Masked Girl and Her Prince 5 Chapter 5 : The Rules

Zelal snapped out of his daze and looked at his brother thinking that this would atleast change his mind but to his surprise, he found that Usui was looking for someone else in the room and didn't pay attention to the princess. Dismayed Zelal turned to look in the direction his brother was looking to find that he was staring at the thunder squad members, who also came along with the princess, in the hall. He right away knew whom his brother was looking for and could only sigh internally, 'Looks like my brother won't change his decision easily.'

Except Freya, others were present in the hall, each dressed up in their best clothes. Liz also returned to the hall and stood next to Jinha, talking quietly. Zelal didn't know why but he found him standing very close to Liz and that irked him. On seeing this, Zelal couldn't help but grit his teeth and look daggers at him. If eyes could murder a person, Jinha would have died thousands times. While whispering, both of them noticed a murderous gaze at them and turned to look in that direction. That gaze sent chills through Jinha while Liz looked at him aloofly.

Amused, Jinha smiled to Liz saying, "Look's like someone's all ready to kill me."

Liz was oblivious to what he meant, asked, "What do you mean?" and turned to search for any threats.

He laughed at her which made her more confused. Jinha couldn't stop laughing seeing her look at him with her puzzled expression.

He patted her head and said, " You will understand later."

He thought to himself, ' Why do people always choose the difficult path?! Poor guy! he has a long way to go.'

Jinha winked at her and walked away not before giving a smirk to Zelal. He wanted to trigger him,on which he succeeded as Zelal wanted to wipe his smirk off his face.

Zelal was surprised at himself for loosing control over his emotions as this was the first time it had occured to him. He glanced at Liz again, who was observing the party quietly oblivious to all the looks she got. He could feel the lewdness of the royals and wanted nothing more than to gouge their eyes out.

The king cleared his throat which made him turn his attention away from her. While all this happened, Princess Hazel had already reached her seat and sat down.

Now, all their eyes were shining with determination, to win the competition and get the princess. Hazel, on seeing this, couldn't help but smile which made their hearts go wild.

Hazel looked around and found the person she was searching for, but to her surprise, she found him looking around the room, instead of her and, seemed to be waiting for someone.

She thought,' Who could he be waiting for?'

Usui, sat at the middle table, had a different expression unlike the others. As each minute passed by, he was growing more irritated that he couldn't find her. He couldn't understand why she wasn't present while the rest were. He pinched the space between his eyebrows and sighed.

On seeing that, she smiled and thought, ' He's different. Just like I thought.'

Noticing the silence around him, Usui looked up and met her green eyes, he couldn't help but feel some similiarity towards those pair of eyes but didnt remember from where. She turned her eyes away from him and sat indifferently in her seat.

Usui was preoccupied with thoughts about Freya that he didnt pay much attention to the similarity.Zelal on noticing his brother's mood had lost all hope in his mother's plan and decided to support his brother. Noticing that there was a huge banter going on about the palace, Zelal scooted closer to him and whispered, " She doesn't like attending banquets and has never attended one not even when a royal wedding takes place."

Usui was surprised that his brother noticed his actions and didn't find the need to ask about whom he was referring to. He knew that his brother was talking about Freya and was glad to know that his little brother supported him.

Zelal smiled slightly on seeing his brother's happy face and continued ," It is said that the thunder squad members are the front lines of this empire but in real, it was mainly formed by the princess. It's said that she personally found each one of them and trained them. Now, they are the protectors of the princess and wherever she goes, thunder squad members goes."

Usui nodded at this and turned his attention back to the events taking place. The minister had finished explaining the details of the palace and went on to express his gratitude, to the royals, for accepting the invite.

The king stood up and glanced around with his cold eyes," My daughter is my greatest treasure, and I would only hand her over to one who is stronger, reliable and can stay loyal only to her ."

Many gasped hearing this as it was common for a man to have many concubines. Though they heard that no concubines were allowed , most didn't feel bad as they would get a goddess in return and wasn't discouraged.

"The rules for the competition is very simple, three rounds and you can marry my daughter. Everyone has to fight each other in the first round and the winners will got to the second round and fight with the thunder squad group. The winners of the second round will fight with our strongest, Freya the next day and the one who will come close in defeating her will be the person whom my daughter Hazel will marry."

Everyone was shocked when they heard that they have to fight with the thunder squad members in the second round . Deep down, everyone knew that they will not be able to defeat them as they have heard of their praises. There were even generals, in their own empire, afraid to come against them, let alone them. Some of the royals knew that this competition was a lost cause , so many pulled out from the competition while the rest were determined to try out their luck.

While most of them were discouraged, there was one who was excited for the competition.

Chapter end