“A royal marriage?!”
A few days after repelling the Freiyan army, the royal castle was busy with the post-battle dealings. In the royal chambers, the young King Alnoa was having an unexpected conversation over lunch with his sister, Cecilia.
“Yes. I agree with forming an alliance, but I’m not too fond of this royal marriage idea.”
Cecilia was gorgeous, as one would expect from a member of the royal family. Her golden hair was bundled up into a perfect bun, and she looked at the young king with sorrowful blue eyes.
“How did it come to this?”
Alnoa’s father, the legendary Witch King of Althos, had wielded numerous spells and fought valiantly alongside the Freiyan army. He’d passed away a year earlier due to an epidemic.
With his passing, Alnoa’s influence over Freiya weakened. Cecilia, Althos’s Diva and the rightful heir to the throne, declared herself a priestess and abdicated the throne. Alnoa, next in the line of succession, was crowned king instead.
The Witch King’s passing had destabilized the entire kingdom. Most of the ministers and generals who had loyally served the late king either resigned or retired. Many of the nobles gathered their riches and fled the country. The only ones who remained were citizens who lacked any means of escape and former slaves abandoned by their masters.
The legendary kingdom had been reduced to a minor power, not unlike those it once held dominion over. Severely lacking in manpower, even Cecilia had to help out with the diplomatic matters. Alnoa didn’t know what to think of a royal marriage while his own kingdom was in such poor shape.
Cecilia placed a cup of tea in front of her brother and explained the situation.
“To summarize, immediately after our battle with the Freiyan army, both Freiya and the neighboring kingdom of Subdera petitioned us for an alliance. As proof of their good intentions, both countries wish to send their Divas here to marry into the royal family.”
The Divas were seven girls who’d inherited the power of the Valkyrie.
Long ago, the Valkyrie defeated the Demon King by sacrificing her own life to seal him away. In order to prevent the Demon King from ever returning, she created seven artifacts to be passed down to seven maidens each generation. Cecilia was one of them.
The original seven Divas were blessed by the Valkyrie with strength far surpassing that of a normal person. Each founded their own country, and the Valkyrie’s devastating powers were passed down in each kingdom’s royal bloodline. The current Divas, as descendants of the gods, were heralded as symbols of their respective countries and only rarely appeared on the battlefield.
Alnoa didn’t have to ask why they proposed to him so suddenly, as he instantly understood the issue at hand. The corners of his mouth curled up into a cynical smile upon hearing the details of the arrangement. The Divas would visit one month apart, and he’d have to make a choice between the two of them. The pieces were all laid out in front of him; he just had to play his cards right. The neighboring countries’ intentions were as clear as the sky.
His sister thought otherwise.
“You don’t need to marry anyone, Al. You have me.”
Cecilia gently hugged her brother’s head.
“Um, Cecilia?! I think I’m old enough to get married.”
He tried to resist her embrace. The constant physical contact from his half-sister had taken its toll on the fifteen-year-old Alnoa’s mind.
“The first visit is scheduled for tomorrow. How dare they force my little brother into a marriage?”
She looked affectionately at her precious brother.
“But I suppose you are a king. It’d be a good idea to at least meet them.”
“I’d appreciate it if you asked for my opinion once in a while too.”
Alnoa couldn’t escape his sister’s suffocating embrace, despite his best efforts. He resigned himself to his fate upon seeing the look on her face.
“I’ll meet them if you want, but...”
Cecilia released her brother from her grasp and interrupted him by placing a finger on his lips. She then brought her face right in front of his.
“Don’t worry. You will never have to get married. I’ll always be here for you.”
Al didn’t know if she was joking or not, and he was too afraid to ask. With their noses nearly touching, he could feel the warmth in her gentle gaze.
“But you should be more proactive about meeting new people.”
She dealt the finishing blow with a smirk on her face.
The next day, Alnoa was standing at the gates under the warm sun, garbed in formal dress. He looked more like a young actor cast in the role of a king than an actual member of the royal family.
He suppressed his reluctance and waited patiently for the first of his marriage candidates. This would be his first foreign visitor since he was crowned king. The citizenry had caught wind of the royal visit and congregated near the castle gates to catch a glimpse of the foreign Diva. It felt as if a festival were taking place in the city. Alnoa was tired and grumpy, but looking through the sea of people warmed his heart.
“All this just because a foreign princess is visiting.”
Cecilia had informed him that the first candidate would be Subdera’s Diva. Subdera was a magically advanced neighbor of Althos, lying just over the mountains. They were a major producer of magic goods, dominating the market due to their advanced technology. Their royal castle was the Floating City, which floated in the air thanks to their technological prowess. It was rumored that the castle had once traveled through the skies, but such rumors had never been verified.