Rui was quite proud of his ability to maintain a facade of composure and hide his thoughts. Short of Martial Masters and their seemingly telepathic ability to peer into one's mind, his control over his micro-expressions and body language was quite high.
Yet even his formidable control was shattered by the sheer absurdity that the Corporate Princess uttered to him.
"What…?" Rui whispered.
"I just offered a proposal of marriage to you, Senior Quarrier," She remarked without so much as a hint of fluctuation in her cadence.
Rui stared at her with bewilderment. "I don't understand. Is this your idea of humor? It is rather strange."
"I am not jesting, Senior Quarrier," She replied with the same monotone that she had conducted her presentation with. "I am offering a proposal of marriage to you."
"…But why?" He stared at her, unable to believe what was happening at the moment.
"I suppose it would be prudent to inform you," She remarked. "It would be better if you comprehend the reasons. The first reason is that marriage is a powerful tool to reel in support. It is a bond of commitment, and thus, it is a strong symbol of partnership and alliance. There is a reason that families and even nations employ marriage to strengthen and affirm their bonds. That is what I aim to achieve by marrying you."
Rui had already understood this. He had also already understood why she had chosen him of all people as a suitor. This content © Nôv/elDr(a)m/a.Org.
"My Martial capital is far lower than my six siblings," She continued. "The only ones among my six prime competitors with lower Martial capital would be Raemina and Raul. This is a sub-optimal state of affairs that I cannot allow to remain in place. One of the measures I have at my disposal is marriage, as I am the youngest out of the seven prime candidates for the throne. I intend to employ it to increase the allure of my faction for Martial Artists. For that, I require a high-profile Martial Artist who happens to be of the same generation as me and who commands great respect, prestige, and soft influence in the Martial Community. Ideally, I would like to bear his child as well to completely seal the bond."
Rui winced inwardly even though he had figured as much.
That didn't mean he was eager to accept her proposal. Getting engaged with a princess? That was a horrific idea as far as he was concerned. Having her bear his child was an even worse idea; it would make it impossible to break away from her. It would vastly increase the probability of him being the target of an assassination, and he didn't have a pair of Martial Masters guarding him.
He was not inclined to be under constant supervision even if he did.
No amount of wealth or resources or anything was worth it.
"I'll have to decline, Your Highness," Rui informed her, shaking his head. "Please pick someone else."
"There is no one else," She remarked.
"That's not true," Rui replied calmly. A mischievous smile threatened to crack at the edge of his mouth as a hilarious idea popped into his head. "There is Kane, known to be a prodigy of his generation. I'm sure that he would love to be your fiance, surely. I can even give you his contact information if you wish to speak to him."
His face was calm and composed, yet he was inwardly cackling at the little prank he was pulling.
Imagining his best friend's face when he realized what Rui got him into made him want to burst out laughing, but he held himself together with superhuman will.
"He is only a Martial Squire," She shook her head. "Even if he magically broke through to the Senior Realm today, he would still be far less attractive of a choice now that he had cut all ties with the Arrancar Family."
Shame.
"What about Ian Nepomniachtchi?" Rui wondered. "He too is touted as a genius of his generation."
"He is even less attractive as a prospect," She remarked. "Furthermore, the head of the Nepomniachtchi Family is already part of my faction."
She stared straight into Rui's eyes. "It must be you, Rui Quarrier. Your track record as a Martial Artist is extraordinary. You singlehandedly won the Serevian War for the Kandrian Empire, and you defeated a Martial Squire as an Apprentice. You dominated the Shionel Dungeon and then broke through as the youngest Martial Senior before killing Deacon Byrnes in an assassination and returning home as a high-grade Martial Senior. You then earned the Martial Union's immense goodwill with the secret Squire evolution breakthrough method, so much so that Martial Masters are willing to run across the country to protect your life from one of their peers."
She didn't even pretend like he wasn't the assassin who killed Deacon. He didn't even bother refuting it; it was pointless, and he just needed to never acknowledge it by word. Regardless, she laid out concrete reasons for why she needed Rui.
"If you accept my proposal, I can give you anything in this world," She remarked. "For everything has a price, and I have the ability to pay all prices with the capital that I have amassed. In return, I will have you let me completely harness every ounce of influence over the Martial Community you have and use it to win over skeptics who believe me to be antagonistic towards Martial Artists. While you singlehandedly cannot fix the problem, the sheer prestige both in the empire and across the entire world that comes with being the youngest Martial Senior will do much to alleviate my problem."
"I don't care for wealth," Rui replied.
"To not care for wealth is to not care for anything," She remarked. "What is it about this arrangement that displeases you? Is it my bodily aesthetics?"
She glanced down at her well-endowed figure. "I have been informed that my sexual appeal is prone to causing phallic tumescence in men. I believe that nothing about it should be displeasing enough to be averse to what is purely a business transaction."
Rui coughed awkwardly. "It is not that, Your Highness. You are indeed beautiful. However, I simply am unable to tolerate the inevitable consequences of marriage with you and simply do not care enough for what you can offer me. That is all."