"Absolutely not," Ignis said, a deep frown etched into his face.
Prompto, Ignis, Gladiolus, and of course Noctis, sat in the latter's living room across from each other discussing their plans for the search and rescue of the king. With Jasmine gone, the group took advantage of time to meet and strategize. This was also when Noctis made the announcement of his desire to make Jasmine his Queen's Candidate known, much to the shock and surprise (and even chagrin) of some of his teammates.
"And why not?" Prompto asked, slightly caught off guard by Ignis' immense disapproval of the idea.
Ignis adjusted his glasses and turned to Prompto. "We've been over this before," he gently reminded his comrade. "Jasmine is not a suitable Queen's Candidate."
"I've made up my mind," Noctis spoke up, appearing to be quite calm despite advisor's irritation. "Once Jasmine comes back, I'm going to ask her."
"We've been through this before," Ignis said with a heavy sigh.
Prompto rolled his eyes, remembering that mess of a situation not that long ago. "I know. And it caused a HUGE mess. Because of Miss Valentine, we found the king. You can't be this against her being a candidate."
"While I am grateful that she was able to do that," Ignis cleared his throat, "it still doesn't change the fact that she's not qualified. Like I told you before: she's a foreigner, she has a connection to SHINRA, and she isn't from a royal family. Even if I were on board, the king and the council wouldn't let it happen."
"First of all, I'm sure half the elder council members are dead now," Noctis replied bluntly. "Second, you can't blame her for being tied to Vanitas. She had no control over that."
Prompto added, "Plus, she put a bullet in him. I don't think there's any chance of her even considering SHINRA."
Gladiolus turned to Noctis. "You have to admit, Noct, Ignis is right. As much as I adore her, I don't think anyone would go for this. The king is pretty dead set in his ways. Even though he would appreciate her help and would most likely reward her, I don't think he'd approve."
"You act like we have other options," Noctis said, his voice dripping in annoyance.
"There are other options," Ignis informed the prince. "Lunafreya wasn't the only Queen's Candidate. I'm more than sure we could work something out with one of those candidates."
Noctis casually shrugged his shoulders. "And when the engagement to Lunafreya was finalized, the others were dismissed. It would be an insult to the others to go back with the same offer."
Ignis rubbed his temples and swore under his breath. While he maintained that he liked Jasmine as a person, he still knew that she was not fit to be Noctis' queen. The girl was a wild child, unpredictable and didn't have the right social standing. Even if he okay'd the situation, Jasmine would have a hell of a time gaining the approval of the others – war or no war.
"You're not thinking clearly," Ignis told the prince. "You're letting your feelings cloud your judgement. Just because you're fond of her, it doesn't mean that she's suited for the job."
He paused and stared at Noctis, a curious expression on his face. "What have the two of you been doing?"
Noctis opened his eyes lazily. "What do you mean 'what have the two of you been doing'? We've been working together, nothing more."
Ignis' eyes narrowed. "You know exactly what I'm talking about. I recognize how close the two of you have become. Did you sleep with her?"
Prompto and Gladiolus' eyes widened in shock and they both turned to Noctis, who was quite obviously appalled (and mildly embarrassed) at the accusation.
"Ignis, come on -" Gladiolus groaned, not wanting to start this conversation.
"No," Ignis cut his associate off quickly. "I'm trying to get to the bottom of why the prince seems so deadset on Jasmine being his queen. She knew from the very beginning to keep the relationship platonic and nothing more. That was part of the agreement."
"We haven't done anything," Noctis protested.
"And even if they did," Prompto chimed in, "it doesn't make Jasmine any more or less able to be a candidate."
Ignis leaned back in his chair and crossed one leg over the other. It was almost as if everyone forgot what the future queen of Lucis was supposed to be like.
"I'm sure you're aware of this, but on top of everything else, a Queen's Candidate is supposed to be pure," Ignis replied, hoping that the others would get the hint. "Jasmine has been with other men which, whether you like it or not, automatically takes her out of the running."
Prompto reeled back, horrified that this conversation was happening especially with Miss Valentine not there to defend or speak for herself on something so personal. "How do you even know that?"
