Chapter 85
There was no need for persuasion, like how the Crown Prince’s marriage required many things. Kasselard had no intention of letting this chance slip.
A big, splendid ceremony could simply be held later. For now, since he already had a connection with the High Priest, inviting him first and getting Ephinia’s name entered into the imperial genealogy came first.
The problem was…
“It’s been confirmed that they’ve arrived at the village below the capital. At the latest, it seems they’ll enter by five o’clock.”
The reason they stopped at a nearby village instead of coming straight in was probably to dress up Princess Ibella to present her to Karnan’s Crown Prince. Originally, they were supposed to enter the capital two days later, so Kasselard’s expression twisted.
He had thought those Nabel Empire bastards were irritating for a long time. From the moment they dared to do such a thing to Her Majesty the Empress and still shamelessly showed their faces, he had believed they were mocking this imperial family.
Even though it was clear they were insulting the imperial family of this country, there was no reason to treat them like fellow royalty.
‘As royalty, as the Crown Prince, be aware of your responsibility!’
I’m doing more than enough!
For over ten years, without having a proper Guide assigned to him, he had fought relying on suppressants produced by the mage tower. It was only relatively recently, as his condition worsened, that he had stopped going out on missions.
So because the Nabel Empire’s Princess is an S-Class Guide, and her match rate with him is outstanding, he was supposed to enter a political marriage with her? Why should he?
If he loved Ephinia, and Ephinia’s guiding was enough, why should he have to do that? His power wasn’t only in his bloodline.
He was an SS-Class Transcendent.
Power-wise, his father, the Emperor, might outrank him, but everyone knew. The only reason an Emperor who was merely an A-Class Transcendent could keep his authority from being shaken, even with the emergence of multiple S-Class Transcendents, was Kasselard.
So if he set his mind to it, there was nothing he couldn’t do.
“You put surveillance on them, right? How far have those bastards come?”
At the question from the Crown Prince whose eyes had gone mad with love, the official making the report hurriedly answered. They had assigned surveillance, but there had been no special movements, and since they had left the village about an hour ago, he said they would arrive at the capital’s North Gate in three hours.
‘Three hours.’
There wasn’t much time. Even if he knew the High Priest personally, if Kasselard suddenly asked him to officiate a marriage, he would be flustered and refuse. He might say they needed to discuss it with His Majesty the Emperor or Her Majesty the Empress, or he might try to persuade Kasselard.
For a moment, Kasselard considered kidnapping some random priest and forcing him to officiate. The reason he didn’t consider a Priestess was that if Ephinia saw him threatening a woman, she might dislike him.
‘No. It’s customary for the High Priest to officiate a royal marriage. I can’t compromise on that.’
Ephinia already cared about the fact that she was a noble from a commoner background. If she learned later, she might regret having married him in such haste.
Now there was only one method left.
Kasselard, who seemed to have been thinking, lifted his head and looked at Christian. Christian, who had been paying attention to see what the Crown Prince would say, was horrified.
“Th, that’s still allowed? No matter what, it’s a delegation that includes the Crown Prince and Princess of the Nabel Empire…”
“They’re hesitating because they say they have an S-Class Guide, but the urgent side is them, so it doesn’t matter to us.”
He had no intention of marrying the Nabel Empire’s Princess, and he also suspected she wasn’t a real S-Class Guide. Rather, it would be better to test their reaction that way and confirm whether they were deceiving them or not.
“It’s a country with deep grudges against our empire anyway. I’ll take responsibility, so do as I instruct.”
“I’ll follow your orders, but… do I really have to help? If you pretend you don’t know later and say it was a joke, I’m really going to cry!”
“Yeah, yeah.”
Even with Christian making such a fuss, Kasselard was sure he would still do what he was told.
Now all that was left was to persuade the High Priest and marry Ephinia!
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