Inside the royal box, the King watched the arena with wide eyes. Beside him, Alan also watched with a grim face, holding the armrests tight. Anne remained at the front, watching with an excited look on her face, while Liana also looked delighted at Ryuji's display, her small fist clenched tight the moment he made the old knight surrender.
However, the queen scoffed and made a comment that caused the two sisters to boil with anger.
"Hmmm, I don't agree with such a disgusting monster being praised. Look at how he lacks elegance and style, even hitting a woman without care." The queen's disdain for Ryuji was clear, causing a rift in the otherwise tense atmosphere.
The king frowned at her comments, knowing that Ryuji was Alan's friend but he too didn't speak up. Rather, Alan seemed to struggle to contain his desire to fight. The heroic aura of his flickering like a broken bulb.
'Ryuji... my first true friend outside of the kingdom... I want to fight you, to use my power to erase my pathetic defeats to that woman! Yet... I feel from you what I never felt from her. Horror...
I am terrified of the darkness that you carry, wield... and makes you who you are!'
Alan's eyes never left Ryuji.
There was no look other than respect and the desire to fight.
However, the clash of his mind and duty as the hero, along with his feelings of affection as a friend, caused his body and mind to fight against each other. The shame, dishonour and agony of losing to the Demon Queen tried to awaken his heroic aura and use it on Ryuji just to clear his pathetic feelings of defeat.
"Calm down, little prince." Velvet's hand touched his shoulder before Alice, who sat beside him, also held his hand, her sharp, husky voice filled with venom. "Do not touch him. He is not yet awakened or standing in the same arena as you. Brother, if you don't remember your friendship, I will marry him on the spot."
"What?! Alice, you can't do that! He is too much for you!" The moment Alice made that threat, the holy aura cracked and vanished, most people in the box oblivious, like the queen and Lord Qwass, but for those who knew... It made them realise how lovable Alan really was.
"Forget it, brother; you know I am going to be the one teaching him martial arts in the future. You said yourself he seems to love it. I want to see if he can cure me, like little Liana."
"Big brother doesn't allow it!"
"Fufu, can you really stop me? You know that in our duels, you've lost all two hundred of the past two hundred!"
"Ugh... that's because you cheat, and don't let me use my magic..."
"You are the same, no? If I used my magic..."
"Don't! The whole world would end!"
"Oh my... brother is such a worry wart. I will teach him; you may watch, but what is fated in the stars, even the hero cannot stop from happening."
What Alice meant was how the Calamity that once only bound Ryuji and Yumiko now spread from him to several other women, although the link was weak and shallow... Like displayed with Erika now it shone almost as bright as Yumiko's connection...
Meaning it could change, improve and grow. Even the small threads that were connected to Velvet, Alice and Liana.
"This second match is a little boring, huh..." Velvet muttered while sitting next to Liana, eating some salted nuts from a bag, nothing like you'd expect someone of the royal family to act.
"Big sister, you don't like the tournament?" Alice asked, but Velvet just swatted her hand in the air.
"No, no, Alice, I am a supporter, but compared to the exciting antics of that boy. I'm just bored. Hmm, Alan, why not bet with me on this round? The loser has to give the winner a month's wages."
"It's already three on-one!" Alan exclaimed; this match was too one-sided, as the leading female crushed the male, who seemed like a simp.
"Eeeh... just bet with me, I need money~ big brother Allen!"
"Who is your damn big brother, you ancient..."
The next moment, Alan's body vanished from the royal box. Meanwhile, Velvet watched his vacant spot while the figure of Alan appeared over two hundred metres away after using his hero abilities to flee.
"Did he just use the divine powers given to him by the goddess to run from me?"
"..." Alice and Liana fell silent. They understood Alan was a little cowardly, especially in the woman's presence he feared. Velvet was the woman who trained him and although she wasn't strict, because he mentioned her age while thinking she went home... She started training him while using her body-enhancing magic and traumatised him.
"Velvet, are you bullying my brother again?" Avandar asked with a bitter smile, but Velvet looked back innocently.
"Me? How could a cute, lovely maiden like me bully a fully grown man with the hero's blessing? My little cousin, you know I am not that kind of woman, right?" The sound of her knuckles cracking echoed, causing even the king to sweat, though inside his heart, he felt at ease. This was the family interaction he remembered that vanished after Alan suffered his second defeat...
Now, thanks to the appearance of Ryuji, his family started to gather together again.
"...."
It was at this moment he decided to throw the difficult things to Ryuji and Alan; since his brother wanted him to accept the lad, Avandar would make sure he earned his keep!
***
Meanwhile, the queen seemed to have passed a message onto Lord Qwass in secret. The thing she placed on his lap was a dirty parchment.
Despite him seeming to be the dominant partner during their act the other day, it became more clear that, in fact, she was the mastermind and leader as his body trembled like a fearful puppy whenever she touched his skin or spoke to him.
"Do not forget, Qwass. If you fail, I will crush you." The queen whispered, her eyes changing from a strange golden colour to a simple green shade as she returned to the king holding another parchment, which seemed to be the camouflage for her rendezvous with Lord Qwass.
"My dear, this is the document you requested from the Western nobles about repairs, costs and monster dens that have formed near their lands or bandits. Lord Qwass worked many nights to complete the entire thing."
"Oh? Good, just what I needed. This will give that damn brother of mine something to do!"