Having been acknowledged as a man, the first thing I needed to do was, well…prepare. Obviously. I was going to get Aisha.
That said, it would have been a bad look to go to the Asura Kingdom with just the clothes on my back. It just didn’t feel appropriate. I was going to go pick up my bride-to-be. I needed to do it right, no? But I had no clue what that entailed.
After Aisha left, it wasn’t like I gained any experience on that front.
Plenty of girls tried to tempt or seduce me, but I never gave in. I didn’t know what happened past the courtship phase. It was truly unknown territory for me.
I went to my father for advice. He had three wives, after all, so surely he’d know what to do.
“What should I do in terms of getting Aisha? I haven’t really interacted with girls much, so I have no clue. You know all about this stuff, right, Dad?”
My father looked at me with something of a sour look on his face. “Uh, I don’t really have much experience on that front either.”
Apparently, he didn’t actually have much experience pursuing women in the usual way. He groaned as he explained to me how he’d reunited with my mothers.
“You should do whatever you come up with yourself. This is Aisha we’re talking about. I’m sure she’ll be more than happy with whatever you do for her,” he squeezed out at the end.
He did his best to think things through for me, but he didn’t give me any specific ideas. One of the only things from his story I could have used was saving Aisha when she was in danger, but that was hardly realistic. I didn’t want to make some evildoers attack her just so I could save her.
I guess I’ll have to come up with something on my own…
Just as I’d almost given up—
“Well, there is one guy who’d know a thing or two about this kind of stuff,” Father added. He would introduce me to someone.
Father described him as such: “He’s the biggest playboy I know, and he’s super used to these kinds of situations.”
The first person who came to mind was Great-Grandmother Elinalise, but it wasn’t her.
“It’s just… He really is a huge playboy, so I don’t know if Aisha will be crazy about whatever he comes up with. I’d suggest using his suggestions as food for thought… Don’t ever use them to do anything bad,” he stressed.
I was excited at the time, because it felt like he was about to introduce me to a magician from a fairy tale or something.
✦ ✦ ✦
My father ended up taking me to the castle in the Asura Kingdom. Although I was still surprised, we made our way inside the building. Eventually, we arrived at a decked-out office.
I’d come to the castle several times in the past. I hadn’t been there since eloping with Aisha, but before that happened, Father had taken me to a number of parties there. It was a dizzying, opulent world. If we weren’t at war with Asura now, I’d love for the two of you to experience what true high-class life was like back then.
But it was already nighttime, so the place wasn’t dazzling at the moment.
“I’ve been busy as of late, you see.”
There was a single man in the room: the head of the Seven Knights of Asura, Luke Notos Greyrat. Queen Ariel’s Royal Dagger. He was a famous man. While he wasn’t particularly skilled with a sword, he was known for his political wit and the way he could win the hearts and minds of people. At some party I’d attended in the past, Sieg had been very excited to talk to him.
While he was good at winning others over, he wasn’t the sort of person to ask for advice on women—or so I thought. When I asked others later, they said he was actually the perfect person to ask for help. I don’t really know the details, but when he was young, he was quite the playboy.
“So, I heard you need help with a woman. What is it? Is some young lady you knocked up at school coming after you?” Luke said.
“My boy would never do something like that,” my father replied.
“Oh, I’m well aware. I know all about your son’s romantic circumstances… But if he’s going to attend the Asura Royal Academy, he should be prepared to be approached by noblewomen.”
“And why is that?”
“Queen Ariel wants to marry her daughter to one of your sons. She’ll probably send some less attractive girls his way to make the princess seem more appealing.”
“Can you please not try to seduce my son? He has someone he loves already.”
“I kid…is what I’d like to say, but you had best prepare for Her Majesty to send at least one girl his way.”
Father and Luke seemed close as they chatted away.
Luke had said he was joking, but when I started attending the royal academy, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t approached by girls. There were attractive ones among them, including ones with big breasts… But I never folded because I had Aisha! I swear.
“How’s Aisha doing?” my father asked. “You haven’t made moves on her, right? If you have, I’ll destroy this entire castle.”
“I’m not so hard-pressed for women that I’d lay a finger on your family. I fully acknowledge that Aisha is a very attractive woman and, more importantly, extremely talented. Be that as it may, I know all too well that nothing good can come from putting the moves on her, so I haven’t.”
