"No." Garfield said firmly. "I'm a pure orange cat. I don't do messy things."
Angie narrowed her eyes. "I don't believe you. What about you, Fran?"
Fran nodded solemnly. "Me neither."
"Believe it or not," Garfield sighed, "It's impossible."
"I will not marry Angela. If that ever happens, I'll jump off the highest point of Asgard."
"You can fly." Fran immediately dismantled his dramatic declaration. "You wouldn't die even if you jumped."
Garfield choked.
These stupid, no, these troublesome big-breasted elves…
Left with no escape, Garfield had no choice but to explain why Angela's existence changed nothing in that sense.
"…Oh."
"So that's how it is."
"I see."
Fran nodded, clearly having understood.
Angie and Fran both looked enlightened, but at the same time, uneasy.
An Asgardian princess who had grown up among the angels would inevitably influence both Asgard and the elven realms.
Even if Angela never held power, the relationship between elves and Asgard would never return to what it once was. Some resentment, some friction, was unavoidable.
They needed a reliable ally.
Garfield was not their first choice.
Loki's reputation alone disqualified him.
Thor, despite his reputation for simplicity, had always been their main investment target.
Unfortunately, Thor was an idiot who only knew two things… that elven wine tasted good, and that Mjölnir was easy to use.
Garfield could tell that, aside from being weak to fluffy orange cat, the two of them genuinely wanted to maintain a good relationship with him… the prince who had suddenly appeared in Asgard.
"Go back and tell your king this." Garfield said seriously. "The throne of Asgard belongs to Thor."
Both elves listened attentively.
"You know Thor's personality. Even if Angela returns, she won't stay in Asgard for long."
"The relationship between Asgard and the Silver City won't ever be harmonious, this will be a situation of mutual restraint."
He continued calmly.
"Besides, the elves are not weak. You don't need to cling to allies all the time. Be yourselves."
Angie and Fran blushed slightly.
This was politics. They didn't really have a choice.
"I'm sorry, Garfield." Angie said softly. "Even if our intentions weren't completely pure… we really do like cats."
"Yes," Fran added. "You're very cute."
"Oh, thank you." Garfield scratched his backside awkwardly.
"Honestly, I know this is a problem. Being too cute isn't good either. People always want to hug and kiss me. It's detrimental to the image of my majestic—"
He paused. "…emperor."
Fran frowned slightly and lowered her voice. "Your Highness… do you want the throne of Asgard?"
Garfield shook his head decisively.
"I already rule a kingdom. If it weren't for our inexplicable connection to the Odinson family, who would want to be Odin's son?"
Angela pointed toward the endless universe beyond Asgard.
"More than ninety percent of the races who've heard the ancient legends of Asgard would rush to recognize Odin as their father."
"…Alright. I admit defeat." Garfield sighed.
"Back when Odin wanted to overturn the universe, his power really was terrifying."
"It still is." Fran added.
Garfield waved it off internally. Forget it. A good man doesn't argue with women.
Odin was strong, everyone knew that.
The Bifrost alone could annihilate a planet within minutes. Its destructive power wasn't inferior to war fleets or even Infinity Stones.
"Alright, girls." Garfield said, stretching. "Let's rest up and prepare for the second welcome banquet."
"Even if the prince has been replaced by a princess, she's the real one."
Angie and Fran accepted reality with surprising speed and happily joined the festivities.
Angela became the absolute centerpiece of the second banquet.
Amid music and dance, she finally received her formal recognition ceremony.
Garfield squatted lazily on the prince's seat.
Angela, clearly reluctant, called him 'brother.'
As for how Odin and Frigga already seemed to know everything, Garfield pretended not to notice.
Loki didn't bother guessing.
Thor didn't intend to think about it at all.
Angela, meanwhile, silently pulled out a small notebook and carefully wrote something down.
Garfield incident, recorded.
The banquet concluded without incident.
Guests from every realm presented their gifts one after another, and under Thor's enthusiastic guidance and Loki's rare display of genuine cooperation, Angela moved through the hall, drinking and laughing with representatives from all walks of life.
Garfield, meanwhile, was completely surrounded
Fran and Angie never left his side, and at some point, several Asgardian girls joined them, forming an impenetrable circle around the orange cat.
The welcome banquet lasted deep into the night.
Amenadiel was in particularly good spirits. The difficult task his father had entrusted to him had gone more smoothly than expected.
Over the next hundred years, his responsibility would be to maintain communication with Asgard, either to negotiate the formal return of the Ten Realms or, at the very least, to establish a stable long-term transmission channel.
As for whether Odin would ever agree to return the Ten Realms…
Amenadiel smiled inwardly. Dream on.
That would only happen after Odin's death.
When the guests finally reached the stage where no one could decide what to drink next, Garfield stood up and entered DJ mode.
This time, he chose a different song.
And as always, he was a supernaturally talented DJ.
"Aa the axi true—
Go send the freaks out the floor—
The bass and the ethers
Take the speakers to war—"
The familiar beat exploded through the hall.
Coupled with Garfield's Aiken form, dozens of orange cats appeared and began twisting rhythmically to the music.
The sight was so absurd and so beautiful that no one could look away.
No one knew which curious soul recorded the entire performance.
But before long, the video spread across the universe.
Driven by Garfield's music, Asgard's wine reserves plummeted at an alarming rate. One guest after another collapsed where they stood.
Thor was no exception.
For the second time that night, he had to be dragged back to his room by Fandral.
Having learned from experience, Fandral did not attempt this alone.
He brought an entire squad of Asgardian guards, afraid that if he returned by himself, he might be knocked unconscious again.
Once Thor was safely asleep, Fandral carefully returned to the banquet hall.
He spent the rest of the night helping clean up, escorting unconscious guests back to their rooms one by one.
By the time dawn arrived, he finally found a moment to sit down and rest.
As for Garfield…
He was carried away by Fran and Angie.
When they left the hall, the two elf women carried not only an orange cat in their arms, but also bottles of wine.
No one knew how much a cat and two pointy-eared elves drank that night.
✦••┈┈••✦••┈┈••✦
When Garfield finally woke up, the sun was already high in the sky.
It was noon.
Fandral had been waiting outside the door since early morning. Fran and Angie had already left, and Fandral, wisely, did not ask a single question.
"Your Highness," He said politely.
"What is it? Just say it." Garfield stretched and scratched his chin.
"Well… Heimdall asked us to prepare in secret. Everything is ready."
Garfield blinked. "What? That fast?"
"Asgard maintains security across the Nine Realms." Fandral nodded.
"Soldiers and warships are always in a state of partial readiness. All that's left is for you to put on your armor and have a drink."
"…Okay." Garfield sighed inwardly. As expected of a warrior civilization.
"When you're ready, you're ready." Garfield said. "Prepare for battle."
Fandral hesitated and scratched his head. "But Princess Angela grew up in the Ten Realms, didn't she? There shouldn't be any war there… right?"
Garfield pointed casually toward the vast universe beyond Asgard.
"The Ten Realms might be off-limits." He said calmly. "But isn't there still a dying Kree Empire out there?"
He smiled. "Let's go kill it."
꧁𓊈𒆜༺⚜༻𒆜𓊉꧂
PhantomDream