Betrothed to Sif

Today Sif did not wear warrior leather armor, but instead wore a blue-and-white long dress with a lace bodice belt that accentuated her figure in particular.

She combed her hair into a simple, draped-back style, casting aside her previous heroic vigor and transforming into a gentle, demure lady.

It made Apocalypse's eyes light up, as even among his memories of his past life, he had never seen Sif in this look.

When she wore her leather combat armor before, heroic was heroic, but her figure really had nothing to look at.

"Thor, don't you have any thoughts about Sif?"

"What thoughts? She's my brother."

"Uh..., she's a woman, and a great beauty at that. Didn't you even notice this?"

"Can't a female be a brother too?"

Come to think of it, Thor's personality could be considered rather eccentric even in Asgard.

He clearly held a prominent status, yet had no concept of power.

He liked to fight, yet was especially merciful.

He was tall and handsome by nature, coupled with the bonus of his identity as a prince, and logically he should not have lacked for women around him; yet aside from Jane, his true destined love, he had never been seen hitting on any other women.

Added to that, his personality was somewhat goofy, completely lacking the majesty of a god's child.

If you stripped away the halo around him, his personality was more like an overgrown little boy who, besides playing, really had no particular pursuits.

Apocalypse sighed helplessly. Was this playing dumb or being genuinely foolish? He gestured with his hand and said, "A female's physical structure is different, and her thoughts are different too. You treat her like a brother, but does she treat you like a brother?"

Thor said with carefree bravado, "Never mind whether she has breasts or no breasts, whether she has a dick or no dick. As long as we fight together, she's a brother!"

These words happened to be heard by Sif as she approached, and immediately a row of dark lines crossed her face.

Then she glared fiercely at Apocalypse, seemingly blaming him for corrupting their prince.

Apocalypse felt wronged. Those words were spoken by Thor, so why glare at him?

Today was a formal occasion, and Sif did not greet Thor the way she usually did. Instead, she bent her knees slightly, curtsied like a lady, and said, "Prince Thor, the Queen invites you both over. The banquet is about to begin."

"Good."

The banquet was held in the royal palace, and Apocalypse looked around as he walked, especially at the dome.

The royal palace was grand and majestic, with the dome alone standing dozens of meters high without a single pillar blocking the view.

It was painted all over with the history of Asgard, but they were all very peaceful scenes, and no anomalies could be seen.

Yet Apocalypse knew there was another layer inside.

That layer was Asgard's true history—a bloody, conquest-filled history stained with violence and slaughter.

The royal palace hall.

Odin, the Allfather who had been weak and unconscious just the day before and almost killed in his dreams by Laufey, the Frost Giant King, was full of vigor today as he delivered a speech from his throne.

"During the days when I fell ill, Loki shouldered the responsibility of protecting the divine kingdom, not only thwarting the Frost Giants' conspiracy, but also slaying the invading Laufey, thereby manifesting the majesty of our divine kingdom of Asgard... A toast to Loki!"

"A toast to Loki!" Everyone raised their cups and cheered.

"Originally Loki wished to press the advantage and completely destroy Jotunheim, but Thor, harboring compassion and stopping at nothing to destroy the Rainbow Bridge, joined forces with his good friend Tang Tianqi to prevent this course of action. Raise your cups for having such a merciful prince. A toast to Thor!"

"A toast to Thor!!!"

This time, everyone cheered even louder.

Odin finished speaking, and Frigga stepped forward to say a few words as well.

Neither of their speeches mentioned Apocalypse's reckless pushing of the Rainbow Divine Needle, since the true culprit was Loki after all.

Instead, they intentionally or unintentionally exaggerated Apocalypse's contributions and emphasized his friendship with Thor.

It seemingly did not deviate from the facts and even attributed the merit to Loki, but by shifting the weight like this, the underlying implication became vastly different.

Jotunheim had escaped disaster, and the surviving Frost Giants might even feel gratitude toward Thor, leaving their future wrath directed solely at Loki.

If he hadn't figured out some of the cause and effect last night, Apocalypse would probably be standing there grinning foolishly just like Thor right now.

Thor would likely never know how much work his parents had secretly done behind the scenes just to ensure he could rule the Nine Realms in stability.

It seemed that the god race didn't just compete on strength; they could play political conspiracies quite smoothly too.

As he was thinking, Odin and Frigga joined hands and said in a loud voice, "Through the discussion and approval of the Council of Elders, we have decided to confer upon Thor's good friend and the hero of this battle—Tang Tianqi—the title of Prince!"

Apocalypse was stunned. No way? They were willing to spend such a heavy price?

What kind of title was a prince? It was second only to a king's son.

If Loki and Thor were unfortunate enough to perish, a prince might even have the chance to ascend the throne as the King of Asgard.

