“King Everwood?” A voice called out.

My heart nearly stopped when I heard the person behind the room’s side door. I immediately grabbed my neck and cracked it, crushing Thea’s reeta on my shoulder.

"Come in."

A woman with flowing red hair wearing a gold and white dress opened the door and walked in. Her guards gritted their teeth and took positions in the adjacent hallway.

"What can I do for you, My Lady?" I asked, standing and bowing slightly.

"You can marry me," Rema answered without hesitation.

"Isn't that the purpose of the Suitor's Tournament?" I deadpanned.

"It is," she said, approaching me until she was right in front of me, staring into my eyes, "but you're not planning to marry me after you win."

"That's a damning accusation," I remarked emotionlessly. "Isn't that something you should avoid saying in front of your guards?"

Rema walked backward and turned to an indiscreet part of the wall, pointing out a Circle of Privacy, a magic circle that blocks sound waves. Then she turned to the main entrance and pointed out another. "I had this room arranged for privacy ahead of time.”

I blinked slowly for mocking effect. "You're not worried I'd kill or force myself on you?"

She smirked at me. "You won't harm me or disclose this meeting. I'm more certain of that than your impending rejection."

"Well, you're right. Congratulations," I sassed. "What do you want?"

Rema gave me a thin smile. "I'll be blunt."

"It wouldn't be a first," I quipped.

"It's a talent," she retorted.

"Prove it," I countered.

"You can marry us both," Rema declared, making my eyes widen. "You're a reincarnation—every leader knows it. Claim your home culture requires kings to have multiple wives, and that's why you've been hostile. World leaders will concede to avoid conflict."

I gave her a vicious smirk. "You've known I'm a reincarnation, yet you've only offered this minimal concession after I've forced the world's hand."

"It's only because you've forced the world's hand that we can accept this egregious concession," Rema huffed. "It's politically scandalous and humiliating to offer to join a harem."

“It’s humiliating?” I smirked. “Then should you rejoice if I’ve found a way out of this marriage?”

“I’ll be blunt again,” she warned.

“It seems you do have a talent for it,” I taunted.

Rema walked up close, touching my chest and leaning in. "I'm not rejoicing because I want to marry you, Ryker," she whispered. "I love you."

I stepped back, separating us and looking into her eyes. "We had forced tea meetings once a month for seven years. Yet you claim you love me?"

Rema's cheeks turned rosy, and she looked away. "You've taught me so much during those sessions; you remember the slightest details about me; you're handsome and remarkably capable. How can't I love you?"

"I've always seen you as a child and thus taught you; I remember everything about everyone; handsome is subjective, and your family hates how capable I am."

"Then what about Thea?" Rema challenged. "You taught her and watched her grow up."

My poker face twitched. "I've always planned to spend my life with Thea without romantic expectations," I explained. "She's the only romantic option, so I've become more willing to accept her feelings recently. My feelings are also conflicted."

“Let’s put aside age and return to logic. If you love and want to stay by her side forever," Rema whispered, walking forward and lightly raking her fingers against my chest again. "Then marry us to prevent her persecution. Legitimize her."

I winced. If I could publicly marry Thea, keep her by my side as a queen, and legitimize my kingdom, it would solve my problems and remove the need to bombard ports and fight ancients.

Don’t get me wrong, I had a lot of fun.

And those fuckers deserved it.

Yet, Lyssa and Zenith’s words cycled in my head, playing back in high definition. I could still see their disappointed expressions as they recalled my unwillingness to find diplomatic solutions.

Even if I had reservations, I should at least consider it. Yet…

I swallowed and turned away, my facial muscles tightening.

"What makes me so different from Thea?" Rema asked, pressing her flat hand against my chest. "Am I not as pretty? Do I not give you enough attention? Am I not docile enough?"

I quickly stepped back from her. “While your offer is tempting, you’ve misunderstood something critical."

“What is that?” Rema frowned.

“Thea’s not docile,” I warned, “and she doesn’t share.”

Rema’s expression contorted, looking at her hands with a pained expression. “She’s not docile? She doesn’t share? What type of twisted reasoning is that for denying my shameful confession?”

BOOM!

The door flew across the room, followed by Collin, who slammed into the wall. Rema’s eyes widened as Thea walked in and released a wave of bloodlust that brought the other guards outside to drop to their knees, leaving only us breathing normally.

“Are you mad?!” Rema screamed, pointing at Collin. “You’re attacking my people on Valieran soil before witnesses and other countries?! Do you understand the consequences of your actions?!”

Thea’s teal eyes flashed with bloodlust. “Go ahead and tell them what happened! Tell them that I, Princess Rema Redfield, tried to seduce a competitor at my marriage tournament, and Lady Lockheart protected him!”