"I did some digging," Ignis told the group, watching Noctis' expression harden. "What?" He asked the prince. "I looked into her medical records."
"Ignis!" Prompto shouted angrily, jumping from his seat. "You're taking this too far. That's Miss Valentine's personal business!"
Ignis shrugged his shoulders, unaffected by Prompto's anger. "And clearly, since Noctis wants her to be his queen, it's now my business. You forget that I'm supposed to look after the queen and king." He turned to Noctis whose expression turned dark. "Did you know that she slept with Vanitas on numerous occasions? I know that she's been with at least one other person, one of her boyfriends from high school," he continued. "That number could be higher but that's what I know for certain."
Prompto cringed and shook his head at Ignis. "This is pretty gross, Ignis."
"What's gross is what will happen if the people get ahold of this information. Even though we claim to come from a modern country, the mindset of the people isn't that far advanced. A lot of the people still believe that noble women should remain chaste until marriage – Jasmine was previously engaged and that won't go over too well with them. Personally, I genuinely don't think there's anything wrong with it. She's a normal girl…but with her history Jasmine is gonna have one hell of a time winning the others over. Do you really want them trying to dig into her past and have her entire history put on display? You know what they're like, Your Highness. Don't you think it would be cruel to put Miss Valentine through all that?"
The entire room became pin-drop silent as everyone took in Ignis' words. Prompto and Ignis looked to each other and then to Noctis, who simply sat there, glaring at Ignis with vehemence in his dark, piercing eyes. While Ignis' words were quite cutting and even cruel, he spoke nothing but the truth.
The people of Lucis were quite harsh and held the royal family to almost a God-like standard for how they lived and ruled. Any sort of scandal would definitely result in turmoil. And Noctis would know this firsthand after hearing stories of what happened when his father initially announced that he was going to marry his late mother.
Gladiolus shifted in his seat and turned to Ignis. "Right now, we have no one that could even possibly be a candidate. All the other kingdoms surrounding ours have been impacted by this war. But the other thing we need to consider is that Noctis is 25. He's supposed to be married by now – that's the rule of law. Otherwise, he could lose the kingdom."
"But with all the chaos, I highly doubt anyone will hold him to that standard," Ignis replied, understanding the gravity of the situation as a whole. "We don't even have full control of the kingdom right now."
Prompto cleared his throat loudly, gaining the attention of his teammates. "If that's the case, then that means there's room for exceptions. And if she were somehow able to help us take back control of the kingdom, I see no reason why anyone would have an objection to her ascending the throne with Noctis."
"Did you even ask her if she wanted to be a Queen's Candidate?" Gladiolus asked the prince.
"No," Noctis mumbled. "The plan was to ask her before we left either today or tomorrow. But right now, she's away on a mission."
Ignis raised an eyebrow. "So, you haven't even mentioned the idea to her? And you two aren't in a relationship?"
Noctis rolled his eyes once more. "No."
Gladiolus folded his arms over his chest, appearing deep in thought. "While a big part of me sides with Ignis on this one – only for the sake of protecting Jasmine – I don't think we should jump the gun here. She hasn't even agreed yet, nor do we have any inclination that she would say yes."
"Listen," Prompto began slowly, "at the very least, I don't see anything wrong with at least asking her."
"And even though this would be a hard sell, it might be good just to have a candidate. No one outside of us has to know that it's Jasmine. Plus, we can always find other backup candidates when we get closer to Lucis and see the state of the other kingdoms. Just because she's a candidate, it doesn't automatically mean she'll become the queen," Gladiolus added on.
"Unless we don't find someone else," Prompto said to his older friend.
Ignis' expression became unreadable and he shut his eyes, mulling everything over in his head. Then, the advisor sighed heavily before a small smile appeared on his face, much to the confusion of his colleagues.
"Fine," he said simply with a shrug of his shoulders. "Ask her and see what she says. If she agrees, she can be a candidate and Noctis' tentative fiancé."
