Chapter 48

  No Good Deed Goes Unpunished

  You know how you can always tell when someone important has arrived, when everyone else goes immediately quiet and immediately begins to drop to the ground.

  It doesn’t take a genius to understand, in fact, you don’t even need to see or recognize who the important person is, you just follow suit instantly. All signs of hunger pains from a moment ago gone as I drop and wait to figure out what is going on. Though my brain is already at work trying to understand what is happening.

  Following everyone else’s example I drop down, right knee on the ground, left knee in the air. A quick glance to my right shows that there is more, as Luna has her right hand over her heart, which I then mirror. I realize this is the dreaded double form of praise.

  Hand over the heart is for greeting high ranked military leaders, which even civilians are taught to respect. I’m assuming a lot of this has to deal with the fact that if we did anything stupid, we could easily be cut down by a superior warrior’s Skills in no time. As such, to keep people from doing or saying anything stupid, it is encouraged to keep a bowed posture and to have your right hand clutched to your chest, where it will be harder to use one of your own Skills in retaliation.

  The second major way that we have to show humility to those in power over us is to bow, with one or both knees touching the ground. Knowing that only one knee touches the ground means that this is not the actual power of our country, but someone closely tied to them. A cabinet member? No wait, that is left knee down, right knee I believe is for direct royal lineage. Knowing that we are expected to perform both for this person means that not only are they part of the royal lineage, but also a high-ranking member of the military, a dual threat as it were. Good to know.

  “Rise, rise,” a calming and youthful voice calls out and instantly everyone around me begins to look up and begin to rise from their kneeling stances. I again follow suit, but slowly. My empty stomach forcing me to go a bit slower than I would otherwise like. Worse, this royal member and member of the military has taken up position right in front of the food table. Just looking at him, means I need to see all the food behind him in view.

  Honestly, at this point my mind barely catches a few of the characteristics that the noble before me has. They have flame red hair, that and the look of soot and ash tell me that they are likely a flame wielder of some kind. Clearly left-handed from the way they stand, but they try to overcompensate by doing everything with their left hand and foot. Other than those odd quirks, my overtaxed brain can’t really take the time it needs to

  “Now I won’t take up too much of your time, but I wanted to congratulate you all today on your efforts. So far we have managed to beat our recruitment goals by twenty percent. Also, I wanted to note that recruitment to the Academies has also more than met their quota from these events, and we have only just started!” The prince began.

  Cheerful shouts!

  There was some clear cue given by the prince that I missed, but everyone else who had been here for a while seemed to pick up on as they all cried out in a chorus at his comments. By the way Luna was screaming loudly enough for two, I decided I would base my reactions on her reactions. If you don’t know the rules, then try to mirror someone else who does.

  “I’d also like to point out that this is the first time, where we have gone a full day through a packed arena event and have not had one of three things happen. No deaths, no unconscious people after the match, and no lost limbs. In fact, this is the first time I can safely say that we actually left with more senses than we came into the matches with,” the red-haired prince continued.

  “Come on up here Death Machine, and let me see those beautiful eyes of yours,” while the princeling spoke, I could see a slight moment of hesitation form on Madame Voyou’s body as her muscles tensed up, only to be released a second later. There was clearly some history between these two, one that Madame Voyou seemed to not like but was reluctant to disagree with.

  “Now for many of you who might not know, I used to grow up listening to Death Machine, back before her accident,” the prince began, droning on and proving that this was not going to be a short good job, grab some food kind of speech. Nope this was going to be a history lesson of useless points that only sycophants might try to remember.

  “Back then she was just Lady Death Scream, capable of killing a banshee with her own vocal powers,” the prince continued, just rambling along like we were all hanging on his every word. “Back then, I don’t know if you knew or not, but I had a bit of a thing for you.”

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  “Oh, I know,” Madame Voyou cut in, a slight nervous tense in her shoulder as she responded the way anyone would when cornered by their aristocratic stalker.

  Nervous chuckles.

  By now everyone could feel the nervous tension building as this moment seemed to be stretching into creepy areas most would try to avoid. Not the prince though, he dove straight in to the creepy end of the pool.

  “Do you remember what I told you when you came back? Despite your injuries?” He pressed.

  Gulp.

  I could see Madame Voyou take a nervous gulp at that comment, “that you would still marry me, that I was still the most beautiful person you had ever seen inside and out.”

  By the end Madame Voyou was doing a lot of deep breaths, no doubt using a lot of her energy on likely Actor or related Skills designed to give her the appearance of being calm, but a quick look showed that even with her Skills active she was nearly shaking with fear and something else, something deeper.

  “That’s right, but when I asked you to marry me back then, you said, what again?” The prince asked, his words those of an obsessed stalker who finally got to corner their idol. An idol who could do nothing but stare down the now much more powerful stalker, while the rest of us had to stare and watch.

  Looking around, I could see that I was not the only one who was offended by this, but everyone else looked on with fear etched in their faces. Their reactions were clear, as everyone wanted to stop this, to do something, but no one felt powerful enough to do so.