“Even if you tried, my Aisha would never go for it,” my father insisted. “Don’t get full of yourself just because you have a handsome face.”
“I know! I swear, you never did have much of a sense of humor… Anyway, let’s get down to business.”
Having graduating from the royal academy, Aisha was working at the castle. According to her, she did light office work for Queen Ariel, but everyone around her said that she’d done so much that she’d basically reformed the place.
Apparently, the rules she came up with in her time there are still alive and well in the Asura Kingdom. That said, I don’t know the specifics of what’s going on there as of late. We’ve severed diplomatic relations, after all. After Queen Ariel passed away, things changed quite a bit.
“Her position here isn’t a strong one,” Luke began. “We’ve been entertaining her as a guest from Ruquag’s Mercenary Band and as Rudeus’s little sister, but she basically has no status within the Asura Kingdom. However, she’s talented and good with people, so everyone in the other departments knows her. There are many here who say, should she leave the mercenary band, they would gladly give her the proper reception… Queen Ariel is among them.”
Luke paused to look at me. “Hell, she would welcome you as well.”
I shook my head. “No, I plan on working under Da—Father and Sir Orsted.”
“If you plan on following in Rudeus’s footsteps, we won’t force your hand. But Aisha is beloved by the people here. It will not rest well with them if you don’t treat her as the important woman she is when you pick her up.”
I was confused at the time. Now that I was a man, I just wanted to be reunited with the woman I loved. Why did I have to concern myself over power struggles? None of that mattered to me. Queen Ariel was technically under Orsted’s umbrella, which made her an ally, so I understood that I needed to pay my dues, so to speak, but…
Father was the one to offer me a helping hand. “Luke, didn’t you say we should get down to business? What’s with the long preamble?”
“A preamble is important, is it not?” Luke said with a shrug.
“It really isn’t. Could you just get on with it and tell my son the best, coolest way to get a woman? Thanks.”
Father bowed his head while Luke shot him a displeased look.
“A carriage,” he said. “A two-horse box carriage for two would be good. Make it as ornate as possible. The horses should be white. Black is fine as well, but no ashen or spotted horses. Park the carriage in a spot where she and her female associates pass through on their way home. If possible, you should park at the back entrance of the castle. Make sure you make an appointment but don’t tell her everything. Just tell her, ‘I’m coming for you that day.’”
“Wh-what else?” I asked.
“When she comes, say this: ‘I’ve come for you. Let’s go.’ That’s it. There’s no need to say anything else.”
“Is that really it?”
“Yes. Then take her to your villa or an inn, and…you know the rest, right?”
This time, it was Father’s turn to look displeased. “What kind of prince do you take him for?” he muttered.
But I was sure that Luke’s strategy would be an effective one. Even when I was attending the Ranoa Magic University, I recalled hearing girls talking about this kind of thing. One day, their prince would come atop his white steed to get them at the front gate of the university. That led me to wonder about the one thing he’d mentioned that was different from what the girls I overheard said.
“Why a carriage? Wouldn’t it be better if we rode a horse together?”
“Being out in the open would lead to rumors…or do you not mind that sort of thing? There are a lot of women who wouldn’t enjoy rumors spreading about them. They’d be happier to keep your destination hidden, then go public later. She’d probably want to know you treasure her and are serious about your relationship, right?”
“Could you please not teach my son your creepy techniques?” my father interjected.
“Hey, you’re the one who came to me for help.”
My father acted a bit odd around Luke, but that was neither here nor there. I remember being puzzled at the time, but Father acted weird fairly often.
“What I am trying to say,” Luke continued, “is that it’s important to make her wishes come true. I don’t know if Aisha would be pleased with white horses or a carriage. The two of you would know what she wants much better than I would, even if you haven’t seen her in years. Think about it from that perspective.”
“What Aisha wants…”
There was no way I could predict the exact answer, but I did know what Aisha cared about. I had a decent idea of how she might like to be approached.
“All right. Thank you very much,” I said.
“Are you seriously going to be okay? You really shouldn’t copy Luke,” my father said in a bit of a panic.
At the end of the day, this was just like when I fought Red Mama. I needed to think on my own and approach it with everything I had.