It's finally time for the finals match. Seraphina versus that bitch Claus. The arena goes dark and the announcer gets the crowd going and spotlights go wild across the entire stadium as fog machines make the arena in the center difficult to see. Eventually, the fighters are announced and Seraphina is an absolute beacon in the darkness. Her AMS lights up the entire battlefield. Claus has to have spotlights on him to illuminate his dull by comparison AMS.

The lights come on and the fog is pulled from the arena. The fight begins.

Seraphina opens with a massive volley of golden plasma and it splashes harmlessly against a bright red shield. She just barely dodges Claus' counterattack as the beams arc across the field and turn the floor into slag. Seraphina then chooses to go for a close-up attack. She fires her plasma rapidly which does no damage thanks to the shield, but the bright light is working as a smokescreen causing Claus to fire randomly and hit nothing but air. A single beam manages to strike Seraphinas AMS in the leg, but it glances off the surprisingly durable material.

Once close Seraphina lands a brutal hit into his torso but a single swing of his giant arm sends Seraphina flying. I notice something also. After Claus' AMS glowed for a second, Seraphina's seemed to move a little slower. I keep an eye on this and pay closer attention.

This pattern continues for a bit, and Seraphina manages to dodge the counter-attacks after that initial hit. Her speed also hasn't slowed then my jaw drops at what Claus does. He raises an arm and Seraphina stops mid-strike. Her entire AMS is frozen. After this Claus quickly rips the arms off of Seraphina's AMS and kicks it over while she is unable to move. I shout my disagreement with this and I call foul. The fight ends and the lights are turned off in the arena except for the spotlight on Claus as the announcer gives his congratulations. Angry I leave the stadium feeling like a thunderstorm.

How did that happen? That was clearly cheating somehow! What the fuck happened?

I march all the way back to my room ranting to myself and sit on my bed with my arms folded as I kinda pout to myself. What on earth is going on there? I sit like this for a while going over all the fights, trying to think of a way that the fight wasn't bullshit when a sound catches my attention. I hear a faint scream. I check the time and see it's been a couple of hours since the fight, I really have been obsessing over it.

I stand up and decide to see what the noise was about. I step out of my room and hear an even more faint version of the noise as if the person who screamed had something in their mouth. I suddenly feel my gut sink, a bad feeling creeps up my spine, something is off and everything I ate earlier isn't sitting well anymore.

The sound is coming from Genevieve's room.

I feel my hair almost stand on end as I clench my fists. That sinking feeling only gets worse as my worry increases, but there is something else, anger. I creep forward and reach the door. I gently work the handle and find it unlocked. I take a deep breath and steel myself. The calm feeling from the fights before returns and that sinking feeling is greatly reduced, only the deep pit in my stomach remains, it's extreme worry and even a little fear, and not for myself, but for someone else.

I slowly open the door and the room is dark. I hear a strange noise and notice most of all, two sets of breathing, one ragged as if out of breath, and the other... sounds panicked. I manage to slip inside without letting in too much light. There is another noise, almost like a yelp from a female, and another voice gives a big,

"SHHHHHHHHHH"

I then hear the sound I dreaded the most, the sound of a bed being rocked. I nearly throw up but approach slowly and carefully I feel the rage inside growing but keep myself cool. I reach the bed and in the dark, I barely make out two shapes, and movements. I creep up slowly and look down on the two figures. My eyes have adjusted just enough for me to see Genevieve underneath someone, and she looks distressed with something stuffed into her mouth. I try to make eye contact but she cant see me due to tears. A car or some other vehicle passes by letting light through the window illuminating the room long enough for Genevieve to look up and see me staring down with hateful vengeance in my eyes. Her eyes grow wide for a second then close and what sounds like a laugh comes from her. The other person slaps her and a familiar voice says,

"What's so funny you lowly whore?"

I reply,

"Oh, she just thought about what you're going to look like with your balls stapled to your forehead..."

I don't give time to react as I pull them off by their neck choking the shit out of them. When I pull them off I grab the back of their head and slam their nose into the foot of the bed and break their nose easily. They begin screaming and I flip them over and raise my leg high before bringing my foot down hard on their knee turning it backward with a nasty snap causing another scream. as they fall over I kick them in the face hopefully breaking their skull further before I grab their right hand and bend their pointer finger back, breaking it. Why did I do the last thing? Because fuck them, that's why. I grab the person by their hair and start lifting them up to start pummeling them when the lights turn on revealing what I thought. My prey here has been Claus all along and he is completely naked and broken, sobbing.

The one who turned on the light was Seraphina who has tears running down her face causing makeup to run. I look over to see a naked Genevieve staring up at me with an odd expression, her face is smiling, but her eyes are full of pain and she is crying hard. Seeing this I drop Claus and take my shirt off quickly before throwing it over her bare chest. I look over at Seraphina and say through gritted teeth,

"What the fuck happened?"

After a few minutes of mutual crying between the girls and me locking Claus in the bathroom without any electronics I stay seated on a chair in the room fuming, but concerned. I got my shirt back after Genevive got some clothes for herself. Seraphina is holding her and she explains to me,

"It...It was a bet... and it was one I couldn't deny...If I lost that match I would have to sleep with him and marry him...Genevive did her duty and took half of the punishment for me...I still have to marry him..."

I shake my head and reply,

"That makes no fucking sense... Why would you make that bet? For what reason? You let one of the only people in this damn world who truly likes you suffer because of a fucking bet!? Tell me the damn truth or I'm going to take that ginger fuck out to the beach and spill his guts into the ocean and maybe you as well at this point!"

Seraphina shrinks into herself while still crying and explains to me in a weak voice,

"It started back during that trip back home. The multiple factions of the Solar Empire all wished for someone else to become the next emperor or empress. Legally this cannot happen so I was to be wed to one of the faction representatives. I managed to deny this and some attempted to kill me, which you protected me from. The most vocal faction is the prime minister. He and his son want more power, if I were to die, or marry Claus they would effectively become emperor. This wasn't necessarily a bet as I stated, it was more of an agreement in order to avoid... civil war. If I didn't agree to the bet the factions would have gone to civil war... or the prime ministers' faction, the largest would have.

I'm sorry you got caught up in this! I should've never knighted you and just gone with it... maybe I wouldn't be here!"

I shake my head and ask,

"What role do I play in the overall scheme, I didn't say let Genevieve be mistreated. I didn't say do the agreement. What role do I play?

She shakes her head again and replies,

"T-They have threatened you... multiple times because of my doing. It's because you are a wildcard, and no one knows your motivations or even mine. I took your advice and just did what I wanted on a whim... I'm sorry."

I sigh and say to her in a more calm tone,

"Don't ever worry about my wellbeing, I can handle a lot, and I won't go down easy. Yet I still want to know why you worried about me but didn't think twice about Genevive?"

This time Genevive answers,

"It's because it's my duty to take any burden from my lady."

I let out another long breath and say this,

"Here is my final say on this matter. I try not to get into politics because it's shit, but now I will stop this bullshit the only way I know how to, and with my position, I am justified to do so in order to protect the empress.

Now tell me this. Are you going to join me in this mission, or are you going to let these fucks win without any say in the matter?"

I stare both of them down with extreme intensity. I don't know exactly what I am going to do, but first of all, I need to teach them both how to play the game of medieval politics, and how to tear someone's heart from their chest...