Excited cheers erupted from the stands. Thousands and thousands of people cried out in excitement once the battle concluded.
They looked at the bloody spectacle with fervor in their eyes, as though they were in drugs.
Not everybody was like that, though.
Across the stands, I could see some people crying sadly and looking towards the arena with expressions of grief and despair.
It was easy to understand the reason behind these expressions.
Looking around, I could see several bodies lying on the ground, breathless and quickly losing their last bit of warmth.
With a quick glance, I counted more than thirty bodies, and almost all of them were commoners.
A frown appeared on my face. This number of deaths is a bit too high.
At the end of the day, today's tournament has as purpose to choose a husband for Dina. It should not be so bloody.
If choosing Dina's husband requires so many deaths, it will leave a bad impression on the people of the empire. They will think the imperial family doesn't mind sacrificing the lives of the commoners just to boost their image.
But thirty deaths are way more than what can happen accidentally. It's obvious someone did it on purpose.
That is the reason I find it weird. It's not something that affects just Dina, but the entire imperial family. The emperor, the empress, and Alan should know they must not do this kind of thing even if they want to diminish Dina's standing.
And in fact, looking at the booth where the imperial family was, I could see Dina, the emperor, and the empress frowning slightly, obviously thinking the same as me.
Only Alan kept a calm face, as though he was not surprised by this.
I squinted. This idiot, what is thinking about?
He did not even tell the empress about it. Otherwise, she would have stopped him.
Mmm… it looks like I should investigate it a little bit.
After the first part of the tournament finished, the remaining contestants were given one hour to rest and return to top condition. The tournament would resume one hour later.
I was taken to one of the waiting rooms on the arena and told to wait there until it was my turn.
But not even five minutes after that, someone knocked on the door.
Frowning, I opened the door.
Two servant-like men were waiting outside.
One of them held a tray with some snacks and drinks. He excused himself and entered the waiting room, putting the tray on a table inside.
Meanwhile, the second servant bowed slightly with a respectful expression.
"Mr. Clark, my name is Abel, and I am a servant under Crown Prince Alan."
Oh?
What is it now?
"I see. Do you need anything?"
"Yes. I bring a message from the crown prince."
"The crow prince?" I raised an eyebrow. "What does the prince want with me?"
The servant said nothing. Instead, he took a pouch from his waist and offered it to me.
I just needed to hear the clanking sounds coming from the pouch to know the content.
Gold coins.
Oh? So he expects I receive the money and lose intentionally?
It looks like my older brother doesn't want to see me win.
How interesting. He should not know about my true identity. Why does he want to stop me from winning then?
For now, let's see if I can obtain a bit more information.
Putting on a frown, I spoke up with a clearly displeased expression.
"What is the meaning of this?"
"Please hear me first, Mr. Clark. I know that you are interested in the princess, however, marrying a princess is not easy, and even if you win, there will be many difficulties afterward. At the very least, the crown prince will not accept anyone as his brother-in-law. On the other hand, if you accept this pouch, you will have enough money to live the rest of your life as a king and the crown prince will owe you a favor. You just need to lose. Don't you think it's better to accept the money instead?"
Hehe, what nice rhetoric.
The carrot and the stick. He first threatens me subtly before offering me a deal.
However, I still don't understand why he is doing this. He should not care about who Dina marries as long as she marries off and becomes unable to compete against him for the throne.
Still curious, I waved my hand.
Immediately, the two servants that entered the room became dazed.
I then extended my hand and touched the forehead of the servant in front of me.
With a thought, my will invaded his mind, searching for the memories and information I needed.
This time I was very careful. I made sure to not hurt the servant soul in the slightest.
When it ends, the servant will not notice what happened.
Fortunately, it seemed like Alan found this servant relatively trustworthy, so he found the information I needed in his mind.
So, it's that, huh.
I frowned slightly and a hint of killing intent leaked out of my body.
According to the servant's memories, my brother allied himself with Louis. Apparently, he promised to help Louis to win in exchange for a promise.
My brother hoped Louis could make sure Dina is unable to aim for the throne anymore, no matter the means. And Louis promised him he was going to domesticate Dina.
I was furious when I heard that.
It looks like I will have to teach that young man a painful lesson.
The reason Alan made this deal with Louis was that Alan was afraid that Dina's future husband would turn ambitious once he becomes her fiancée and support her to become the empress.
Although the probability of that happening was very low, it was still possible. Hence, he wanted to make sure that doesn't happen.
With a sigh, I released the forehead of the servant and returned him and the other servant to normal.
The servant shook slightly and woke up. He then looked at me in confusion. But one second later, his expression returned to normal.
"Then, Mr. Clark, what is your answer?"
I put on a stern expression purposefully and shook my head.
"I'm sorry, but my pride will not allow me to lose a match so important like this purposefully."
The servant frowned. He looked at me and spoke up with a tone a lot colder than a moment ago.
"Mr. Clark, are you sure you will not cooperate?"
I said nothing, just smiling coldly to show my intention.
Seeing that, the servant nodded. "I understand. I hope you don't regret it then. Kein, let's go."
The second servant nodded and left the waiting room together with the first servant.
With a snap of my fingers, these snacks caught fire, quickly burning into cinders.
They were poisoned. According to the memories of the first servant, the second servant had orders to poison the snacks if I refused the offer.
Very vicious.
Well, this kind of poison will not hurt me even if I eat it purposefully.
Now then, let's start the second part of the tournament.
…
At the same time, in another waiting room.
Louis stared at Alan with an ice-cold look as he heard about Alan's plan.
"… I don't like it. I don't need to use this kind of dirty trick to win."
"What is the problem? That poison is very hard to detect and even the person that consumed it will only think he is not in top condition. Nobody will discover it."
"Perhaps you are right. But using poison to defeat my enemies shows a lack of confidence. Could it be you think these idiots can defeat me?"
"Come on, it's just a precaution." Alan smiled uncaringly. "Plus, I already ordered it. We can't stop it now."
Louis clicked his tongue and looked away.
Even though he did not agree with the crown prince's methods, the two of them were in an alliance, so he could only bear with it.
However–
"I hope you don't do something like this again, prince. Otherwise, our alliance will end here."
Alan's eyes glowed with a tinge of killing intent, but he quickly hid it.
Instead, he put on a courteous smile and nodded.
"I understand, my friend."
....
P4TRE0N: patr-eon.com/aidnovels