Chapter Forty-Eight: The Emperor's Decree

It's been over a week since Ren and the others arrived on Volaria.

As everyone on Earth was getting used to how things worked on Volaria, with the help of the plentiful maids around the mansion, things slowly seemed like they were normal. Lucilia, Asha, and Scarlet were even starting to get along better despite Lucilia's possessiveness toward Ren.

However, one random day...everything changed.

"Ma'am?" one of the maids asked Lucilia, who was sitting at her desk.

"Yes?" Lucilia responded.

"The letter from your father has arrived..." the maid said nervously.

Lucilia had told all the maids about the possibility of a letter or even a live messenger coming to her from her father, so they were prepared.

As Lucilia read the letter, a tear went down her face "That bastard..."

Lucilia crunched up the paper; even though it said exactly what she had expected, she didn't want to accept the fact that it was now a reality.

"Someone get Ren for me." Lucilia said talking to a maid.

Lucilia now had a lot of work to prepare for until it was time for the deadline.

"I'm so sorry, Ren..."

Ren was relaxing with the others around the house until one of the maids nearby came and got him, taking him to Lucilia's office.

Once he arrived, Lucilia hugged him tightly and refused to let go of him, burying her face in his chest and saying nothing, refusing to look at him in the eye.

"It happened, didn't it?" Ren asked.

He knew there was only one reason why she wouldn't look at him: if she felt guilty about something, and there was only one thing that could be currently.

"Yes...he has used the right...you will be dueling against thirteen other nobles in a battle royale. Im so sorry, I couldn't stop this." Lucilia said crying; tear marks were showing up on Ren's white shirt.

Ren started to stroke her head in an attempt to comfort her and said "I know you tried everything; you don't want anything to happen to me; it's why I love you so much. Just trust me, now everything is in my hands."

"Ren...you don't understand what this will be like..." Lucilia said trying to warn him.

"I know I don't, but I have you and the others to help me, you and Aurelia especially." Ren said.

"Help you, how?" Lucilia asked.

"Both of you can teach me what this royale is about. Also, you two know this world's styles of fighting, right? That way, you can teach me, and I can figure out exactly what to expect." Ren explained.

"Well...it's not going to be easy; we have less than a week until the event...it's not enough time, but it'll have to do. In a short explanation, before we get into the details, you will face thirteen nobles who are all trying to kill each other, especially you. These thirteen nobles and their families have been trying to court me for years. Considering you were successful in that task and you aren't even Volarian they will make you a prime target." Lucilia explained.

"Great, thirteen nobles all pissed at me...sounds like I'll have it bad..." Ren said, sighing.

"Maybe not. There's a couple of these nobles only doing it because of what their family wants, not because of either me or you. I'll have to make a call or two, so trust me on that end...now Ren, do you know any fighting techniques? Lucilia asked as she mentally started to make a checklist of everything she has to take care of.

"Well...I have a black belt in Taekwondo." Ren said with a smile.

Lucilia looked at Ren, confused "I have no idea what that is." 

"It's a martial art on Earth." Ren said.

"Is it effective at killing people with bladed weaponry?" Lucilia asked.

Ren had to think about it and said "A little something, but not much."

"Well, we'll have Aurelia and the guards teach you that." Lucilia said writing something down on paper.

"Now once I've told every competitor in this competition, I'll tell you, and you can train exactly against that noble's respective style. The biggest advantage we have is that nobody knows what you are capable of. However, the numbers game will not be in your favor...dammit why did this have to happen!" Lucilia yelled, punching her desk.

"Lucilia It'll all be okay. I promise you, I won't leave you...no matter what." Ren said as he walked over to Lucilia, brushed her disheveled hair out of her face, and looked at her in the eyes. "I'll be fine. As long as I have yours and the others support, I will be fine. That's what I believe."

Lucilia let a smile creep out as Ren wiped away her tears. "You always find a way to make me smile." She said with a slight giggle.

"That's my job as your future husband; as long as I can help it, you will always be smiling around me." Ren said.

Lucilia kissed Ren on the lips but was sad she had to dismiss him as she now had to prepare many things regarding the battle royale that would be taking place.

"Maybe I should see if *he* will be there... Ren needs an ally."

