"Did... Did you kill him?" Sophia asked with her voice trembling. It was her first time seeing someone that she knew die right in front of her. The bloody scene and the disgusting smell were poking at her nerves. In her expectation, as this was just a competition, no one should be killed in this underground palace.

Lucien was already used to this. Pretending that he did not want to see the body, Lucien looked up at the ceiling of the underground palace. He wondered if the teleportation magic circles were still working after the strange change happened to this place. Having no idea whether the change was normal or someone did something to the palace on purpose, Lucien decided to be more cautious. However, on the other hand, if the magic field covering the palace had changed, probably now the duke and the counts on the outside were not able to observe them anymore.

If that was true, it would be a piece of good news for Lucien. When no one was watching, Lucien could completely reveal his power. Then it would be much easier for him to find the secret chamber to carry out the magic rite.

However, what concerned him was the fact that he still had no idea where the gold knight and Metatron were. Before figuring this out, Lucien still had to be very cautious and stay with Sophia.

Duda kneeled down with his hands on the ground, murmuring in great fear, "I... I didn’t mean to kill... kill him. He was... standing there still, doing nothing! He just wouldn’t go! I don’t know why! This wasn’t my fault! Not my fault!"

Duda went hysterical, shouting and yelling.

Post-traumatic stress disorder, that was the term that rose in Lucien’s mind. It was Duda’s first time killing a person without any mental preparation, a person that actually he knew in person.

"Calm down, Duda. Calm down. This isn’t your fault. The magic circles in this palace have gone wrong," Lucien tried to comfort Duda in a quite professional manner. Lucien had been reading some psychology books to cope with the possible mental side effects left by using Transformation Mask

His deep and soft voice also calmed Sophia down. She was quite surprised that Beaulac could remain so calm when facing death and such unknown changes directly.

"He’s right. It’s not your fault," agreed Sophia, "...It was the magic circles..."

Like a drowning man clutching at a straw, Duda hurriedly nodded, "That’s right! That’s right! Something went wrong with the magic circles."

Seeing that Duda had calmed down a bit, Lucien took out his pocket watch and said to him, "Can you tell us what just happened?"

Eager to get rid of the horrible feeling of guilt, Duda told the complete story to them.

After entering the underground palace, when Duda was trying to find Arthen and his helpers, he went right into another young noble. The two enthusiastic young men immediately started their fight.

For the first time, the fight was not a performance, not a test. It was real. And there were no mentors watching them. Duda got more and more excited, and the hiding beast in his heart came out. After several rounds of combat, Duda knocked off the young noble’s sword. And seizing the great opportunity, Duda used all of his power to hack at his enemy’s neck. It was an all-out hack, as Duda knew that before a participant was severely hurt in this underground palace, the person would be sent out to receive immediate medical treatment through the magic circles.

However, the warm blood that burst out from the young man’s neck greatly shocked Duda. Duda could never forget the desperate look on that person’s face. And when the young noble’s body collapsed to the ground, the look remained unchanged.

Based on Duda’s account, Lucien confirmed the time. The moment when Lucien sensed the difference in this underground palace was the time when the magic circle failed to work.

"At that time, you told me that someone was watching us," said Sophia in a low voice, in case Duda heard their conversation.

Lucien nodded, "My blood power enables me to sense some upcoming dangers. Maybe because the power is related to astrology."

Sophia did not see any problems in Beaulac’s explanation, and she said using the tone of a delicate and charming little girl, "I did not expect this at all... Beaulac, who did this? What’s that person’s plan?"

Sophia’s green eyes and her petal-like lips would easily arouse the tenderness in most men’s heart. They would totally forget the fact that Sophia herself was a level-five blood power alchemist and tried their very best to protect her in their arms.

However, in Lucien’s mind, his response was rather cold. To him, although Sophia was right beside him when the change happened, he still could not rule out the possibility that it was the princess who did all of this.

"No worries, Your Highness. I’ll protect you with my life." Lucien pretended that he had completely fallen in love with Sophia. With a bit hesitation, he reached out his left hand and gently patted on Sophia’s shoulder.

Sophia slightly nodded and her arms climbed onto Lucien’s left arm. With her body leaning against Lucien’s, Sophia said, "I am a caster. Only with the protection of a brave knight can I fully exert my power. If we support each other, we can destroy all the conspiracy. I can help you become the next duke. At that time, we..."

"I will destroy all the conspiracy! For you!" Like all men who were carried away by their passion and love towards a woman, Beaulac promised the princess very confidently, as if all of a sudden, he had become unstoppable.

Meanwhile, Beaulac’s right hand which was holding the sword lowered to his waist.

After a short while, Sophia suddenly took a few steps back with her flushed face as if she felt too shy to stay this close to Beaulac. On the other hand, Beaulac also grabbed the sword tight again, but he had taken out the Holm Crown Ring, Electron, and put it on already.

"Only two people can do this: my brother, or Arthen. While my brother is the future emperor, Arthen is the one who is most likely to become the future duke. They have the power to make Sir Metatron, the Glorious Crown, work with them. After all, Sir Metatron is no longer young, and thus he had to consider his family’s future," Sophia stopped acting like a little girl and analyzed seriously, "and with no doubt, their targets are you and me. My father loves me, and the empire had queens before. It also happened before that the first successor in order died before ascending to the throne. My brother won’t feel safe when I am still alive! No wonder he wants to be part of the competition as well."

"Sir Metratron is also helping them? What shall we do?" Lucien pretended that he was deeply shocked, "They are not afraid of the investigation? His Majesty will be enraged if you die."

historical

The look on Sophia’s face was rather gloomy, "They have taken actions, and they must have been prepared for what is coming to them. Maybe even uncle Ulrich is their ally as well! Once we die, they can say anything they want! But there’s still hope for us..."

"Hope?" Beaulac was very confused.

Sophia nodded and said in low voice, "Although Sir Metatron is very powerful, like I said, he’s old, and his power is receding. If we can find the secret chamber first, through a hidden passage, we can go into the inner structure of the palace. There we can find a powerful scroll which is used to control the powerful magic circles. My father told me this when he was in this competition, and I am sure he only told the secret to me."

When she finished her words, Sophia looked up and said to the young man both solemnly and helplessly, "Beaulac, are you going to fight for me? Are you going to pursue the hope with me?"

"I am forever your knight, Your Highness. I shall never retreat." Beaulac nodded affectionately.

There were tears in the princess’s eyes. "Then, we should set off to find the secret chamber right now! We can only rely on each other!"

Sophia was rather satisfied seeing that Beaulac had become totally carried away by her provocative words. Turning around, she asked Duda to find a safe place to hide and wait until the end of the game.

The moment when she turned around, the excited look on Beaulac’s face twitched a bit.

Lucien knew that he was right. The princess indeed knew the existence of the inner structure of the palace.

But what did the princess want? Her personality just changed so fast.

And why would she needed Beaulac to help her?