The press conference was meant to go on much longer than it had, but my outburst had brought an early end to the media circus. Immediately afterward, I was rushed out of the ballroom through a maelstrom of reporters. Helena, ever the handy servant, had dragged me into a secret passage hidden behind a clock in the main hall while the guards ushered the media out of the castle. When the coast was clear, I was taken to my temporary room to change back into my clothes, and then brought to the throne room once again.

The king, queen, and Cynthia were all back on their respective thrones, anticipating my arrival.

“If it isn’t the man of the hour!” the king chuckled. “You surprised be me back there, you know that?”

It wouldn’t have been a surprise if either of those two had listened to a single word I’d said.

The king stroked his beard and said, “let me ask you something. How did you know about the opt-out clause in the White Knight Contract? We certainly didn’t inform you about it.”

“I-It was me, father,” Cynthia said, her voice shaking somewhat. “I told you and mother that I didn’t want any part of this, and so did he. But since you two insisted on having your way, I showed him the original contract. I think he at least deserved to know there was a way out of this stipulation.”

The queen glared at her daughter, causing the blonde princess to quickly refocus her gaze upon her own knees. “I don’t appreciate you partaking in conspiracy against us, Cynthia. Make no mistake, I will deal with you later, but for now…” She paused for a moment to turn her attention to me. A slight grin appeared on her lips as she spoke. “I must say, in spite of my irritation at the way you humiliated us and our kingdom during the press conference, I’m quite delighted to know that I won’t ever have to refer to you as my ‘son’.”

And I’m quite delighted I won’t have to call you anything but a bi—

“Big surprise!” the king said, interrupting my thoughts.

“What?”

“I said it was more than a big surprise! I’m not sure that you’re aware you just made history, Shinsuke. You’re the first in all of Steylia’s proud history to invoke the opt-out clause!”

I glanced at Cynthia who was still shamefully adoring her knees. She hadn’t mentioned that her little scheme had never even been attempted before. But, in truth, I don’t know why I was surprised by that detail. Playing the role of the canary in the coal mine was what got me into the mess I was in thanks to dad, after all. It seemed a lot of people liked using me like a little bird.

“I can’t say that I knew that, Your Majesty,” I said with as much venom as I could muster. Cynthia’s awkward shuffling on her cozy throne told me she got the message.

The king smirked and said, “well, here’s one thing I hope you do know. This won’t be a simple task. The quality of opponents you are going to face is among the very best in the world. Not a single one of them will be throwaways, and there will be no easing you into this.”

“I would also like to add that, while I personally would like to be done with this as soon as possible, you aren’t allowed to throw at any of these bouts. I assume you understand that if you read the original document,” said the queen.

“Yeah, I understood the terms of the clause quite well.”

“Good. Because regardless of my feelings toward you, tradition must be upheld at any and all consequence. So, do try your best. With that said, I look forward to watching you and that hideous scowl of yours get beaten from wall to wall.”

Ah, biddy! That’s the word I was thinking of, right?

“I hope that you dazzle us in this gauntlet with a performance worthy of the one you put on in the ballroom!” the king laughed. “Anyway, Shinsuke. The news just broke, so we cannot proceed until we’ve conversed with the other kingdoms and decided on your first opponent. Until then, I’m sure it has been a long couple of days for you. Why don’t you go home and rest. Maybe have one of those pudding cups you mentioned.”

Finally!

“Father, may I see him out?” Cynthia asked, raising her head for the first time since her scolding.

“You may. Helena, please accompany my daughter and escort Shinsuke and his wonderful family out of the castle.”

“Of course, Your Majesty. This way,” the loyal servant ordered.

Cynthia stepped down from her throne and walked closely beside me as we exited the room. After a moment, she grasped my arm and held me still until we had lagged a decent bit behind our guide. Once there was a degree of distance between us and Helena, we continued walking.

“Sorry, I didn’t want Helena listening to our conversation.”

“I figured as much.”

The regal blonde rubbed her arm gently and said, “I almost thought you weren’t going to go through with invoking the clause. And I definitely didn’t think you’d go about it the way you did. Couldn’t you have done that without embarrassing everyone in the kingdom?”

“Couldn’t you have stayed in your stupid castle instead of scavenging for cheesecake like a rat? If you would have done that, this mess wouldn’t have existed at all.”

“Will you drop that already?” she growled. “Anyway, I’m trying to thank you for doing this. You know, for both our sakes…”

“Thank me? I’m not doing this for you or the good of the kingdom, don’t get this twisted.”

“What?”

