Diphiya's Engagement

The Kingdom of Tsuyioru Xiu, capital city Philiers

Royal Palace, Council Hall

Feeling the gazes of his elder brother and the Prime Minister fixed on him, Gould felt extremely uncomfortable. However, since his brother didn't speak, Gould didn't dare to ask, so the hall was now so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Just as Gould was about to give up and leave, Belmod finally spoke.

"Brother Wang, how have you been getting along with Miss Diphiya lately?"

Upon hearing Belmod's words, Gould jumped, thinking the king had discovered Diphiya's secret! However, remembering the power of Diphiya's secret technique, Gould calmed down. After much deliberation, Gould concluded that his brother, the king, was simply trying to extract Diphiya and her brother's secret from him. Having confirmed this, Gould quickly knew how to answer his brother's questions.

"Your Majesty, I have exhausted all my efforts, but Miss Diphiya always keeps me at arm's length. I was just about to ask Your Majesty for some advice when Your Majesty summoned me here."

Belmod looked at Gould standing below the steps with exasperation. He never expected that even with the Prime Minister secretly creating opportunities for him, Gould still hadn't won over Diphiya. If it weren't for the fact that he had already promised to marry Diphiya to him, Belmod would have wanted to personally take the plunge and 'show his true skills'.

"Prime Minister, do you have any better ideas?"

Left with no other option, Belmod had to pass the buck to the Prime Minister and ask him to find a solution.

"Your Majesty, you are the ruler of the kingdom, and General Oddek is the general of the kingdom. Is there anything wrong with you bestowing a marriage upon Miss Diphiya to show your high regard for him?"

Belmod had only asked casually, but the Prime Minister actually came up with a 'good idea' for him.

"Prime Minister, is this really the right thing to do? Won't it make Oddek think that I am mistreating my brother and sister?"

Gould didn't know if the Prime Minister and his brother had mistreated him and his sister, but he knew very well that if he decided to do so on his own, he would have the chance to experience that unbearable suffering again once Sordil returned. Therefore, Gould did not, and dared not, hesitate to stop the King and Prime Minister's discussion.

"Brother, if you do this, you are only forcing Miss Diphiya to marry me. She will definitely resent me, and then I will never be able to win Diphiya's heart!"

Belmod wanted to say, "How could you possibly win over Diphiya in such a short time if you didn't do this?" But seeing Gould's pained expression, Belmod swallowed her words and turned her gaze back to the Prime Minister.

"Since Duke Gould believes that a direct marriage is inappropriate, then we can first hold an engagement ceremony for the Duke and Miss Diphiya. This will allow the two to get to know each other and strengthen their relationship, while also leaving them with enough options. After all, if in the end they still feel they cannot be husband and wife, they can simply dissolve the engagement without hurting their feelings. Your Grace, what do you think of this plan?"

Although this still had a somewhat coercive element to it, it was much better than a direct marriage decree. Moreover, based on his understanding of his elder brother, this was the biggest concession he could make, so Gould could only nod in agreement.

"Very well! In that case, let's hold the engagement ceremony for Gould and Diphiya on December 25th. Prime Minister, you will arrange the specific details, but don't delay the time!"

"Your Majesty and Your Grace, please rest assured that I will hold a grand and solemn engagement ceremony for Your Grace and Miss Diphiya as scheduled!"

After setting the exact time for the engagement ceremony, Belmod dismissed the Chancellor and Gould from the council hall, while she herself stood in the center of the hall, meditating with her eyes closed.

Kingdom of Donagunov, Inn

Sordil's brows furrowed deeply. This sudden recall order left Sordil bewildered and troubled. Only three days remained until the deadline, and with his Thought Body's travel speed, he was far from being able to reach Philiers in time. Furthermore, he had to attend tomorrow's alliance ceremony and couldn't return. Thinking of this, Sordil felt an urge to salt the Lord Mayor lord and cure him like a piece of cured meat.

"Bang"

Suddenly, Sordil's door was pushed open, and Diphiya stormed in, pointing at Sordil and saying, "Sordil, you've ruined my life!"

"Young Miss, I swear to God! Since I came back, I've stayed in my room the whole time, I haven't even left the door or opened the window. Uncle Kaldiz brought the food to my room, and I don't even know where your room is, let alone have seen you. How have I harmed you?"

Although he was usually a coward and never dared to contradict Diphiya, Sordil was genuinely afraid to take the lightning bolt that Diphiya had suddenly unleashed. He was truly terrified that taking the lightning bolt would mean leaving this beautiful world forever, so he immediately presented Diphiya with a perfect alibi, hoping to escape this calamity.

"Hmph! Just because you haven't met me doesn't mean you can't harm me! You were the one who asked me to 'seduce' that duke, and then you made me use my Thought Body to communicate with him and gather intelligence. Now look what's happened, his brother has ordered me to get engaged to him, and I'm going to marry a human! Ugh... I'm not doing this anymore!"

After listening to Diphiya's tearful account, Sordil suddenly remembered the mysterious recall order. He now understood what was going on. It seemed that after seeing him restore the Bell Dragon Rider Regiment to their fighting strength, His Majesty the King recognized his abilities and wanted to use the engagement between Gould and Diphiya to firmly bind him to the royal family. Understanding this, Sordil felt much lighter. Now he just needed to figure out how to get to Kaysir City and Philiers within a day... uh, and Diphiya, that ticking time bomb.

After Diphiya finished her tearful account, she waited a long time for Sordil's explanation, but to her curiosity, she looked over and found that the jerk Sordil had no intention of paying attention to her at all. Instead, he was sitting there with his head down, 'smirking'. Seeing this, Diphiya could no longer suppress her 'primal power' and punched him so hard he kissed the wall.

"Splash!"

Sordil, his face bruised and swollen, slid down the wall and looked at Diphiya not far away with a tearful expression, saying pitifully, "Miss, are we even now?"

"No! That punch was because you were sitting there snickering at me, it had nothing to do with what happened before. Now, you'd better figure out how to resolve that engagement issue, otherwise, hmph..."

"Gulp"

Seeing Diphiya's fists flailing wildly, Sordil said, trembling, "The solution is simple, as long as we don't tell anyone, right? Anyway, apart from the few of us, no one knows that dragons can transform into humans, and who would associate a name with you?"

"Okay! Let's do it this way for now!"