"Buaack,"
Ard, Eva, and Claudia suddenly turned to see Drago standing up, slamming his hand onto the table, leaving a deep indentation right in front of them. Drago’s bruised face looked furious as he stared at Ard. Seeing this, Gleld imdiately raised his hand and placed it on Drago’s shoulder, pressing down to force Drago back into his seat. Then Gleld turned to look at Claudia, and then glanced at Ard with an expression that was hard to decipher.
"You certainly know the rules of our tribe for canceling an engagent, don’t you?" Gleld asked Claudia, peering at Ard.
"Of course, I understand the customs and rules," Claudia replied, tightening her grip on Ard’s arm.
"He... hey... Claudia," Ard stamred.
"Claudia, don’t be ridiculous," an enraged Eva yelled, pointing at Claudia.
"Excuse , but before that, may I speak with them outside for a mont?" Claudia asked Gleld.
"Go ahead, but please be quick because this matter cannot be left pending for long," Gleld stated.
"Alright, just a mont," Claudia replied.
Claudia imdiately stood up and pulled Ard and Eva out of the chief’s room. After closing the door, Claudia looked at the two of them and clasped her hands over her chest.
"Please help , I really don’t want to marry that guy," Claudia pleaded with Ard and Eva.
"I understand, but canceling the engagent ans I have to duel Drago, right? And after that, we have to go to your tribe and et your father, then perform the ritual for your engagent to , after which it can’t be undone. Is that correct?" Ard asked.
Claudia imdiately froze and stared at Ard, because he understood perfectly the ancient process of forming a bond between the two tribes, carried out for generations to prevent conflict. Eva imdiately pulled Ard away from Claudia.
"Hey, how do you know that much about their tribe?" Eva whispered.
"Because in my fourth life, I lived with them, and... I was the one who canceled Claudia’s engagent to Drago and beca her fiancé, though I hadn’t married her before you killed ," Ard whispered back.
"I see," Eva whispered.
"But the problem is, after this, Claudia officially becos my absolute fiancée. This is trouble... I can’t cancel it unilaterally, even if I’m a prince. If I break the agreent, the barbarian tribes will attack and hunt anywhere I go. This is a ss," Ard whispered.
"Wait, if that’s the case... ugh... I don’t accept it! We can finally be together; why should I have to share? No way," Eva argued.
"That’s why I’m stressed out too. If I help her, she’ll cling to next. I still don’t know what to do about my engagent with Alicia and now this on top of it all. My head is spinning," Ard countered.
Eva fell silent. She kept staring at Ard, who was now rubbing his temples and thinking about the best course of action. Eva looked over at Claudia, who was watching them hopefully. Then Eva ground her teeth and closed her eyes, but a mont later, she sighed.
"There’s no other way," Eva said.
"Huh... what do you an?" Ard asked, turning to look at Eva.
Suddenly, Eva walked toward Claudia and pulled her aside. Then she took Claudia out of the village hall and closed the door, leaving Ard alone.
"What the hell? Why was I left here all by myself? This is awful," Ard muttered, completely stressed out.
anwhile, Eva, walking outside, dragged Claudia toward the house where all their friends were staying. When she opened the door, Eva imdiately pulled Claudia inside, then closed the door. All their surprised friends imdiately turned to look at Eva and Claudia. Eva’s expression was impossible to read. Then she took a breath and looked at her friends.
"Alicia, I need to talk to you," Eva said.
"Huh, ? What about?" Alicia asked, confused.
"I asked Ard to beco my fiancé to cancel my engagent with that guy," Claudia confessed.
Eva imdiately turned to look at Claudia with a furious glare, while Alicia, Milia, Beatrice, Rosalind, Patricia, and Mirea stared at Claudia as if she’d grown two heads right in front of them.
"What?!" Alicia, Milia, Beatrice, Rosalind, Patricia, and Mirea yelled, infuriated.
"Oi, oi... what’s going on here?" Geoffrey asked, bewildered.
"Huh... you asked Ard to get engaged to you? The barbarian tribe’s customs and rituals are complicated, right? Is that even okay?" Ainsley asked, who was from the Ateras Kingdom and understood how troubleso the barbarian rituals were.
"Hmm... this is interesting," Irwin murmured with a smirk.
"Hold on, this is unacceptable! Ard is my Prince, my fiancé!" Alicia scread.
