In front of Majima and the other two, Lorze and Diancie were still very restrained. Their behavior at most looked like close friends; at least they didn't cross the red line of lovers.
If one were meticulous, they might have noticed the subtle romantic feelings between the two. But the three guards were still slightly rough warriors. When welcoming Diancie back, they merely felt fortunate that the princess was safe and sound.
The three, with no time to attend to other things, couldn't see anything unusual about Diancie. They also completely didn't know what kind of slutty expression their princess wore beneath Lorze's crotch, and that her chastity was already gone.
"Huh? Is Lord Lorze going to travel to the Ore Country with us too?"
"That's right. Mr. Lorze took me to tour the Tree of Beginning, so we should properly fulfill our duties as hosts and entertain him."
"I see. Then Lord Lorze... Eh!?"
Before Majima could finish speaking, Diancie couldn't wait to grab Lorze's hand and run towards the depths of the Ore Country. The joyful laughter of the young couple echoed in the underground corridors, leaving only the three people at the entrance disheveled in the wind!
Seeing the princess of their country pulling her good friend and running ahead, the three left behind hurried to catch up.
"Your Highness Diancie, Lord Lorze, wait for us!"
The trio merely thought the princess was acting informally while playing with her friend and didn't think in that direction. They completely didn't realize the severity of the situation. After all, how could a human and a Pokémon have relations?
The Carbink probably wouldn't have known that letting Lorze swagger into the Ore Country was no different from inviting a wolf into the house. After all, the purpose of his trip was to abduct their most deeply revered princess.
Originally, the big shots of the Ore Country also treated Lorze as an honored guest and hosted him well. But when the young man held Diancie's small hand and proposed marriage in front of Dace, the old man almost couldn't hold it together and fell backward, fainting dead away. However, it's actually quite difficult for the stocky figure of a Carbink to completely execute a backward fall...
The princess of their own country went out for a trip and brought a man from the outside back home? And a human man of a different species at that? Dace felt like the sky was falling!
Although Dace's reaction was somewhat expected, Lorze still felt like he was simply acting like a scumbag homewrecker. But I must say, this feeling is actually pretty thrilling. Forgive me, forgive me... The young man inevitably and solemnly apologized to Dace in his heart for a second.
"Y-You two! Cough cough cough cough! I didn't want Your Highness to go to the Tree of Beginning in the first place, and now you're pushing your luck? Cough cough cough... How can a Pokémon marry a human? Your Highness Diancie is truly being too nonsensical. I absolutely will not agree! Ugh cough..."
"Lord Dace, please calm your anger. Why not have a small drink first and listen to this junior explain slowly..."
Lorze, from who knows where, produced a small cup of fine Berry wine and offered it in front of Dace. When the latter smelled that mellow aroma, his eyes went straight. Perhaps because he was in a fit of anger and figured he might as well drink it since it was free, he snatched the wine cup from the young man's hand with considerable resentment and downed it in one gulp. He let out a long sigh of relief, suddenly feeling his body's flow unimpeded and much more comfortable.
What Dace liked the most was fine Berry wine. Especially in the underground Ore Country, the environment that lacked sunlight year-round made it impossible to cultivate fruit trees, making Berry wine even more precious.
This was catering to his tastes—because he had anticipated Dace would object beforehand, this gift was prepared long before the return trip. It was precisely the idea of the quirky and clever Latias at the time.
"Lord Dace, this humble one must first refute your claim that Pokémon and humans cannot intermarry. By Arceus above, humans and Pokémon share the same roots and origins. At the end of the day, we are all compatriots living together on the same earth. I've even heard of cases where humans and Pokémon raised offspring together..."
The Creator God, located somewhere unknown, sneezed: Which little brat is talking bad about me again!
"Furthermore, actually this humble one feels that betrothing Princess Diancie to me isn't such an unbearable thing."
Lorze had no choice but to swallow his pride and state his title. Normally, the humble young man didn't proactively mention his past glories much, as doing so was somewhat thick-skinned. But right now was a special time, after all.
—Standing before you right now is the one who fought Yveltal to a draw, the one who defeated Rayquaza, the one who conquered Deoxys, the resolver of the Tree of Beginning crisis, the guardian of the Tree of Beginning, a renowned paleontology expert in academia. The battle record is verifiable!
These achievements were all rock solid, and their gold content was very high. Even looking across the entire Pokémon world, it would be hard to find anyone who could match Lorze's reputation. From this perspective, Lorze was indeed a very outstanding male. Thrown into human society, he would definitely be a highly sought-after good catch, it's just that he happened to be a guy who favored female Pokémon.
