Chapter 140 - 67: I Want to Marry Him

Chapter 140: Chapter 67: I Want to Marry Him

Lilia and the King were talking. Nearby, Colin and Lucian were locked in a silent standoff.

Colin had anticipated having rivals, but he couldn’t accept that his competitor was the very man he had already eliminated once before.

"Just wait," he thought. "No matter what tricks this guy used, I’ll definitely..."

"I do have a presumptuous request." Lilia’s voice drifted into their ears with absolute clarity. "I am about to turn twenty. According to my father’s wishes, I am allowed to choose a suitable candidate for marriage myself."

As soon as she said this, Lucian froze for a moment. Colin, however, immediately perked up his ears, a sudden, ominous premonition welling up in his heart.

The King, unaware of Lilia and Lucian’s relationship, immediately brightened at her words. This was exactly what he and Prince Colin wanted!

"Twenty is indeed the age to settle on a marriage partner," the King said with a smile. "Did Miss Lilia come to Ovis because there is a satisfactory candidate here?"

"Yes." Lilia didn’t shy away from the topic. She took hold of Lucian’s arm. "If you don’t mind, I would like to establish a marriage arrangement with Prince Lucian."

The King was left speechless.

Prince Colin was equally dumbfounded.

Lucian, finally snapping out of his daze, let out a somewhat helpless smile. He placed his palm over the back of Lilia’s hand, enveloping it entirely in a gentle, affectionate grasp. Hidden from the view of the two men sitting across from them, his thumb brushed softly against her knuckles. His breathing didn’t even shift its rhythm, yet the unique rapport between them allowed for a rapid, silent exchange.

Lucian gently squeezed her fingers, silently conveying, "Why didn’t you discuss such an important matter with me?"

Lilia flicked his thumb in response. "Does it matter if we discussed it? Are you going to refuse?"

Lucian paused, hooking his fingers around hers. "Alright. I suppose I wouldn’t."

He lifted his head and smiled at the two astounded men across from them.

"This... this..." The King stared blankly for a long moment before recovering. "Isn’t this decision a bit... hasty? Regarding the choice of a marriage partner, Miss Lilia should consider it carefully..."

"Thank you for the reminder, Your Majesty," Lilia said obediently, "but this is the result of my careful consideration. Please rest assured, I genuinely wish to marry Lucian."

Lucian’s grip on Lilia’s hand suddenly tightened. She didn’t pull away, allowing him to hold her like that. He slowly relaxed his grip, only to squeeze even tighter a moment later.

Their subtle interaction didn’t interrupt Lilia’s conversation with the King. The girl still wore a gentle smile, but her tone and phrasing were unquestionably forceful. "Or does Your Majesty the King have an objection?"

"No, it’s just that I..." The King fell silent for a moment before turning to Lucian. He made one final, desperate attempt. "Lucian is no longer young. For such a vital matter, we primarily need to consult his opinion..."

Under the incredibly complicated gazes of both the King and Colin, Lucian nodded. "I agree."

That single, simple sentence rang in Prince Colin’s ears like a sudden clap of thunder. He didn’t even remember how he made it back to his quarters.

The morning’s conversation had concluded with zero suspense. Lilia had explicitly asked to be engaged to Lucian, and Lucian himself had shown no resistance. Logically and reasonably, the King had no grounds to refuse.

The only tactic he could think of to delay the engagement was to seek the opinion of the King of Light. However, Lilia was clearly prepared for this and had directly handed them a letter written in the King of Light’s own hand.

At that point, the King was completely rendered speechless. He could only nod in agreement and watch as the two departed.

Inside the Prince’s bedchamber.

Colin gritted his teeth so hard they nearly shattered. "Those two scheming bastards!" he thought furiously.

He originally assumed those two had, at most, met a few times in the Light Kingdom and barely knew each other. But judging from today’s events—whether it was their affectionate gaze at the docks or the engagement request in the parlor just now—it all proved one thing! The two of them had definitely hooked up long ago and were in cahoots!

And to think he had racked his brains trying to figure out how to win Lilia over. In the end, those two had teamed up to play them for absolute fools!

After smashing an entire tea set, Colin barely managed to calm himself down. Logically, in the face of such an unexpected situation, he should have immediately gone to the Nobles backing him to discuss countermeasures. But instinctively, he didn’t want to tell them.

Those geezers were too old. Instead of taking aggressive measures, they invariably leaned toward sticking to the old ways. Twenty years ago, they had been capable of setting a fire to burn down the Princess Consort’s bedchamber. Yet twenty years later, they acted like rats in a gutter. No matter what happened, they constantly urged him to stay calm, and then stay calm some more.

Even if he went to them, Colin felt they wouldn’t be able to provide any effective solutions. They would likely just tell him to hold his horses and wait to see how things unfolded.

Colin didn’t have that kind of patience. As a Prince, his political senses were razor-sharp. Under normal circumstances, since Lilia was the Crown Prince of the Light Kingdom, once Lucian married her, he would have to follow her and live in the Light Kingdom. If that happened, Lucian would immediately lose his eligibility to compete for the throne.

However... As the future sovereign of a kingdom, Lilia had come to Ovis on her own initiative and proposed a marriage arrangement that no one saw coming... Was it really just because she had taken a fancy to Lucian?

No. Colin didn’t think so.

"They must have an ulterior motive," he thought.

If Lilia truly joined forces with Lucian, bringing the backing of the Light Kingdom, those wavering Nobles might defect straight to Lucian’s camp! Never mind accusations of treason. Ovis’s relationship with the Light Kingdom had always been strong, and not long ago, they had united against a common enemy to fight the Demons during the Lien Kingdom’s invasion.

At this moment, both the Nobles and the commoners had a very favorable impression of Light. Even if Colin wanted to smear Lucian with rumors of treason, few people would actually believe it.

Colin never liked being a sitting duck. He preferred to seize the initiative and nip all dangers in the bud.

Kicking aside the shattered porcelain on the floor, Colin called a maid in to clean up the mess. He then walked over to his desk and flipped through the intelligence dossier on Lilia, compiled by his officers.

For this trip to Ovis, aside from a few personal maids, she hadn’t brought a single guard. It was a level of confidence bordering on sheer arrogance.

Colin had heard that when this Princess forced her father to yield power, she had ascended to the throne room alone, carrying nothing but a sword. Perhaps that past success had given her enough courage to believe that, even all alone in a foreign land, she could blatantly offend the King and the Prince with her extreme haughtiness and still emerge completely unscathed.

But now, Colin was going to teach her a lesson.

In such a dangerous place, prey that failed to adequately prepare themselves... would be swallowed whole by the hunter.