A wave of panic crashed through Rema, who never would’ve believed that my love-obsessed maid would attack her guards and openly blackmail her without my permission.

Rema instantly understood the validity of my rejection. She looked at me with trembling eyes, conveying genuine remorse while pleading for me to prevent the situation from escalating.

Collin stood up, rubbing his head. He looked at Thea and Rema before turning to me. “If you do claim seduction, we’ll claim you tried assaulting her, and everything will go to hell,” he warned. “So think carefully—”

Thea grabbed the man’s head with ghostly speed and slammed it into the wall.

"THEA!" I yelled, causing her to freeze. "Stop! He's not threatening to do anything—it's what will happen. It's the only rational option for King Redfield."

"What do you mean it's rational?" Thea pouted. "Princess Redfield came to you. That alone is a scandal."

"They'll twist it somehow," I reasoned. "This scandal could cause issues with every kingdom that sent suitors. King Redfield will gamble with me to prevent guaranteed destruction. So let him go."

Thea released the man, and his limp body crashed to the ground as she pouted, then turned to Rema and growled.

"R-Ryker, why are you allowing this behavior?" Rema stammered, falling onto the couch.

"I love this behavior," I declared, making Thea's face turn bright red before I playfully rubbed her ears, making her squirm. "She's 100% devoted. Completely trustworthy. Obsessed."

I turned to Rema. "I love that she's overprotective. I love that I'm her entire world. I even love that she stalks me and listens to my conversations."

Thea turned even brighter red and squirmed, shimmying her shoulders bashfully.

Rema stared at me with her mouth slightly agape. "Why?"

I locked eyes with her. "Because I'm selfish."

Thea hugged herself with an intense smile, and Rema's eyes widened. "Why are you happy about that?"

“Everyone calls my behavior unhealthy, but I can’t help it,” Thea replied, buzzing with a huge smile on her face. "But Ryker… he loves it."

I turned to Rema with a deadpan expression. "Our relationship is unhealthy and toxic, but we're both equally happy with it. However, it also makes even a public-facing relationship impossible."

Rema opened and closed her mouth, swallowing her words.

Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.

"I like you as a person, and I'll ensure you won't be harmed." I offered her my hand. "Let's go back now."

Rema smiled wryly and took my hand, ignoring Thea as she stood and composed herself. Then she turned to her conscious guards. “If you mention my being here, we’ll cut off your testicles and force you to watch your loved ones be murdered and desecrated as you bleed out.”

Her eyes turned ice cold. “Do you understand.”

"Y-Yes, My Lady!!"

Everyone saluted, and they ushered her and Thea to their skybox while guards removed Collin's body and cleaned up the debris from the wall and door.

No one even looked at me.

"Like father, like daughter," I thought with a sardonic smile.

After they left, I sat on the sofa and stared at the ceiling.

Click.

Prince Emeric entered the room and looked around with wide eyes. "Was there a fight in here?"

"Why would you think that?" I deadpanned.

He knitted his brows with an exasperated expression. "There's a missing door and a dent in the wall. King Redfield wouldn't allow such a blemish in a room meant for high nobles."

I shrugged. "Unless you think I kicked down the door and threw people inside or people kicked each other in, I don't know what to tell you."

"That is absurd," Prince Emeric affirmed. "But it is possible that the door was locked, assassins kicked it down, swarmed the room, and you threw one into the wall."

"Do you really think that an assassin would confront me in close combat?" I rolled my eyes. My power was well-known among the elites. "They would blast the room with high-level magic or try poisoning me before doing that."

He frowned. "Then what happened?"

"Something that happened before I showed up." I then turned away to ignore him.

Prince Emeric sighed. "Will you at least tell me what happened to Lord Morrow? He's missing."

“I strangled him with killing intent and slapped him,” I answered. "I broke his cheekbone and one of his vertebrae, so he's probably getting healed by an S-class healer."

He furrowed his brow. "Vertebrae?"

I internally winced but looked up with a straight face. "His spine."

His eyes widened in horror. "You broke his spine?!"

"Yeah," I replied.

Prince Emeric stumbled back, losing his footing. However, probably due to my ambivalence, he eased up and sat down, keeping silent until the sound of my tapping foot made his facial muscles twitch. "Will you really turn down Princess Redfield?"

My foot stopped moving. "Why would you ask such a pointless question?"

"Because I'll be fighting to maintain peace if hostilities break out," Prince Emeric reasoned.

My stiff muscles relaxed, and I rolled my head on the top of the couch to face him. "If you protect me despite my doing something so brazen, you'll obtain great rewards. At the end of the day, that's all that matters—to your father."

Prince Emeric clenched his fist at my response. "Just remember that your decisions affect your people and loved ones,” he demanded.

