Renner stood at a balcony, one that overlooked the training grounds. Down below was Arthur and all the members of Blue Rose doing a training exercise. This was supposed to be a simple exercise that was requested by Lakyus as a way to see how powerful Arthur truly is and what it would take to catch up to him.
Arthur agreed to it, citing that it would be fun, Renner found it entertaining watching Arthur fight so she wanted to watch, unfortunately however news of this was heard by a few nobles and her father and now a few nobles came to witness the exercise.
"It's been a week since his ascension to nobility, I wonder what he thinks about that"
The King spoke as he sat beside his daughter, Renner knew this was just a roundabout yeah of leading the conversation into the matter about her decision to marry Arthur.
"Indeed, although if you want to know his thoughts on the matter, you should ask him."
She stated.
"I suppose I will, but Daughter, i must ask.."
The king said and Renner held the urge to roll her eyes, this would be the first time they're having this conversation however she has been expecting it, due to Arthur's ascension there were things that the king needed to do so didn't particularly have the time until now.
"Why did you offer your hand in marriage to Arthur? The royal family is in a situation where we can't antagonise the noble and need to strengthen ties with noble families"
The king stated, between the two princes, Whomever ascends the throne will most likely not be accepted by one of the factions and that may spark a coup, Zanac might just let it be and let Barbro rule if he loses but Barbro certainly will not allow for anyone but him to sit on the throne as such if Zanc ascends a coup is practically guaranteed.
"I have already stated at the ceremony of his ascension why i wished to marry him"
Renner stated nonchalantly as her eyes focused on Arthur taking on all members of Blue Rose at once, she didn't understand why he chose to train while wearing only trousers and leaving his torso naked but she can't say she doesn't like seeing his bare skin and body.
She also found it amusing how Lakyus and her team just could not land a single hit on her future husband.
"I understand that, my daughter, but you must understand, as members of the royal family, it's our duty to ensure the stability of the throne and kingdom"
What the king needed out of this was people who will fight for the Royal family regardless of who takes the throne, the Nobles are greedy, even those that are part of the Royalty faction if an opportunity presents itself and guarantees them money and land they'll switch to whatever side.
By having Renner marry a high-ranking noble or one that is associated with a noble with influence, that can at least guarantee their loyalty.
Worst part about such situations is once a civil war broke out most nobles would want the throne and in order for the Royal family to get allies it would need to promise its allies a reward of land, which would work against them in the long run as that diminishes the royal family's power.
"Indeed you are correct in that regard, Father, but I am selfish, but I suppose you're better than me in that regard, your Majesty"
Renner stated and the king could not help but feel the sting of those words, although they were disguised as a compliment to his selflessness of putting the kingdom before everything else they were Also veiled dig at him for putting the kingdom before his own family or at the very least that's how he interpreted her words.
Of course Renner did not wish to make her father feel remorse for the way he chose to be, she hardly cared, her words were meant to illustrate the difference between her and the king and they also doubled as advice for him to stop trying to please the nobles although she didn't care if he understood that or not.
"I see"
He stated he knew his daughter was smart as he figured that she would at least do things logically, as royalty it's only Logical that he'd want the stability of the kingdom and the continued reign of the Vaiself family, he had figured Renner would understand that.
'But then again, what reason would she have to listen to me?'
He thought, he broke the promise of letting her marry on her own terms so she decided to disregard his word entirely and do things her way, he supposed that was fair on her part, forcing the issue would not really help, perhaps if he had been more of a father she would listen to him
"I suppose I can't force you to do things you don't want and what kind of father would I be if I didn't at least accept the decisions you make"
He stated before standing from his chair, while it would be interesting to watch a training exercise. He had matters to attend to. Although he could not help but feel guilty about Renner's earlier comment, he wondered if his wife was alive, would his relationship with his children be better?
Saying his goodbyes, Renner bowed as he left, and her eyes returned back to the training exercise below.
.....
*clank*"
The sound of steel against Steel echoed, followed by the sudden gust of wind that was created by the Shock wave of the two objects.
Lakyus creased her brows in slight frustration as the man before stopped her attack with his bare hands. No doubt he was durable, but she was also quite strong, that attack should have sliced through him regardless of his durability. Well, at least she managed to have his feet sink into the ground.
