"How about you and I fight, Mr. Rhys? And if I win...
...You'll become my lover."
"With all due respect, Ma'am. I refuse. I'm tired of being dragged around."
There was a somewhat awkward silence that followed after as Rhys's words whispered across the field. As part of the royal family, they were not really used to having their requests rejected or refused — and that is especially true for Agatha.
When Lina's late father and Prince Lance were born, the royal family encountered a dilemma they never thought they would have to face before — Commoners. Lina's father and Prince Lance were born a Commoner, causing the people of Enkland to question their authority to lead them.
And so, when Agatha was born with the tufts of her hair lighting up the room red, she became the symbol of the royal family's still-standing reign. In short, she was extremely doted on. Whatever she wanted, the king and the royal family gave her as long as she remained within the confines of royal law.
Even her husband was chosen by her, who was actually her best friend and was widely known as into the opposite sex in their inner circle. Of course, the royal family had to erase some past so that no one would dig them up.
And now, that very same woman who had never been refused her entire life... was facing a man who just said 'No' to her without even any hesitation.
"My... Oh my," the smile on Agatha's face slightly twitched as she looked at Rhys.
"Rhys..." Lina sharply whispered at Rhys, subtly shaking her head; her eyes wide as she seemed to be completely nervous. Seeing this, Rhys could not help but slightly wonder. After all, ever since they came here, Lina had been overly confident and did not allow anyone to speak over her... and yet right now, she was even slightly backing away as she gestured to Rhys to go.
"Uhm..." And as the silence slowly became heavier by the second, Vicky, who was actually still being held by Rhys, lightly grabbed his hand, "...I would appreciate it if you stop touching me as you wish, Mr. Rhys Wilder. This is the second time already, and I know that you and I might have a chance to become husband and wife, this is not appro—"
And before the little Vicky could even finish her words, Agatha suddenly grabbed her by the shoulder, grabbed her from Rhys, and just threw her away like a ragdoll. Fortunately, she threw her at the combatants' stand and Daniel caught her.
"Then let's remove the condition."
"I..." Rhys was going to refuse again, but he noticed the sudden change in Agatha's demeanor. Her promiscuous and flirty tone was completely gone, and the only thing Rhys could see in her eyes was something he had only seen in Ayesha — an unmatched intensity.
"Let's just fight," and as Agatha said those words, she started ripping off her skirt to make way for her legs — and as soon as Rhys saw that, he could not help but think that Lina probably got her legs from her. But unlike Lina's, Agatha's legs were clearly more trained... perhaps even more so than Ayesha's,
"You're tired of being dragged around, is that so? Then... stretch your legs a little."
Rhys stared at Agatha from head to toe for a few seconds, before backing away and nodding his head. After all, when would he actually get the chance to fight against a Noble again in a controlled environment?
"Are... you sure about this, Rhys?" Lina approached Rhys, "She may look and act like that... but she's like crazy strong."
"Hm," Rhys nodded as he started stretching his arm.
"Oh my, what a gentleman you are, Mr. Rhys..." Agatha smiled as she suddenly changed the pattern in her attacks, "...Announcing your moves."
"It is the least I can do, Ma'am," Rhys was still able to talk even as he ran forward while dodging Agatha's attacks, "You only seem to have one pattern of attack, after all. And forgive me for saying this...
...but combat-wise, we're not on the same level."
"Wh—!!!"
And as soon as Rhys said that, he suddenly dug his hand through the ground; grabbing a handful of dirt and throwing it straight toward Agatha's face, using his wind control to spread it evenly to completely cover her vision.
Agatha did not really flinch, however, as the dirt did not even have the chance to go near her before they just withered away in existence. She was going to swing her hands again, but Rhys was no longer to be found. And before Agatha could even start looking for him, she saw a shadow looming behind her; she quickly turned around, only to see a literal tidal wave of dirt about to swallow her whole.
Of course, although Agatha was slightly shocked at this, she remained completely still as she just focused on dispersing the dirt away... not realizing that Rhys emerged from the shadows of the dirt behind her.
Rhys shot out several threads toward Agatha's back, before just violently pulling her down.
"Eeh!?" Agatha yelped as she felt herself being pulled down. Surprisingly, however, Agatha was still able to maneuver in the air as she faced Rhys, whose fist was already heading straight toward her beautiful face.
And instinctively, she slightly activated her abilities to protect her face — burning away Rhys's knuckles. Rhys did not even wince at this, however, as light just immediately covered his fist... slowly healing it as it continued to move toward Agatha's cheek.
Before it could fully hit her cheek, however, Rhys opened his fist and just opted to slap Agatha... causing her to bounce on the ground, with all the heat just dissipating away almost instantly as she did so.
Of course, Rhys did not really use that much strength on his slap and just borrowed the momentum from Agatha falling; accidentally killing the daughter of a monarch was not in his plans, after all.
And Rhys's attack seemed to be perfectly just fine, as he could still hear Agatha breathe heavily and slightly whimper on the ground as she touched her face.
"Ma'am..." Rhys quickly crouched to check on Agatha, who seemed to be on the verge of tears, "...Are you alright? I can heal you if—"
"Rhys!" And before Rhys could finish his words, he heard Lina suddenly screaming as loud as she could. He quickly turned to look at what was wrong, only to see Lina flying toward him... and everyone else running away,
"...Run!"
"What do you..." And once again, before Rhys could finish his words...
...he suddenly felt the temperature rise even higher than before.
"...Oh."