After careful consideration of all parties involved, the King declared, "Triston Barrington will be held in solitary confinement for six months and subjected to 100 lashes in the heart of the capital as a punishment for his disobedience and Austen Atwood's baseless allegations. This will serve as a warning to all who dare disrespect the Noble family."
Nicolas Atwood initially frowned, but he soon realized that the punishment was just and fair, given Triston's association with The Moon Temple. Anna, who had hoped for a different outcome, was silenced by her father's stern expression, accepting that this was the best possible outcome under the circumstances."
"I disagree," Austen yelled, continuing, "Your Majesty, this guy has lewd and lascivious thoughts for my fiancée, and I can't let him go easily. It would be a disgrace on Atwood's family name."
Julius Winfield scorned, and there was absolute silence. where Austen is staring at Aarav with bloodshot eyes
Given the circumstances, Walter decided to settle the disagreements through communication. But he was cut off before he could say anything by, "Don't sully my reputation, Austen Atwood, by making false accusations. Triston is like a brother to me. Don't say anything baseless." Anna yelled in an angry tone.
"Anna, I'm not trying to blame you," Austen said nonchalantly. "It's only this half-demon who had an immoral thought for you."
Circumstances for Triston will only become worse if Anna defends him like this. So, she backed off and clenched her fist in rage for feeling so helpless.
"Hey half-demon, how long are you going to hide behind a woman, huh?" he challenged Aarav "Fight me to the death in a dual if you have the guts."
"A dual?" Anna muttered as her eyes widened in shock.
Victoria grinned, enjoying how things were developing.
Eleanora was stunned, and she yelled, "You won't recognize the dual, Triston. You've only been awakened for 6 months, your magical rank is barely a 5, and you're far too weak to deal with him."
Everyone looked at Eleanora puzzledly, wondering, "Why is she suddenly out of character? She was berating him just a couple of minutes ago, now she is concerned about him."
Eleanora was embarrassed by her unexpected outburst, so she backed off. When Aarav stared at him with a puzzled expression, she shrugged and pretended to be innocent.
Aarav thought to himself, "Well, that's out of character for her!" Aarav found her expression endearing.
"Hey, half-demon, do you dare accept?" repeated Austen.
Aarav exclaimed, "I Accept!"
"No, you don't," Anna yelled sternly, "it's all misunderstanding, we can talk about it."
Edith Winfield agreed immediately "We shouldn't allow this dual, Your Majesty, because we wouldn't want to enrage The Moon Temple by disrespecting the Triston Life Pact with the Witch Queen. If their coven discovered today's incident, it could endanger Kingdom safety."
Victoria Winfield believed she could use this situation to her advantage and responded, "We can't make decisions for Triston because he is the Moon Temple's property, I agree, but he decided on his own to fight life's battle with Austen Atwood. We can't reject the two aspiring mage's decision."
After hearing about the life-or-death battle, Anna and Eleanora's faces turned pale, and they felt numb. but before they had an opportunity to respond.
King Julius Winfield declared, "After considering Queen Victoria Winfield's and Queen Edith Winfield's suggestions, I leave the decision to dual in the hands of Austen Atwood and Triston Barrington."
They agreed right away with a nod.
Following their approval, Julius continued, "after taking into account the two young people's willingness to compete. I hereby sanction a duel between them. The dual will take place in the Blemsnorth Institute of the Arcane after one year, however taking life in dual is prohibited. about the agreements, Triston has with The Moon Temple. I order Walter Grigg to inform Moon Temple of their duel and to write a formal letter explaining today's arrangement to the headmaster of Blemsnoth Academy."
Anna couldn't dispute the Royal edict, so she repressed her sentiments despite her extreme dissatisfaction with the decision. Conversely, Eleanora was angry about the circumstance and clenched her fist.
"No life-death dual," huh? said, Austen Atwood. He grinned as he mentally ran various plans to kill Triston, "although the accident might occur during the duel."
Victoria and Nicolas were also beaming smugly.
[I hope you realize how much of a mess you made by agreeing to dual].
"I simply can't decline his challenge because I couldn't do so in good conscience. I will eventually have to start dealing with this hostility. Let's start with him." Aarav grunted.
[*sneered*]
[For a mage with only a magical rank of 5, aren't you scaling yourself too much?]
[Nevertheless, good luck with your fight for equality.]
"Why are acting so distant, system? I'm not alone in this mess, you are bound to my soul, isn't it? If I die you die, right?" Aarav stated in a smug tone.
[I see! your decision to dual was not made on the spur of the moment then?]
"So, after seeing my intelligence, did you feel the impulse to start referring to me as a master going forward?" He kept grinning.
[Master? You sly manipulator]
He kept grinning for who knows how long after noticing the system becoming agitated.