As Lucilia started to reach out to her contacts, Ren decided to take a walk around the mansion and found Lily and Scarlet relaxing in the pool in swimsuits.

Scarlet was wearing a red and black bikini as she laid on an inflatable pool raft, relaxing. Ren couldn't help but stare at her beauty as she fit her bikini quite well. Meanwhile, Lily was also wearing a bikini, but instead she wore a light blue one as she sat on the side of the pool talking to Scarlet. While she didn't have the assets that Scarlet had, she had her own beauty, which also made Ren unable to move his eyes away from the two. (AN: Btw, I made this image up on the Patreon for patrons only.)

"Hey you two!" Ren said as he made himself noticeable to the two girls.

"Ren!" Scarlet yelled out, happy to see him.

Ever since the two officially began their relationship, Scarlet hasn't hid that fact from anyone. Which, of course, has gotten her some glances from the other girls.

"Hey Ren, do you want to join us?" Lily asked.

"Uh, sure, I have a lot to work through at the moment, so taking this chance to relax should help." Ren said.

Ren sat down by the pool and put his feet in as he sat on the side next to Lily.

"Is everything okay, Ren?" Lily asked.

"Remember the thing Lucilia said was a possibility? Well, it's now for certain." Ren said, both Scarlet and Lily knowing what he was talking about.

"When is it?" Scarlet asked, clenching her fists and holding back her anger at the situation.

"Less than a week." Ren said casually.

Scarlet felt like punching something, but Lily was the first to react "This is crazy..."

Ren didn't overreact in any way; he was in fact prepared for this outcome thanks to Aurelia's warnings.

"Aren't you angry, Ren?" Lily asked, noticing how nonchalant Ren seemed to be.

"Nope" Ren replied, relaxing his legs in the water.

"How? They are trying to send you to your death."Lily asked.

"Because Ren already knew about the possibility." Scarlet said.

Lily was shocked at what Scarlet said but then considered that Lucilia more than likely told him about everything, but she still asked "Even so, shouldn't you be more angry?"

Ren smiled upon hearing that. "Honestly, I am angry, but not at the whole situation. I expected this result thanks to Aurelia, so this was nothing more than confirmation to me. However, I am angry at the fact that me going through this makes all of you worried."

Ren then put his hand on top of Lily's head and patted it, which made Lily blush with embarrassment.

Scarlet noticed what he did and said to herself "Oh Ren...if you only knew what you just caused."

Scarlet did want to be Ren's only girlfriend. She knew about her best friend's feelings for awhile; how could she not when Lily always acted so shyly around him? Scarlet didn't want to lose Ren, but Lily was the only girl she was willing to lose to, even if it did hurt her to see. They were like sisters after all.

"So, Ren, I'm going to hold back my worry and ask what the plan is for this." Scarlet said.

It wasn't as if she wasn't worried; internally, she was screaming why did this have to happen, but she was not going to show it in this time of rest that Ren needed.

"Already working on that; Lucilia and Aurelia are already making a game plan; however, in the meantime, how would you girls feel like we ignore all this talk and just have fun swimming?" Ren said.

Ren wanted to escape the situation a little and just have fun with his friends. The two girls agreed, and they just relaxed and swam around the pool.

*Imperial Palace*

"My lord, everything is set to take place." A butler said, kneeling.

Who was he kneeling to? An older man with a long white beard and glowing blue eyes was sitting on an extremely fancy golden throne, with two ladies next to it wearing next to nothing—two of his concubines.

"Good. Proceed as planned." The emperor said stroking the hair of one of his concubines.

"Yes, my lord." The butler said as he stood up and bowed before leaving.

"Yana, tell my children to gather for the royale; they should watch this if they wish to rule one day." The Emperor said.

"Yes, your highness." Yana responded as she stood up and kneeled.

"This...Ren boy...he doesn't deserve Lucilia. Hopefully they will be able to kill him quickly. Lucilia has started to act like Aurelia did...how annoying."

------------------------------------------

If you guys want to to support me check out my patreon, it's as cheap as a dollar!

Patreon:

https://patreon.com/Alex_Blackwood628

Discord:

https://discord.gg/97ejzvAGKb