Date- 18 April 2321
Time- 10:25
Location- Card World, Southern Region, Blossom District, Sky Blossom City
After being warned by Wyatt to check up on her subordinates managing the facility holding Clown Mask, the Field Marshal who lowkey thought that Wyatt was losing the wager on purpose to marry into the Southern Royal family while saving face, received a call from her head warden in charge of the personally monitoring Clown Mask.
Getting the head warden's call the Field Marshal's expression darkened, because he shouldn't be able to call her as he should be beside Clown Mask's holding cell personally monitoring her closely. This meant that he could not access soul energy to summon his grimoire and call her. For him to be calling her meant that he was no longer in the s.p.a.ce containing the secret facility, but outside. She had personally head-hunted the warden and knew that he was not the type to disobey her direct order. Leaving only one possibility, Wyatt had pulled a miracle out of his a.s.s.
Controlling her turbulent emotions, the Field Marshal answered the call only to hear the panicking warden say, "Your Highness, the prisoner, she— her body suddenly disintegrated into ash. I was watching her the whole time. Her soul energy was locked, she did not have anything on her person and was all alone in her cell. The facility was under lockdown the whole time. I even activated the emergency array but I could only watch as her body disintegrated and couldn't find any trace of the killer.
I am sorry Your Highness, I am sorry I let you down. The prison was impregnable for centuries but now under my watch, someone not only managed to infiltrate it but a.s.sa.s.sinate a prisoner and left without leaving behind a trace. I know nothing I say will make up for the blunder I have made but I promise we are doing everything to find the killer. I will not rest until we find the killer—"
"Don't bother, the culprit is right in front of my eyes and I don't think the prisoner is dead. You continue the search, but if you cannot find the prisoner in another half an hour. Then, my ignorance has disgraced your meritorious record. All I am saying is— this is not your fault—" the Field Marshal interrupted the Head Warden and tried to apologize to him but was immediately interrupted by him.
"Your Highness, please don't complete that sentence. Working for you has been my honor. You gave me an order and I could not fulfill it, please leave it at that. I promise we will turn the entire secret s.p.a.ce upside down but find the prisoner or trace her down in the next half an hour. Please forgive my rudeness, I will soon contact you with the good news," the Head Warden was enraged that his idol was about to apologize to him. He would rather die than get an apology from her. Therefore, taking all the blame for the incident, in a fit of rage he promised the impossible.
This might have been a simple wager for Wyatt but the honor and lives of honest people were at the stake. The Head Warden was himself an accomplished card demiG.o.d, a realm blessed with amazing powers, but for the sake of the Southern region and because his idol asked him to, he forsook the luxurious life of a demiG.o.d and served as a warden in s.p.a.ce where soul energy, rule power, nor divinity could be used. Spending hours in that place could turn a person crazy but he chose to stay there year around guarding the prisoners all for honor.
"Sigh~" the Field Marshal sighed as the Head warden hung up the call to return with good news. But she knew that was impossible. Shaking her head she looked at the time, it had only been a couple of minutes since she agreed to wager with Wyatt. Considering that the head Warden wasted a few minutes trying to comprehend what happened and contact the Field Marshal, it can be seen that Wyatt completed his wager the very minute the Field Marshal agreed to the wager.
As this dawned upon the Field Marshal, she understood what her niece had been warning her about had happened and it was too late for her to do anything about it but to submit to her fate. She had been tricked by Wyatt into giving him her loyalty for nothing in return.
The Field Marshal wondered how long Wyatt had been planning this because she did not believe Wyatt decided to enter a wager with her on a whim and pulled out a miracle from his a.s.s. He must have been planning this for long even before he approached her with the wager. Then she recalled how the conversation started with Wyatt wanting to start a criminal rehabilitation program and it ended with her taking an oath to give her loyalty to him in a wager. No matter how many times she played events in her mind she could not fathom how it all pieced together so perfectly, similar to an architect building a skysc.r.a.per.
"Sigh~" the Field Marshal sighed unable to fathom what she was going to do now. She instinctively wanted to call her niece and inform her about the idiotic thing she did but then she realized her loyalty was now Wyatt's or did she have the time till the wager ends? Has the wager been concluded now that the Clown Mask was not in the facility? The Field Marshal's mind was in a mess. She did not know whether to get angry at Wyatt for tricking her or to get angry at herself for being stupid enough to fall for a teenager's trick.
However, once the initial sadness and confusion settled and the Field Marshal's mind was in order she did not regret anything. Even the fact that she took the initiative to take the oath that was now compelling her to hold up her promise. She knew what she was agreeing to, she did it out of her violation, and she was responsible for her choices. Resolving to her fate the Field Marshal contacted Wyatt, 'How did you do it?'
...
[AN: Check out Reader's Quest Board in the Author's Thoughts section for ma.s.s release.]