Noctis, Gladiolus, and Prompto stared at Ignis in surprise. Up to this point, Ignis had thoroughly opposed the idea and out of nowhere, he seemed to give in.
"Really?" Prompto asked, not quite sure if he believed in Ignis' radical change of heart.
"Yup," Ignis repeated. "If she agrees though, you'll have to be in charge of…grooming her for the position. I will help of course but the responsibility is on you, Your Highness…if you want her to be your queen that is."
"I'll ask when she comes back," Noctis announced.
"Though, if she does say yes, I think it would be wise to leave her here when we retrieve the king," Ignis suggested. "For safety reasons. It'll be dangerous and I don't think you could forgive yourself if something happens to Miss Valentine."
Noctis glared at Ignis. "Nothing would happen. We'd all protect her."
"Of course. But after what happened to Lunafreya – may she rest in peace – I think it would be wise to leave her here until we retrieve the king and then come back for her."
"Ignis has a point," Prompto told Noctis. "Then she could at least think things over and have time to decide while we're away so she doesn't feel pressured. This is not an easy thing to ask of Miss Valentine. You'd literally be asking her to give up everything. Let her mull it over, we give her space, and then when we come back we can move from there."
Noctis rose to his feet and headed towards the back of the house. "Fine. When she comes back, I'll handle it. I'll talk to you all later."
Once the trio heard a door slam in the distance, all of them exhaled as if they'd been holding in their breath for hours. This was not what they (minus Prompto) had anticipated when Noctis called them over for a meeting. Even though it appeared that they solved one of their problems, it seemed like there were several more that popped up in its place.
Gladiolus excused himself and headed for the kitchen, leaving Ignis and Prompto to themselves.
The charismatic blond eyed Ignis carefully, realizing very quickly that there was something off about how easily he changed his tune about Jasmine being the Queen's Candidate.
"What made you change your mind?" Prompto inquired curiously, knowing that there had to be a reason behind the pragmatic advisor's change of heart.
Ignis chuckled to himself, leaned back in his chair and shut his eyes as if he were about to take a nap. "You all are blind," he deadpanned. "If Noctis asks, I'll gladly tell him the same thing I'm going to tell you."
"Which is?"
"I agreed based off the strength that I believe Jasmine will more than likely say no," Ignis revealed, shocking Prompto.
"Why do you think that?"
"Heh. Miss Valentine might have a soft spot for the prince, but I doubt she'll agree to this. She's young and fickle. Plus, the people from her world believe in love marriages. She might help us in other ways, but she'll probably run for the hills when he mentions Queen's Candidate. I figure this problem will sort itself out on its own."
Prompto shook his head and frowned. "You make a lot of good points, Ignis. I can't sit here and say that this is the most ideal situation. But you're treating Miss Valentine like a problem, and she's been nothing but good to us this entire time – even when we didn't deserve her kindness. And if I'm being honest, she's the one who found the king, not you or any of us. Even though she's young and she's not from our world, I think you're underestimating her."
Ignis scoffed, ignoring Prompto's jab. "I probably am," he said honestly. "But you'll see it for yourself. I just hope the prince doesn't get his hopes up."
Author's Note: That's about it for this chapter all! I wanted to get something up before the weekend and I figured that this is the perfect bit to add in before the real drama happens. Plus, I wanted to show a snippet of the FF gang and flesh out their story a tiny bit more.
I wanted to thank my reviewers too
Rawrrbreee: I love the if/when comment haha because well, you know how it tends to go with this story. I think the Jasmine/Noctis dynamic is probably my favorite right now and I do hope that everyone enjoys that particular subplot unwinding. And yes…you can't NOT love Ven. There will be more of him in the future, I promise!
Hopefuldreamer1991: I'm glad you like the longer chapters. I should probably apologize for this short one haha
Also, I did forget a couple of reviewers (ME and meyoume) a few chapters back because I updated the chapter before I saw them. My apologies!
In any case, I hope to get another chapter up before the end of the weekend. I'm attempting to get a schedule down so my updates can be more…consistent. Let me know what you guys think and I'll see you for the next one. Take care!