The Sub Male Lead is Burning with Jealousy - Chapter 9 Part 12
Rahil cast a sidelong glance toward where Duke Noer was seated. The Duke, noticing Rahil’s gaze, hastily turned away.
“Empress.”
Rahil took Anais’s hand and quietly conveyed the chamberlain’s words, ensuring the other dukes wouldn’t hear. At this, Anais’s face took on a thoughtful look.
“If we follow the proper procedures, there won’t be any problems.”
“Is that so?”
Rahil gave the chamberlain a look that said, ‘You heard her.’ The chamberlain bowed, indicating he would act on the order, and left. Meanwhile, inside the arena, the event of capturing and penning the rabbits—under the guise of taming them—was finishing up, and a winner would soon be determined.
The event staff dashed about, collecting any rabbits still uncaptured. Those remaining rabbits were to be distributed, one per citizen chosen by lottery from the audience.
Now it was time to begin the second trial. Anais gestured to her maid. Today’s questions for the Maiden of Abundance candidates were to be revealed on the spot.
To prevent cheating or meddling, a set of fake questions had been leaked beforehand. Anyone who had bribed a palace official to obtain the questions in advance would now be in trouble since the real questions were known only to Anais herself. She had planned them out and only just now written them on a slip of paper sealed in an envelope.
Mary quickly fetched the envelope she had safeguarded and handed it to Anais. At Anais’s gesture, the envelope was passed on to the chamberlain, who placed it carefully on a tray and carried it to the announcer in the arena.
Soon, the announcer’s magically amplified voice resounded throughout the arena. Watching as the test of wisdom—the second trial—commenced, Anais smiled.
* * *
The severed heads of the monsters each candidate had slain were loaded onto carts and transported into the arena. They weren’t taken directly into the main grounds but moved instead to waiting rooms within the arena building.
Since they were freshly severed, blood still dripped from the heads, and all the while, the second trial for the Maiden of Abundance candidates was still ongoing.
In reality, the monsters summoned by the mages were determined based on the candidates’ performance in the first three trials, though the candidates themselves were unaware of this. They simply believed the summoned monsters were determined by chance.
Some, like Kirthalros, had brought back the head of a chimera, while others had slain wyverns, trolls, or even orcs and goblins. Those carrying the heads of powerful monsters stood proudly, brimming with confidence, while those who hadn’t were visibly frustrated and resentful.
“…There’s no need to feel so disheartened. I heard that if you answer the Empress’s questions properly, you can advance to the tournament regardless of the monster you defeated.”
Hearing the candidates trying to encourage one another, the event officials exchanged awkward glances. None of the young nobles seemed to realize that the ‘bad luck’ they faced in monster selection was deliberate—a measure taken to preserve the dignity of their respective families.
However, if they were selected for the tournament, it would be impossible to hide their true skill. As the battles would take place in front of countless spectators filling the arena’s stands.
‘If any of them were truly that skilled, they would’ve taken the imperial knight exam already,’ the staff thought.
Among the candidates, there were indeed a few who were truly strong. Such individuals rarely waited a year before attempting the knight’s exam.
At last, four young ladies had been chosen as candidates for the Maiden of Abundance. At the same time, the officials guided the young noblemen—now candidates for the Knight of Autumn—into a line. Those who had severed their monster’s head the fastest were placed at the front, regardless of their family rank.
Servants provided by each family stood a few steps away, holding the monster heads. Because of the varying sizes of the heads, the candidates naturally ended up spaced apart from one another.
A booming march echoed through the arena as the candidates for the Knight of Autumn entered the circular arena alongside the monstrous heads they had claimed.
The spectators craned their necks to get a better look at the severed heads. Not a single pair of identical monster heads was displayed, guaranteeing that each candidate’s catch was unique.
‘That one… is he Emil Kirthalros?’
From their elevated seats—reserved only for the imperial family and ducal houses—the Emperor and Empress looked down at the candidates from a high vantage point. Rahil’s gaze looking down was cold and sharp.
Most of the candidates were young and inexperienced, their tension evident as they stood stiffly under the cheers of the crowd.
Those who had experience, however, exuded confidence. They knew that failing to impress the Empress meant elimination from the tournament, but those who believed they had slain a worthy monster remained hopeful.
By this point, the four candidates for the Maiden of Abundance, along with the other noblewomen, had retreated to the arena’s inner chambers to prepare. They would return before the tournament began, once the Empress had finished judging the monsters.
Anais leaned toward Rahil and whispered, “What do you think, Your Majesty?”
“About Emil Kirthalros, you mean?”
“Yes.”
She knew Rahil could clearly see the candidate’s face even from this distance. Rahil’s eyes narrowed as he scrutinized Kirthalros.
“His gait isn’t that of a trained swordsman. But there’s a certain confidence in his eyes… not that foolish bravado you see in youngsters, but something else…”
It was the kind of look Rahil had only ever seen in seasoned mages, not swordsmen. That realization made him frown. Kirthalros couldn’t have been more than his early twenties—clearly younger than both Rahil and Anais. For someone so young to pass these trials with magic alone seemed impossible, unless he was a prodigy of the highest caliber.
‘If only we had a high-level mage here,’ Rahil thought. Summoning monsters required no more than a mid-level mage. Arkhen and his apprentices were busy collaborating with Emilio, who was currently preoccupied elsewhere.
According to Rodrigo’s latest report, they had pinpointed the dragon’s palace somewhere deep within a northern mountain range and were now tracking its movements. The dragon had used three consecutive warps, with the most recent location placing it somewhere in the Empire’s east.
