"WHAT DID YOU SAY?!"
Everyone in the room let out a surprised shriek, but the loudest one was clearly the princess's own voice.
—-Ahem!
"I mean, I don't wanna marry the princess if it's a burden for you guys. I can understand your circumstances and why you added that marriage term as a reward, and I am willingly allowing you to back down on it. This way, you won't lose face and I'll be on my way."
I replied quietly to everyone's abrupt exclamation. What is wrong with these people?
"Hey, hey hey. Wait a minute."
Everyone practically jumped in surprise, and Lynch was the first one to gain his sanity as he came and tried to drag me to a side to tell me something.
But
"Why are you so sturdy, fuck. Just come with me for a second. Sorry, your grace, give us some time, we'll be right back."
Saying so Lynch started walking outside of the giant hall. I followed after him and caught up to him, leaving behind an awkward group of people trying to greet the duke's family.
***
"What the fuck are you doing dude? Have you gone insane?"
"...What are you even talking about?"
"Why are you rejecting the marriage?"
"Because I don't wanna get married. Not to mention, I don't love the princess. Why would I marry her?"
I replied to Lynch's continuous questions. I didn't even know why he was overreacting like I had done him an injustice.
"Do you know just how many people in the world want to finish the quest? And out of those hundreds and thousands, most were males trying to get their hands both on the princess and the dukedom. What the fuck is wrong with you? Rejecting both things. And what do you mean love? You wanna love an NPC first before marrying them?"
Lynch burst out in frustration.
'Dude, it's my quest and my reward…. I don't know why you are overreacting like this.'
"Of course, I would have to love someone to marry them."
"Someone? It's just an NPC. No matter how beautiful she is, she isn't a real person. No feelings involved."
Lynch tried to make a point.
"They aren't just mere chunks of coding. I have seen them, they're people and this is their world. They have emotions and families too. I don't care what you think about them, but to me, they are as real as you are. I mean, c'mon. I don't even know who the fuck are you in the real world."
At my reply, Lynch just became silent for a while and pondered. Suddenly, he seemed to have gotten an idea as he said.
"Look, I won't tell you to go and marry her or anything. But even you should know what a Dukedom is worth, right? Especially when it's a territory of the Sahhan Empire. And you might become the first player to ever become a duke. Do you know how much that is worth? It's more than anything that you could ever imagine. Being the first at anything inside [Mayhem] is a huge deal."
Lynch said in excitement. He seemed almost convinced that I would be coaxed by his speech.
"The first man to get a legendary class, the first man to discover a hidden dimension, the first man to discover the abyss, the only man who was able to cure the supposedly dying princess of the Wenselm dukedom. Do you really think I care about being the 'first' person to achieve something at this point?"
"....."
***
As Shura and Lynch went outside to discuss something, the Wenselm trio wasn't sitting idly either.
"That…was a bit unexpected. He doesn't want to marry Ena…."
Harold commented, somewhat flabbergasted. Even in his wildest dreams, he would never have expected such a scenario to occur. Although his own shock was considerable, it was nothing compared to what the princess was going through.
The forest saintess, the princess of Wenselm, and the doctor who brings back the dead. There were many such names to address the princess and wherever she went, she was always adored and loved. Young men would confess to her on an almost daily basis when she was active, regardless of their upbringing and status.
The saintess even had marriage proposals even from many princes and dukes throughout the continent, not just the empire, so it was unquestionable that she was confident in her looks and charms. But just a few moments ago, a demon-like brat, who had saved her life, had rejected the marriage that was a part of the reward for saving her.
'Do I look that bad after I had fallen ill? Or is it something else?'
The princess bit her lips as she contemplated. She was starting to lose the confidence that she had built up for years.
"Isn't that great? We wouldn't want our daughter to marry just about anyone either. If he's giving us a chance himself, he can't blame us later. Although we would have to hide the fact that somebody rejected the saintess… it'll create a bad image."
The duchess said slowly so that the others in the room couldn't hear her. She was really happy that her daughter wouldn't have to marry someone just because her husband had promised their daughter's hand in marriage to anyone who saves her.
"No, no. I… I…"
The princess tried to say something but couldn't say it, maybe due to embarrassment or due to speechlessness.
"Are you fine Ena? Is something wrong?"
Harold asked worriedly and Ena couldn't utter a word as she just shook her head. Just then, Lynch and Shura returned.
***
"How about an engagement?"
I asked politely in front of the duke and duchess, and Harold asked.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean what I said. I don't want to marry someone I don't even know properly, but we can get engaged, and then marry later after getting to know each other. Of course, it's just a proposal and the princess has every right to reject it. I just don't want a relationship without any feelings involved."
"I agree!"
The princess's immediate reply left everyone at a loss for words, including herself. The duke and the duchess stared at the princess and then stared at me, going back and forth between our faces.
Harold wanted to say something but every time he opened his mouth, words wouldn't form and he would close it as it is. Helena stared at her daughter who was fidgeting in her seat due to embarrassment and a meaningful smile appeared on her face.
"We agree to your proposal."
Helena replied to Harold. Harold wanted to say something but Helena just put her hand on his hand and gave him a nod. Harold sighed and finally spoke.
"It is decided then. Let's decide a date and set up an engagement between Shura and Ena as soon as possible."
'Well… I was expecting them to reject me.'
I myself was shocked at the replies of the people. Why would the princess even agree to the engagement?
p
"Okay, your grace."
I replied unenthusiastically, making a nerve pop on the princess's forehead.
Ahem!
Harold coughed a bit to gain everyone's attention before opening his mouth.
"As for the other rewards, I'll be handing them out right now. First of all, ten million gold coins."
'Fuck! Mom, I am a millionaire!'
Although my face was as stale as it could get on the outside, I was dancing in joy on the inside.
Ten million gold coins were equivalent to a million dollars.
'I am fucking rich!...only 26 million more for a desert scorpion…'
"Look at his tail…."
Gomchul commented and everyone's eyes inadvertently landed on my tail, which was wagging around continuously.
"It's like a puppy wagging its tail from happiness…although this tail ain't furry or cute…"
Ahem!
"As for the second reward, I have heard you use a dagger as your main weapon, I have a dagger from the Suass Dungeon that I conquered in my earlier days, I think you will like it."
Avoiding the embarrassing situation, the duke started telling about the Suass Dungeon and how he barely managed to come out alive from it. It became one of the reasons behind his inevitable rise.
After a while, he ordered his personal knight to go and fetch the said dagger from the treasury.
After a while, the knight came back with a 1.5 feet red-coloured rectangular box in his hand.
"Here, come and take it. I always liked this dagger, but since I have a swordsman class, I couldn't exert its true power and had kept it as a souvenir. It would be more suitable for you, and you deserve it too. Thank you, once again, for saving my daughter's life."
Harold said with gratitude, and I walked up to him and respectfully took the box from his hand. It was extremely light.
"Open it."
"Thank you, your grace."
Getting his consent, I opened the box and what greeted me was a beautiful red-colored dagger.
Its handle was made out of silver metal in a coiled snake-like design, with bits of gold here and there. There were two gold-colored bat-like wings making the intersection between the blade and the hilt.
The blade had a translucent red colour, with darker red linings on it, as if like a circuit. It seemed to be made out of glass, or a transparent ocean stone. Its edges didn't look too sharp, but one can feel a gloomy aura coming from the blade itself.
~~I smell abyssal powers.~~
As soon as I touched the blade, I heard a hoarse voice inside of my head, shocking me and making me let go of the dagger on instinct.
'What the fuck was that.'
Everyone stared at me and my heart kept beating loudly. The scary voice I had heard had definitely come from the dagger.
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