Her eyes wondered and took a curious glance towards his lean muscled figured and a small blush graced her cheeks
Arthur smirked at the sight, seeing that Lakyus felt embarrassed and used more of her strength to push further down on him, with Arthur now firmly placed in one spot Gagaran came in full speed from the side with her battle hammer ready to full swing.
Seeing this Arthur let the sword that he was stopping from reaching him, he let it reach him by pulling back his arm, this sudden action caused Lakyus to lurch forward allowing Arthur to grab her arm with one and pulling her towards himself and then grabbing her clothes and tossing her over the other side before swiftly dodging the attack from Gagaran.
*whoosh!*
The hammer whistled past him as it missed, and he spun around and delivered a kick to her torso and sent her flying to the same direction Lakyus had landed on.
however unbeknownst to Arthur, when he kicked Gagaran, an impermissible figure jumped from within her shadow and entered his, like a frog entering a lake.
"huh?!"
It was because of this figure entering his shadow that he now was unable to move an inch, his body was locked into place incapable of moving.
'Probably one of the twins, I remember one of them having a shadow related technique'
He thought as he heard Evileye cast a spell
"Maximise magic: Magic arrow"
with Arthur now in Place, Evil Eye attacked, using a maximise on a low tier spell to gauge his durability.
Seeing that he was trapped and unable to move Arthur decided to let the attack hit, if he's Locked into place Ultra Instinct could not help him dodge, so instead he used Blut Vene, up until now he has only used it on his hands to block attacks.
Before the attacks landed, the figures in his shadow quickly Jumped out Freeing him from its shadow possession and Arthur was unable to dodge as immediately afterwards he was held in place by a bunch of steel like threads.
*BOOM!!*
The attack landed, causing the attackers to watch in anticipation so they may assess the damage and plan their next. The smoke settled and was revealed to be unscathed.
"Damn He's tough!"
"Yeah, although this is a better alternative than not being able to land a single attack on him"
Lakyus stated to Gagaran as the rest of her team came towards her direction.
"We knew he was tough when this training exercise began. We just need to try again"
Evileye stated as she and the twins arrived before their teammates. This training exercise would be good for all of them as it would show how much they need to improve.
"You okay Lakyus, you seem distracted"
Arthur addresses Lakyus with a teasing smirk.
"What! I'm distracted"
"You sure because Your eyes have been wondering"
"No they haven't. Shut up!"
"Yes, they were"
"Nuh uh, they weren't"
The adventurer profusely denied with a blush on her cheek embarrassment marred her face, especially so since her friends were beside her and were hearing the conversation.
"Oh my God, this is a training exercise!"
Evileye expressed with an eye roll, the twins into a protective position, protecting Lakyus.
"The evil boss will be taken"
"Protect Evil bosses innocence"
They spoke as Gagaran laughed and patted Lakyus on the back, silently encouraging her. Lakyus could not help but groan in embarrassment and frustration, her friends enjoyed her bashfulness.
"Let's just continue the exercise instead of talk about nonsense"
She said, trying to move on from this topic.
"We can do that if you admit your eyes were wondering"
Arthur teased further, the smirk never leaving his face. He found her embarrassed face cute, she was different from Renner, and he found her being Renner's complete opposite to be refreshing
"My eyes were not wandering. Shut up"
she dashed in to attack, swinging her sword wildly as Arthur perfectly dodged her attacks.
Lakyus could not help but feel a bit saddened, despite his teasing she actually like his company and he was a handsome fellow as well unfortunately she would have to cut ties with him eventually, she could not deny that she was starting to like him more and more, worst part about it, that desire seemed to grow the more she tried to rationalise why she shouldn't like him.
'I need to go to church'
She thought, perhaps it would be beneficial for her, go through a cleansing, and wash away these sinful thoughts of hers.
...
A/N: This feels like a useless chapter to be honest, it was supposed to be reactions from the nobles after the ascension ceremony, but I felt like I needed to first showcase why Renner marrying Arthur was a problem for them so I changed. It also doesn't help that I haven't slept in 36 hours.
What are your thoughts on the chapters? Was it good, bad? Did anything feel forced? How were the interactions? Please tell me.