A win is a win

The room was eerily silent as everyone stood still, their attention locked on the smiling face of the princess. The three individuals who looked at her found themselves having chills run all over their bodies. They were unaware of her ruthlessness till now.

Her callous disregard for her own brother's life alerted them and made their hairs stand. It wasn't something they would have expected from the golden princess.

The silence continued drowning in the room in an unpleasant feeling until the unconscious body of Marquis Bullope hit the ground with a thud marking an end to the silence and allowing Renner to speak once more.

"Now then, father. I believe it is obvious what Arthur and I wish to negotiate"

She said her voice was calm and eerily melodic to the ears of both Margrave Urovana and Marquis Pespea. It was an odd mixture of naturally pleasant and sinister due to the fact she barely looks affected by the fact her brother just died.

The King on the other hand found himself at a loss for words, his son was just killed and he couldn't properly process what happened, one moment Barbro was fine and the next his head was in his hands.

Not only that, but his own daughter cared less, as if she he was a stranger that had no relation to neither him nor Barbro.

This left him unable to speak for several moments, he didn't know how to feel or what to feel so instead he just stood there stunned and completely unresponsive, he was wide awake and could hear what was being said, he just couldn't respond at the moment.

"Your Highness, I'm sure you know that tradition dictates that a man be king and Baron Arthur is a foreigner not born on this land"

Margrave spoke in the King's stead, although he felt his own hands tremble just slightly, he didn't see it but he knew it was Arthur that killed Barbro as such he was fully aware that everyone in this room was at the mercy of Arthur.

The man possessed a deadly swiftness and speed. He killed Barbro faster than a blink of an eye, no one in the room even saw his attack, and Barbro just died.

"Tradition? Is that what you really want to use as a reason to deny us the throne?"

Arthur asked, his arms still holding Renner who seemed to be very comfortable on his lap as she made no attempt to stand up, Although she did have to slap his hands to keep them where they were.

"Margrave, I do hope you are aware that I have Arthur, the man who wiped out a whole army by himself. If you want this to get violent, just say so"

She said calmly, and Margrave felt like taking a step back. Her words made him tremble and sweat. She also made him realise that any war with Arthur would just be a slaughter.

"If you aren't convinced, then let me say this, for the longest time my father has been more concerned with placating the nobles, making them happy, in the interests of preventing a civil war"

"Of course, his Majesty's duty is to ensure the Kingdom stays afloat and doesn't fall. Civil wars only cause destruction."

Margrave Urovana said without hesitation, fully believing that there was nothing wrong with ensuring the country remained stable and standing.

"True but that was at the expense of the commoners, for all my father's words about ensuring the commoners are happy he certainly didn't do anything to make them happy, if I hadn't proposed the abolishment of slavery he would have never made that into law and would have opted to keep the nobles happy"

The Margrave was about to respond but he was quick to realise he had no response, much of the push back against the abolishment of slavery was more about nobles being able to make profit with free labour and near zero expenses.

"Not only that but, there was also the issue of Eight fingers, it took Arthur, a foreigner as you say, to finally destroy them. An organisation that was eating away at the country, but no one would do anything because the nobles prevented anyone from doing anything."

She explained, and the Margrave could only stand there in silence. He knew it was also about maintaining the balance of power, even if it meant letting the nobles work with literal criminals.

"The kingdom has been very slowly being whittled away, and eventually, it would have been destroyed or taken over. I do not hold much love for people, but I, for one, would not like to see my home reduced to such a state"

She closed and paused, letting her words sink into the room, allowing everyone in the room to process them before speaking again.

"So I say, let us have the throne, and gracefully give it up, the people will thank you for it"

When she finished, Margrave could only stand in silence. He had his own thoughts that he wanted to voice, but this time, it was not his place to speak anymore. One can only do so much on behalf of another.

The silence prevailed for a full minute before the king spoke again. He had managed to push aside the issues plaguing his mind and decided to address the issue at hand.

"Renner is right"

He admitted, feeling the bitterness of having to admit that, having to admit his own failings. He also couldn't help but feel the foreignness of him speaking her name, he couldn't tell why that was at the moment, but he knew it was odd.

"I spent too much time trying to maintain the kingdom that I did not think of improving it and because of that I let the nobles get away with things they shouldn't have, I am a failure as a King"

Both Pesea and Urovana were quick to try and disagree. However, the king held up his hand, cutting them off before they could even get a word in.

"There is no point in trying to deny what is true, I thought I was doing what was best but I was misguided, a kingdom is not supposed to stagnate but improve with each ruler that sits on the throne and I have failed at that"

He explained and nobody in the room disagreed with him, although Arthur wanted to add the fact that King Ramposa III lacked the qualities of a king to begin with, however Arthur himself had yet to be King as such he had no room to talk.

"Very well, my daughter, I will hand the throne to the both of you, I can only hope you will do better than me."

"Excellent father, don't worry about Zanac. I'm sure he will have no problem with your decision"

She said, She predicted a while ago that Zanac would probably no longer want the throne once he knew of Arthur's true power. Although she has yet to know if that's true or not, she is confident in her deduction.

Although she did hope that he is negotiating something good for the Kingdom from the Empire

"Now that's over, let's stop the fighting outside and announce the news, a new day for the Re-estize Kingdom has begun"

Arthur said with a grin as he gently removed Renner from his lap and stood up. Although he had wanted this whole ordeal to be much more epic than it was but what can one do? a win is a win

.....

A/N: sorry about the late chapter, I have no excuses.