[Arashi's POV]
[In Third Person]

Sometimes to lure the enemies out, you have to become a bait.

That was what Arashi had learnt from all of his experience till now. He was standing at a side, his right hand man, Hiroshi stood beside him. Other men of his stood behind him in a semi circle.

The sun was about to set as the priests felt a bit excited. One of them went to the head priest and said, "I think, we should call it a failure since it's almost set the sun."

The head priest nodded and looked at the crowd, "Well, I think, we should send some of our priests to check if she is alright..."

Akio's face glinted and Daichi seemed satisfied however, Arashi interjected, "I think, we should wait until the sun set. It is still time."

All of their gazes went to Arashi as he stood still in his place. He knew she was alright.

Well, he believed in her but there was still a part of him which was worried. He hoped his men had reached her.

"But if we don't hurry up now, who knows what will happen..." Akio said, her voice coated with worry but Arashi could see the happiness hiding in those words.

"Why? Are you certain something will happen?" Arashi asked and Akio stiffened.

She nervously smiled and said, "I-I was just suggesting to hurry up since I don't want sister Bianka to get hurt."

He didn't say much and said, "Abide by the rules please. We still have time."

"I think, we should wait as brother Rian said," two of his cousin brothers said. They were Arisu and Kaito. Beside them stood his another cousin sister, Akisu. She said, "I think we should wait since it will be considered failure once the priests go inside."

The others nodded in agreement as Akio felt a little restless. Apparently, she didn't want Bianka to get the approval from the trial. If she got it, there wouldn't be any chance of cancelling it.

They were once again quieted down.

Daichi seemed to be in a good mood as he was occasionally talking with his other cousins and with Akio. He didn't seem to be worried.

And then they heard a soft footstep. Everyone's gazes turned to the cave's large entrance. Tension rose in the air while they held their breaths. Even Akio and Daichi were shocked and surprised.

But Arashi wasn't as he smiled when the soft footsteps reached his ears. He was accustomed to hearing them. In his house, on the wooden floor, he had been used to hearing them. He could determine where she was even she walked quietly.

Arashi looked at the entrance, his heart thumping with joy as Bianka came out. Her clothes were dirty and somewhere it was tattered. Her face and hands had scratches and darkened with all the dust but she looked confident as she walked out with her head held high. A confident smile was plastered on her face.

The priests became wary and they looked at her with a face that said 'it was impossible for her to come out alive'. Arashi smirked.

Bianka's eyes searched through the small crowd and as her eyes fell on Arashi, she grinned and said, "I got the coin!"

She displayed the small box over the crowd as she held it in the air.

Arashi smiled but it seemed not all of them shared his joy of Bianka being successfully acquiring the box.

Half of them were surprised as they looked at her with wide gaps in their mouths while the other half couldn't even register what was going on. Well, even the priests were shocked.

The head priest came forward and asked, his voice was loud and coated with disbelief, "How! How did you get the box?!"

Bianka looked at the priest and said, "The box was lying underneath the goddess's statue. I assumed it was the box so, I took it."

The priest couldn't believe what he was hearing as he looked at one of his companions and glared at him. But the underlings were all too shock to speak.

"B-but, are you certain the box has the coin?" The priest asked.

"Why? Had you placed an empty box there, head priest?" Bianka asked back which caught him off guard.

He immediately shook his head and chuckled nervously. He said, "N-no! I was just asking if you have checked the box yet or not."

Bianka nodded and said, "Yes, I have and it has the same coin you have described, head priest."

The head priest immediately snatched the box away from her hands and opened it. He and his underlings were speechless as they saw in the small wooden box, a golden coin was sophisticatedly laid there. It certainly had the Wansai crest and the carvings on it were so beautifully crafted that anyone would praise the craftsman's art work.

"H-how is that possible?" The words left from the head priest's mouth without his realisation.

Arashi's cousins asked, "Why is that impossible?" It was Akisu. She held the fan against her face and looked at the priest suspiciously.

"Er... I mean, it is the coin..." The head priest said with a nervous smile.