  “I said, that with only one eye, how could I be worthy of witnessing your greatness,” Madame Voyou finally managed to get out.

  Honestly, the fact that she managed to say such a cheesy line and the fact that it worked was a miracle.

  “That’s right, and at the time, I swore to you what?” The Prince continued, again drawing this spectacle out in front of everyone, meaning that everyone here was likely meant to be a witness to whatever would happen next.

  “That you would find someone to heal my eye, so that any lingering doubts could be dissuaded,” Madame Voyou got out, but then she continued, “but you were just a boy at the time. Surely you have found someone who would be more worthy of your attention and affections?”

  I did not envy Madame Voyou in the slightest, it was clear she thought this creepy kid had grown up to be an even creepier adult, and I fully agreed with her assessment. Just looking at the prince showed that he was lost in this thrill of power.

  “Never underestimate the power of love, those are the words you yourself said,” the prince quoted. Hearing those words Madame Voyou paused, as she couldn’t refute them, likely the words of some cheesy song that the Prince took to be about him.

  “Now that you have your eyesight back, you can see that my intentions are true. That and the fact that you have remained unwed to this point all prove that we were meant to be.” The Prince noted.

  Bristle.

  At that last comment, the one about remaining unwed a number of fighters and those gathered all bristled at the comment. It was clear that there was more to that statement than a simple Madame Voyou never fell in love. If I had to guess, I would assume it had something to do with the Prince personally refusing to allow Madame Voyou to get married.

  “That is why, I ask you now, as I asked you then,” the prince began and dropped to his own right knee and had a giant ring appear. A ring that all but glowed with intense light blue magical energy. An amplification ring? That is all I could think of, likely for mind and vocal type magics. “Please make me the happiest man in the world, by fulfilling my wish and becoming my bride.”

  Bleh.

  It was like watching a twisted romance scene unfold. Showing that the only difference between a romantic gesture, and one that was super creepy could ultimately be boiled down to one word, reciprocal. If the same gestures were unwanted, or came across as anything other than mutual between the two involved, then it just came across as disgusting, and that is what this was.

  “Know that with this, I will help your father find the healer he needs, and I will also do everything I can to ensure your leg is fully repaired, so that you can gracefully walk the down aisle with me on our wedding day. What do you say?” The Prince asked, there was an unhinged devotion to his words. The longer he stayed down, kneeling the more the cover of his mask seemed to slip as a sort of barely constrained rage seemed to shine through his fa?ade. Seeing that, Madame Voyou trembled slightly, but ultimately nodded.

  “Yes, yes I do.” Madame Voyou finally stammered out, but it was only by the end that the effects of her Skills took over and allowed her to be calm.

  Desirous smile.

  Hearing those words, the Prince smiled brightly a slight unhinged gleam to his eyes. All I could think of was two things. First, I felt super sorry for Madame Voyou who had to hold her hand that was having a ring forcefully shoved over her fingers. Then I felt sorry for anyone else who gained this crazy person’s attention.

  I would have to ask around to see where exactly in the line of succession this princeling was, but it seemed that he was fairly high, maybe at least second or third string. No clue though.

  “Huzzah!” Sal cried out, after the ring was forcefully pushed on Madam Voyou’s slightly trembling hand.

  “Huzzah!” Everyone echoed back, their tone not quite meeting the level of the word they were all trying to use.

  Forced clapping.

  I joined in this time, as we all tried to look super excited by the absolute train wreck of a moment we all just witnessed. We all just witnessed and no one did or said anything to stop.

  Sorry was all I could think and direct from my mind to Madame Voyou, as I realized this was likely all my fault. Had I not healed her eye this might not have happened, but then again who could have suspected that the eye was the only thing keeping a noble stalker at bay?

  Just when I thought the night couldn’t get any creepier, it suddenly turned worse.

  “Now then, for the person who made my childhood dream finally able to come to fruition, please come forward,” the Prince said, gesturing towards me.

  Seeing his gaze and realizing that I was now the clear fixture of his attention, I paused. Well, I didn’t really pause, rather my entire body locked up in clear petrification, the way a field mouse might when realizing the cobra is beckoning for it to come within striking distance.

  Suddenly, I wasn’t hungry.

  In fact, my mind told me I could likely go without food for a week, maybe two, if it meant getting away from this predator.

  With a somewhat impatient look for having to wait a moment, he paused and then waved me over again. And finally, the unbreakable force that had been holding me in place shattered as I felt my body able to fall forward. Only to be caught by my foot that shot out ahead of me.

  “For you, the instrument of my worldly desires, I have decided to reward you handsomely,” The prince began.

  Great, not only did I apparently ruin someone’s life by making it so a stalker could have no reason not to marry them, but now it appeared that I was going to be rewarded for this treachery.

  Breathing in, I held my breath, as I moved forward and prepared to accept my fate.

  per day, until our reign on the top 50 stops.

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