Come to think of it, Shien had never expected to hear the term "tool" from Roxie's mouth.
Where had she even learned that?
It couldn't have been from him, could it?
Had he ever brought up something like being a "tool"?
Maybe he had?
Shien could not remember very clearly.
But without a doubt, the young men from every nation who thought their chance had come—who had racked their brains and rejoiced at the prospect of forming a marriage alliance with Roxie, the foremost genius and beauty of the Human Realm—were definitely in for a miserable time.
As usual, if this were some other novel, this plot could probably drag on for an entire volume: writing about how the protagonist stood out from the crowd, transcended everyone else, slapped his romantic rivals in the face, crushed all the supporting characters, and finally won the Kingdom's highest recognition and the Princess's heart. Not only would he carry off the beauty, but he would ascend to a pedestal and be revered and worshipped by countless people, his fame spreading far and wide.
But on Shien's side, the winner had been decided in advance, while everyone else was merely being brought in to go through the motions. It was practically outrageous.
If this had been a proper competition, some supporting character would probably have jumped out and loudly declared that the whole thing was rigged and someone had cheated.
In another novel, that would probably have been nothing more than the incompetent rage of a supporting character. But with Shien, it was simply the truth!
Thinking of this, Shien could not help feeling sympathy and even pity for those so-called romantic rivals and opponents.
Really, it was not that you guys were not good enough. It was just that I took a shortcut