was she always like this?

Swords clashed and sparks flew in the air continuously as the two swordsmen clashed within the closed space of a corridor.

Gazeff Stronof, chief warrior of the Re-estize kingdom found himself being pushed back as Brain Unglaus pushed the offensive, pressing on the attack with an overhead sword strike.

The blades collided, sparks flew in the air as Gazeff parried the attack and moved back, Brain pushed further, going for an upward swing, however Gazeff was quick to dodge by stepping to the side, evading getting his arm chopped off.

Having successfully evaded the attack, the chief warrior responded with his own overhead downward swing but Brain quickly jumped back; however the attack sliced open his shirt, but he hardly paid that any mind.

This time Gazeff pressed forward, going for a straight thrust, cutting through the thick air filled with tension and hoping to pierce through Brain's chest, however the attack was dodged as Unglaus slid to the side.

The blue haired Warrior then used his own sword to hit Gazeff's sword upward, opening the defences of his opponent, he quickly capitalised by doing a one hand forward thrust, Gazeff dodged but the blade cut open his chest plate.

Gazeff's Dodge had too much power behind it as such his back hit the wall, which Brain quickly took advantage of, but Gazeff dropped into a squat letting the blade cut off barely a centimetre of his hair.

Just as he was about to counter attack, Brain quickly jumped back, opening the distance between the two of them and this gave them both time to take a small break.

"Always keeping me in my toes, Brain"

Gazeff complimented, and Brain simply snorted and smiled before responding.

"I wouldn't be your equal if I couldn't keep you on your toes, now could I?"

The blue haired man said his tone amused, as his blade pointed at his opponent. There was zero animosity between the two, they were simply fighting because they were on opposing sides.

Gazeff wanted to get past Brain and reach the king and Brain was preventing him from doing that.

Despite his full attention being on his opponent, Brain was still a bit surprised by the amount of power Arthur wielded, he doesn't know what the man did but Brain was in a room filled with the rest of Blue rose then the next moment boom he's here.

He was sure even teleportation gave a warning before activation but whatever Arthur did was spontaneous and inexplicable.

Not to mention, the leader of Blue Rose left him to deal with Gazeff, of course that's what he wanted, he just didn't like how they assumed he'd be facing Gazeff, like he was somehow destined to do so.

"I suppose, but both of us are still far from reaching his level, yet"

Gazeff responded with a smile on his face, they were in a corridor which meant as swordmen both were being handicapped, it was essentially a fair playing field but Gazeff had an advantage over Brain.

"I don't think we'll ever reach his level"

"He's human isn't he? and we're human too, it should be possible"

Brain withheld a laugh, choosing not to insult his friend but Brain knew full well that Arthur was in a league of his own and he was an exception, the only human who'll ever reach that level of power.

"I admire your optimism Gazeff but Arthur's level is unreachable, not by us normal humans."

Gazeff wanted to disagree however, Brain wasn't speaking like he was giving up, he didn't feel the pessimistic tone like he did before.

"So you're going to give up?"

"No, not yet, I'm just acknowledging that there's a level of power I would never reach but that doesn't mean I can't try to get as strong as I can"

Brain explained and Gazeff hummed, nodding to his words, although he still believed that Arthur wasn't that out of reach but he could see where Brain was coming from.

"Well, enough about Arthur, let's finally settle who's the stronger between the two us"

Brain nodded, and their battle once again resumed this time at a greater intensity.

...

Renner made herself comfortable atop her lover's lap, with his arms around her waist and chin resting on her shoulder, his breath felt ticklish on her neck.

"How did you get in here?!"

Barbro repeated the question and forcing Renner into having to repeat herself.

"As I've said, you don't need to know that, but don't worry, we won't harm you, we just want to negotiate something as well"

The princess informed as she felt Arthur smell her hair, something she didn't particularly hate but wished he'd do in private, although she didn't stop him.

"Negotiate what? you don't have anything to negotiate with"

Barbro responded, his brows creased in a bit of frustration, what's with people wanting to take his throne away from him, plus now that there's another party involved his assassin may need to hold off attacking.

