Stolen by the Rebel King
Chapter 537: The First Test

Chapter 537: The First Test

Daphne and Atticus were back at the palace the first thing in the morning; Daphne was excited to witness the start of Cordelia’s blossoming romance, while Atticus was there because he wanted to laugh at the many pathetic hopefuls who had no clue what they were in for, and to scheme ways to kidnap Jonah back from this conniving princess.

Of course, his priority was to make sure Nikun won. That way, he would get his best friend back while Cordelia got her new husband.

The palace was a hubbub of activity, with servants rushing around, carrying rolls of parchment and tiny tables into the hall. However, Daphne only had eyes for Cordelia, who was staring down at her contestants from her spot on the balcony with a bored look on her face, idly tapping her fingers against the railing. There was a plate of food in front of her, almost untouched.

Behind her stood Jonah, who was carefully evaluating all the men. The killer was still on the loose. Daphne followed his line of sight and observed Cordelia’s contestants.

The men were huddled in their own corners.

It was all too clear to Daphne who were the commoners who wanted to try their luck, and who were the nobles who thought they were entitled to better treatment from their princess. They formed two of the biggest groups, and there was a smattering of other smaller coalitions. Daphne guessed they might be foreigners grouping together since they were all disadvantaged in their own way.

And in this group was Nikun. He was bouncing on his feet like an eager puppy, while the man beside him shot him a disdainful look. Judging by his outfit, he must have been a prince of some sort. He tried to scoot away, but Nikun cheerfully followed him, making himself impossible to shake off.

"Good morning." Cordelia turned to smile at Daphne, and there was a mild commotion at the bottom as the men caught sight of her smile. Cordelia ignored them in favor of hugging Daphne hello. "I see you’re here to check on your favorite contestant?"

"Well yes, but I’m also here to see you. Did you skip breakfast?" Daphne asked, since she had not seen Cordelia at breakfast. Meanwhile, Atticus cheerfully helped himself to a slice of buttered bread despite having eaten a hearty breakfast.

"I’ll have plenty of time for it later," Cordelia said, which meant ’yes’. "I was making last-minute arrangements."

Daphne frowned and glanced back at the contestants. "What’s supposed to happen now? Surely you can’t be thinking about going on dates with all of them?"

With the amount of men present, it would take Cordelia a fortnight even if she only spent an hour or so with each man!

"Of course not, half of them will be eliminated before this day is over," Cordelia said simply. She turned back to the balcony to address them.

"Good morning to all of you. I am glad to see all of you in high spirits, even after the sobering events of yesterday."

There was a slight murmur, as everyone recalled Yael’s death, but that was soon glossed over as Cordelia continued to speak.

"This is the first task of the competition. Make space for yourself. Ladies, you may enter."

Daphne watched as hordes of maids came, each carrying a table and a sheet of parchment, and the men began to scatter to find a spot on their own. Soon, every man had a low table and a sheet of parchment in front of them, along with a quill.

"My husband must be a learned man, so as to help me lead Nedour into an era of prosperity," Cordelia began.

"And that means that my husband must have some basic knowledge about how to solve tricky issues. For your first task, you will have three hours to write an essay about how to tackle the issue of other countries trespassing on Nedour’s waters, as well as debate on Nedour’s rights on the highly contested territory of Lomi Island."

Daphne choked; mentally praying for the men. If she was taking part in the examination, she would have been sweating buckets. Even as a queen, it would take her a while to formulate an appropriate solution, let alone to write it down. As it was, she could already spot the dismayed faces of both commoners and nobles alike.

Nikun seemed confident enough though. Daphne hoped his studying paid off.

Atticus raised an eyebrow at the questions posed― damn, Princess Cordelia did not even give them a chance to settle down before throwing them into the deep end to swim or sink. She was using this event to source solutions already!

Meanwhile, Jonah continued to watch the group impassively, just in case a fight broke out.

"Of course, if you wish to quit the competition now, feel free to do so," Cordelia added. "There is no shame in knowing your limits."

No one left, even though Daphne was highly doubtful the commoners could even write.

"If you require more parchment, simply raise your hands and my servants will bring it to you," Cordelia said, "Your time starts... now."

As once, the men bowed over their tables, frantically scribbling. Daphne was amused to see how some had decided on prayer as a solution, while others were knocking their heads quietly against their tables.

"God, this is hilarious," Atticus said with barely concealed mirth as he munched on a scone. "Look at those nobles, they look like they forgot how to use a quill! Princess Cordelia, you are diabolical."

"I must do what it takes to find the right man," Cordelia said, then she addressed Jonah. "So Sir Jonah, how would you answer the questions I posed earlier?"

Jonah cleared his throat, and Daphne stared at him, wondering what he would say. Atticus was equally curious, but he internally cheered. Jonah was never one for politics; Cordelia would see that and realize she could not fit him into her picture of her perfect life and Atticus could take him back to Vramid where he belonged.

Jonah sighed.

"Princess Cordelia, you know very well what I’m about to answer since I was the one that helped you think of this question to begin with," Jonah chided. Atticus and Daphne caught each other’s eyes, stunned at his words.

"Humor me then," Cordelia said, propping her head on top of her clasped hands as she gazed at Jonah, deliberately fluttering her eyelashes to unsettle him further. Luckily, all the contestants were too busy with their essays to see their princess bat her eyes at Jonah.

Jonah sighed again and began to explain. "The issue of Nedour’s water sovereignty has plagued the kingdom for generations and there’s no good solution, due to the lack of a fixed landmark and the fact that other kingdoms have refused to come into accord about what constitutes a proper benchmark for territorial waters. As such, I would―"

Atticus paled as Jonah continued to speak, detailing suggestions she could take. He quickly began to zone out from everything Jonah said, and instead, focused on the way Cordelia was practically shooting Cupid’s arrows via the gaze in her eyes at Jonah.

His skin started to crawl as beads of cold sweat started to gather on his back beneath his shirt.

This wasn’t supposed to happen!