Chapter 897 The Complicated Situation


    Once the judge finished his statement, the hall erupted into an uproar and everyone in the crowd


    looked at each other in shock and astonishment. Alexander and Samson stood tall, with satisfied


    smirks gracing their faces, as everything was happening just as they had nned. No one knew when


    Alyssa would reappear, after all. They could make the most of the opportunity to determine the final


    result. Anyway, in their opinion, Alyssa would side with the Qi n. They were pretty sure about that.


    "I object!" A powerful voice broke through the din. Luci protested and looked indignant. "I can''t agree


    to this. I think the final result should be decided by the princess herself!" She was certain at this point


    that this had been part of some kind of secret plotid down by the Qi n.


    "Chief Luci, you''ve made your discontent rather obvious. Are you saying that you believe that the five


    judges'' assessment is unjustifiable? Or you are just unwilling to admit that the Cao n is inferior to


    the Qi n?" Alexander sneered as he looked to her direction.


    "Let''s not pretend, Chief Alexander. You and I are both well aware of exactly why I''m objecting to this


    farce," Luci replied in an icy tone.


    "Regardless of the Cao n''s objection, you do realize that this is all in vain, don''t you?" asked one of


    the judges as he looked at her doubtfully. "We five judges have made a unanimous decision. In


    ordance with the rules of the Beast Master Contest, no n has the right to question our final


    decision once we make it. Otherwise, their qualification to attend the next year''s contest will be


    canceled. We''re certain such an oue isn''t what you want."


    At such a pronouncement, Lucille felt the fury rising up to her throat. She knew that the judges had


    taken the Qi n''s side and colluded with them secretly. Yet, they still pretended to be so justified and


    upright. To them, the Cao n certainly wasn''t a threat.


    "Your Royal Highness, as the five judges have made their decision, you''re willing to personally make


    this official with a formal announcement, aren''t you? Your Royal Highness, you agree that the Qi n


    deserves this victory, right?" Samson implored as he looked towards Woods. His words held an unseen


    weight. If everyone was certain that Alyssa would take the Qi n''s side, then it stood to reason that


    Woods would take their side as well.


    "If that''s the case, then you should announce it yourselves. Yet, you shall hold responsibility for


    whatever consequences that follow," Woods replied indifferently and abruptly.


    Both Alexander and Samson looked at each other after such a pronouncement from the prince. This


    was unexpected; ording to the rules of the Beast Master Contest, the final announcement shall be


    dered by a high-ranking member of the royal family. Before she vanished, Alyssa had asked Woods


    to take over, and left everything in his hands. This meant that Woods should be the one to officially


    dere the final decision. But the prince evidently was in no mood to cooperate with them. This could


    be a big wrinkle in their n.


    It wasn''t long before the hall''s cacophony began to trickle away into silence. That ufortable pause


    grew as everyone threw nervous nces at one another, unsure of what was going on.


    Someone piped up from just outside the hall. "Herees Prince Geoffrey!"


    "Geoffrey? What''s he doing here?" Woods frowned, his face darkened. With Geoffrey''s presence in the


    hall,plications were inevitable.


    And just as dered, the towering, handsome prince entered the hall. Geoffrey''s extraordinary


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    presence flooded the area with interest.


    "Your Royal Highness, you honor us with your presence. Please forgive me for not personallying


    out to wee you in!" Alexander immediately stood and bowed to the prince with deep deference.


    Geoffrey, the second prince of the Timber Deity Empire, was Woods'' most direct and strongest


    Every member of the Qi n, along with the other n heads and royal personages, all rose to their


    feet and bowed in obeisance.


    "There''s no need for such formalities, Alexander. In fact, I must apologize for barging in without an


    invitation. I hope I haven''t interrupted your meeting," Geoffrey replied as he held himself with dignity


    and elegantposure.