Sif, who had witnessed the course of events last night, also wore a puzzled expression. To say that Apocalypse had helped—well, he certainly had helped.

But to speak of conferring the title of prince—that fell short by more than a hundred thousand miles.

Although many Asgardian citizens also had doubts, with the full support of the Allfather, the Queen, and the Council of Elders, this was already an unquestionable divine decree!

Thor patted Apocalypse on the shoulder and said, "Tang, it's your turn to go up now."

Apocalypse glanced at Thor. Did this guy really not feel like anything was wrong at all?

It seemed that in the original plot, handing the throne over to the big dark-skinned Valkyrie truly was a wise move; anyone else would do a better job than this big goofball.

At this moment, applause erupted amid watchful eyes, welcoming Apocalypse.

Apocalypse did not feel very pleased in his heart. The trap was laid far too obviously. Did they really take him to have Thor-level intelligence?

If he went up, it meant accepting the goodwill of the Allfather and the Queen, binding himself to Asgard from then on; whatever happened in Asgard, he could not simply ignore it.

If he didn't go up... well..., it seemed that if Asgard and Thor were in trouble, he wouldn't ignore it anyway.

Since that was the case, he might as well just accept this goodwill.

It would be foolish not to take free benefits.

Apocalypse stood up and waved to the applauding crowd.

Countless Asgardian subjects were also sizing up this strange newly appointed prince, with many quietly asking one another about this prince's origins.

The instant he received the scepter representing the identity of a prince, Apocalypse sensed a mysterious energy fluctuation appearing outside the royal palace.

He glanced at the Allfather and the Queen, but the two of them did not seem to notice.

Apocalypse found it somewhat strange. There was no reason the Allfather could not sense energy fluctuations that he himself could detect. Could it be someone from Asgard?

Yet this energy signature was distinctly different.

After the conferment ceremony concluded, everyone turned to eating and drinking freely.

Thor shouted, "Tang, come over quickly. Last time I was in a mortal body and you drank me under the table, but now I've recovered my divine power, so let's have a proper match."

Suddenly catching sight of Frigga approaching together from behind, his voice instantly dropped: "Mother."

Frigga was evidently in high spirits. She gracefully sat down and said, "Prince Tang, since you are already a part of Asgard, I will speak my mind directly. How do you find Sif?"

Apocalypse thought to himself, could Frigga want him to persuade Thor? In the original plot, it was Odin who persuaded him, though unfortunately he couldn't persuade him.

He had no choice but to say, "Very good, she's both beautiful and strong in combat."

"That being said, how about I betroth her to you? What do you think?"

"What?! Me?" Apocalypse was dumbfounded.

The plot was wrong. Shouldn't it be Thor?

Apocalypse looked at Thor, only to see him wearing an indifferent expression, waiting to watch the show.

"Hold on, you said betroth just now, and here I thought Asgard had free love."

Frigga smiled faintly, "Of course we choose freely. Asgardians live for thousands of years; if we weren't of one heart and mind, how could husband and wife stay together for so long."

"I have already asked her; it all depends on your thoughts."

Apocalypse looked at Sif and saw that her gaze was lowered, her hands clasped together on her lap as she tried hard to put on a demure, graceful, and calm appearance, though her deeply blushing face betrayed her.

Sif's feelings for Thor were originally more akin to the emotion one feels for an idol.

That combat squad had only one woman, while the others—Fandral, Hogun, and Volstagg—were the roughest of rough-hewn brutes.

Only Thor was both handsome and a prince, so it was inevitable that some affection would take root.

Had Thor shown any response, this trace of affection would naturally have sprouted and grown, but Thor hadn't cared at all, and so the spark was extinguished with a soft puff.

Meeting Apocalypse on Earth and interacting with him several times, she gradually cultivated a secret romantic attachment for this powerhouse who was no less impressive than Thor.

Only, Apocalypse had always taken it for granted to link her and Thor together, and hadn't noticed Sif's many subtle thoughts and small actions.

If left to develop normally, goodness knows how long this romance would take to progress, or if it might even be missed entirely.

Yet last night, Apocalypse had carried Sif in and bumped into Queen Frigga.

Being a woman, she naturally understood women best.

If she didn't harbor good feelings for a man, how could she have acted so obediently and cooperatively?

Thus, the plan to rope in Apocalypse incorporated Sif into the fold.

With the Allfather and Queen applying pressure from both sides—bestowing a title on Apocalypse on one hand and matchmaking Sif and Apocalypse on the other—

although Sif felt things were moving rather quickly, this was matchmaker work personally done by the Allfather and Queen, which was out of the ordinary for romance and marriage, and coupled with her preexisting affection for Apocalypse, she agreed.

Apocalypse said, "You might not know this yet, but I already have a wife."