Gray was furious, no let's correct that he was in a rage. This could not be happening to him, he's never done anything wrong in his life to deserve this and he made it a point to state this to his father; or better known as King Silver.
Yes his father is the King of North Berg and he was the crown prince. Not by birth but by preference of interest. To explain that, he has to explain his family history. Silver, his father fell in love with a sweet peasant girl named Minka when he was 17 years old and the next year he married her. It created quite a controversy since he was a king and Gray's mother was merely a peasant, to add up on all that Silver was arranged to have been married to a lady of the noble class named Ur. But they managed to confront these problems with the help of Ur who assisted them in every step of the way and in turn became their closest companion. The following year Gray's elder brother Lyon was born to Silver and Minka. A year later Ur married another noble named Warren and gave birth to a baby girl Ultear. Unfortunately Warren, had died in war soon after the birth of his daughter leaving Ur alone to fend for her child. Not that it was that difficult Ur had always been an independent woman and with the help of Silver and Minka she was able to raise Ultear into a woman just like herself. Two years after Ultear's birth Gray was born. Complications arose during the birth of Gray that resulted in Minka's death. Gray was raised by his father and his surrogate mother Ur throughout his life. His love for family and his kingdom has always surpassed everything else.
So how is it that Gray is the crown prince though Lyon was the first born child. It's simple really Gray wanted to be the king, while Lyon did not. Lyon was a wanderer and dreamt of travelling the world, he did not wish to be bound by the duties of a King, whereas Gray reveled in it. He had always wanted to be King right from the age of five. He enjoyed watching his father perform the Kingly duties and loved to assist him with it. So when Lyon became 15 and Gray 12, Silver declared to the board of ministers that Gray would be pronounced crown prince instead of Lyon. All were quite happy with the decision and no objections were made.
That brings us back to the current predicament of Grays that has him livid with anger. Well maybe he was exaggerating a little bit, but it's a definite that he wasn't happy with the situation as he had pointed out to his father a million times!
Silver sighed "Gray, I don't understand why you are so upset? It's not like I told you to walk around naked in public? Oh wait you already do that.". Silver chuckled at his own joke only to earn a death glare from both Ur and Gray.
"Wouldn't you be upset if your nation was just insulted by an idiot who calls himself king and then being forced to marry his daughter who also happens to be your stalker?" Gray responded harshly.
"Gray you always exaggerate every small thing. Jose Porla did not insult our nation he merely questioned its ethics. And Juvia is a wonderful girl, she adores you and she would make an excellent queen which is obvious with her social service measures and her attitude towards the nobles and normal people being equal." Ur tried to reason with him.
Gray had nothing personal against Juvia, he knew she was a really sweet girl and was well behaved as well but that's it! He knew nothing else about her. And he did not want to enter into a marriage with a girl he did not know excepting the fact that she's obsessed with him and stalks him. He brought this to the attention of his aunt and uncle.
"Many royal people are forced to have arranged marriage and it mostly turns out amazing. I'm sure it'll be the same case for you. Gray you will have to do this in order to prevent a war. I agree Jose is a fatuous person, and already actions have been taken at the higher level against him. Igneel and his son Natsu are already planning a war against them, there's no need for our people to be dragged into it as well." Silver replied.
Ur supported this "Yes, we have already lost many people in the previous wars of history including my husband Gray. You are a good king that I know. Think about this from your people's perspective just how many more ladies do you want to make widows? Just how many more children do you want to make orphans? We don't need more wars when we are too busy recovering from the previous ones"
Ur had always been a smart woman. She knew that if she brought the people of North Berg into this she would definitely be able to persuade Gray to listen to her. Also adding a tinge of guilt into that mix never hurts. She could see the conflict in Gray's mind but was sure about which side will eventually win. She turned to Silver who nodded at her and gave her a thumbs up. He was always childish but a very able king. The country prospered under his rule and would continue to do so under Gray's as well.
"While I understand that war would lead to loss of lives, not accepting a war would make our nation look weak, our people look weak! We'd be losing our pride. Isn't there going to be a loss for us either ways?" Gray tried to argue, but he knew it was futile, he was already dissuaded into the plan of war and knew that marrying Juvia is the only other alternative.
"We would not look weak, as offering a hand in marriage is a sign of alliance rather than submission." Silver said. He saw Gray's mouth opening to retort but raised his hand to silence him as he continued to speak "This doesn't mean that we will assist him in the war against Igneel and Natsu. We will not; as we are allies of both parties of war we need not participate in the war. But we will assist Igneel in the war back handedly and take down Jose, and put forth a new king to the throne. Yes it might upset Juvia, but the welfare of the people of Magnolia is our prime concern".
"You won't have to worry about Juvia" Ur stopped and waited for both to focus on her and then continued "She's not the biological daughter of Jose, neither is her brother Gajeel. Jose's brother, King Royce was supposed to take over the throne but died due to mysterious reasons the day before his coronation. His wife had died as well. Juvia and Gajeel were King Royce's children and were adopted by Jose after his death. It is said that there is no love between Jose and the kids as they are aware he is the reason behind their parents deaths. The only reason Jose adopted them in the first place was to remove the suspicion that he was the one who killed King Royce and his wife."
Gray quirked an eyebrow and tauntingly said "You are quite the gossiper aren't you? No wonder Meredy loves to talk to you". Meredy was Ur's niece from her husband's side. She and Ultear are very close almost like a sibling relationship. After her parents had passed away, Ur had taken her into the family and she'd been living in the noble compound since then. She was just as smitten with Lyon as Lyon was with Juvia. Gray froze as that thought struck him "What about Lyon? Isn't he in love with Juvia as he claims to be? Won't he be upset if I married her?"
"Ohh he'll get over it! It's not like he's actually in love with her. He's just infatuated and he's confusing it with love." Silver retorted. "So it's finalized you are marrying Juvia?" Silver paused for Gray to nod his assent. "I'm glad you understood Gray, seeing this I have no worries of leaving the kingdom to you".
Gray couldn't help but smile at that remark and nodded his head. It's not like he could say no, all reasons were against him. Besides he knew that Juvia was a good person so it can't be that bad right? He could just annul the marriage after the Jose problem is over, he would continue to provide for her and his children as well as Juvia would be staying in the palace. But they need not take up the role of husband and wife after the annulation. Yes that option would always be open. He didn't want to commit to any relationship. There were people out there who want him dead, having a loving relationship with someone would become a source of weakness for him against the rivals as they could use her to sway him. He definitely won't let that happen. As long as he doesn't fall in love everything will be alright.
Right?