"Oh we have plenty to negotiate with, The Citizens maybe happy to have my father on the throne but that's only because they'd be happy to get rid of you, not because they actually prefer father as king"

She said, and both the king and Barbro frowned. The king frowned more in sadness than anything else. He knew he was a mediocre King at best but he didn't like hearing that out loud.

"Why do you all keep mentioning the peasants as if they hold any power over people like us, they're peasants they are supposed to obey us, not the other way around!"

Renner's melodious laugh echoed as it filled the room, completely replacing the tension that had been present. Of course Barbro found nothing funny about what he said so his frown deepened.

"What's so amusing, you w–"

"Watch yourself, guy. Referring to her with anything other than her name, will have consequences"

Arthur cut off the young prince, and caused the Marquis that stood behind him to tense up and beads of sweat trickled down his head, it was a miracle the Marquis hadn't died of a heart attack yet.

"I am the King of this country and I will speak anyway I wish!"

Barbro stated, his voice booming as he said so, he was not about to let himself be threatened, especially not by a no name commoner, he was king.

"Go ahead then, speak your mind"

And with those words the heavy tension was quick to return, Marquis Bulloupe grasped the prince's shoulder in an attempt to have him calm down or at least watch his words.

"My king I‐"

Barbro slapped the hand aside and stared at Arthur with an intense glare.

"You think I'll be afraid of you just because you threatened me with violence? Am I supposed to just cower in fear because you have power? I'm not afraid of you and I'm not going to hold my tongue, a King does no such thing"

Barbro expressed to the stone-faced Arthur who held Renner gently, his hands feeling her flat stomach and resisting the urge to move up and fondle her breasts.

"You have free Speech, guy. You can say whatever you feel like, so go ahead, refer to Renner however you wish"

After those words, the room descended into an uneasy silence, Arthur's words hanging over their heads like a guillotine and allowed the tension to thicken further.

"Who do you think you are?! You are nothing but a Barbarian, who can only use violence, to get what he wants, you are a commoner, a peasant with not a shred of history or lineage. Compared to an heir of royalty with history that dates back to the founding of this kingdom like me, you are nothing but horse dung wishing it were diamond"

The prince ranted in fury, he was not about to be made a coward by someone below him in station regardless of the power they had, He was a King and he'll be damned before he threw away his pride.

Arthur on the other hand was not even paying him attention as he held Renner close and lifted his hand up to grab something, only for Renner to slap it back down.

"Humph, I knew you weren't going to do nothing, even you can't kill a king like myself–so… easily…"

Barbro caught his own head and his eyes going wide in shock as his body fell back with a thud and his blood spraying the walls.

Everyone remained still and silence graced the room again however it only stayed for a few seconds being sent out by the king who staggered back in shock and his back making contact with the wall, wide eyed and displaying his disbelief.

Both Marquis Pespea and Margrave Urovana quickly stifled their own shock and tried to have him steady himself so he doesn't do something foolish. Bulloupe on the other hand passed out while standing up, he was already a bundle of fear the moment Arthur appeared in the room.

"A person who believes their birth grants them specific privileges and command over others never turns out as a good person, I'm not a judge of justice and what I did is far from just but it is quite unfortunate that might make right in this world. Well, unfortunate for the weak."

Arthur explained as he was once again reminded of Iskandar, although this was an act of cruelty, he felt less bad about it.

"Oh well, I suppose we didn't need him for the negotiations anyway. Father, collect yourself and let's speak."

Renner said after a single clap of her hand, already moving on from the issue and it was here that her and his entourage realised something about Renner and it was a realisation that changed the image they had of her.

'Was she always like this?'

.....

A/N: I'm currently writing two fanfics that are unposted.

A my hero Academia Au with a Viltrumite Mc and Izuku who's a hero killer ( apprentice of stain)

And Dragon ball Au with the Mc having reincarnated as Broly, but in a Au where universe 6 and 7 fused and now the U7 sayains are at war with U6 sayains?

What do you guys want to see? Just click on the paragraph and say plus 1 to whichever of the two you like more.