I rolled my head back to the ceiling. "Don't I know it."

***

The room quickly filled with winning suitors boasting about their achievements. They had been training together for thirteen years, so they were close. As a result, the atmosphere was competitive but positive.

Only I stood out, sitting on a couch everyone avoided like the plague.

I've never been so thankful for their disdain.

A guard entered the room. "King Everwood, you're up." He turned to a teen adorned with blonde hair and golden armor. "Lord Esmond, you're up as well."

Everyone held their breath, forcing the room into a deafening silence.

Lord Alex Esmond was a noble from Goldenspire, one of the ones who bared their fangs at me.

"Well, aren't I lucky?" Alex laughed, cutting through the tension. "I can't wait to tell everyone how badly I'll maim you."

"Lord Esmond!" The guard snapped. "Hold your tongue until you get into the ring!"

"Yeah, yeah." Alex flipped his golden hair and walked out of the room.

I got up and ensured there were no marks or gravel on the couch before I walked out, listening to the sneers and speculations.

***

As with last time, I walked out through the iron doors to the arena. However, unlike last time, there was already wild cheering for Alex.

'He must've made a good impression last time,' I thought. 'He's also more attractive than I am. It's not that surprising that—'

"There he is!"

A single woman screamed. Her statement sent the boisterous crowd into a feeding frenzy. Their thunderous applause gave the stadium a pulse, making it feel alive with synergized energy.

Alex glared at me with a red face and dug his toe into the sand, his body trembling.

"Be careful, your true self is showing," I smirked, causing his whole body to jolt forward to attack. However, the crowd gasped, and he quickly stopped and composed himself, activating an amplification circle.

"I'm going to rip your limbs off," Alex proclaimed. "Judging from your sleeves, it might be permanent."

The crowd fell silent and looked at my red sleeves and gloves, spreading whispers.

I activated an amplification circle. “Lord Esmond, if you threaten me again, I’ll murder you even if you become king of Valeria.”

My words instantly elicited gasps and a forced hush. "You should know that kings don't threaten kings unless they're willing to go to war," I elucidated.

Alex's expression paled, and he turned to his father, who glowered at him with a crimson face. He was the only Goldenspire representative, as Priest Aelius protested my participation. Therefore, everyone's eyes were on him.

Alex swallowed and then turned to me. "I rescind my threat. However, anything that happens in this ring is permissible and protected by all kingdoms. Don't forget that."

"Don't worry, I'm counting on it," I smirked.

The audience exploded with cheers, excitement, and giggling women, making Alex flush with humiliation. It triggered his anger again—he clearly wasn't used to being challenged, let alone being ridiculed.

"Are you ready?" Gene swallowed, walking as far as he could get away from us. We nodded at the announcer, and he took a deep breath. "You may begin!"

Alex jumped back and chanted a high-level magic spell that caused the gasses in the atmosphere to warp. "Infernum terram adfer!"

A massive fireball streaked across the battlefield as I walked forward.

'Oxygen, nitrogen, separate,' I thought.

The area around me warped, and the fire crashed into it, instantly being snuffed out by pure nitrogen as the fire burned to my side like a blow torch.

Alex's eyes trembled as I casually walked through the inferno, matching the crowd's reaction. He chanted another spell, trying to shoot ice at me. However, the ice exploded in his face, and a twisted gas assaulted him, making him stumble.

'Remove oxygen from water, and gas explodes; remove nitrogen and concentrate oxygen on a person's head, and it will cause oxygen toxicity. It wouldn't cause a wizard seizures, but he'll get one hell of a high.'

"W-What are you doing…." Alex stumbled, hiding one eye as he moved out of the oxygen field and regained composure.

The audience was dead silent, but their collective heartbeat gave the stadium a pulse.

'Good; my demonstration is instilling fear in everyone,' I internally grinned. 'Scar this into your memory, Novena; let your fear of the unknown consume you.'

Alex unsheathed his sword as I approached calmly. "You are a demon, aren't you?!" he screamed, his hands shaking. "It's true that you're a reincarnation of a demon, isn't it?! Admit it!"

The gravity in the atmosphere multiplied. Audience members sucked in breaths, and world leaders studied each other, preparing to fight if necessary. Others stared at Duke Esmond with vicious expressions.

"We didn't come to make accusations!" Duke Esmond swore, standing and stumbling backward. "Son! Apologize for your words and behavior!"

"Why?! He uses magic we don't understand and a language none of us speak! He can turn things and people to dust! People deserve to know that he's a threat!"

Whispers rippled through the crowd, people gasped, and lower nobles, merchants, and high commoners questioned my validity for the first time.

I turned to Thea with a stern glare, stopping her from jumping out of the skybox and forcing her to sit back down beside Princess Rema, whose body was so tense she looked like a plank.

