Arvin and his four spouses continued stepping into the throne room.
Right at the end of the red carpet they stepped on to walk, King Garland sat calmly on his throne. His gaze stared at the arrival of the group of youths who had just stepped into the throne room.
Arriving in front of the throne, they stopped their steps. Arvin and his four spouses immediately bowed elegantly, giving the standard noble greeting to the ruler.
"Forgive me for our very sudden arrival, Your Majesty." Arvin said opening the conversation. His baritone voice echoed clearly in the silent throne room. "I came here because I want to request permission to read books in the palace library and learn some magic before the inter-kingdom tournament begins."
"Raise your heads!" King Garland ordered with his heavy, authoritative voice.
Instantly, Arvin and his four spouses lifted their faces simultaneously and looked straight at the king sitting on his throne.
"Use the library as you please." King Garland said without the slightest hesitation, giving full and unlimited access to Arvin. "It is impossible for me to forbid or make things difficult for the hero who saved this kingdom from destruction."
And then, a sight that no one had ever expected occurred. King Garland, the supreme ruler of the Astoria Kingdom, suddenly lowered his head and bowed from his throne.
"Thank you very much for your harsh reprimand back then, Arvin. Your attitude of daring to oppose for the sake of truth proves that you care so much about the survival of this kingdom." King Garland said with a very sincere tone.
Seeing the king suddenly lowering his head and bowing to him in front of dozens of elite soldiers, Arvin instantly felt a bit uncomfortable.
"Please raise your head again, Your Majesty!" Arvin said quickly, trying to maintain manners. "You do not need to go that far. As a descendant of the Vedegra family, it has become my duty to reprimand if there is something strange or deviating from the applicable rules in this kingdom. I also absolutely do not mind receiving a reprimand or harsh punishment from you if one day I make a mistake."
King Garland raised his face slowly. He stared at Arvin, feeling amazed and proud of the wise answer from the Vedegra descendant in front of him. Power and strength did not make the young man become arrogant or forget himself.
"You are truly a great young man!" King Garland praised while smiling thinly.
However, after praising Arvin, the king's eyes slowly shifted to the four youths standing calmly behind Arvin. Moreover, his gaze accidentally caught a very striking detail, the white contract symbol clearly engraved on the backs of their four hands.
"Who are the four handsome-faced youths you brought along, Arvin?" King Garland asked with a playful tone, deliberately baiting just to hear the direct answer from the blue-haired youth's mouth.
Arvin without hesitation immediately introduced them one by one full of pride.
"The one standing at the far left end of me is Alvein Vedegra. Beside him is Ordion Vedegra!" Arvin signaled with his hand. "Then the one on the far right corner is Alrain Vedegra. And beside him is Allen Vedegra! The four of them are my spouses!"
That honest and very straightforward answer did not surprise King Garland at all, because from the beginning he only asked playfully to confirm it himself. However, a very different reaction was shown by all the ranks of palace soldiers inside the throne room.
Even though the soldiers were trained for discipline, they could not hide the surprise on their faces. They never expected that a descendant of the highest Vedegra nobility had four companions, all four of whom were very handsome and charming young men.
The strange rumors that had only been circulating as gossip in the capital and palace hallways, had now been proven to be an absolute truth after they heard the honest confession from the person himself directly right in front of them. The sound of soft whispers began to spread among the soldiers.
"Do I need to order my minister to take care of the official documents right now for the data collection of all members in your new household?" King Garland asked with a slightly raised voice, which instantly silenced the whispers among the soldiers in the throne room.
"Not for now, Your Majesty!" Arvin declined politely. "Most likely, the number of my spouses in the future will still increase."
"Hahaha!" King Garland suddenly laughed freely on his throne, his voice echoing to fill the room. "I truly never expected that a young man like you still planned to add more spouses after having these four extraordinary people. Do you really want to create a large harem in your residence?"
"That is the reality, Your Majesty." Arvin answered casually and remained polite, not hiding his ambition.
Hearing that confirmation, a calculating glint typical of a politician appeared in King Garland's eyes. He leaned his body forward.
"In that case... how is Oliver in your eyes?" King Garland suddenly baited, offering his own crown prince.
"He is very cute and honestly, his face perfectly matches my criteria!" Arvin answered quickly and very bluntly, not showing the slightest bit of hesitation. "But, I am not interested in marrying him at all. Certainly, your hidden intention in offering the prince is to make me the king who will replace you later, isn't it?"
That overly honest, blunt, and sharp answer made King Garland stunned for a moment before finally laughing again much harder.
"Hahaha!"
The ruler's laughter was loud and free enough to make all the soldiers and guards in the throne room look at each other. They felt puzzled by the behavior of the king who instead laughed in satisfaction after his political intentions were laid bare just like that by a youth.
"You are truly a very critical and sharp young man!" King Garland praised while wiping a little tear at the corner of his eye from laughing too much. "I never expected that you could read and know my ambitions and desires very accurately."
While the king was still laughing in satisfaction, Arvin just stood still with a flat face.
What is actually wrong with this king? Arvin grumbled in his heart, feeling a bit annoyed with the political maneuver wrapped in a joke. Prince Oliver is indeed cute and technically is indeed one of the romantic target characters in this world. But, there is no way I want to marry him who is a prince of this kingdom.
Arvin immediately thought about his family's position in the kingdom.
The Vedegra family since the early generations has also always been reluctant to get too deeply involved with the kingdom's throne affairs. If I am looking for a cute face, I already have the four of them who are unmatched! If I am looking for wealth or power, I already have them in abundance inside my dimensional storage space. he thought again confidently. But the main problem right now is... Alrain really dislikes the royal family members due to the bloody tragedy in the past.
Arvin glanced briefly through the corner of his eye at Alrain's face standing on his right side. There is no way I will make my cute, fragile, and very loyal Alrain disappointed or hurt again just because I chose Oliver to be my fifth spouse!