I've been reincarnated into another world as a witch

Chapter 40: A National Treasure

"Lady Riley Delton!" Oh gosh, here I go.

"Are you ready Milady?" Asked Bard who was holding my Crystalline sword under a satin cloth. I nodded at him even though I was suddenly feeling really nervous.

Together we walked up to the judges table and I placed my grimoire down on the oak wood just in front of Prince Geoffrey's hands and then stepped back a few paces as I had seen the others do.

I watched as the judges began to look through my grimoire. The looks of astonishment and skepticism on their faces was pretty clear, however I couldn't manage to read Prince Geoffrey's expression, I felt like he always had his guard up, constantly making a barrier between himself and other people.

"This spell of yours is extremely complicated Lady Delton," came the croaky thin voice of Saint Corvinia Isleen, the head of the church of Magic, dressed in black, "were you able to execute the spell, or are you just presenting a concept to us today?" She asked regarding me with aged but sharp eyes.

"I was able to complete it, so I will be presenting you with the finished product today." I replied promptly and clearly. This Saint Corvinia was a woman who demanded respect through her manor and her voice and I found myself so intimidated by her that I wanted to give her what she demanded.

She looked me over with her sharp eyes but said nothing else.

"Here it says that you acknowledge three people for helping you in the creation of this artifact." Stated Mr Mannon Brunhild, Arcadia's uncle. "Lord Gawain Smithson for giving you the idea, Lord Cornelius Marcellus because you modeled your spell after his spell, and lastly Mr Bazthornia for molding the artifact for you."

I nodded, "Yes, that is correct."

He nodded back at me, seemingly satisfied with my answer. There was a long pause where no one said anything while the judges were scribbling notes down on their papers.

"Begin." Commanded the prince. He then leaned back in his chair and seemed to relax against the carved wood. He stared at me behind his golden lashes, a cool yet mischevious glow to his face.

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Finally the moment had arrived for Geoffrey, finally. The only reason he wanted to be a judge for the tournament was so that he could experience Lady Riley's performance first hand. He wanted to see her from close up, not like the Mage tournament where he had to remain with his family and watch her from a distance. That day he had wanted to go meet her and become aquainted with her, but he had had to do the princely thing and remain indifferent.

From the moment he had read Kristopher's letter informing him of the mysterious raven-haired maiden with enormous power, Prince Geoffrey had been captivated by her. He had never been so intrigued by a woman in his life.Even though he had been with many a beautiful and mysterious women, none seemed to affect him quite like Lady Riley did. None seemed to be able to capture his attention as she was able to. She was able to stir something up in him that he was unfamiliar with yet welcomed greedily. A kind of pasion...? lust maybe...? He wasn't sure.

He wanted to know her, he wanted to approach her. Now that he was certain that she would bring no harm to the kingdom, he could afford to get to know her a better. He wasn't sure if his attraction to her was purely sexual or not, but it was an attraction that he planned to unravel.