397: A Tough Competition

A Tough Competition

Soon, the results came out, and only twenty people passed, which was very less in comparison to the number of people who attended it.2

The audience was astonished to see that only a few of them passed, but this also made them realize how difficult the written exam was and also the fact that these twenty participants were the best among the best in alchemy.

Maximus entered the alchemy hall and smiled at the people who were cheering and praising him. However, his eyes were constantly wandering around, observing the other participants to see whether the man he was looking for was here or not.

But other than the people he knew like Kale, Tristen, and some others, he didn't feel like the others were the people were looking for because nothing stood out.

However, Kale, who was happy that only twenty had passed and that the competition would be very less, was shocked to see Tristen in the same hall with him.

He couldn't understand how a fool who never properly studied alchemy was able to worm his way in and thought that Tristen might have evaded the guards on purpose out of desperation for getting a chance to marry the princess and also to become the crown prince.

"Senior, can you please conduct a headcount to see if all the qualified participants are here," Kale asked one of the head alchemists standing in the front, who also seemed to be one of the judges of this competition.

The head alchemist shifted his gaze to see Kale asking him to do a headcount when he already had done so after all the twenty came in.

He didn't want to bother with his question, but since Kale was a prince from the Gale Empire, he didn't want to show any disrespect and said, "I have already done the headcount, and all the qualified candidates are here."

"B-But...how…" Kale mumbled to himself and looked at Tristen, giving him a mocking smile that only infuriated him even more.

He didn't dare to believe Tristen became a genius in alchemy in such a short time when there have been no signs before or saw him concocting any pills.

He felt that he must have cheated his way through somehow.

Suddenly, the audience and everyone became silent when they saw the well-decorated door on the mezzanine open and saw King Krisen coming out with regal bearings and Yuria walking beside him with a veil on her face.

She immediately scanned the whole alchemy hall to see the one person she wanted to but was disappointed to not see Damien here and wondered how he could not pass.

She was sure he was an alchemy genius and couldn't help but wonder what he was thinking. King Krisen was of the same opinion, but still, he felt that it didn't matter much considering the recent developments and that this competition was no more an event to win the hand of the princess but turned into something akin to increasing their kingdom's influence by showing their generosity by rewarding great talents.

Kale immediately straightened his expression and put up a calm and cool demeanor to impress Yuria, but it seemed as if she wasn't even glancing in his direction.

He tried to follow her gaze to know where she was looking and saw her looking at Tristen, which made him clench his fists since this was not the first time he saw her looking at Tristen.

But he had no idea that Yuria was only looking at Tristen because she knew he was somehow involved with Damien and might know where he was.

She now definitely didn't have any interest in seeing the alchemy competition but decided to come to keep up appearances. She felt that being a princess was good and all, especially getting to enjoy the luxuries and having maids and servants at her beck and call. But she still felt that she missed her old life where she didn't have to act like she was somebody else or do things to keep up her status and just be herself.

King Krisen knew the personality of his daughter, and that was why he was never confident about marrying her off, feeling that her potential husband might not be able to handle her.

But now, he couldn't help but beam inwardly that the gods had already found a man for her, a predestined one at that who truly understood and loved her.

Even though he didn't know Damien much to trust him with his daughter, he could sense the love between these two and how passionate they were. So he chose to trust his daughter's decision and didn't make things hard for Damien.

He already observed the subtle changes in his daughter, how she gave off an air of maturity, and that she was capable of making her own decisions.

Maximus also looked in Yuria's direction but sighed, seeing that her mind was elsewhere. King Krisen could only shake his head, wondering how to send off Maximus without any hard feelings.

After all, he was sure this could put a strain on their friendly relations that stood strong for more than a decade.

But just as Maximus was about to turn his head, he saw Tristen sitting behind him, looking up and smiling at someone.

When he followed his gaze, he saw he was smiling at Yuria, who was also looking at him with a strange gaze.

Damien had taken control of Tristen's body personally by now and smiled at Yuria and wondered whether she could recognize him.

Yuria was confused to see Tristen smiling at her so blatantly, and just when she was about to consider him as an uncouth degenerate, she noticed that his smile and the way he was looking at her seemed somewhat familiar making her continue to look at him with a confused gaze.

Maximus turned straight as countless speculations stormed in his mind, making him feel even more puzzled. He couldn't understand how a prince infamous for his promiscuity was able to gain the attention of a pure beauty like Yuria, who was as innocent as a flower.

One of the head alchemists spoke up, seeing that everyone was seated and ready, "Congratulations to all the qualified participants. We will now be starting the next phase of the competition."

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