Louise, which the latter accepted without some reservation.

The banquet went on, and the morning came. Then, all of the royal family guests started to embark on their journey to their kingdoms.

The Duke's family also made their preparation to leave. King Weyman gave him some precious items that their kingdom was able to amass during the span of his reign. He even sent the crown prince to see the family off.

After the formal farewell bid, the Duke went to Louise's carriage only to find it empty. He then found a letter on top of the table which he read:

"Please go on without me. I have some important matters to do. -Louise"

After he read the letter, it suddenly turned into particles and disappeared. The Duke returned to his carriage and started their journey back to the capital. Viscount's Frey Yander carriage.

Viscount Frey stared at her daughter. The Viscount looked calm, but the veins on his hands were bulging.

Isabella was silent and bit her lips. She knew that though the Prince may not say it, he was pretty disappointed with the result of the yesternights' duel. She even lost the necklace that he gave him, so it was an understandable reaction.

The Viscount was supposed to join his wife. But he insisted on joining Isabella. The air inside the carriage was stiff that she was having a hard time to breath.

"Now, how are you supposed to fix this? I can't believe that your stupidity took you. Now what?!" He spoke.

"I'm sorry, father."

Isabella lowered her head.

"We have to take the necklace no matter what the method is," He said, "And you are not allowed to go out once we return to the capital. You made me lose face."

"I understand, father."

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Prince Roland carriage.

Prince Roland sipped his tea and sat leisurely. In front of him was one of his close friends, the son of Marquess Deruch, Lord Bimos Brook.

"What are you planning to do now, Roland?"

There were only the two of them, so Bimos called the Prince by his first name.

Prince Roland raised his brow.

"Are you referring to the necklace?" He then casually shrugged, "I'm not planning anything."

"So you're going to sit idle? Isn't that necklace an essential item?" Bimos asked.

He knew because Prince Roland used his connection to purchase the item from the auction house.

Roland placed his teacup and answered.

"It's not like I could take it by force. Besides, that lady was pretty strong. She was able to beat Isabella in a short period. Maybe shorter than that if she was earnest." He said.

"Where did Duke Gerald got that lady? I heard that only the Duke could meet her and even reprimanded his second wife for breaking the rule. She had a substantial influence on the Duke."

"Oh? So the rumor was true?" The Prince praised him, "Your intelligence network was superb, my dear friend."

"You could get that petty info if you are interested to know," Bimos said.

He then continued.

"Then, are you planning to visit the Duke's residence to talk it out?" Bimos queried.

The Prince shrugged.

"There were other methods that were easier than that."

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A few hours later. In Mystical Forest.

Louise tossed the prized necklace on her palm and smiled towards Vendi and Heron, who returned to their child's form.

"Master, you have lots of enemies now," Heron said.

Louise tilted her head.

"Aren't I amazing? Getting something as precious as this necklace was bound to create enemies. Well, it's not like they were my friends either."

"But 'He' specifically mentioned that you have to be careful all the time and not create any more opponents when necessary."

Louise casually replied.

"But this was necessary. An underhanded method, was it? Well, I also have methods to deal with them. Don't you agree?"