Stolen by the Rebel King
Chapter 124: Hit the Apple V

Chapter 124: Hit the Apple V

"Best of luck to your sister," Atticus said, half-seriously.

"She’ll need it," Daphne said with a little anxiousness. "I don’t think my brother can succeed."

She didn’t have a lot of good feelings left for Drusilla after discovering her true nature, but that didn’t mean she wanted to see her possibly pierced to death by a flyaway arrow shot by her own brother.

Atticus had no such qualms. He was more than used to a little bloodshed and this little bit — especially when it came from someone that was proving to be a nuisance — wasn’t anything he would flinch at.

"Don’t worry, sunshine. Look on the bright side. If he ends up shooting her by accident, you won’t have to deal with her anymore! That’s one less headache for you in the future, and you don’t even need to lift a finger to get rid of her," Atticus said cheerily. "And I’ll also win the contest, but that goes without saying."

Daphne snorted at his words. Atticus certainly got his priorities in order.

The crowd was getting more excited, cheering and screaming themselves hoarse at the thought of Prince Alistair firing off two arrows at once. Some of the more bloodthirsty spectators hoped to see some form of bodily harm. Cordelia was one of them, and she cheerfully led the chants, demanding Alistair to shoot the arrows as quickly as possible.

"Shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot!"

Alistair’s eyebrow twitched. These women were making it terribly hard for him to focus. His hands were beginning to sweat from nervousness, a sensation foreign to him. He rarely did something so risky, in fact, the last time he had successfully shot two arrows at once was two years ago, and the target was a lot bigger than the tiny apple on Drusilla’s head.

Did his sister have a death wish? If only it was that idiot Daphne standing at the end of his arrow.

Then he wouldn’t have needed to worry. No matter if he hit or missed, it would be a good outcome.

Still, he loaded his arrows and fired. The entire audience seemed to hold their breath as they watched his arrows sail through the air.

One of them pierced through the apple. But the other arrow didn’t; barely brushing past Drusilla’s ear.

A sharp, searing sensation ripped through Drusilla as a foreign object pierced through her delicate skin. What immediately followed was an intense ache, accompanied by a slight burning sensation that lingered where the skin was torn apart. As the throbbing sensation set in, Drusilla’s ears began to ring. For a second, she couldn’t hear anything other than that.

Then she felt something sticky near her ear. She gingerly touched it, wondering if she had indeed perspired so much that it drenched her hair.

When she pulled her hand away, she let out a piercing scream.

The hand was covered in blood! Drusilla staggered, suddenly losing all strength in her legs. She fell down in shock. The crowd began to gasp and point at her.

Alistair broke off into a run, but Daphne and Atticus reached her first.

"Drusilla! Are you alright?" Daphne asked, worried. The blonde hair near one of her ears was slowly being dyed an awfully bright red.

"What do you think? Are you daft?" Drusilla wailed. "Of course I’m not alright! I’m going to bleed to death!"

"If only we were that lucky," Atticus said, rolling his eyes. "It’s just a flesh wound, walk it off."

Drusilla continued to wail. "My ear is gone! I’m going to go deaf and it’s all your fault!"

"I’m not seeing bits of your ear lying on the grass, get a grip and stop screaming," Atticus said unsympathetically. "At this rate, I’ll be the one who’s becoming deaf."

His own wife had endured worse but still bounced back with resilience. How was Drusilla felled by one arrow? It was just a bit of blood.

"Drusilla!" Alistair called out in a panic. "My goodness, you’re hurt!"

"Sharp eyes," Atticus couldn’t help but add. "A pity that didn’t help you hit the target and avoid this mess."

Daphne discreetly elbowed Atticus.

Sirona wormed her way to the front of the crowd now that everyone was in an uproar. When she got to Drusilla, she knelt down so that they could speak eye to eye.

"Let me have a look," she said.

Drusilla dutifully obeyed, stifling her sobs as Sirona examined her injury. As the seconds passed, every beat of Sirona’s silence had the crowd holding their breaths. Anxiety rose in Drusilla’s chest but she was too afraid to move, scared that Sirona would finally declare her death sentence if she did.

What if it left a scar? What if she would go deaf? What if the wound got infected and her ear fell off? What if―

"It’s just a scratch," Sirona declared, standing up. She dusted her hands clean of the dirt from when she knelt down, looking at Drusilla’s slumped body. "She’s perfectly fine."

"What do you mean ’perfectly fine’?" Drusilla all but screeched. From the haphazard way she moved, she had somehow agitated her own wound, causing a few extra drops of blood to drip down onto her skirt. At the sight of it, Drusilla’s face turned even paler― if that was even possible.

"It means you will heal," Sirona answered smoothly. She walked back to stand with Daphne and Atticus, folding her arms across her chest. "Just keep it clean and it won’t scar. It’s just a small injury to the skin that happened to draw some blood."

"Healer Sirona, is it?" Drusilla clenched her teeth, trying to prevent herself from erupting in front of everyone. "I don’t know what sort of a quack doctor you are but this is obviously more than just a small wound. You’re a doctor! Shouldn’t you know that the ears hold important blood vessels that can cause sight impairment when damaged? What if I go blind?"

"You’re obviously looking around just fine still," Sirona pointed out. "The arrows missed everything and anything that could’ve been important."

"Including the apple," Atticus added softly in a voice that only Daphne and Sirona could catch.

While Daphne swatted at Atticus’s arm in warning, she couldn’t help the smile that had found its way onto her lips. Sirona, on the other hand, choked on her spit from trying to contain her own laughter.

"If you’re still worried, Princess Drusilla, you are welcome to consult one of Raxuvia’s royal healers," Prince Nathaniel offered as he stepped forward.

Drusilla’s lips parted, ready to continue her incessant whining but was quickly cut off by Nathaniel, who spun around to face the crowd.

"With that, esteemed ladies and gentlemen, we conclude the final round of the archery competition with King Atticus as the victor!"

The crowd began to hoot and cheer, all seemingly forgetting the princess that was still on the floor, embarrassed, defeated, and pathetic.

"As promised, the winner of the archery competition will have an additional bonus that is to be revealed for the main hunting event. Just a quick reminder, for ladies that wish to participate in the event, make sure to form your parties quickly!"

Daphne’s eyes widened. Ladies could participate? What did he mean by party?

Before she could ask for more details, Nathaniel continued. "But before that, let us all proceed back to freshen up. Lunch will be served shortly!"