“You heard me. I might have to seriously try at this, but you and I both know I’m going to get destroyed in that first round no matter what I do without training. So, either way, I’m free. I’m not going the distance in this crazy gauntlet of yours unless I get something in return.”

“Are you crazy? Do you not recall our conversation? This could impact you and your family as much as it impacts me. Besides, I don’t deserve this!”

I snickered at those last few words and said, “and we do?”

“Huh? What are you getting at?”

“First of all, you have some nerve expecting me to do anything out of the goodness of my heart for you. I saved your life, remember? You owe me, not the other way around.” She glared at me but kept quiet as I continued. “Second of all, maybe you don’t deserve to be forced into marrying someone, but me, my family, and Mizuki don’t deserve to live stuffed inside some hole in the wall apartments when you live like this!”

“Fine,” she said with a bite in her tone. “You want to hold saving me over my head? Go ahead, jerk. So, I owe you, right? What, you want me to do something about your living situation?”

“No,” I clarified. “I want money, lots of it. With that, I can handle the situation myself. I don’t need you relocating us to some dumpsite because it was located next to your favorite taco place or whatever else you stuff your face with, Princess Cheesecake.”

“Drop it! Anyway, very well. You have a deal. If you complete the gauntlet, I’ll reward you with more money than a burnout like you could ever know what to do with.”

“See, was that so hard? Pleasure doing business with you.”

She scoffed and rolled her jade eyes. “A little advice for you, a lady’s asking should be enough for a gentleman to do the right thing.”

“Not according to another lady I know.”

“Let me guess, you’re talking about that scrounge you call a best friend, right? Mizuki, was it?”

Now I was the one glaring at her. “I suggest you change the subject.”

She shrugged and said, “fine by me, I’d rather not sully my lips with talk of someone so insignificant. Besides, we need to talk about your training.”

“What about it?”

“What do you mean, ‘what about it’? You better get started on this, like, tomorrow! Once mother and father negotiate the setup of the gauntlet it won’t take long for things to get started. You need as much training as humanly possible in the shortest time we can manage.”

“Okay,” I groaned. “You have personal trainers, right? Just get one of them to help me.”

“I can’t do that.”

“Why the hell not?”

“Because,” she replied, curtly. “Allowing someone of non-royal blood access to certain privileges is above my head. I’d have to request it from mother and father, and I don’t think they would allow it considering they want you to marry me for the sake of tradition, remember? They won’t help you here.”

“Fantastic. So, what do I do?”

“I don’t know, just figure it out!”

Fighting hard for your freedom, I see.

“Give me time to think about it,” she said, frustrated. “In the meantime, hit the weights, go jogging, pick up a spell book—just do something.”

Having had enough of the obnoxious blonde for one eternity, I quickened my pace to regroup with Helena, an act that clearly irritated said blonde. Thankfully, however, we had already reached the godsforsaken stairs leading back to the car park. There, my parents and Mizuki stood waiting by a royal car.

“There you are!” mom said, her voice hovering somewhere between distress and fury. “What in the name of the gods were you thinking back there with that little outburst of yours?!”

“Yeah, son. You, um, do know the whole world was watching that broadcast, right?” dad added.

I pinched the bridge of my nose and said, “I’m aware, thanks. Look, I’m not happy about it either, but it needed to be said. I’m sorry I embarrassed you two.”

“You didn’t embarrass me,” Mizuki said with a warm smile. “I couldn’t be any prouder of you.”

Her words hit me a bit unexpectedly. After being chastised on a near constant basis since the accident itself, it felt nice to hear some words of affirmation for once. Leave it to Mizuki to deliver those words.

“Thank you…” I said, returning my best friend’s warm smile.

Cynthia, who had been silent since entering the car park, took the opportunity to speak and said, “remember what I said.” And, with that, exited the car park without another word.

“Let’s just go home,” mom said with a deep sigh.

After loading into the vehicle, home is exactly where we were headed. On the way, I couldn't take another second of consciousness. Luckily, Mizuki understood that fact and kindly allowed me to rest my head on her lap. A bit embarrassing, admittedly, but I couldn't help it. Thankfully, she didn’t seem to mind.

Once we arrived at our apartment building back in Valport, I bid Mizuki a good night and returned to my apartment with my parents. Mom said something I didn’t quite hear, as I was preoccupied with grabbing a much needed pudding cup from the pantry. With that in hand, I hopped into bed.

I laid there for a bit, appreciating the familiarity of my bed, but begrudgingly missing the comically oversized mattress that had been my companion the prior night.

Just do something.

Cynthia’s words repeated in my mind as I grasped my pudding cup.

Unfortunately, I fell asleep before I could even crack the seal.