Arashi noticed the priest was certainly very smart to agree with it since he knew if he said it wasn't the coin, there would be some questions that how on earth they had two exactly looking coins when it was supposed to be only one. And if he mistakenly said he hadn't put the coin then everyone would be furious for playing with their beliefs. Every secrets would come out and the trial would be abolished too.

So, Arashi said to make the companions of him a little bit irked, "I guess, this is settled. My wife has successfully proven she is worthy of marrying me. Now, we should be celebrating it, shouldn't we?"

The head priest was smiling but Arashi could see the veins popping out on his forehead. He was helpless and had no choice but to agree with him.

Bianka pushed him further and said, "I assumed it would have been tough but, I could do it easily!"

The other cousins were agitated about her words as well since all of them heard it was too hard to find the box.

Bianka said more, "Prince Rian, it seemed these are all too easy for a foreign princess like me. I have to say, I am pretty offended because I was expecting some more since I had heard so many great things about Wansai."

And it was like a final blow to everyone's face. Arashi had to say, somehow even he felt a little agitated at how Bianka said that. He was a bit impressed with her acting skills. He took a note of it.

By now, everyone including, Kaito, Akisu, Akio, Daichi were glaring at her. And even though Bianka was shaking in fear, she had managed to spill every words successfully which he had instructed. Corners of Arashi's lips twitched seeing bids of sweat forming on Bianka's forehead. Even Hiroshi and others from his men were finding it hard not to laugh. But they managed to give straight faces.

Arashi gave a tight-lipped smile and said to Bianka, "I apologise for that. I thought it would be too difficult for you. But rest assured for there is no longer any walls to separate us."

Bianka's face heated but she managed to pull it through. The last act of their play, "Heh~ Of course, that was expected since this trial was anything but hard. Rian, let us get back since I am too tired."

Her mocking tone was something that burnt everyone from tip to toe in the ground. His cousins looked at her as if they were ready to kill her right there and the priests looked at her like they were about to put a curse on her. And in the middle, Bianka stood with a mocking face yet her legs were shaking.

"How dare you call brother Rian by his name without the honorifics?" Daichi growled and even Kaito and other were offended by her way of calling my name.

Akio said but she feigned hurt, "Sister Bianka. This wasn't expected since you are not allowed to call him by his name. And you are disrespecting our goddess as well."

Bianka looked at them with an evil smirk and said, "However, it is already proven I am just as worthy and before going inside, I think I had said something like, your dear cousin brother would be mine forever. And it wasn't really disrespectful to tell the truth that this trial was too easy for me. And if you hadn't yet heard, I have been approved to call him by his name."

They all clenched their teeth but before they could tell anything the head priest growled.

"You insolent woman!"

Everyone's eyes fell on him as he had never raised his voice on someone. Especially on women.

"You do know that calling me with that words will only get you annihilated, head priest?" Bianka gave him an evil smile and added, "Because after the trial, I have now successfully completed the last task. Now that I have gained my status, you calling me with words mean you are disrespecting the princess of Wansai."

And it burnt every little cells that left on their skin. Daichi, Akio, Kaito, Arisu, Akisu all were engulfed with rage as she called herself the princess of Wansai.

The head priest couldn't take it any longer as he flared his nose. But he was smart enough to keep his mouth close.

However, one of his underlings couldn't take it any longer as he took the box and threw it away. He growled, "This is not the box and yet you are shamefully claiming that you have successfully completed the trial."

The head priest looked at him and scolded him, "Keep quite!"

"But it is the box and it even has the coin..." Bianka said as she took the box and showed it to everyone.

"No! It is not the box!" He growled.

But head priest growled to him, "Hishoru, I said keep quite! You can't talk back with her since she has successfully finished the trial!"

But the underling wasn't satisfied with it and said, "How could you say that when her box is the one with fake coin! We didn't even placed the box there!"

And the priest slapped Hishoru immediately to shut her mouth however, it was too late.

Because everyone had already heard what his underling had said.

And corners of Arashi's lips curled up to smile that said, he just caught the fish in his trap.

Well, it was the plan from the start.

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21th November, 2022
1800