NOVEL NEXT #3
#3
“Then, let’s proceed with price offers in order. I will choose the person who offers the highest price as my first husband.”
“Calling for prices, as if this were a marketplace… And what do you mean by ‘first husband’? Prince, what are you saying?”
The envoy from Baron Kingdom asked accusingly, speaking on behalf of the Crown Prince of Baron who was almost entranced by Prince Enrique. Others murmured in agreement. Of course, they had been fighting fiercely to claim the Superior Omega, but this was still supposed to be a transaction under the guise of sacred marriage. They couldn’t help but frown at such blatant words.
In response to the Baron envoy’s question, Prince Enrique said, “Ah,” and then added with a smirk:
“I seem to have left out one detail. This is not an auction for an eternal marriage with me. I am the heir to Shamier and will succeed to the throne here in the future. Therefore, I have no intention of going to another country to live my entire life having children under the pretense of marriage. However, I can’t completely disregard the expectations of each country that has kindly visited here, so after much thought, I’ve decided on a compromise. In other words… this is an auction for a time-limited political marriage to borrow my womb to bear legitimate heirs.”
“What… What nonsense is this…!”
Someone shouted in a shrill voice. But regardless, the prince continued seriously, counting on his fingers:
“I can’t keep having children indefinitely, and if I only have one, the three countries will fight to the death or won’t leave our Shamier alone. I’d like to just give birth to the children, but then they’d inevitably become illegitimate. So, I will maintain a marriage with each of the three countries present here for two years each, fairly giving birth to one child who will become the heir for each.”
After dropping this statement that casually struck at the minds of everyone in the audience hall, the prince smiled and added one more thing:
“Oh, of course, the order of marriages will be determined by the highest bidding countries in sequence.”
At this point in the story, even the Crown Prince of Baron and the King of Monta, who had been entranced by Prince Enrique’s very existence, wore expressions of disbelief.
“Now then, let’s hear your price offers,” Prince Enrique said in a cheerful tone, as if selling some object.
“Enrique, what is this…,” even the King of Shamier, his father, seemed to be hearing this for the first time and tried to stop his son while breaking out in a cold sweat. Others were so dumbfounded they could only gape.
“Prince Enrique, maintaining a marriage for only two years in order of highest bid and giving birth to one child… What nonsense is this? We’ve never heard of such a thing in the world. Are you trying to mock us envoys who have been dispatched to represent our countries with this absurd nonsense?!”
“That’s right. This is the first time we’ve encountered such an unheard-of case. You’re insulting us who have come to propose for a sacred marriage!”
Once someone spoke up, others began to clamor one after another. The prince slowly scanned these people and then curled up one corner of his mouth in a mocking smile.
“Isn’t this courtship and marriage just a procedure to borrow the womb of me, a Superior Omega, to see superior heirs anyway? Think about it. Our Shamier will benefit by receiving compensation from all three countries, and while your countries won’t be able to have me exclusively, you can borrow the womb of a Superior Omega to surely obtain legitimate heirs without worrying about losing me to another country. Isn’t that also beneficial?”
Despite the prince’s rebuttal, everyone was trembling with shock, dismay, and a sense of insult. The prince kept scanning them with a mocking face. If this had been done to enjoy the sight of the envoys and suitors from the three countries gathered in the audience hall bursting with indignation, it could be said to have been perfectly effective.
It was then.
“Excuse me.”
A youthful voice that didn’t fit the atmosphere of the audience hall at all rang out. The gazes of everyone, including Prince Enrique, turned in one direction. There stood a black-haired teenage boy surrounded by the Ruben Empire’s envoys.
Prince Enrique discovered the young boy who didn’t fit this place at all and raised his silver eyebrows slightly. The black-haired boy, with eyes as innocent and clear as his age suggested, looked at Prince Enrique and opened his mouth.
“Will you really marry the person who offers the highest price first and give birth to their child?”
The prince nodded with a smile, as if he had finally met someone who understood. Even though he just smiled slightly, it felt as if a fragrant and warm spring breeze was gently blowing through the entire audience hall.
At the prince’s affirmation, the young prince of the Ruben Empire smiled in return. Then he said to the envoy standing a step behind him:
“Lord Theovan. Read out the list of gifts.”
“But Your Highness. The situation now is…”
The white-haired envoy trailed off with a hesitant expression at the boy’s request. The boy then looked up at the envoy with seemingly stern eyes and urged him on. Despite his young age, it was a gaze filled with considerable dignity.
The hesitating envoy finally unrolled the scroll with the list of gifts. After looking alternately at the prince and Prince Enrique, he read down the list written on the scroll with disapproving eyes.
“One silver mine with over 50 years of mining capacity remaining, 500 war horses, 500 sets of new cavalry armor and weapons. That is all.”
People’s eyes widened at the list read by the Ruben envoy. The silver mine was merely a cornerstone to make a show. What was important were the excellent war horses and the cavalry armor and weapons from the Ruben Empire, known for its military strength.
With 500 war horses, sets of armor, and weapons, 500 powerful cavalrymen could be armed. The cost of arming just one cavalryman was already an enormous amount. Moreover, it was by no means easy to possess 500 cavalrymen armed with the horses and equipment of Ruben, boasting the strongest combat power on the continent.
This was a proposal that targeted Shamier’s long-standing weakness. Shamier is a small kingdom surrounded by powerful countries. Shamier’s main source of income was intermediary trade between the great powers, and its survival strategy was to advocate as a peace zone between these powers. For Shamier, which had weak military power, a proposal that could become a powerful military force was not easy to dismiss.
The envoys from each country began to whisper quietly.
The basic cards of each country had all been shown. Normally, based on this, they would discuss the actual transaction in earnest. However, Prince Enrique’s absurd declaration was the problem. The conditions that the envoys had brought were all predicated on exclusively claiming the Superior Omega through marriage. The envoys had prepared all sorts of responses for various variables, but the prince’s outrageous declaration was a variable they couldn’t have even imagined.
“Your Majesty. The gifts we have proposed are only in exchange for the sacred marriage being realized. However, the conditions stated by Prince Enrique are so absurd that we simply cannot accept them.”
“That’s right! A marriage limited to two years and only giving birth to one child! And not just with one country, but repeating marriage and divorce in turn with the three countries here… Even saying he’ll marry in order of the highest bidder. What kind of absurd and insulting conditions are these?!”
“To make such an unreasonable bargain out of a sacred marriage…. Hmph! So this is the extent of Shamier’s national prestige.”
The envoys criticized Prince Enrique’s statement one after another, spitting as they spoke.
The criticism became increasingly acerbic and aggressive with each person who spoke. However, Prince Enrique, the subject of the criticism, maintained an arrogant smile without the slightest change in his posture. He seemed to feel neither humiliation, shame, nor anger.
After silently listening to the envoys’ intense criticism for a while, Prince Enrique suddenly raised his hand. The envoys who had been watching the prince all closed their mouths at once. The audience hall fell silent. Prince Enrique looked around at the envoys for a moment and then opened his mouth.
“It is an undeniable fact that our Shamier will gain great benefit by giving birth to legitimate heirs for your countries. However, Shamier is not such a weak country that it would fall into ruin without the gifts you have proposed. If my proposal is so displeasing to you, we can act as if nothing happened. Then I will simply choose an alpha from our Shamier that I like, marry them, and give birth to the next heir of Shamier.”
After saying this, Prince Enrique raised one corner of his mouth obliquely and added:
“We have plenty of alphas with excellent qualities in our Shamier as well. Honestly, I prefer that method more.”