The Crown's Entrapment

“Yesssss!!!”

The loud cheers from the crowd resonated throughout the open shrine in the Capital City of Cordon, the sacred area where every Cordonian was free to witness the trial that was happening inside the Element Forest being undertaken by the King’s human wife.

The particular shrine had stone benches scattered around the area for viewing purposes, But due to the number of people that went to watch the trial, they weren’t enough to seat the numerous Cordonians that had gathered in front of it. As a result, some ended up watching from a standing position, while others craned their necks amongst the crowd before them just to have a better view of the scene playing out from the symbol.

Among the audience, Jayra and Freya were raptly watching, the two of them disguised as male commoners to avoid unwanted attention. The two also shouted at the top of their lungs when they saw their friend and sister-in-law pass the trial by fire. And Freya was actually still trembling at that point.

“My heart almost burst out from my chest just from seeing that!” Freya exclaimed as she put a hand over her chest to calm herself down. “That was too intense a scene. Thankfully, it’s over… I can finally breathe normally again!”

With the trial finished, the crowd soon left the vicinity of the shrine. Perhaps the symbol would glow again and show another vision of the trials once her sister-in-law reached her next destination. From there, they’d be able to see whoever it was amongst the guardians would be the next to test her.

Leaving, Freya and Jayra looked at each other with a wide and satisfied grin as they watched the audience leave. With a nod, the latter smiled as she said, “Let’s go for now. Shall we see my sister-in-law next?”

Freya nodded. Right, Bella was at the arena right now for the preliminaries. Quickly getting up from her seat, they both started walking ahead with Jayra as they made their way to the arena.

“Say, did you not encounter any problems whenever you sneak out of the castle in Ebodia with my sister-in-law?” Freya curiously asked.

“Hmm, sometimes we do, but since I’m with Princess Xenia, we were always pardoned anyway.” Jayra giggled. “Heh… Well, they’ll scold us, but that’ll be the end of it. Really, the men in the royal family will always have a soft spot for the women.”

Freya nodded, understanding what Jayra meant since the same went for her mother and brother. They had a soft spot for her as the youngest, but of course, she wasn’t free from being scolded if she ever committed something wrong.

She smiled upon recalling how she ended up outside the castle in disguise with Jayra. This morning, she went to her friend’s private chamber to return her books and have some of their usual casual talks, but then she saw Jayra wearing a man’s clothes, so she asked the latter what she was planning on doing.

Jayra then told her that she planned to go out of the castle and watch Xenia’s trial together among the populace so that she could also hear the opinions of some Cordonians towards her Princess. And of course, hearing that, Freya decided that she’d tag along for the ride.

“I’m so glad I checked on you a while ago. Being in disguise like this is so much fun,” Freya giggled. “It’s like you can do whatever you like without even bothering whether you’re being a proper lady or not. I can see why you and my sister-in-law did this often now. Ah, even my brother did the same with pulling that prank on us together with Sister-in-law when they last returned.”

Freya couldn’t help but giggle as she remembered how that couple played a prank on them during dinner. No one recognized them except for Jayra, and she could only imagine what it was like at the moment.

She was really having fun with her disguise as a lad right now while roaming the city outskirts with Jayra, and no one seemed to recognize her as the very Princess of the kingdom they were. If she only knew that something like this was as exciting as this way before then, she would’ve done it a long time ago.

Walking beside Jayra, Freya still harbored a wide grin on her face as she took in all the sights around her. Absently, she wondered if Gideon would be able to recognize her in her disguise, only for it to dawn on her that he would simply pick up on her scent, so he would definitely recognize her anyway.

‘Ah, so unfair,’ she inwardly shrugged. ‘Pity I won’t be able to trick him this way…’

“What’s with the long face?” Jayra asked, probably have noticed the sudden change in her demeanor. “Weren’t you having fun just a while ago?”

“Indeed. I’m enjoying what we’re doing so far, so I thought I could prank Gideon with it,” Freya explained. “But unfortunately, we’re mates so it’s no use. He’ll recognize my scent instantly…”

Jayra chuckled. With a mischievous smile, she said, “I have a way for him not to recognize your scent, you know.”

“Really?”

Freya halted on her steps as she rapidly blinked at Jayra. The latter, in turn, nodded and boasted, “Are you forgetting that I’m a royal mage? One of the best in our kingdom with spells and magic?”

Freya’s eyes widened in excitement. “Right! You can hide my scent from him! Oh heavens! This will be fun,” she giggled in anticipation. “Please use your spell on me right now. I want to see if he’ll still recognize me even in my disguise!”

“Hah, this reminds me of how Princess Xenia tortured your brother into thinking that his mate is a lad…” Jayra hesitantly chuckled. “Lord Gideon will probably kill me if he falls victim to this trick that you’re planning.”

“Well, yeah. But please though?”

Doing her best to plead, Freya begged with her ever so tender blinking eyes and fluttering lashes. She even grabbed Jayra’s hands as she pouted to the high heavens.

“Fine then. Just let me go so that we won’t make a scene here,” Jayra scoffed. “We’re both male right now, and holding me like this looks weird.”

“Thank you, brother!” Freya beamed with her most manly voice, making Jayra laugh.

….

“Who would’ve thought that the Princess of Ebodia is that skillful? She already passed the trial by fire. She moved so fast during it, and she’s remarkable.”

….

Freya and Jayra looked at each other as they heard praises coming from the people talking as they passed by.

…..

“Hah! Didn’t you hear the Basilisk last night? She mentioned how the Princess isn’t even human. She said she was special! And she’s quite the fighter too…”

Freya’s face brightened, hearing those praises being heaped upon her sister-in-law.

But while there were some that praised the Princess, not all were convinced of Xenia’s capabilities just yet. There were still some negative comments floating about, like from another man with a messy beard.

“She’s just got lucky at this point! With her fragile body being like that… I’m sure she won’t last until tomorrow.”

Jayra suddenly coughed, and Freya gulped at seeing how red Jayra’s face was right now.