★
After leaving the room, the trio made their way out of the royal palace, eventually arriving at a certain tower. There was not even a single guard in sight. It was probably true that they didn’t need one, as Goldas was strong enough to go toe-to-toe with a Platinum class adventurer. But even so, the situation seemed very out of place to Shouzou’s eyes.
They climbed the spiral staircase that led them to the room at the top of the tower.
Champ, chomp, munch......
From behind the thick, wooden door echoed very strange sounds. The atmosphere seemed very eerie.
Both the king and Goldas had remained quiet the entire way, which made the air very heavy. Though not scared, Shouzou did find it slightly suffocating.
The king flung the door open carelessly. Surprisingly, the room inside was much more spacious and well-lit than expected. Shouzou inadvertently narrowed his eyes against the light.
Chomp, chomp, munchmunchmunch......
Upon realizing the source of the strange sounds, Shouzou became stunned.
Right beside a canopy bed were mounds of pies and stews, fried foods and potatoes and dried meats galore. There was way more food there than what a single person could eat.
—And in the middle of it all...... was a pig.
So round and so fat was the silhouette that he mistook it for a pig at first sight, but apparently it was a human. This giant that wasn’t particularly tall but was horizontally greater than a normal person by twofold was wordlessly stuffing his face with food.
“Sharlo...... Oi, Sharlo!” The king’s irritated shout caused the person who was apparently named Sharlo to start and then look over.
“P-Papa......?” This person who saw the king and called him “Papa” was none other than—
“This is my son, Prince Sharlo.”
Although he had a sneaking suspicion prior to this, it was hard for Shouzou to believe that this overly well-rounded figure was a 16-year-old boy. His flabby skin was rougher than sandpaper. His blond hair was streaked with even more white than his father’s. There was not a single part of him that looked polished. So the reason why he had not been seen at a formal function for a long time was because this terrible appearance was simply not presentable to the citizens. In other words, he couldn’t show up to formal functions.
“I am ashamed. I am truly ashamed. As a result of overly doting on my child while bringing him up, this is what he has become. A marriage means there’s no getting around exposing him to the citizens. But the even bigger issue is—” The king abruptly opened his eyes wide and shouted, “WHO WOULD WANT A MAN SUCH AS THIS AS A SPOUSE?! I would not. Not in a million years.”
Without any hesitation, Marquis Goldas also nodded his agreement.
“The instant the princess from the empire lays eyes on him, she would surely explode in indignation and outrage. Then after that, the relationship between our countries can only spiral into outright war.”
“Th-That’s a bit much, Papa. Well, not that I want to get married anyway. Little Sis can have the throne, all I need to be happy is to stay locked up in here until I die. Or rather, it might be better to treat me like I’ve already died, how does that sound?” Sharlo smiled sheepishly while crunching on potato chips.
King Alsbeit looked up at the ceiling. “Such apathy...... Even if his appearance was bad, if he had an earnest and positive personality, then we might have been able to make something of it. And so, this is the situation we are in. Jilk and Onigawara, we need to dissolve this marriage offer in a peaceful way. I am open to ideas.”
Goldas crossed his arms and tilted his head.
Shouzou stared long and hard at Sharlo. Noticing Shouzou’s stare, Sharlo flashed another sheepish smile while stuffing his cheeks with more food.
Without averting his eyes, Shouzou spoke up. “I am of the mind that it would be fine to proceed with the marriage talks. Whether it goes through or falls apart, it doesn’t matter. There’s only one thing that we need to do.”
“Let’s hear it then. What is that ‘one thing’?”
“I said this earlier, but I believe that marriage is something for the people involved to decide. Based on that, I recommend telling the other side about the prince’s appearance and personality without holding anything back, and even including the prince’s preference for women while at it.”
“You mean to make the requirements we put forth even stricter? You surely must be aware that that could too easily be taken as arrogance, right?”
“The point is to frame this in the light of us putting effort toward bringing about reconciliation between our countries and doing what we can so that neither party walks away disappointed. To complain about that would only paint the empire in a bad light.”
“I see...... It pains me deeply to expose the embarrassment of my family, but there’s no helping it. Once the empire knows of my son’s state, then surely they will drop this matter by themselves.”
Would they really? If the emperor was truly a man who would not hesitate to use his family members as mere tools, as King Alsbeit had just said, then chances were high that he would attempt to take advantage of even these new conditions.
“Well then, that aside.” Shouzou slowly walked forward toward Sharlo, who was looking at his approach with suspicion.
“I speak in full knowledge of my disrespect, but I sense something that shines within this youngster. May I have custody of him for a period of time?”
The eyes of everyone else present widened in surprise.
The first person who responded was... none other than Sharlo himself.
“Wh-What are you saying? All out of the blu—”
Shouzou peered into those eyes colored with unease. There was no way to know how the marriage talks would end up. And not knowing meant that there was not much that could be done in preparation. That was why it would be a good idea to play the hand that seemed like it would make the biggest difference ahead of time.
Specifically, that meant—
Shouzou smiled kindly, then said, “How would you like to try being an adventurer?”
—changing the prince himself as much as possible. Shouzou was convinced that that was the best option available to them to break through the situation they were in.
After several beats of silence—
“““SAY WHAAATT?!”””
—Shouzou’s smile remained unaffected by the chorus of manly exclamations—