However, Lorze's expression of intent wasn't over yet. Verbal expression is one thing; proposing marriage naturally requires showing some material sincerity. In other words... a betrothal gift. Not to mention the object of his proposal was the princess of a nation, he had to at least show off his financial resources.
And Lorze's confidence lay in the system. Earning points by fucking Pokémon girls, the tokens he had accumulated now seemed sufficient to empty the entire shop without a problem.
After that, relying on the system's alternate space pocket, the young man pulled out countless precious resources to present to the Ore Country. There were priceless Evolution Stones of all kinds, and also many materials urgently needed by the Ore Country residents, such as various Pokémon foods. It could truly be called providing coal in snowy weather!
"Because I came in a bit of a hurry, I could only prepare these. In fact, this humble one can provide even more. Lord Dace, what do you think... of this?"
So many things left Dace, who was carrying a hint of a buzz from the alcohol, dumbfounded—there was no helping it, this young man was truly giving too much!
Seeing that Dace was already wavering, Lorze pressed his advantage, using just one final rhetorical question to kill the match: "Does Lord Dace want Diancie to marry someone she doesn't like? If Little Sister Diancie truly lives with regrets for the rest of her life because of this, will Lord Dace regret your decision? But right now, although it's a bit embarrassing to say this, Diancie and I love each other mutually. Therefore, I implore you, and also implore the citizens of the Ore Country... to grant us our wish!"
Seeing Lorze earnestly persuading Dace like this, Diancie, who already had the resolve to become his wife, also knew she couldn't remain silent anymore. At a time like this, she must be of one mind with Lorze!
Diancie proactively clasped Lorze's hand tightly. The young girl's gaze was already incredibly firm. First, she respectfully bowed to Dace, but her tone showed not the slightest intention of backing down.
"Lord Dace, Diancie has always dedicated herself to the Ore Country. Although I wouldn't dare say I've done it perfectly, I have done my utmost. But at least on this matter, Diancie hopes to make her own decision. Diancie... will marry no one but Big Brother Lorze!"
Dace stared blankly at the two standing side-by-side. He sighed heavily several times, and finally had no choice but to compromise with them: "Sigh, sigh! I can't out-talk you two. I truly can't do anything about Your Highness Diancie!"
At the end of the day, although Dace was a minister of the Ore Country, he also treated Diancie like his own daughter. No father wishes for his child to live in pain. So, as expected, he was persuaded by Lorze, sighed, and nodded in agreement to this marriage.
First coaxing Dace into a good mood from a personal perspective, then escalating to the needs of the Ore Country's people, and finally returning to Diancie's own perspective. Lorze's persuasion was quite logical. Fortunately, Dace was also a reasonable person.
This also made the young couple, who deeply loved each other, tear up and embrace each other. They could finally become husband and wife justifiably.
In the end, Lorze and Diancie still didn't dare tell Dace they had already had sexual relations. Spitting out the wine he just drank would be a small matter; they were afraid he'd spit out a mouthful of old blood and pass away on the spot. The old man's health comes first...
However, when Lorze and Diancie's marriage was announced to the residents of the Ore Country, it still caused an uproar among the public—Princess Diancie was the dream lover and secret crush of so many male Carbink. Yet in the end, it was Lorze, this outsider, who got the bargain.
However, Lorze didn't just abduct their princess for nothing. He brought the Carbink a gift they couldn't refuse as his sincerity—indoor cultivation lighting technology.
Although the Ore Country produced an abundance of various ores, Berries and other foods were extremely scarce. They could only obtain some by exploring the surface or doing a bit of business with merchants who accidentally arrived in the Ore Country, but that was nothing more than a drop in the bucket.
In this way, even the underground Ore Country, which never saw the light of day, could cultivate Berries. As for the energy for the grow lights... what the Ore Country lacked least was energy!
Not only that, they could even learn the processing and manufacturing of Pokémon food, further developing the value of Berries, which would undoubtedly greatly improve their originally monotonous diet structure.
Although this gift couldn't completely persuade the citizens of the Ore Country, it still somewhat pacified the public resentment. Everyone could only comfort themselves with the fact that Lorze wasn't some capable-less pretty boy.
Anyway, the most difficult part had already been overcome. What needed to be discussed next were some procedural matters, for instance, how Lorze and Diancie's wedding should be held.
No matter what, it was the marriage of the princess of this country. There had to be at least a grand wedding. Even if the groom she was marrying was a human, this wedding still couldn't be done too hastily, otherwise wouldn't it be mocked by the citizens?
As for the guests attending the wedding, Lorze's Pokémon wives could attend as relatives and friends. But besides that... since this was the wedding of the Princess of the Ore Country, the guests naturally had to include all the citizens!
