Chapter 45- Royal Invitation (Part 2)
Rin blinked a few times at the king's sudden request. He wasn't too shocked but he still had to take a few seconds to comprehend him. After that, he calmly shook his head at the king and said.
"I'm grateful for the offer. But, I will have to refuse." Rin's eyes were serious as he gazed at the man who was at the top of the empire.
"I do believe that each person has the right to choose who they want to spend the rest of their lives with. Eli-, her highness the princess is no exception. She has the right to decide for herself as I also have the right to do so."
Even though many would consider the way Rin replied as disrespectful or even rude but the king didn't take any offense to it. In fact, his grin widened as he started laughing loudly.
"Interesting, boy. Your name was Rin, right? You're the first to refuse my daughter's hand in marriage. That's why she most likely took interest in you." He said.
'More like the chances she will kill me if I accept are quite high.' He broke a sweat just thinking about it and shook his head quickly.
He was glad he was able to get out of this sticky situation fairly easily. But, Rin was too naive to think that it was the end for that.
"Father…" A cold voice spoke out of nowhere.
Everyone looked at Elise and immediately felt nervous. Her usual demeanor was cold and even distant but Elise at that moment was simply outraged. Her aura alone was able to create small gushes of wind around her. It wasn't extremely strong or suffocating but it was still impressive.
"E-Elise." The king tried to calm his daughter down and try to explain that he was joking. But…
"I did mention that I don't like bad jokes, didn't I?"
"Y-Yes." The king nodded his head with a small yet restrained smile.
"So why the bad jokes, father?"
"N-No, as I said, it's not like that."
"Then what is it like? Mind explaining?"
The atmosphere kept getting tenser and tenser as time went by. No one knew what to do. The maids were already sweating profusely from stress.
"Don't take offense to it, your highness. His majesty was merely trying to joke around." Rin spoke to defuse the situation.
Even though he was speaking respectfully, he tried to send a message with his eyes to Elise.
'Calm down, Elise. Even though he's your father, he's still the king.'
The fact that the king was scared of his daughter's anger was proof of how much he loved and cherished her and took notice of her emotions greatly.
Luckily, Rin's words and his meaningful look calmed Elise down and made her apologize for her slip of emotions. Then, the group continued the conversation normally with some awkwardness from what happened.
'I never saw Elise that angry? Was she that against getting married to me? Or was it the idea in general?' Rin couldn't deny that if it was the first choice, it hurt him that she thought like that.
It wasn't that he was in love with her or anything like that, but since they knew each other for a long time and also the fact that she was a very gorgeous woman through and through, Rin would be lying if he said that he wasn't feeling attracted to her.
However, he has nothing to do with that, maybe with time, she will come to soften up a little for him.
[Don't worry, host. You don't need anyone else when you have me.]
'I'm not that desperate to have a lover, ok?! Besides, you are already a male in my head so it's a hard no.'
[You are very shy, host.]
'No, I'm not, and don't even think about playing me. I have an eye on you, system.'
[Keep your eyes on me.]
'...'
Sighing, Rin knew that no matter how much he tried to stop the system, it will keep teasing him again and again non-stop. It was something engraved into its very existence.
After chatting for some time, the king let them go and rest and also prepare for the party tonight. As he heard, many nobility came to the capital for the party and so Rin was aware that the castle will be filled to the brim tonight.
Aria and Rin then left the castle and headed toward the house where they will settle for the two or three days they will spend in the castle.
Each aristocrat had at least one villa or mansion in the capital for such occasions. But, because of their rarity, these houses were abandoned most of the time to collect dust for years and years.
That's why many commoners were angry because of it. The price for a small land was high so seeing the nobility own vast lands with abandoned mansions, they could only try to protest this unfair treatment.
To solve that, the king and the aristocrats decided to hire these commoners to take care of these houses and also live there too. It was a good decision that made both parties happy.
When they reached the place, they quickly settled down and organized the rooms where they will sleep tonight. After that, Aria came knocking on Rin's door.
"Do you want to explore the city?" She said with a warm smile.
"Oh! That sounds good."
"Let's go then!"
Then, Aria basically dragged Rin out of the house toward the heart of the capital.
The capital was by far the biggest city in the whole empire and not for a bad reason. All the major trading, businesses, and also the major governments are placed here.
Not only that but most commoners try to hunt for job opportunities and live here comfortably. It was basically the dreamland for the poor and the ambitious.
That's why compared to the silvereye dukedom, the capital was way bigger. Even the streets and the buildings were in better condition.
'It's filled with people. It reminds me of my old world.' He thought.
"Rin, here, here," Aria called for him.
As he tried to walk toward her, he was stopped in his tracks.
"Hey there." Two girls were blocking his way.
He looked at both of them confusedly.
They were both cute but could only hang their heads down in shame if they were compared to Elise or Aria.
"Do you want to have a cup of coffee with us?" One of them said with a charming smile.
'Hot dudes have it easy, for sure.'
[In the mouth of every other man, I must say, host. Go rot in hell.]
'Shut up! I was like that not long ago. Let me have some fun once in a while.'
"Neh, are you fine with that?" The other blushed and tried to touch him.
*Swish*
"How do I help you, ladies?" Aria grabbed one of the girl's arms and said with a cold smile that exuded a scary aura.
"N-No, w-we were just talking with him."
"I see. Well, he is pretty 'busy' right now. Maybe another time."
Then, without waiting for them to even speak, Aria dragged Rin away from them silently.
"Aria… Wait… Oi! Hold a second." He stopped her in her tracks.
"Don't tell me… are you jealous?"
He tried to peek at her face but she looked away quickly. However, he could see that the tips of her ears were pretty red.
"No, I'm not. I was just trying to help you."
'C-Cute. I want to tease her.'
"Oh! Man, I was about to accept their invitation." Clicking his fingers together with a regretful look, he tried to speak without laughing.
"I know that you're teasing me. Stop it!" Aria said with a pout.
'Tsk. She's way too sharp. I thought my acting was good.'
"Dummy," Aria murmured and continued walking.
Then, for the next few hours, both of them strolled around the city, visiting monuments, trying the food there, and many other things.
Was it not for the fact that they were both brothers, everyone thought that they were a lovey-dovey couple.
"Look at those two. My god!"
"They are both so gorgeous. Are they in a relationship? They fit perfectly together. The girl especially looks like a goddess!"
"That boy too! Ah! Maybe he would accept married women. Silly me! Fufufuf!"
"I want to steal that girl and lock her in my house forever."
Everyone was speaking and murmuring behind them. The two could hear those whispers quite clearly, but, except for the last one, Rin didn't bother with them at all. He only focused on Aria.
'They can say what they want.'
Having an incredibly handsome face made him quite confident when walking with a beauty like Aria and never feel insecure like that.
The date ended in the afternoon as they returned home. There wasn't much more time left before the party so they had to end the journey.
But, what they didn't know, is that this party tonight was something they will never forget. Especially Rin.
(A//N: Calm chapters for now. Trying to put some basic fluff here and there, nothing major. But, things are about to shift as we approach the end of the first arc. The second arc will be complete chaos so enjoy!)
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