Arvin, who had just returned from his own inner turmoil, immediately looked straight at the king. His facial expression returned to being flat, hiding all the worries that had crossed his mind.
"I feel honored by your high assessment of me." Arvin said with a calm and respectful tone. "But I apologize, Your Majesty. I am truly not interested in a marriage involving a royal family member, even though Prince Oliver perfectly matches my criteria!"
Hearing such a quick and firm rejection, King Garland furrowed his brow.
"Why?" King Garland asked in confusion, as if he could not believe his offer was rejected flat out. "Didn't you yourself just say that Oliver perfectly matches your criteria?"
"Because since the past, the Vedegra family has always remained neutral!" Arvin answered quickly, providing a very logical political reason yet not losing his respect for the king.
But in his heart, Arvin said otherwise.
How could I possibly tell the truth here that Alrain really dislikes the royal family! Let alone tell the reality that he is someone who has regressed and harbors past trauma. It would definitely be a huge disaster if the people in this palace found out about that.
Arvin also felt a bit annoyed with the king's attitude who instead acted unilaterally without thinking about Oliver's feelings at all.
Are you, a king, so easily matchmaking your son who is a royal prince to marry a man just like himself? You're truly insane!
The answer Arvin had just given indeed sounded brief. But, his sentence was laden with an absolute assertion that could not be contested by any party.
King Garland stared into the blue-haired youth's eyes for quite a while, trying to find a gap of doubt. However, he only saw a gaze full of conviction and a firm stance from Arvin's eyes. Realizing that, the king finally decided to yield and not talk about it anymore.
"Did you visit this palace only to read books in the royal library?" King Garland asked to confirm, shifting the conversation back to their initial goal.
"Yes, Your Majesty. We came here only wanting to read there!" Arvin answered firmly.
"Very well!" King Garland answered in agreement. Then he turned to one of his soldiers standing not far from the throne. "You, accompany the five of them to the palace library right now!"
"As you command, Your Majesty!" the soldier answered promptly.
And then, accompanied by the soldier, the five of them turned around and walked towards the royal library after previously bowing to pay their respects once again to the king on his throne.
He is truly firm, blunt, and even without hesitation rejects what he does not want. King Garland said in his heart. His sharp eyes continued to stare at the double doors that had just been passed through by Arvin and his four spouses. That trait of his shows that his charisma as a great leader is very clearly visible. This kingdom is lucky to have him.
After walking down the majestic palace hallways for a few minutes, the Vedegra family group finally arrived at their destination.
Creak!
The large wooden door which was the access point to the royal library was opened by the soldier escorting them. The distinct aroma of old paper and parchment immediately greeted their sense of smell.
"Please enjoy your reading time, Young Master." the soldier said while inviting them inside.
"Thank you for accompanying us to the front of this library." Arvin replied, appreciating the escort.
"It is already my duty!" the soldier answered politely and respectfully. "If there is nothing else, I beg my leave to excuse myself, Young Master."
Arvin nodded slowly, allowing him to leave. And then, the soldier turned around and walked back towards the throne room after his duty of escorting the guests was completed.
Arvin and his four spouses stepped into the very spacious palace library filled with hundreds of bookshelves towering high up to the ceiling. Without wasting much time, the five of them immediately spread out to various corners of the room to search for one main target: a magic book about cloning.
Thanks to the help of his four spouses who also went around combing the bookshelves in the magic literature section, Arvin's task of finding that specific book became much lighter.
And also because of their help, Arvin did not need to rush. He could use his free time to open and read several other elemental magic books that caught his attention. With the villain character's cheat ability, he could learn all the new magic structures from the books he had skimmed.
Time continued to pass. For a few hours, the five of them worked together searching every shelf to find the book Arvin was looking for. But unfortunately, they did not manage to find a single magic book about cloning there.
In the midst of the frustration that began to emerge due to yielding no results, a voice broke the silence of the library.
"Honey!" Alvein suddenly exclaimed from the back aisle of the shelves. The silver-haired youth emerged from behind the shelf while holding an old book that looked thick and dusty. "You can use the transparent element, right?"
Hearing that call, Arvin closed the book he was reading and turned his head.
"I can use all elements!" Arvin answered as it was, his voice calm without any intention to show off. "Why, Alvein?"
Hearing that straightforward answer, Alvein's steps briefly stopped. He was incredibly shocked to know that his husband could use the nine basic elements that existed in this world simultaneously, a phenomenon that should be highly impossible both biologically and magically.
According to my master in the past, at the very least, everyone in this world could only use at most four magic elements. And my husband can use nine elements at once? Alvein thought in shock, staring at his husband with extraordinary awe. He is truly a monster in human form. But a second later, a sweet smile bloomed on his cute face. But this monster is my husband. Hehehe.
Quickly, the silver-haired youth mastered his shock and returned to focus on his initial intention of calling his beloved husband. He resumed stepping towards Arvin and handed over the worn book in his hand.
"This is not a book about cloning, but this is an ancient magic book about teleportation!" Alvein answered while handing over the book. "Even though we haven't found what you are looking for, I am sure, this teleportation magic will be very useful for you in the future!"