The Reward for Saving The World is a Husband - Chapter 30
“Elias, welcome.”
As Elias passed through the gate, he was greeted by Leonard, the First Prince of the Lucendria royal family and one of his closest friends.
“It’s been a while, Your Highness.”
“Your Highness? Don’t give me that nonsense, it gives me goosebumps. There’s no one here but my people, so just act like usual.”
“Well, if you insist.”
Elias nodded lightly and followed Leonard into the carriage.
“What brings you here in the middle of the night?”
Elias asked as soon as the carriage began to move.
From the gate nearest the capital to the palace, it would take just over an hour. Leonard, a man who managed his time down to the minute, wouldn’t have come all the way out here without a reason.
And sure enough…
“That woman.”
Leonard didn’t waste any time, cutting straight to the point.
“Is she beautiful?”
“..…”
Elias narrowed his eyes at him, and Leonard quickly waved his hands in protest.
“No, no, it’s not what you’re thinking…”
Seeing that Elias’s gaze didn’t soften, Leonard let out a sigh.
“It seems His Majesty plans to summon her to the palace.”
“What…? For what reason? If it’s for information about the dragon…”
“No, it’s not about that.”
Running his well-groomed golden hair through his fingers in frustration, Leonard continued.
“It seems His Majesty suspects that the prophecy might not have been about the dragon but about that woman.”
“That doesn’t make any sense…”
“It might not be, of course, but just in case, he’s planning to marry her off to one of the princes and keep a close watch on her. You know how His Majesty is—he has more than enough sons for that, right? He’s got nine of them.”
Elias knew well enough that such a thing was not out of the realm of possibility. For a man like the emperor, who saw his children as nothing more than pieces on a chessboard, it was all too feasible to bring a mysterious woman into the royal family.
“Why would they interpret it that way? If you meet her in person, you’ll see—she’s just an ordinary woman.”
It’s common to have various interpretations of a prophecy, but the emperor’s judgment this time was completely baffling.
“Hmm… Is that so? So, she’s not hideous, at least?”
Leonard asked casually, as if Elias’s opinion didn’t really matter.
“She’s not disabled or anything, right?”
“…..”
“Alright, then, since the 8th and 9th Princes still don’t have fiancées…”
Watching Leonard deep in thought, Elias felt a wave of anxiety.
Regardless of which prince one supported in the succession race, Elias was still a vassal of the Lucendria royal family, bound to obey their orders without question.
If the emperor demanded Elesha to be handed over today, there would be nothing he could do.
After a long pause, Elias finally managed to speak up.
“Leonard, about that woman…”
“Yeah?”
“Can’t I just keep her with me?”
“You? Why?”
Leonard’s expression gradually shifted from curiosity to something more serious as he stared at Elias.
“No way… It can’t be, right?”
“….”
“Elias. You’re not thinking what I think you’re thinking, are you?”
When Elias remained silent, Leonard sighed and rubbed his eyes, groaning in frustration for a while.
“Send her to the royal palace.”
Leonard was the first to break the stifling silence.
“Whether you’ve slept with her or even gotten her pregnant already, that doesn’t matter. You’ve only been with her for two days, so don’t start talking about feelings or anything like that.”
Only two days.
There was nothing incorrect about Leonard’s words. Moreover, contrary to Leonard’s worst-case scenario, Elias had not yet shared a bed with her. Not yet.
So it should have been easy. But why couldn’t he bring himself to say the words? Why couldn’t he just agree?
Even at this moment, Elias found himself growing irritated at the thought of the reasonably handsome faces of the 8th and 9th Princes.
“Did you forget the promise we made? I would become emperor, and you would erase Tenaclade? To do that, you need the engagement with the 2nd Princess, Elias.”
“Weren’t we supposed to drop that plan? We agreed to find another way.”
“No.”
Leonard let out a long sigh before he spoke again.