Chapter 72: His Majesty's Calculation (3)

While the wedding gown was being made, he had to think of his status. He was the King; a king who was known not to be good with women.

What would happen if he visited her just like that? Amber would surely be forced to marry him. She would have no choice.

He really could not force her into such a situation.

It wasn't just that - he was really scared.

If Ernest asked for her hand, she would be suspicious. Why would Ernest, who she had never met, propose to her?

Why would he want to make a woman who had a bad reputation Queen? Amber was probably not the kind of person that would be over the moon at the opportunity to be Queen. If she was that conniving, she would never have lost her beau to Leticia.

She, of course, she would doubt Ernest's feelings.

He really could not tell her that he fell for her when he spied her hiding and crying. He would be seen as a pervert with a weird fetish – and that would be the end of everything.

Such a conclusion was scary enough that he didn't even want to contemplate it.

It was the first time that Ernest had ever been in love; he had never had to employ stratagems to woo a lady. He really could not make her love him despite the doubt. He had no confidence. He had no confidence to imagine a future with his beloved.

But, the situation would not change if he just kept waiting.

Then Matthias informed him, Leticia had got it into her head to find a husband for Amber after she turned twenty that summer, without permission.

But it was causing friction between then, because when Amber rebuffed her, Leticia cried.

It became an endless vicious cycle that Matthias enjoyed since he took a dark pleasure in Leticia crying and clinging to him. Ernest cursed, angry enough to kill him. But without his cooperation, he could not approach Amber. If his friend did not keep stopping his wife, she would choose a husband for Amber.

As it stood, he may never be able to get Amber.

Ernest was upset. He was filled with such frustration, unable to sleep. He kept sniffing the hair clip she had thrown away. (Zuben: Unless you have kept it in a vacuum, that scent should have gone by now)

How? How could he get her before Leticia complete her hare-brained plan?

He racked his brain, getting more and more annoyed; he felt like his time was running out.

Then it came to him…

"The love potion."

More than a decade ago, his sister Tierra fell in love with a Prince of a neighboring country. She put an impossible problem before her brother.

"Ernest, are you free? I want you to get me a love potion from the apothecary."

She wanted to manipulate the mind of the Prince, so he could fall in love with her and a love potion appeared in the novel Tierra enjoyed reaching at the time.

Always overbearing, she ordered Ernest to find it.

But there was no magic in their country.

And of course, there was no such thing as love potion that could manipulate body and mind. But

Tierra would not listen. So after much thought, he handed Tierra a bottle of soluble sweets and told her they were the love potion. If it didn't work, he would tell her that is was an imaginary item in the first place and she was the wrong one.

Tierra dissolved the sweets in wine and gave the wine to her Prince. And got married.

Because of the "love potion", Tierra took bold action and invited the prince to her private rooms. It turned out that he also liked her, but Tierra only took action to show him her feelings because of the potion.

Remembering this; Ernest decided to use this plan. Matthias told him with Leticia running amok, she would select men who like her for Amber with her cruel innocence. (Zuben: More like major arseholery)

Amber understood this would happen and she was anxious about it. If so, Amber would eventually have to take matters into her own hands to stop Leticia. Simply put, she would be forced to find her make some man into her fiancé as quickly as possible.

So Ernest gave the sweets to Matthias.

Matthias will convince her to choose a man that would suit her needs, someone who would leave her in peace. Convince her to use the sweets at the next royal ball. Where Ernest would drink the wine under the guise of chance, as a result, become her fiancé.

With Matthias' help, Amber got the sweets and recommended a gentleman who seemed harmless to humans and animals.