They both walked towards some guards they saw and admitted everything. The guards immediately took them to the dungeon cells in the palace before questioning them further.

A large man opened the door to the dungeon. His presence was suffocating. They could both feel the power emanating from his being. Without a doubt, this was the current king of Iron Kingdom. He looked over at Arthur who had blood on him.

"Care to tell me the full story?"

Arthur refused to meet his gaze.

"If you’re looking for an apology, you aren’t going to get one."

Jacob rattled against the bars in the cell next door.

"Arthur! We have to explain or we could be in serious trouble! Tell the king the full story!"

The king slowly walked closer to Arthur’s cell and crouched down.

"Hey. Look at your king when I speak to you."

Arthur still refused to look. He started playing with his fingers before finally responding.

"He was going to hurt my mom... again. It kept happening almost every day. I just wanted to put an end to it."

"So, you killed your own father? You admit it?"

"He was just weak, and I was strong. That’s all there was to it. He was so weak he felt the need to hurt those close to him. I was so strong that I found the courage to do something about it."

Jacob tried pleading with the king.

"Please, your majesty. He’s just a kid. He doesn’t understand the true meaning of strength! It was me who put those ideas in his head! I should’ve been clearer! Please, just punish me!"

The king slowly stood up.

"I understand why you did it. You did a good job protecting your mom. However, I can’t let this murder go unpunished. You will have to serve your sentence behind these bars for years to come. Think more about what you did."

The king slowly walked out of the room and closed the door. Jacob let out a relieved sigh.

"At least we didn’t get the noose. Let’s consider this an optimal outcome."

Jacob could hear small grunts coming from Aurthur’s cell. He tried peaking around the wall to see what it was, to no avail.

"Arthur? What are you doing in there?"

Arthur strained his face as he repeatedly pushed himself off the ground multiple times. His muscles were straining with every rep.

"Never again. I’m never letting anyone do anything like that ever again. I need to get stronger. I want to protect more people."

Jacob simply sat against his cell, listening the sounds of Arthur strengthen his body for hours until he finally collapsed. Jacob looked out of his cell at the dimly lit room.

"I have to make sure he doesn’t stray too far from the right path. I have to. I can’t have him killing another person."

Weeks had passed in their cells. Arthurs body was getting more refined with each passing day. He was able to do hundreds of more reps than he was first able to. He would need to exert himself much more to sweat and his strength seemed to explode with energy.

One day, a woman his age entered the room. She wore a beautiful royal dress fitted with long red sleeves, a white skirt with ruby highlights, long black hair drifted across her back neatly, a small silver tiara rested on her head, and her demeanor was very professional as she walked. It was no doubt the princess of the kingdom.

Arthur spared her a few gazes before looking back at the stone wall of his cell. Jacob seemed to be fast asleep in his cell, not caring to hear whether someone would disturb his slumber or not.

"You aren’t supposed to be down here."

The princess quietly closed the door behind her.

"Are you going to tell on me?"

Weirdly, she looked very stern when she asked this question.

"And if I do?"

The princess threw her head away and started opening the door again to leave.

"Hmph. Maybe I’ll just leave then."

A small bit of desperation grasped Arthur’s heart. This was the first interaction he had with a person in a while besides Jacob. He didn’t want to lose it so quickly.

"... w-wait a moment."

The princess stopped and turned back around.

"That’s what I thought."

"What are you even doing down here anyway?"

"I heard my dad was keeping prisoners down here, so I got curious. Who knew that the prisoner was someone my own age?! What on earth did you do to deserve this?!"

"I killed my own father."

Weirdly, the princess wasn’t affected by this information at all. It was as if she was expecting such an answer.

"Hmm. That makes sense. Did he deserve it?"

Arthur was a bit shocked to be hearing this from a princess. He expected them to be a lot more to themselves and reserved when it came to dark topics like this.

"I don’t regret doing it, if that’s what you mean. But many would say I went too far."

"That’s fair. Say, how did you take someone down who was much larger than you anyway?"

The princess was almost against the cage, looking at him with her bright pink eyes.

"He was busy hurting someone else. I simply took advantage of the moment."

"Oh! So, you’re kind of like a hero!"

"I wouldn’t call myself a hero. I was just trying to save my mom."

The princess smiled.

"I knew you were a nice person! Can we be friends? All of those nobles are so full of themselves."

Arthur was extremely taken aback by such a request.

’The princess herself wants to be my friend? Why?’

"Sorry, I already have a friend. He’s sitting in the cell next to me."

The princess pouted and started stomping her feet.

"Why can’t you have another friend?! What’s wrong with me?!"

"Your father wouldn’t be too happy with you hanging out with criminals, would he?"

She suddenly grabbed the bars and shoved her small face in between them.

"Who cares what he thinks! I’m my own person!"

"... can you get away from the bars... you’re starting to freak me out a bit."

Her eyes looked determined.

"Not until you agree to be my friend."

"Uh... okay?"

"So, is that a yes?"

"Sure."

She finally pulled herself away from the bars and started jumping up and down.

"Yippie! I finally got a friend!"

Suddenly, it looked like an idea sparked inside her head. She ran over to the cell next to Arthur and started banging on them.

Jacob sat up from the ground, woken by the sudden noise.

"Who goes there?!"

"You’re going to be my friend too now. Is that okay?"

Jacob was still rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

"Arthur, we’re already friends. Let me sleep in peace."

Jacob turned back over on the ground and went back to his nap.

"Yay! I got two friends in less than a minute! This is so great!"

She walked back over to Arthur and reached her hand through the bars, holding out her pinky. Arthur stared at it, extremely confused.

"What are you doing?"

"Promise me."

"Promise you, what?"

"Promise me we will stay friends forever."

"Hmm I don’t know... forever is a really long time."

Suddenly, it looked like the princess was baring her teeth at him through the bars like a wolf.

’What the hell?!’

"I mean... sure."

Hesitantly, Arthur wrapped his pinky around hers. When he did, she pulled him closer to her, making them come face to face. Then, she kissed the thumb of her hand.

"Aaaand it’s sealed! No take backs!"

Arthur looked at the princess dumbfounded. Her eyes were sparkling in the torch light of the dungeon as she looked at him. She looked a lot friendlier up close.

’What just happened? Am I dreaming?’

She let go of his hand and started leaving the room.

"I’ll be back! By the way, what was your name again?"

Arthur still stared at her incredulously.

"It’s Arthur. You’re Princess Rose, right?"

She smiled brightly.

"Just call me Rose. I’ll see you soon Arthur!"

Arthur simply sat in his cell, running through the strange events that just happened. Maybe he had finally lost his mind in these cramped walls.