"His Majesty is arranging for someone to marry Shirley?" Bryant grew stern, his eyes growing cold as
he heard this news. "Am I hearing this right? His Majesty is arranging for me to be married?" Shirley
also became serious. She had heard long ago from her grandfather of this agreement. But she had
been so small back then and everyone had tucked the matter away at the backs of their minds. The
emperor was bringing up this issue out of blue now. She was at loss for how to feel.
"I remembered that Prince Alston is already set to marry someone. It should be the older daughter of
the leader of Ji Clan. Shirley is to be the successor of the leader of Ximen Clan, which His Majesty has
known for a long time. He should be more cautious with her marriage. No princes are even good
enough for her besides Prince Alston, who is heir to the throne of the emperor," Bryant said loudly,
frowning intimidatingly. His words were few, and yet his arrogance and aggressiveness were quite
evident.
"That's the way things should have been! I can only wonder why His Majesty wants to arrange her
marriage all of sudden..." The elders of Ximen Clan nodded their approval of Bryant's sentiments.
Given the influence of their clan in the Holy Dragon Empire and the fact that Shirley was to become the
future leader, Prince Alston was the only eligible match should the emperor want to marry her into the
royal family.
But Prince Alston had already been engaged a couple of years ago, so there was no way the emperor
would arrange for him to marry Shirley.
"Did His Majesty mention which of his princes?" Bryant shouted impatiently. He was eager to know who
the emperor had in mind.
"It's His Majesty's younger son, Prince Basil." "Basil? Isn't he that imbecile prince who was only at the
first grade of the Mortal Stage even after fusing with the Holy Dragon Bead? I heard that he had been
stripped of his title. How could it be him? I thought he was no longer a prince?" Bryant looked
confused.
"Him!? What! No! It can't be! I would rather die than marry him." A disgusting expression took over
Shirley's face as she heard this news. She still nursed a grudge from their encounter when he had
made fun of her figure. She gritted her teeth in anger.
"You have missed the Dragon Birth Festival. Had you seen what happened at the Festival, you would
definitely think differently." said a white-robed elder. The elders of Ximen Clan had all been invited and
attended the Dragon Birth Festival. They had all witnessed Rocky's performance.
"What happened at the Dragon Birth Festival?" Bryant realized that there must have been something
significant that took place at the festival that he had not been told about yet.
The elders exchanged looks among each other and told Bryant everything they witnessed. They
relayed how Rocky had defeated all phoenix spirit manipulators from the Magic Phoenix Empire and
made a breakthrough to the Earthly Stage. They also told him the fact that he wounded Erica who was
at the ninth grade of the Heavenly Stage and was consequently reinstated as a prince. The
expressions on Bryant and Shirley's faces shifted rapidly in the course of listening to all these shocking
stories.
"He made it to the Earthly Stage from the first grade of the Mortal Stage within two months... How could
that imbecile prince have such a gift? He couldn't have done any of these without something profound
propelling his progress, even after the fusion with the Holy Dragon Bead. Besides, he's been totally
unable to fuse with the Dragon Spirit Bead for the past five years. His fusion with the Holy Dragon Bead
must have been an accident and his gift and quality must be very poor." Bryant found all this nearly
impossible to believe. Even a real genius could not make such progress in such a short time!
"So that imbecile is now at the Earthly Stage? It's impossible. Not a chance!" Shirley also found it hard
to accept. She had made fun of Rocky about two months ago, and now he was a spirit manipulator at
the Earthly Stage! What on earth was happening!
"But this is the truth!" The elders too refused to accept it at first. But they all had seen it with their own
eyes and could deny it no longer.
"Could it be His Majesty's plot? That Basil is not as incompetent as we thought? Perhaps it was just
what we were led to believe," Bryant thought, wild speculations coming to his mind. Could it be the
case? Of course, he had enough reason to believe that the emperor would do such a thing.
The purpose of arranged marriage was to balance the power of each party, which was a well-known
fact among these distinguished clans. This was also necessary for preserving the peace. Back then,
when the emperor had been making arrangements for Alston's betrothal, he had intended his son to
marry Shirley. But Shirley had been too young at the time, so the emperor instead turned to Ji Clan,
which was another large and prominent clan of the Holy Dragon Empire. Ever since, the royal family's
influence over the Ximen Clan had weakened. As one of the most influential clans in the Holy Dragon
Empire, there was no reason for the royal family to leave Ximen Clan alone. Bryant deduced that they
must be figuring out another way to regain their power over their clan, namely through marriage.
It still sounded pretty preposterous that such an imbecile prince who had been abolished suddenly
became an extremely gifted genius and also regained his identity as a prince. Bryant felt that the
emperor must have planned it for years. It was a clever plan, nonetheless! It had indeed caught the
entire Ximen Clan off guard.
Had it been any other prince, Bryant could list one hundred reasons to reject. However Basil was the
one who had made it to the Earthly Stage after the fusion with the Holy Dragon Bead, which was the
holy treasure of the Holy Dragon Empire. Judged from the fact that he had made such breakthrough in
merely two months, he must have truly successfully fused with the Holy Dragon Bead. Bryant also
knew that whoever fused with the Holy Dragon Bead shall be deemed the successor of the emperor,
which meant that Basil, who had just been reinstated as a prince, was a promising contender for the
succession of the throne. If Ximen Clan rejected the proposal this time, it would be greatly
disadvantageous once Basil became the ruler.
"Such an ingenious plan by His Majesty," Bryant smiled coldly and grabbed the golden armrest on his
chair, which deformed immediately under his power.
"General, what should we do now? Should we accept his proposal?" the elders asked.
"Grandfather, there is no way that I marry that nauseating punk!" Shirley's face contorted at the idea of
wedding Basil. What a disgusting notion!
"Shirley, there is no time to fool around. We have to accept this proposal." Bryant knew from the bottom
of his heart that his clan did not have a choice. After all, this had come from the emperor himself.
Without sufficient reason, he still had to agree to it despite the fact that he was a general who was at
the Immortal Stage. Otherwise, his whole clan and its future would be endangered.
"I--" Shirley still wanted to persuade him, but bit her tongue once he shot her a sharp look. "His Majesty
will summon us tomorrow. Shirley, why don't you get back to rest now? And get rid of your boy's attires.
A girl should wear a proper dress. After the engagement, you will be the fiancee of the prince. Do not
disgrace the royal family and our clan," Bryant commanded icily.
"Grandfather..." Shirley still tried to protest, in disbelief that such a terrible thing could happen to her.
"Go now. I still have something that I need to discuss with the elders." Bryant waved her away. Shirley
could only pout in protest and stood up to leave in frustration. Just as she was about to exit the room,
she spat angrily, "If only Basil dies today! It would be best for all of us. Then there will be no
engagement."
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