Marry X Princess

XVI: Details, Details

The King's announcement continued on Eva's phone as we all watched in a collective trance. The image of a blonde boy had transitioned into footage of him at what looked to be political events and royal ceremonies. Cynthia's expression was overcome with a look of dread as her father concluded his announcement, saying, "that's right! It is with great honor and excitement that I can announce the first competitor in the upcoming gauntlet is Prince Emil LeClair of the beautiful kingdom of Gliyrhiel! Expect more details shortly. Thank you!"

With that, the feed returned to the studio and normal news programming resumed. A stray breeze blew through the field and chilled me unnervingly as the four of us broke our huddle.

Cynthia buried her face in her palm. "This is really bad..."

"Why?"

Eva slipped her phone back into her pocket and, with a nervous disposition, asked, "Shinsuke, do you not know who that is?"

"He's the prince of Gliyrhiel, of course I know who he is. But aren't all my opponents bad news? What makes this guy any worse than the others?"

"He's a master of defensive magic," answered Cynthia. "He's the absolute worst possible first opponent for someone as inexperienced as you."

I growled and pulled at my face. I had no doubt in my mind that the decision to choose someone like him as my first adversary was intentional. In fact, I had it in my head that the Queen herself likely had the prevailing vote in the matter.

"This is a major setback, I won't lie. But this won't stop us," Eva declared. Her finger curled against her lips as her blue eyes radiated focus. "I'm going to study everything I can about Prince LeClair and adjust my training plan accordingly." She turned to me with a serious expression. "Shinsuke, I'm giving you fair warning here. This training will be brutal and highly specialized. We need to make use of every second we have."

"That's exactly what we need to do here," Cynthia said. "Things will begin to move quickly now that his opponent has been selected. But we do still have a little time left to play with."

"Do we really?" I asked, afflicted with an acute case of doom.

"A venue for the fight will need to be chosen, as well as the date for the event. There needs to be enough time to disseminate tickets and inform people of attendance details. The other candidates will also be brought in to watch the match live as well."

"Tickets? This isn't a damn sports game! Are you telling me this is going to be turned into some kind of three-ring circus?!"

"Did you think it would be anything else?" Cynthia asked, irritably. "That's all this whole situation is, after all. Also, I've heard there will be a mandatory face off between you and your opponent before the fight. It will be televised."

"A...what? Gods, this is all such a pain in the ass!"

Mizuki tugged my shirt and locked eyes with me intently. "Shinsuke, don't forget that I'm here with you. You aren't alone, and I believe in you. If anyone can do this, it's you."

"She's right," Evangeline added. "Trust in your team, we won't steer you wrong. No need to panic, just focus on your training for now and leave the rest to us."

I looked across the field, making note of the faces around me. Hearing the word "team" used to describe the four of us was surreal for several reasons, but the determination on the expressions of Cynthia, Eva, and Mizuki made the word seem appropriate. Each one of us had a vested interest in emerging triumphant through what was, by all measures, a ridiculous situation. With a unified goal, despite differing motivations, what else were the four of us but a team?