Stolen by the Rebel King
Chapter 120: Hit the Apple I

Chapter 120: Hit the Apple I

Before Drusilla could even ask what Daphne meant by her words, their ears were assailed with an impressively loud trumpet medley. Daphne flinched, but she couldn’t help the growing excitement she felt. The event was finally starting!

Meanwhile, Drusilla could only shoot Daphne one last glare before reluctantly leaving with Princess Aurelia.

Of course, her sweet half-sister had snagged one of the best seats provided for the event― plush armchairs with silk brocade fabric, their cushions plump and firm.

"Why does she get such a nice chair? She’s not even real royalty," Cordelia grumbled, echoing Daphne’s thoughts. Her wooden chair was already starting to be uncomfortable and she could feel her buttocks bruising even under the layers of heavy skirts.

"You’re very chatty," Daphne noted idly as she watched the men take their places with their bows.

Atticus had strode out in his archery gear, an elegant black bow in his hand. What he had on was fairly simple other than a few extra pieces of protective equipment. Although, he looked every bit uncomfortable in the extra padding, most likely more used to going without them. He was, in Daphne’s entirely biased opinion, one of the most handsome men participating in the contest.

"Don’t flatter yourself, I’m just bored and you are less annoying than your sister," Cordelia said, crossing her arms as she looked over the line of men.

Daphne didn’t know if she should be offended or not. Most royalty never preferred Daphne’s company over her sister’s.

"Oh gods, is he really wearing that?" Cordelia exclaimed, a hand covering her face.

"Who?" If Cordelia was insulting Atticus, Daphne would have several choice words for her.

"My uncle," Cordelia responded in a pained voice. "Look at that baby pink cloak!"

Daphne could only spot one man wearing something so feminine. It was King Calarian! She choked.

"King Calarian is your uncle?" Daphne asked incredulously.

Cordelia nodded. "He’s married to my oldest aunt. That’s her cloak."

"That’s sweet. He must love her a lot," Daphne said, partly because she could not think of anything else to comment on. Would Atticus ever wear something obviously hers so proudly, in a public setting, let alone one as important as this?

"They’re disgusting together," Cordelia pulled a face. "He’s probably hoping to win with the power of her love, or something stupid like that."

"Is he a good shot?" Daphne asked curiously.

"Good enough, but I hope he loses anyway. Then I can get out of this seat and get some actual breakfast."

Unfortunately, Cordelia’s wishes did not come true. King Calarian and Atticus swept through the first few rounds with ease. While Prince Nathaniel was the host for this event, archery was clearly not his strong suit, for his own scores were only slightly better than average.

Meanwhile, Daphne was unhappy to note that her older brother was as good at archery as he was at insulting her. He had always been multi-talented; though that didn’t mean that all his talents were for good things.

Soon, King Calarian, Atticus, and Alistair had similar scores, and there was no clear leader.

To make things more annoying, every time Alistair made a good shot, Daphne could hear Drusilla cheer for him. Her voice grated on Daphne’s ears, and the smug smile her brother wore hurt her eyes. In retaliation, she made sure to cheer even louder when Atticus succeeded and was rewarded with his beaming smile and wave when he caught her gaze through the crowd.

Cordelia could only endure it, clapping for her uncle while hoping things would be over soon. Her ears were starting to hurt.

As the competition progressed, the sun slowly approached its zenith, rising high above the sky. There were only three competitors left. Daphne felt herself beginning to sweat from the heat and from nervousness as she watched Atticus continuously shoot down multiple targets with ease.

Atticus was so close to winning this event! Her throat was getting hoarse, but she refused to stop cheering for him, no matter how many dirty looks Cordelia gave her.

Eventually, one of King Calarian’s arrows flew off course, disqualifying him immediately. He smiled ruefully and waved as he exited the arena, eagerly resting under the shade of his own tent.

"Finally!" Cordelia exclaimed loudly as she got up. Servants began to clear the field to prepare for the finals. Atticus and Alistair took the chance to briefly rest, gulping down water and stretching their muscles for the last stretch. "This is so boring to watch. We’re not even doing anything here other than to watch these men show off."

"We’re helping by cheering," Daphne offered. "It can boost their morale."

Cordelia rolled her eyes. "They don’t need the extra confidence."

Daphne begged to differ, but it was futile to argue with Cordelia. She wanted to save her energy to support Atticus. But Drusilla and Princess Aurelia clearly had the energy to spare, for they took offense at Cordelia’s earlier comments.

"How can you say the competition is boring?" Drusilla asked, looking appropriately appalled at her words. "The men worked so hard to shoot their targets!"

"How hard can it be, if the targets aren’t even moving? They aren’t even alive!" Cordelia pointed out. Even as a princess, she had sailed to the seas to spear slippery fish. They were tricker to hit than a stationary target.

"Then let me make this event more interesting," Princess Aurelia said with a glint in her eyes. Her precious brother had been eliminated halfway through the contest, so she didn’t really care who won.

But she wanted to make things more difficult for King Atticus, who had beaten her brother so thoroughly without breaking a sweat. To add insult to injury, he then proceeded to ignore his handshake.

More importantly, she wanted, no, she needed Daphne Molinero to be gone. Even if she had a princeless ring on her finger, that didn’t mean she wasn’t out to seduce her brother! It just meant that her feminine wiles were so powerful that they successfully hoodwinked a man as capable as King Atticus.

Such a woman cannot be allowed to breathe the same air as her brother.

"I propose a twist in the finals. Instead of aiming at the board, how about aiming at this?" Princess Aurelia pulled out a beautiful red apple and held it out for them to see.

"What’s so hard about that?" Cordelia asked. Everyone privately agreed.

A wicked smile crossed Princess Aurelia’s lips, and Daphne inwardly shivered despite the heat from the sun.

"Princess Cordelia made a fine point just now," Aurelia said enigmatically. Her smile turned wicked as she looked to where Daphne and Cordelia were. "If the targets were stationary, there isn’t any challenge to it. After all, our foes on the battlefield certainly will not stay put and wait to be shot!"

She held out the apple with one hand in the direction where Daphne stood.

At that moment, Daphne felt her skin crawl. She didn’t like where this was going.

"Princess Daphne," said Aurelia, "didn’t you say that you wanted to help boost morale? I am sure it would be even more spectacular if King Atticus could hit the apple while it’s on your head. Don’t you think so?"

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