"Calm down first. Geoffrey, Ainsley, Irwin, would you please step out for a mont? This is a girls-only discussion, please understand," Mirea said with a cold expression.
"O... okay," the three replied.
Geoffrey, Ainsley, and Irwin imdiately left the room. Eva locked the door. Then the atmosphere beca silent, with Alicia and Eva glaring at Claudia, who was staring right back at them.
"May I suggest sothing?" Mirea asked, raising her hand and breaking the silence.
"What... spit it out," Eva snapped.
"Here’s the thing: Ard is a prince, so how about Eva, Alicia, and Claudia beco his first, second, and third fiancées, and then I’ll be the fourth? A prince can have multiple fiancées, right?" Mirea asked, glancing and winking at Claudia, who was surprised that Mirea was volunteering herself, too.
"Huh!" Eva and Alicia yelled.
"Wait... wait... wait a minute!" Beatrice shouted.
All eyes imdiately turned to look at Beatrice, including Rosalind, who was standing beside her, waiting curiously for what her princess was about to say.
"I’m Ard’s fiancée too! Even if it’s not official yet, I was planning to make it official when we get to my kingdom," Beatrice yelled.
"Huh! So that’s what you’ve been thinking all this ti, Princess?" Rosalind asked, shocked, and stared pointedly at Beatrice. "If that’s the case, please share, Princess. I want to be Ard’s fiancée, too," Rosalind added.
"Hah! Why should I share with you? You’re just a knight, even if you’re from a noble family," Beatrice retorted.
"Yeah, the knight who’s been protecting you all this ti!" Rosalind yelled, annoyed.
"Hey! Don’t decide things without ! I want to be Ard’s fiancée too," Milia said, not wanting to be left out.
"Um... I was already interested in Ard before I knew who he was. I was planning to take him to the elf village to introduce him as my future husband," Patricia said.
Everyone imdiately turned to look at Patricia, who then instantly transford back into Pyria with an intense stare, her long ears twitching as she faced the others, refusing to back down. Finally, Eva sat down at the table and buried her face in her hands. Then,
"Uh... but I’ve been Ard’s fiancée since the Fredonia Kingdom and since we were kids... but you’re all my friends... I’m so confused," Alicia said, dizzy.
"I’m from the barbarian tribe, I don’t mind sharing... but will Ard agree?" Claudia asked casually.
"Not important!" everyone yelled at Claudia.
"Aaaah... why did it co to this? After nine lives, we could finally be together," Eva scread, holding her head, looking utterly stressed.
Everyone imdiately fell silent when they heard Eva’s scream. They turned to look at Eva with faces full of question marks.
"What do you an, ’after nine lives’?" Alicia asked.
"Tell us, Eva," Beatrice yelled.
"What do you an, Eva?" Claudia asked.
"Co on, spill it," Milia added.
"Yeah, yeah, I’ll tell you," Eva replied, completely overwheld with stress.
Finally, Eva told her friends about her nine lives. Then they continued to argue among themselves, trading accusations and asking Eva questions, while outside, Geoffrey, Ainsley, and Irwin tried to eavesdrop but couldn’t hear anything.
"I can’t hear anything," Irwin muttered.
"We already know they’re definitely fighting over Ard again, but this ti it seems like... they’re having a discussion?" Ainsley asked, pushing up his glasses, having managed to catch a slight snippet of the conversation inside.
"Haah... whatever. We should just go get sothing to eat. I’m bored with this whole situation," Geoffrey said, cleaning his ear with his pinky finger.
"Hmm, you’re right. Co on, I’m starting to get hungry too," Irwin replied, standing up and dusting off his pants as he walked away from the door.
Then Geoffrey and Irwin turned to see Ainsley still pressing his ear against the door. The two imdiately reached out and grabbed Ainsley by the collar.
"Let’s go already," Geoffrey and Irwin said, pulling Ainsley, who was so shocked his glasses nearly fell off.
"Yeah, yeah... let go of ! Don’t drag !" Ainsley yelled as his two friends pulled him away.
anwhile, inside the village hall, Ard, who was waiting, started to feel restless. He paced back and forth, thinking, occasionally looking at the window, hoping Eva and Claudia would return soon. Then he also looked at the door to the chief’s room, which now looked terrifying to him. After that, he continued pacing non-stop.
"Oh man... where are they? What should I do? What can I do to refuse, but... on the other hand, I also feel sorry for Claudia if she’s forced to marry Drago. I’m really confused," Ard muttered to himself.
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