Under the lights, Li Wei held the princess's hand and danced with her. To onlookers, it was a beautiful sight. For Li Wei, however, it was another matter entirely.
"I thought you had already given up, Your Highness."
Holding Princess Louise's hand, Li Wei looked helplessly at the woman before him, who responded with a smile.
"Mother has given up, but I think I can still try again... Why won't you accept my goodwill, Sir Li Wei?" "Do you want the truth?"
"Of course. If I wanted a lie, I wouldn't have invited you to dance."
"All right, then I'll be frank."
Li Wei gazed into Princess Louise's eyes, then spoke.
"Because of power."
At his answer, Princess Louise faltered slightly in her steps, but quickly recovered.
"That's... surprising. I always thought you weren't particularly interested in power."
"I'm not, but it's necessary. I also know how things work in the Royal Family. If I marry you, then once you take the throne, I'll become the prince consort. At that point, my positions and powers will disappear, won't they?"
What Li Wei had pointed out was, in his eyes, the greatest drawback to marrying Princess Louise.
Under the relevant laws governing the Empire's Royal Family, anyone who married the reigning queen would be made prince consort, but would possess no political power. The succession rules explicitly stated that royal authority could only be exercised by the reigning monarch; their spouse neither inherited nor shared it.
Moreover, royal regulations required anyone marrying the monarch to relinquish their titles, public offices, and commercial interests to preserve their neutrality and royal dignity, though they would not be stripped of their original noble status.
Simply put, once Li Wei married Princess Louise and became prince consort, his powers and standing as commander of the