Roughly about 80 minutes later;
The lunch was finished and everyone except for Mark went to their respective guest rooms.
He was sitting in a private chamber, chatting with the king and princess.
"Well, at the moment, I'm on a vacation. So, the plans of opening the branch store will have to wait for a few weeks," replied Mark when asked about the store's status. The royal family has already hired the required staff members. So, they were waiting for the opening.
While this piece of news slightly disappointed Shen Niu, it is not on the main agenda. Hence, he threw it away to the back of his mind and proceeded to speak about something else. "It's alright. The store can wait. Our hands are already full of those panzers and howitzers.
Speaking of which, we would really like to order more ammunition for the howitzers in the near future, like 1000 of them. So, I was hoping that you would start procuring them from your manufacturer and have them in stock so that, you know, we don't have to wait for too long."
At the moment, Mark cannot create anything even if he wanted. So, he cannot do what Shen Niu wants. But then again, there's nothing wrong to give empty promises to strangers like him, anyway.
Hence, he nodded, "alright, I'll see what I can do."
"Okay, thanks." Shen Niu went silent for a while before he started another topic, "So, from here to Nanqu island, huh? If you need any help with the construction, don't hesitate to…"
Before he finished his sentence, the princess hurriedly grabbed his arm and shook it, "Baba… Don't stall the matter…"
"Hmm?" Mark looked at her and then observed her father. The king looked like he was suddenly being bothered by something.
"What is it, King Shen?" Mark asked.
"It's nothing… you know… how the world is… people doing marriages, some people love each other, some people get arranged by their parents... Emperor Shang married four times like that… I, on the other hand, married only once because I thought I can only marry the one I love. In the end, she turned out to be an evil witch who plotted behind my back…"
As the king was stammering about whatever comes to his mind while trying to slowly get into the matter, the princess interrupted him once again, "Baba, shall I do the talking?"
"No way." The King almost raised his voice as he rejected her idea. "It is inappropriate."
Mark started to wonder what they are getting at. What is inappropriate?
Taking a deep breath, Shen Niu turned serious as he spoke, "Lu Zhen, I will be straight with you. I want my daughter to be married to the fourth prince of the Kun Empire who has the highest possibility to become the emperor.
However, she has taken a liking to you and wanted to marry you instead."
"Eh? She wants to marry me?" Mark was taken aback and looked at the princess, who then nodded, "Yes, that's true. I believe that you are the perfect spouse for me."
"But, we have only met two times until now. She knows nothing about me at all," thought Mark as he heard her words.
He didn't expect the princess to fall in love with him. He couldn't help but wonder whether it is because of his actions that saved her father or something. In old fairy tales, it usually happens like that. Whenever a princess or her parents get saved by a strong and good-looking protagonist, she will fall in love with him.
But then again, his impression of her so far tells that she might have decided to marry him because of his ability to kill supreme beings.
Mark was about to ask her the reason but the king decided to continue to speak his opinion on the matter without giving him a chance to react.
"Usually, I won't have an issue at all. After all, you are a young man, a high-level Spirit Warrior, and possess the strength to protect my daughter from all the harm. As a bonus, you have a good appearance too. Hence, I wouldn't have to worry about my granddaughters, if there will be any.
However, the problem is that you have made an enemy out of the Dragon Empire that we cannot dare to offend even in our dreams.
As far as I know, the tang dynasty bore grudges very much and once they figured out that you are behind the death of their men, they will not only try to hunt you down but also your friends and family.
You are strong. So, they might not be able to do anything to you but we are different. There isn't one legendary realm expert living in our kingdom.
I'm aware that you did so much for us but I'm a king and my priorities should always lie with my people. To some extent, my daughter. This is why I cannot agree with my daughter."
Mark didn't understand a thing that Shen Niu was trying to convey.
Was this king requesting him to not love back his daughter? If that's the case, it isn't a big deal as he doesn't have any feelings for her.
However, Mark wants clarification. Hence, he calmly responded with a statement, "Just be precise, King Shen. What is it that you are implying?"
The king took a deep breath once again and spoke, "Based on the current situation, I can only ask you to choose an option between the two.
One, marry my daughter and make the western moon kingdom, your home. In such a case, we will be behind you in every decision you make. Your friends will be our friends and your enemies will be ours.
Two, if you aren't interested in this proposal, after today, please stop having any personal contact with either me or anyone from our kingdom. I'll marry off my daughter into the Kun Empire and seek their protection from the church of doom. I'll compensate you for the store branch you were supposed to open here.
And I ask you to exchange Nanqu Island for the island of Fujian, which is a bit far away from the rest of the territories but is five times bigger. The island also has about 12 islets around. All of them will also be yours.
However, we won't completely cut off our ties. It's just that if we ever need weapons, the Kun Empire will act as the medium. This is the only for the survival of my people."
"I see…" Mark easily understood the reasoning behind those two options.
A business relationship could easily be broken by interests but not the relationship through marriage.
In a business relationship, he won't have any responsibility towards Shen Niu or his people and can abandon them at any time even if the Dragon Empire or Phoenix Empire attacks them because of him but if he marries her, then it will be sailing on the same boat.
Fortunately, it isn't difficult to make this decision either.
While Mark wanted to use the Western Moon Kingdom to either form an alliance with the Western Yan region or annex it after Feng Wu claims it, he can work it out even without their assistance. Not to mention, he doesn't lack customers.
Understanding the situation, Mark replied calmly, "Thank you for being honest. I'll also be straight with you. I have a fiancée already and I promised her that I'll give importance to her opinion. I cannot marry anyone else unless she was comfortable with it.
Secondly, Princess Shen was barely an acquaintance who I met a couple of times. I don't know anything about her nor does she know anything about me. So, I'm not sure whether I'm comfortable with the idea of marrying her."
Since the king was clear on cutting personal ties with him completely before they even began, Mark decided to make it easier for him. Not to mention, he was getting a better end of the deal even with rejection. He doesn't know where Fujian is, but if it is five times bigger than Nanqu (area: 2 sq. km), then, he might as well build a small town there. No strings attached and he can develop a base along with a manufacturing facility.
Since they will be cutting off ties, Mark decided not to mince his words and directly talk about the island of Fujian. But, fortunately, or unfortunately, fate has other plans for him and he realized it soon enough.
Before he expressed his wishes to know more about Fujian island and its islets, Shen Ling intervened in the matter for the third time with a comment, "But, Song Yue has already given her consent to our marriage though."
And this time, Mark was the one who was affected by it. He got up from the seat, shocked by her comment, "When?"
Shen Ling calmly answered, "A few days ago, after the auction. As for our relationship, we can first get engaged and then get familiar with each other. Also, I don't have any romantic feelings for you either. I wanted a marriage with convenience with you, just like all those ladies from noble clans or wealthy households marry into other households.
Give me five minutes of your time and I'll convince you that this marriage will surely bring benefits to each other."
Shen Ling was trying to remember all the parts of her proposition that she was about put forth before Mark but the latter's mind was stuck on her first sentence itself. "After the auction? Did it happen when I send her away upstairs while dealing with the transactions?" Mark remembered Shen Niu left the store quickly when he was supposed to wait upstairs.