For anyone else, these accusations would damage their reputation, but I internally grinned. 'This segue couldn't be more perfect,' I silently declared. 'This is a sign from the gods.'

After activating an amplification spell, "I'm not a demon reincarnation."

"LIES!" Alex yelled.

"I'm a reincarnation from the future," I declared, circling the crowd.

World leaders preparing to fight turned to me with open mouths.

"My technology is far more advanced than yours—do you know why?" I posed.

A collective murmur of confusion cut through the airwaves.

"It's because the spirit veins were destroyed during upcoming wars, and we couldn't rely upon magic anymore," I warned, spreading panic through the crowd. "Therefore, we developed conventional weapons and technology to compensate."

I had never used this argument before because I needed to confirm that magic came from spirit veins and that the veins themselves could be destroyed. Through testing and research, I established something plausible enough to withstand scrutiny.

However, now that I did, world leaders and nobles fell silent, hanging onto my every word. If anyone else said that, they'd be treated as insane, but no one could deny they had thought it before.

"If you've questioned my behavior, it's because we do not share the same customs or beliefs," I said. "I came from a time when leaders chose their partners, and political relationships didn't exist."

King Redfield stood and shot me a warning glare. "Where is this going?"

I took a sharp breath, sweat dripping from my brow as I fought past my fear and deafening heartbeat. "Every world leader knows there's tension with this arrangement—I'm explaining why," I answered. "I'm also explaining why a political relationship will fall apart and cause greater damage to our kingdoms."

King Redfield gritted his teeth. "Whether you're from the future or not, you're living now, when political relationships build relationships and prevent wars. That's something you must accept."

"I'm not here to be a king, King Redfield," I countered. "I'm here to save this world from a demon invasion that will destroy this world in 82 years. However, this world's growth is stunted because leaders live for centuries, so I've been forced to become a king!"

Murmurs spread through the crowd. "Forced to be a king?" King Thrain laughed, defusing the tension. "That's a first!"

Nervous chuckles spread through the amphitheater.

"I'm serious," I said, spiking the tension again. "I can't save people from the plague without sparking controversies. It takes wars to bring people cheap food. I need land to make basic reforms!"

I turned back to King Redfield, my knuckles turned bright white from clenching my fist too hard. "I'm here to save you, and the only way I can do that is by becoming a king," I said. "And the only thing I want in this life is to marry who I want. Is that too hard to understand?"

"Have you no tact?!" King Emeric boomed, slapping his hands on the windowsill.

"I don't have tact—that's the problem!" I laughed. "I'm not a talented polymath; I'm notoriously terrible with people! That's why I only speak money!"

King Redfield turned to the other leaders, studying their expressions before speaking. "King Esmond—tell the crowd why you don't want to marry my daughter."

The tense crowd turned to me with bated breath.

"I love Thea Lockheart, the woman sitting next to Princess Redfield right now." I pointed to Thea, making her turn red and causing Rema to force a stoic expression. "My people choose who they love regardless of their ethnicity or status, and she's the one I love."

Thea's heart raced, and her ears flipped between drooping and perking up as she heard people sneer about her ethnicity and others saying she was cute or calling Ryker bold.

"Love is notorious for starting wars and rarely preventing them." Queen Elara stood. "Is your love worth people dying over?"

The pressure in the atmosphere multiplied, causing the audience to hold their breaths.

"I've already accelerated this world's technology, preparing you for the future, and have improved the standard of living for millions—if that weren't the case, I'd be dead right now," I argued. "I've also fulfilled my alliance agreement with King Redfield already.”

I glanced at the crowd and King Redfield. "Therefore, I find being here unreasonable, and if my people agree and are willing to fight for me, then yes."

In the midst of the tension, a man walked out of the doors and into the arena. He had gray hair and a long beard in a green coat. Seeing him made my stomach sink and my body tremble.

“Master Gurrigs….”

I wasn't prepared to see him after my emotional healing. Now that I had, vivid emotions of him teaching and beating me crashed into my mind. Things that I had once been okay with felt excruciating; things that filled me with anger now made me grateful.

Years of physical abuse.

Abuse to save my life.

It was a paradox that showcased the complexity of the human experience.

As I watched him enter the arena, my palm bled from digging my nails into it. It made my blood boil and my body recoil simultaneously.

"King Everwood," Alphonse Gurrigs called out. "If you seek to plunge this world into chaos for selfish reasons using my teachings, I feel obligated to stop you. However, I'll concede if you're willing to bleed for this relationship, just as you ask others to bleed for it."

He glanced at the world leaders. "This is a self-motivated action, and I'm prepared to give my life to stop you. So tell me, King Everwood—is this relationship worth risking your life over?"