66 The Battleground!

Alyssa was sitting on the podium with the rest of her family members. The king, King Antonio was sitting in the middle of the stage with her mother, Lady Salvia on his right and the King's younger son and Alexander's fraternal twin brother, Leonard, on the left side.

Violet was sitting beside Lady Salvia. Alyssa had never seen Violet to be dressed up so minimally in any of the functions.

Violet was wearing a pale, yellow dress that reached her ankles. It also had long sleeves and a high neck. It was the first time for Alyssa to see Violet dressed so conservatory. Violet's face was pale. Even her lips seemed pale. There were red marks on her forehead and neck. Her eyes seemed swollen and there was a hint of redness beneath them. At one glance anybody can tell that she had been tortured and starved for days. Suddenly Alyssa wanted to laugh at the situation real hard. But she suppressed it. She sneaked out her mobile from under the table and texted someone. Then she deleted the message and kept her mobile inside her pockets.

'Moon Goddess, she really wishes for the night to unfold. There will be shocking surprises for everyone in her family.'

She supposes today they all will learn their lessons to never mess with her in the future.

The interview began.

The king addressed his citizens and expressed his heartfelt sorry for the victims. Violet who was sitting beside her, took out her handkerchief from her bag and dabbed her eyes and Salvia, after seeing this pulled her in her embrace.

'Don't laugh Allie. Control yourself.'

Alyssa berated herself. But still, a smile blossomed on her lips. Today, everybody's attention was on her, so she lowered her head to hide her smile.

Meanwhile, on the internet, Alyssa's interview started trending.

Everybody was eager to find something or everything on their recent she-hero. So, everybody was digging up her every story since her birth. Alyssa was already trending for a couple of days, but with new information that hackers and internet experts were giving about her, she became a mystery to everybody, a mystery that everybody wants to unsolved.

After King Antonio did her part, he addressed the press to ask any question related to the recent events regarding Count Bright.

One of the press reporters stood from his seat and said, "I am Rambo, from ABC News Channel and my first question is for Princess Alyssa, how did you find that the killer is Victor, Count Bright's son?"

Alyssa smiled at the reporter. She picked up her mic and greeted him warmly. A wave of awe spread across the room. Citizens who were watching this live interview too were awed at Alyssa's politeness.

Violet clenched her fist below the table but the smile on her face didn't change.

"I got the information regarding this from somebody else." Alyssa vaguely said her piece.

Salvia glared at Alyssa but she ignored her.

'Who was the person that told you about this thing?" The reporter asked once again.

"He was someone who wants to remain anonymous," Alyssa said.

"Is he the person who was injured heavily in the fight?" The reporter asked.

Alyssa remained silent for a while but then said, "Maybe. Maybe not."

After she sat down, another reporter rose from her seat. She had a skinny figure and had beaded eyes. she glared at Alyssa and harshly spoke, "You said there was another person who gave you this information, from my investigation, that person is your sister, Lady Violet. But I want to question you that, why are you not mentioning her? Why do you have to treat your own sister so badly?"

Alyssa gazed at the reporter, then she looked at the person beside her. Even though there was no expression on Violet's face, there was a smirk on her face that was clearly visible to Alyssa.

Alyssa scoffed in her heart. This could be a mere press conference for others, but this was a battleground for her. How could she come here without any preparation?

The reporter in front of her was someone who her mother has bought to humiliate Alyssa publicly. She never trusted Alyssa to do as she was told, so she hired a bunch of press reporters to twist the fact and scare Alyssa.

"Sorry, I never got to ask your name," Alyssa asked politely.

"What do you care. A person like you deserves to be punished. You don't deserve to know my name." the reporter said harshly.

On the cue, Violet raised from her seat and wrapped her arms around Alyssa. She glared at the reporter and said, "Remember who you are talking to. She is the only princess of Coral Bells and moreover, she is my sister. What I have is hers. There is no separation between us."

Violet indirectly gave told the audience that what the reporter was telling is the truth and Alyssa his taking credit for her hard work.

The whole room went into a state of frenzy. Murmurs rose from every place. Even the internet was in turmoil. Instantly the crowd divided into two groups. One that was supporting Alyssa and the one that was supporting Violet.

The group supporting Violet was larger in number.

Who would lie in front of the whole family and in front of the live press conference, right?

"I didn't know that Alyssa was so horrible." One of the internet users said.

"Right. She was becoming my idol, but in reality, she was just an opportunist." The second user said.

"Yes. She is so self-centered that she is not willing to give away the credit of hard work to somebody else." The third user said.

"Are you blind? Haven't you seen the live video of their attack? How she saved a girl and faced the monster." Another user berated them.

"This user is really blind. Can't you see there are bruises on Violet's face? And Alyssa's face is completely clean. I bet Violet was attacked and not Alyssa." Another user said.

"Me too."

"Me +100."

Everybody started posting negative comments on the live video that Alyssa has done right before the press conference.

Now Alyssa being a liar and a cheater started trending on the internet.

In the press conference, Alyssa gazed at everybody's face, from the King's to Violet's and her mother. Besides Alexander, who was looking at her worriedly, everyone's face was calm. It was as if their sweet Violet had stopped an unimaginable disaster from happening.

Alexander tried to stand in support for Alyssa but one glare from his father made him sit again.

Alyssa removed Violet's hand from her. She was disgusted by her action. She looked at the reporter and calmly said, "Is this what you want?"

In reality, this was the question for her so-called family. It was a warning to them. A last warning for them to let her leave peacefully and to not mess with her. If they wanted, she was ready to call a truce.

"Are you threatening me?" The reporter spat.

She received a message on her mobile but she ignored it.

"No, I am just warning you. You know truth can't remain hidden forever right?" Alyssa smiled at the reported.

The reporter was stunned. Her legs wobbled but when she got an encouraging nod from Salvia, she said, "If you are not afraid, why would I?"

She received another message.

"So, ask your questions to Violet. She will answer your questions honestly." Alyssa said pressing the word.

The reporter smiled and said, "Lady Violet, can you tell how this all happened?"

Her phone pinged.

Violet smiled "I was visiting Count Bright's house because I have some work with him. When I entered the villa, I saw two people dragging a person inside. I got curious and I know I have to save the person, so, I followed them. Before they can realize anything, I stuck them in their head and they fainted. I rescued the person but was later caught by Count Bright's men. They locked me in a dungeon for days. Later Leonard found me and saved me. We were trying to find a way to escape when we saw Victor as a monster. They were shifting Victor to King's Town. We tried to stop them but we were heavily injured and were admitted to the hospital. Later, His Majesty gave this mission to Alexander to capture Count Bright and Kill Victor. I guess at that time Alyssa was in town too, so she helped Alexander in the mission."

"So, you are saying that it was done by you and Prince Leonard." the reporter asked, ignoring another message on her phone.

"Yes," Violet answered shyly. She then gave a worried look towards Alyssa and said, "But it was Alyssa who faced that monster, so she did the majority of the work.

By this time almost everybody was against Alyssa. Everybody was giving her a look of hatred. Violet's answer was completely opposite of what Alyssa had said in the interview.

Suddenly, the screen on the podium brightened and all the lights of the room became dim.