Because the Ore Country side had already made concessions on their marriage, the specific handling of the wedding was completely handed over to the Ore Country to be responsible for.
Lorze didn't have any objections to this matter, but felt a bit of a sigh while listening on the side—the conditions in the past were limited. Like Big Sister Mewtwo, Latias, Gardevoir, and even the wives he married later, none of them had a wedding. This matter could truly be called a great regret.
Perhaps feeling that doing so would be too willful, the sensible Pokémon wives had never brought this matter up. But in private, did they also fantasize about the long-dreamed-of scenario of a wedding? After all, what girl wouldn't hope to link fingers and make a vow with her lover in a formal setting?
And now, settled at the Tree of Beginning, with such affluent material conditions, could he also find an opportunity to make up for a romantic wedding for them? In this way, they would be even more perfectly happy together, with no regrets left.
This matter could be discussed at length and didn't need to be rushed. But the meticulous young man had already planted a seed in his heart, quietly waiting for it to take root and sprout in the future.
Returning to reality, the Carbink maids were about to take Lorze and Diancie for a fitting—an indispensable part of the preparations before the wedding is the wedding attire for the bride and groom. And because the Carbink had first come into contact with the culture of the Kalos region, the wedding attire adopted was a Western-style wedding dress and a men's suit.
Lorze naturally had no problems on his end. Whether it was casual wear or formal wear, the young man could pull it off well. His temperament was also perfectly grasped, possessing quite a bit of a groom's high-spiritedness, steadiness, and maturity.
However, a minor problem arose with Diancie's choice of a wedding dress. No matter which wedding dress she wore, it was very beautiful. But she always felt something was missing. Although making do with it was acceptable, it was ultimately a knot in her heart.
And because she was marrying Lorze, Lorze's preference was the most important. Diancie then asked for her fiancé's opinion.
"Diancie is already very beautiful to begin with, no matter which one you wear, it fits very well. But..."
In Lorze's view, didn't Diancie's outfit after Mega Evolution naturally look like a bride? The design of Mega Diancie inherently incorporated elements of a wedding dress, so the attire worn after Mega Evolution was naturally a perfect fit. This was also Lorze's absolute favorite look of Diancie's, bar none.
"I was thinking, how about if Diancie could maintain her Mega Evolution form? In that case, wouldn't we simply not need to pick a wedding dress?"
"That's right! Now that Big Brother Lorze mentions it, Diancie also feels it's very suitable! But... Mega Evolution consumes a lot of energy. Diancie doesn't know if she can maintain it for the duration of an entire wedding..."
Back during the decisive battle with Yveltal, Diancie only barely managed to complete Mega Evolution with the conviction of betting everything. In fact, she only maintained it for two or three minutes. Not to mention she had been working diligently this whole year and had absolutely no time for combat practice, so her mastery of the power of Mega Evolution wasn't proficient.
Lorze smiled, raised the Mega Bracelet with the Key Stone inlaid in his hand, and shook it. Isn't this exactly the time for him to show his strength?
"If it were just Diancie by herself, it would indeed be very difficult. But as long as we are together, there is absolutely no problem. Diancie baby, let's try it right now?" "Mhm❤!"
The young man and Diancie very ambiguously interlocked their fingers. For Diancie, Lorze was both a husband and a Trainer. Such a special and intimate relationship happened to be able to fully mobilize her potential.
Traces of warm power surged into the Diamond Princess's body. This intimacy smoothed out the anxiety in the young girl's heart. Lorze was like a solid backing, making Diancie feel reassured, making her instinctively want to rely more on her beloved person.
The Diamond Princess searched for the feeling of Mega Evolution back then. Under the young man's guidance, she reawakened the vigorous power of life within her body, completing the transformation amidst a burst of surging iridescent light!
And compared to the time of the decisive battle with Yveltal, this time's Mega form felt truly obviously different in Diancie's perception. Thinking back to then, just maintaining it consumed a massive amount of energy, but now... it's very easy? That's right, very easy. Diancie was very certain, if it's only this level of energy consumption, completing the wedding process would be no problem at all!
The originally massive burden was mostly shared by the young man. However, Lorze didn't look very tired either, because he was already highly experienced and familiar with controlling Mega Evolution. At this very moment, guiding Diancie to undergo Mega Evolution only required the minimum energy consumption.
In fact, Diancie truly only had a change in appearance; the increase in strength was almost zero. In this way, the duration of Mega Evolution could be extended even longer. Let alone the wedding, even in the bridal chamber afterwards... ahem~