The Fourth Prince's Offer

There was no denying that accepting the deal would be the best decision, not to mention it wouldn't cost her anything, but it wasn't that simple.

Second place had pretty much already been spared for her eighth or ninth brother, so to just hand it off without their consent would create a lot of animosity towards her.

Asumi wasn't one to burn the bridge after she crossed it, not to mention these brothers of hers could play critical roles if she did manage to become king, and even if she didn't they would still be useful given the influence and power they had.

However, on the other hand, given her current circumstances, she couldn't actually fight her fourth brother.

He was dominating the high-ground completely, and a fight to the elimination against him now would be tipped heavily in his favor.

With gritted teeth, she couldn't help but look back and forth between her team and her fourth brother's team, finally making up her mind.

"I can't accept this deal, after all I've already promised the others the places between second and sixth."

"That's a shame then… I guess we'll have to fight." The Fourth Prince said with a sigh, clearly not wanting this.

Fortunately, before the two teams could cross paths, Taiki spoke up, deciding to make a bit of a sacrifice.

"Stop! I'm willing to get a lower placement, I just hope we can resolve this without any violence."

"Same here, anything within the top ten is honestly far better then what I could have originally expected, I dare not be greedy." Getu added.

"... I'll accept anything below seventh place, but that's the most!" Zasro also said after some contemplation.

"You guys are really willing to make that sacrifice?" Asumi asked with some shock.

"It's better than fighting now and possibly placing even worse." Taiki replied.

"Since everyones in the mood to sacrifice, then I wouldn't be a good leader to stand aside and do nothing. I'll take third or fourth place, and my fourth brother can take second." The Ninth Prince spoke.

"I'm with my brother, as for who gets third place, let's decide it with rock paper scissors." The Eighth replied, knowing it wouldn't be wise to fight the momentum that had already gathered.

"You guys…" Asumi said, not expecting them to do so much for her.

Of course there was no denying that part of it was for their own benefit, but still, Princess Asumi wouldn't forget this favor.

"Since my brothers have agreed, then I suppose we can spare this fight." The Fourth Prince said with a smile, secretly relieved.

With that, the two teams discussed for a bit longer before finally deciding everyone's placement.

With the placements confirmed, the people left behind slowly removed their flags one by one, soon only leaving the Fourth Prince and Princess Asumi.

Already satisfied with such a placement, the Fourth Prince didn't do anything unexpected, removing his flag as he had already promised to do.

With his flag removed, the only team left behind was Princess Asumi, her heart ecstatic and her face somewhat flushed as she basked in her victory for a moment.

However, the bell that usually rang at the conclusion of the battle didn't come immediately, causing Princess Asumi to pause for a moment.

Before she could ask any questions, Nissor, who had been standing firmly by her side, suddenly reached out and grabbed the flag on her waist.

Having never expected such a thing, Nissor easily dislodged the flag from her waist, eliminating her.

It was only as her flag was removed, did the bell finally chime, the iconic sound spreading throughout the city, causing the civilians to all cheer uproariously.

Of course their excitement was completely contradictory to Princess Asumi's utter befuddlement, her eyes still glued to the flag in Nissor's hand, not fully realizing what had just happened.

"W-What are you doing?" She couldn't help but ask.

"Forgive me, Princess." Nissor said with a sigh, his choice clear.

Before she could ask anything else, she saw a familiar man head down from the stairs above, the confident smile that always seemed to plaster his face like burning coals against her eyes.

"Minos!?" The others behind Asumi couldn't help but all shout in unison.

"H-How!? You were already eliminated!?"

"News can be deceiving." Minos laughed, nodding towards the other men who were looking at him with shining eyes.

"Hahaha, to think you'd play us all! I knew you'd never be eliminated so easily." The Ninth Prince said with a laugh, not minding that Minos had deceived him as well.

"I hope you can all forgive me for my deceit."

"How could we blame you? The fact is thanks to your plan and your men, we still placed way better than what we could have ever dreamed for." Taiki said, only having gratitude for Minos and nothing else.

"Agreed, your plan was quite flawless." Zasro added, his voice arrogant as usual.

"It's just good to hear that you weren't actually eliminated." Getu said.

"I'm with them. It's good to see you again." The Eighth Prince smirked.

However, while all the others seemed happy to see Minos, Princess Asumi was still consumed by the shock.

"Y-Y-You!" She kept stuttering, not even capable of finding the words.

"You bastard!"

"Hey, second place isn't so bad." Minos replied, still smiling, causing her to fume even more.

"That's true, and to be fair, second place was likely far above anything you could have initially dreamed for." The Ninth couldn't help but say, feeling like his sister was being a bit ungrateful.

"..." Hearing him, Asumi wanted to reply, but she couldn't find any flaws in what he said.

It was hard to admit, but it was the absolute truth… Still, to have victory torn from her hands at the final seconds was incredibly frustrating.

However, what really angered Asumi, was how she had been played with this entire time and she was none the wiser.

While she never saw herself as a genius, she also would have never expected to have been outsmarted so thoroughly, and to hand the victory over to someone else without even knowing it.

It made her feel like an idiot, suddenly second-guessing herself, wondering if she was really as smart as she once thought she was.

"You're smart, just young." Minos suddenly said, as if reading her thoughts.

"Hmph, I don't need any kind words from you." Asumi smacked back, though she would be lying if she said the words didn't help.

…

Back at the Forbidden Palace, everyone had once again gathered, but it was clear that the energy was completely different this time.

Minos, who had once been an unknown figure no one was interested in, was suddenly the center of attention.

All eyes were glued on him, watching his every movie, this was especially so for the Prince's, who would have never imagined this 'civilian' would beat them.

"Welcome back, everyone." The old man from before said, causing the room to temporarily look away from Minos.

"This first battle has been quite the surprise… Congratulations to Minos for placing first, of course such a result shouldn't make you arrogant, after all there are still two more battles to go."

"Who will ultimately become the next king is still to be known, so I hope everyone can keep fighting with all their strength."

"Tomorrow will be the battle of the heart, as for its venue, it'll be the kingdom's heart where it is always held. There the entire kingdom's people will be able to see your true nature, so for those of you with anything to hide, you may as well forfeit now and spare yourself the humiliation."

Finished speaking, the old man dismissed everyone, Minos about to leave on his own, but it soon became clear that wasn't possible.

"Minos is it? The first time I heard your name, I knew you were trouble… Thank you for teaching me a critical lesson." The Seventh Prince suddenly said to him.

"You're welcome, your Majesty." Minos replied calmly.

"Don't call me that, especially after defeating me. Call me Seth." Seth said, reaching his hand out for a handshake.

Not asking any questions, Minos simply returned the handshake, Seth giving him one more smile before walking off alone.

But it was clear Seth wasn't alone, because not long after he left, another man walked up to him, his face not nearly as cordial.

"Don't become arrogant over one victory, you're ultimately a civilian at the end of the day, and your inferiority will soon be revealed." Nufes said before storming off, not even giving Minos a chance to respond.

"Don't mind that brother of mine, he's quite the sore loser. Orino, it's nice to meet you."

"Minos."