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 holds © this.

smirks gracing their faces, as everything was happening just as they had planned. 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 Clan. They were pretty sure about that.

"I object!" A powerful voice broke through the din. Lucilla 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 plot laid down by the Qi Clan.

"Chief Lucilla, 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 Clan is inferior to

the Qi Clan?" 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," Lucilla replied in an icy tone.

"Regardless of the Cao Clan'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

accordance with the rules of the Beast Master Contest, no clan 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 outcome 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 Clan's side and colluded with them secretly. Yet, they still pretended to be so justified and

upright. To them, the Cao Clan 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 Clan

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 Clan'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; according to the rules of the Beast Master Contest, the final announcement shall be

declared 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

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

be a big wrinkle in their plan.

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

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

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

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

hall, complications were inevitable.

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

presence flooded the area with interest.

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

out to welcome 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

competitor for the throne.

Every member of the Qi Clan, along with the other clan 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 elegant composure.

"You're most welcome 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 the competition remained up in the air due to Alyssa's sudden

disappearance. According to his personal network 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 Clan 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 clan is the true

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

"Ah, that's precisely why I invited Prince Woods, the clan 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 Clan and Cao Clan 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 clan 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 glance, 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 clan's beast master, my son Tate, performed magnificently in the last round.

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

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

the public," Alexander explained, 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 Clan had its sway on

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

likely become the biggest and most vital clan 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 plan

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

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

For Lucilla and Lucas, the realization that Geoffrey was predisposed to siding with the Qi Clan 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 Clan soundly beneath their feet.