The Crown and The Rose
Chapter 37: The Second Day (Part 2.5)

Chapter 37: The Second Day (Part 2.5)

The Crown

"Oh my lord, look! We have found the treasure box!" The first voice exclaims enthusiastically.

"Well, but I am afraid that this box is soon going to be mine." Seraphina steps out of the bush with a little rustle, her dark smooth hair flowing around her because of the gentle wind that contrasts Seraphina’s svageness. "And you guys are giving it to me."

There are two girls and two boys on the opposing team. As soon as they spot Seraphina, their faces whiten as if their blood has been drained from their face entirely as fear takes over them.

"L-Lady, Seraphina...?" The second girl who is a little shorter than the first girl, tumbles out, her limbs shaking with fear and her eyes losing the ray of hope, "Why are you coming after us?! What did we do?!"

"Nothing." Seraphina smiles poisonously, "I just liked the little box in your hands and It would be a waste of time if I went around the forest, looking for another one like this. So I will be taking yours."

The first girl’s pupil shrinks and she staggers back, terror evident on her face, "W-We need to run! RUN!" She whips around and starts to run, and so do her teammates.

"Erick, stop them." Seraphina barks sharply, and a sword of fire appears in her hand as she charges toward the scramming demons.

"Roger that." Edward bends down and slams a fist onto the solid ground, thick and invadable roots start to break onto the surface of the smooth soil, and lunge at the four demons who are running away at a very dangerous speed.

The root creates a giant wall before the four individuals, preventing them from running away.

"W-What do we do now?" The boy who is holding on to the treasure box asks nervously, his eyes wide with horror, "They have blocked our route of running away."

There is a loud agonized scream which catches everyone’s attention and everyone turns to the source. Seraphina has taken down the first girl soundlessly. But seemingly the demon girl is still alive.

"Seraphina, don’t kill her!" I bark at her from the sidelines, I will not take part in this ambush, "We are only after the treasure chest! Don’t take lives unnecessarily!"

Seraphina rolls her eyes to me, "They will die sooner or later. Why can’t I kill her now?"

"Because I say so." Suddenly I am gone from the sidelines and I am behind the demond boy who has the treasure box. My voice is low and dangerous, "And you know the result of disobedience."

The boy whips around, his eyes are as big as they can be, he is sweating profusely, and his limbs and shaking, "H-How are you here? Y-You were just standing over there...!"

I just smile and don’t answer his question, "I will take this." I snatch away the treasure box in his hand at a tremendous speed, "Thank you." I then chop his neck with my hand which knocks him out almost immediately. "Let the rest go, Edward," I command.

"Yes." Edward nods and withdraws his fist from the ground. The roots start to shrink back under the soil, opening the path once more.

I then turn to the two demons who are still standing on their feet somehow and smile, "I thought you were running away? Please continue. Oh yes, please take your comrades as well."

The two demons are paralyzed with fear but they stiffly nod anyway and pick up their teammates before running away with tails between their legs.

As for how I am here... I used my magic. I controlled my magic and prevented any light from reflecting on me which made me invisible to others’ eyes. I also fed Erick my hair, making him disguise as me to make everyone think that I was standing on the sidelines and just observing. And you know the rest after that.

"So that is it?" Erick asks, amused as all of us regroup, "We won? This easily?"

"This is just the start," Edward states, "We will have a lot to—"

Boom!

There is a loud explosion just where we are standing. The explosion catches us off guard and we are blown out of our feet. I hit the ground at least ten meters away from where I was actually standing, I lost my grip on the treasure box and I hit my head on the ground pretty badly. I lose consciousness for a brief while.

Everything is in chaos when I open my eyes. Trees are on fire and there is an arson. The burnt smell of trees is grazing my nose and making me sick in the stomach. Black smoke is obscuring my view.

I try a futile attempt to blink away the drowsiness. My head is ringing but my heart is unusually calm. Suddenly I hear a cruel yet familiar laugh just a few feet away from me and footsteps approaching me.

"Oh my Lord, this is the mighty prince, my brother was choosing over me, how stupid." Seraphina bends down a little and moves my head with the tip of her shoe, "The prince who couldn’t even identify a true traitor. Who couldn’t even protect himself, let alone the others around him."

"Seraphina, you bitch..." I grit out, anger slithering and sneering inside me like a snake, "I shouldn’t have let you join our team in the first place." Blood pools inside my mouth but I shallow it down. Not wanting to show any weakness in front of the demon.

"Oh you are still alive, Your Highness?" Seraphina acts to be surprised, "I thought you already have kicked the bucket. How fascinating."

"Why did you do that?" I bite out, my eyes are blood red as I keep glaring at her, "We were doing just fine."

"Oh, my naive prince." Seraphina scoffs, "Why did I do that? Well isn’t it obvious? I want to kill you, Lush Von Blade. And I Will kill you. In fact, you are already at the death’s door. You and I can never be allies."

"But you can’t survive without a team in this trial." I don’t take my eyes off her, my limbs are mobilized and useless, and I can’t even move a single finger.

"Oh, did you get the instruction wrong, Lush?" Seraphina smiles and I want to burn it down, "Professor Felix said, that the mages will teleport back whoever the owner of the treasure box is." She holds out the little box in her hands, "He didn’t specify that we have to be in a group to be teleported back and pass the trial. We just had to work together and I think we already have done it."

I curse underneath my breath. I didn’t consider this possibility.

"Now then, my prince, I will let you die slowly." She dangles the box in her hand, "And I will be taking this little treasure. Bye-bye, take care, never see you again." Seraphina walks away. I watch her retreating form vanishing into the black smoke.

Remorse fills me up as I remember the choice I made just a few hours ago. And right now I want nothing more than correcting it. But I can’t. I am so useless...

Blood fills my vision as my head starts to go blurry once more. My vision fills with black big beads and I lose consciousness one more.

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