The Alpha's Revenge

Chapter 22: Yearly Examination

“Lady Kira, someone is approaching” Bariston whispered.

Kira raised her head and saw a beautiful girl, wearing an ocean blue dress. Her curly hair is tied up into a bun, making her neckline highlighted. She smiled politely when she recognized that person.

“Good evening milady!… Fancy meeting you here again, Lady Kira.” The woman in a blue dress spoke. It was Katelyn Saige, the manager they met in the Medical Pavilion.

Without waiting for an invitation, Katelyn sat across from her and noticed the chess board on the table. “Why are you playing by yourself?… Why not play a game with me? I’m pretty good at it.”

Kira stared at her for a while before rearranging the chess pieces. “So, Ms. Saige managed to recognize me?”

She knew that Katelyn recognized her as the cloaked woman who bought those expensive herbs the other day. About how she recognized her, she doesn't have any clue.

“Of course… How can I not recognize a talented physician like you?” she chuckled and took the black pieces to her side. “Aren’t you going to ask how I learned that it was you?”

Kira smiled but didn’t answer... She took the white pieces with her and made the first move. “Your turn”

Katelyn saw that Kira’s first move was an unexpected one. She had played a lot of times in the past but she didn’t see anyone playing like her. She turned serious instantly and focused on the game. It’s rare to meet a challenging opponent, so she won’t waste it…

Move after move, they were just playing the game. They ignored the crowd, especially the participants who were already preparing for the examination. It’s like they came to the event just to play chess, not to compete in the yearly examination.

Soon, Kira made an unexpected move that made Katelyn caught off guard. “How…” she stared wide-eyed at the girl in front of her.

Kira smiled and said plainly, “Checkmate...”

“How did you do that?! I didn’t expect you to have that kind of strategy!” Katelyn looked down at the chessboard. At first, she just wanted to have a casual talk with her, but after the game, her interest was sparked.

“What kind of tactic is this?…”

“You were careless in the first part of the game…” Kira said plainly. She pointed at the piece she moved first, “At first, you cannot see anything. That’s why you became careless. It’s like diversion…”

She pointed at the piece that looked harmless in the beginning, but in fact, it became the connection that leads to all the black pieces being trapped. “By using the strongest piece as bait, you became reckless and forgot the other weak pieces. That’s how I managed to trap you.”

Katelyn shuddered… During the whole game, Kira wasn’t planning to save her strongest piece. Instead, she wanted to sacrifice it to divert the attention of her opponent. That's where she was trapped. She was so focused on capturing that bait, not knowing that her other pieces were in a fragile position.

Lady Kira's real goal is to use her weak and ordinary pieces to attack and catch her off guard… Usually, people would opt to save their strongest pieces and use the weak pieces as bait but Kira did the opposite.

She raised her eyes and brightened. She was enlightened after their game, “Good thing I didn’t believe in rumors, Lady Kira!”

“I expected no less from you, Ms. Saige”

Their conversation was halted when it was announced that the competition was about to begin.

Before the competition is about to start, Master Javier is first going to speak. It was a tradition they do every year and a lot of the participants are inspired by his speeches every time.

Kira picked up the white piece she used to defeat Katelyn earlier... Just like this ordinary piece, the pieces in her father’s hand were like how Katelyn thought they would be. He would save the strongest piece and use the weak one as bait.

The chess piece in her hand is just like herself. She was the weakest piece in her father’s hand. That’s why she became the bait…

“Why do you have no reactions at all? Aren’t you inspired by your father’s words?… It was encouraging, in my opinion.” Seeing her remaining silent and not even a single trace of admiration was shown in Kira’s eyes.

It’s like the person speaking earlier was not related to her. Katelyn felt somewhat strange, “Don’t you like your father?”

Kira raised her head and looked at her.

Katelyn was shocked. That one look made her heart freeze and she felt the sudden urge to kneel. She only felt this once because of that person. But she didn’t expect to feel the same thing with this infamous princess in their castle.

She knew instantly that Kira wasn’t happy with what she had just said. She paused and cleared her throat before speaking, “Actually, I don’t like him as well… He was flawless and perfect, but I don’t believe in such things. It’s unrealistic.”

This time Kira took a serious look at Katelyn. She did not expect to hear this from her. Throughout the entire castle, Master Javier was viewed as the most perfect person. He was loved by his citizens and no one could criticize him in any way.

She slowly said, “You are not afraid of him… I can see that clearly.”

“Is that so obvious?” Katelyn chuckled, “There’s only one person that I’m afraid of and that’s not Master Javier… But I think there will be two in the future.” she continued with a knowing smile.

Kira did not continue to speak to her. She knew there was a hidden meaning behind her words but she didn’t want to indulge in it. She still has other things to do.

The sound of drums rumbles as the musicians plucked their instruments. The music entered everyone’s ears and, due to the unique magnificent sound, almost all the youth participating in the examination felt a surge of emotions.

The music made them want to show off their talent and a trace of excitement flashed on everyone’s faces. The entire audience was enveloped in the vastness might of the royal family.

Everyone was moved but there was one who had a look of indifference on her face. Kira’s eyes landed on the person who was at the center playing the drums.

This was the favorite thing that her father loved to do. To move the hearts of the young and to dedicate themselves to the royal family. This exciting music will become their funeral songs in the future, since it pushes people to their death.

The fight for power will make these youths become sacrificial lambs… And some of them might even become test subjects for the royal family.

Kira knew that she could not save everyone. And she’s no saint to save them because of goodwill. She’s not like that… But, she will make sure that she can save her own people.

Everyone was in their own thoughts when the music ended their performance. The examination was about to start.

For this year’s examination, male and female participants are on equal footing. They can compete with each other no matter what their status is. However, the examination is separated into two. The scholarly and military arts.

The first examination is the scholarly arts, where the participants can show off their skills in painting, music, dance, and poems. While the second part is the military arts, where they can compete in wolf hunting, shooting arrows, and sword fighting.

Mostly, females tend to participate only in the scholarly arts, since it needs more physical labor than the military arts. This is also the reason why her sister, Valerie, shined in every examination. She would always become the winner in every category of scholarly arts, be it painting, music, dance, or poem. This brings more fame and glory to her that no other female could contend with.

But the rules for this year are quite different than in the past years. This year, every examination is divided into three parts. Draw out, selection, and challenge.

In the first round, there would be random draw lots and whoever was called, both of them would have to compete with each other. So, the weaker player can choose what type of exam they will take, either the scholarly or military arts.

For the second part, the selection. They can choose which area they are good at and have the judges decide the winners.

And for the last part, the challenge. They can challenge anyone among the participants. This was mostly done when both the participants are evenly matched.

So, all in all, these rules are made to have her humiliated. That’s why she was so hesitant to compete in the past. But because of Franz Devon, she gathered up that courage and competed, but in the end, was utterly scolded by her father in front of the whole castle.