    "You''re most wee to join us, Your Royal Highness. Actually, your presence is quite opportune. We


    were just discussing the final result of the Beast Master Contest," Alexander told him with a genial


    smile.


    "Really? I assumed the result would''ve already been decided. Wasn''t the contest concluded


    yesterday?" Geoffrey asked with an affected air of surprise. But he already knew that. Moreover, he


    had heard that the ultimate winner of thepetition remained up in the air due to Alyssa''s sudden


    disappearance. ording to his personalwork of information, Alyssa had since gone missing and


    no one had heard anything from her since she departed the arena. Furthermore, the beast master from


    the Cao n who Alyssa had spirited away along with her hadn''t returned either.


    "Yes, you''ve heard correctly," Alexander nodded.


    "Well, no wonder I''ve heard quite a few crazy rumors on the way here. Some said that this year''s


    contest is not quite satisfactory. More than that, everyone''s been confused as to which n is the true


    winner..." Geoffrey grunted a little, clearly dissatisfied with the situation.


    "Ah, that''s precisely why I invited Prince Woods, the n leaders, as well as the five judges to


    assemble so early in the morning. It''s time to confirm that final result on our own, as no one knows


    when Princess Alyssa will return. Before she left, though, she did say that Prince Woods would be in


    charge of the remaining matters. But... It appears that Prince Woods has decided that the verdict will


    have to wait until the princess returns, so..." Alexander purposefully allowed his tone to trail away as


    though his hands were tied in the situation.


    "Is that so?" Geoffrey then leveled his sights onto Woods immediately. "Woods, if you''re the one tasked


    to deal with this matter, then there should be no reason for you to hesitate like this. It''s only going to


    inconvenience everyone else if you drag your feet. After all, both the Qi n and Cao n have been


    utterly loyal to the royal family. The least we could do is entertain their issue with respect. There''s really


    no difference whichever n wins in the end, after all. We''re all friends here."


    "And I understand that, brother. But you know as well as I do that given sister''s personality, this has the


    propensity to be disastrous. If she''s unhappy with the result, heaven knows how upset she''d be. We''d


    be calling a cataclysm down on our heads..." Woods had an expression of exasperated helplessness


    on his face.


    At that, Geoffrey''s eyes immediately darted towards Alexander. It was as though in a single nce, the


    two of them shared a conversation without words.


    "Your Royal Highness, the fact of the matter is that the five judges have already made their decision.


    They believe that our n''s beast master, my son Tate, performed magnificently in thest round.


    Therefore, they''ve decided that our Qi n should win the contest. ording to the rules, as long as a


    high-ranking member of the royal family proims this result, it will be made official and announced to


    the public," Alexander exined, gesturing fervently.


    "Oh, is that so? Woods, as you''re so concerned about upsetting Alyssa, I''ll take over the responsibility


    from your shoulders and announce the result instead. That way, if anything untoward happens, I''ll take


    responsibility for it." A cunning smile crept onto Geoffrey''s face.


    Seeing the smirk, Woods was certain that Geoffrey wasn''t here by chance. This was Geoffrey''s


    intentional attempt at subterfuge, and he was well-prepared for it. Clearly, the Qi n had its sway on


    Geoffrey. They had the leverage for it too; should they win thepetition, then the Qi n would


    likely be the biggest and most vital n in the Timber Deity Empire. And with all that might push


    its support for Geoffrey, Woods would be in jeopardy.


    Still, even though he already divined what was going on, Woods had no way to stop Geoffrey''s n


    directly. If he rejected Geoffrey''s proposal, everyone might think that he was favoring the Cao n.


    Then, he would fall into an awkward situation and someone might use it against him someday.


    For Luci and Lucas, the realization that Geoffrey was predisposed to siding with the Qi n shocked


    them. But they were helpless. There was nothing they could possibly do to stop Geoffrey. All they could


    do was to watch in abject horror as these people made the movements with the aim of trampling the


    Cao n soundly beneath their feet.