An Offer of Marriage

“Tch. Here I thought I struck gold running into that annoying maid.”

As Prince Sylas walked through the alleyway, his frustration and tantrum was on full display.

“Does no one know or respect what a Prince is called anymore!?!” Sylas screamed as he slammed his hand on the wall.

‘All of them, none of them respect me. This shitty kingdom. I am a Prince of the Empire, so why aren’t they bowing?!’

As he walked further along the alleyway, he reached a certain cafe in the back of the alley. As he happened to look through the window, he noticed a silver haired beauty sitting in the back of the cafe, talking to a man who had his back facing towards him. A hideous grin formed on Sylas’ face as he decided to burst through the store with his guards in tow.

“Greetings, my dear Celena! It is I, Prince Sylas! Here to come for your hand in marriage!”

At the unfolding scene, Celena was speechless. Kei, on the other hand, did not move an inch. Looking at the man in front of Celena choosing to stay silent and not even give him proper respects, Sylas looked irked.

“You must be so captivated by my beauty that you have been rendered speechless, my dear Celena. Oy, Commoner!”

“...”

“Can’t you see that we are having a conversation between royalty? Begone!”

“...”

Even with Prince Sylas shouting at him, Kei remained unfazed and unresponsive. Looking further annoyed, Sylas looked at one of his guards and gave a nod, signalling him to do something. As if understanding the instruction clearly, the guards exchanged a glance with each other and proceeded to walk towards Kei.

“You’re coming with us, commoner!”

As one of the guards approached Kei and grabbed his shoulder, Celena seemed to snap out of her confusion and immediately jumped up to stop the guards from doing anything.

”What do you think you are doing to my guest?! Stand down this instance!”

”Oh Celena, my dear Celena. How kind you are to allow this commoner the luxury of basking in your generosity and mercy. However, we royalty have our standing to consider! Mixing yourself with the commoners is a bad way to show you are of a high status!” Prince Sylas spoke as he allowed his guards to continue.

”Enough! Stand down this instance, Prince Sylas.”

”I am a Prince. As if I’d do something as unsightly as standing down to a commoner!”

As the guards grabbed Kei’s shoulder to drag him away, they noticed something unusual. They had a difficult time moving him, as if he was refusing to budge.

“Oy! Start moving commoner, you are standing in the presence of Prince Sylas! Have you no respect for royalties? That in itself is considered lese majeste! If you refuse to budge, we will resort to using force…?!”

Just as one of the guards prepared to unsheathe his sword, his other hand on Kei’s shoulder started to feel extremely cold.

’Eh? It shouldn’t be this cold. Why does my hand feel so numb?!’

The longer the guard held onto Kei’s shoulder the more visible it was that ice was beginning to form on his fingers. Being the first to notice the ice forming on the guard’s hand, Celena immediately recalled the earlier incident where the cafe’s temperature had dropped drastically to the point it froze her drink and stood up to push the guard away from Kei and placed herself between Kei and Prince Sylas.

”Prince Sylas. As you have been told multiple times by both my father and his brother, I have officially rejected your marriage proposal! You have no right to approach me without requesting an audience!”

“How dare you speak to me that way! You, the mere daughter of a duke to me, a Prince! You are but a tool for marriage, for status! What better privilege is it for your family to marry into royalty?!”

”This was not a rejection only by me, but by my father and his majesty the King of Babel as well!”

”Who cares about all that?! From the first moment I saw you twelve years ago, I’ve always wanted you all for myself! But you, with your arrogant air about you, always rejected my advances! Now that you are just a blessing-less daughter of a duke, you should be grateful to be marrying into royalty!”

”I care not about status or powers. In the first place, you being here is in itself a major crime being committed. Barghest royalty, let alone a prince are not allowed entry into our kingdom! I will overlook this transgression for the sake of peace, leave now and never come back!”

”!”

At the mention of Barghest royalty, Kei immediately snapped out of his supposed trance. As those words left Celena’s mouth, Sylas was immediately annoyed.

”Why you… Guards! Get her! We are bringing her back with us one way or another!”

“But your highness, that would be kidnapping!”

”Who cares?! No one can touch us once we are out of Babel! Now go!”

As the guards had begun to approach Celena, Charlotte had arrived on the scene. Looking at the scene unfolding in front of her, Charlotte immediately started to channel her blessing. However, she was shocked at the fact that she couldn’t channel anything.

”Agh!”

”Tresspasing, kidnapping, and attempted assault…” Kei finally spoke up.

”?!”

It all happened too fast. Kei was now holding one of the knives concealed on his back. The cut was so quick and clean that no blood was seen on his blade. However, the front guard was now holding one of his hands, now cleanly cut off, screaming in pain. On the floor in front of him, was his hand that was now completely frozen. Everybody in the room was shocked at what had happened.

“You… What did you do?!” Prince Sylas spoke up in confusion.

”Hmm? It’s called self-defense. I am a guard hired to protect Lady Celena, of course I would act as a shield for her.”

”But—“

”In the first place, you are completely outmatched here. There are two powerful blessing users here. Assuming you have a High God’s blessing since you are of royal blood, this will still be a difficult fight for you to win. Guards who have a High God’s blessing wouldn’t be reduced to mere bodyguard duties after all.”

”…”

”So? What do you want to do? We can continue this here, or you can walk out of here and end this peacefully.”

”Tch. This isn’t over. You’re just lucky I didn’t bring that Celestial prototype with me. Or else, all of you would’ve died here!”

”?!”

As Prince Sylas proceeded to walk out of the cafe, Kei’s eyes widened in shock as the Prince’s last words before he left.

*In a certain alleyway at night in the city of Rovinj.*

”DAMMT!”

Once again, Prince Sylas was slamming his hand against the wall in frustration.

”Everytime! Everywhere! DISRESPECT!”

”Your Highness, how should we proceed from here?” One of the guards finally spoke up.

”No way around it, I guess we just have to resort to force and kidnap Celena. We’ll return to Barghest and get the prototype. We’ll raid the Lestia household and kidnap Celena. Then when I take her back with me to Barghest, we’ll live a happy life and have so many children!”

As the conversation between Prince Sylas and the guards became increasingly disturbing, the area surrounding them became colder.

”Hey umm… Is it me, or is it getting colder here?” Prince Sylas spoke up.

”No, Your Highness, we feel it too.” One of the guards responded.

”That’s what I thought.”

As it got colder the air started getting dry, their breath was now visible. Many of them had started shivering. At the far end of the alleyway, footsteps could be heard.

”Who goes there?!” Prince Sylas screamed.

”Hoo… Looks like you finally noticed me.”