She responded to the question before the host could get the words out. The first query was an easy one, befitting to be the first question of that night. It asked about the name of the emperor who united the Seven High Houses.

“Rhistel de Estrellio,” she said. 

He was the fourth and last emperor of the Old Empire and the first emperor of the New Empire. He succeeded where his three predecessors had failed: the complete subjugation of the Southern Houses, Ostrin and Atolia.

Regardless, the man finished the question before he looked up and pointed in her direction. When it finally dawned on her that she got the first point in this contest, her excitement was soon replaced by awkwardness and guilt.

Eyes turned in her direction both with curiosity and admiration. But Ariadne wasn’t pleased with herself. She felt like she had stolen something from Osriel. She scolded herself but stopped before she could even bury herself deeper. Ariadne shook her head internally, her only goal in this contest was to win the negative questions so she could throw minus points to other contestants. In this way, I will greatly help eliminate other contestants that stand in His Grace’s way.

The host coughed and proceeded to speak the next question.

“Blacksilver Valley was established under the rule of who’s emperor?”

She knew the answer, but this time someone came to her first by a fraction. She turned and saw Osriel raising his hand as he said the name of the specific Emperor. 

“Mikelson Flinard de Estrellio.”

She felt happy when he received a point. It helped her calm down a bit as she realized the fear and anxiousness in Osriel’s face earlier had finally vanished.

The one-point question goes on until the fourteenth question. In the fifteenth question, the host announced the first negative question for the first round.

“For the fifteenth question will be a negative question. Whoever answers this one correctly has the right to remove a point from any contestants in the field,” the host said.

The people present started murmuring in anticipation. Ariadne tried to clear her head of those annoying sounds that sounded like buzzing bees in her ears. She waited for the questions, her hands ready to raise as soon as she figured out what was being asked.

“He was the emperor who organized the first group of messengers that he sent to Ariin Republic. It will later start the first negotiations for the Red Alliance.”

When Ariadne realized what was being asked in the question, someone was already coming to her first—the girl beside her. She stared at the girl intently, but she didn’t even bother to look at her as she said the answer to the question.

“Deniro Oren de Estrellio.”

It took Ariadne seconds to realize that what she said was wrong. She raised her hand and stole the right to answer the question.

“Jaheveer Nerro de Estrellio!” She said, unaware of the glances given to her as she raised her voice. Ariadne only became aware of her own impudence when she heard that familiar mischievous laugh in the crowd. 

The host coughed as if to warn her about her attitude, but who cares, she thought; if doing that would distract the other contestants, then that’s fine as long as she could all steal the points she needed.

She looked around, trying to figure out to whom she could give the points. Right now, most of them already had as much as one point. Save for the girl beside her, who got four points, and two others, including her and Osriel, who got three points. No matter what I did, two who don’t score any for this round point will be removed from the game. But since there are too many of them, the host will draw the name of the persons who will be eliminated. Then that means…

Ariadne raised her hand and pointed to the girl to her right, the one who had three points. She wondered what her name was.

The host nodded. “Lady Renna Illyra y Kressidar, will receive a one-point minus to her score of four.”

The name sounded familiar to her, but Ariadne was too ecstatic to think about it. After the host had drawn the two contestants who would leave the game, he allowed the players a ten-minute break. Ariadne left the podium and walked towards the table where Arissa and her father were waiting. A pile of papers was on the table; these were all her reviewers that she had tried to commit to her memory these past few days. The questions were not something she had expected, it was easier than she thought. Most questions after the second questions were about notable laws and diplomatic achievements of the past Emperors—it was one of the many things the two had reviewed.

She sat on the table and snatched one of her reviewers, her eyes scanning all the roughly scribbled letters on the piece of paper. She had to remember the dates, lines of the poem, articles, rules, and laws, and even the name of the previous kings and of the different nations around the Empire was also something that she memorized. She barely remembered anything about what happened in this contest aside from what Arissa told her in her previous life. But that too, could only do her so much help. The subject itself was too broad if you looked at it.

The bell rang, calling for all the participants to return to their respective podiums. But before she could even stand, Astram put a hand over hers.

“Try to stay as small as possible,” he said.

She knew what it meant. But Ariadne cannot fathom why she had to stay hidden. She just nodded and shrugged it off as soon as she walked towards the podium.

Ariadne will later learn what her father meant by saying those words when she realized who the girl on her right was.

They all waited for the host to give the instruction for the second round, as far as she knew, each year the knowledge contest would have the same mechanic for round one, but for the following rounds a new set of instructions would be given to them.

“For the next round, there would be no negative question, and each question you answer will give you a point if you answer it correctly, but if the answer is wrong, you will receive a two-point deduction on your current score. The same rules for elimination will be applied for the second round. The two players with the lowest point must renounce their podium.”

The host looked around; a faint glint of excitement could be seen in his eyes. He smiled and fixed his glasses.

“Emperor Elnirro presented o gold plate to North Glebanry as a sign of peace. But it later came to knowledge that what was written there was a threat. What Song did the Emperor send? Please sing the entire song.”

Osriel came first to raise his hand, but as soon as the question was finished, his hand shied away as if embarrassed. Don’t tell me…. 

Osriel didn’t know the entire song, and as a result, he received a two-point deduction, making him lose two of his points.