Chapter 21: Waste of Time

"Is the wine to your liking, Prince Ichiji?" King Regald asked. "It was brought from my country."

"It is sufficient," Ichiji said, ignoring a flutter of annoyance. Kings and rulers had been trying to curry favor with him all night long, though this was one of the more ridiculous attempts. As though Germa 66 might not attack this king's nation simply if Ichiji liked the wine enough.

"These balls are such excellent ideas, bringing together rulers to help broker peace between us all," King Akish said, throwing Ichiji a sidelong glance. "And, along with that, helping to build alliances. Have you had an opportunity to meet my niece yet, Prince Ichiji?"

"I have not," Ichiji admitted. "Have you brought her tonight?" He'd had daughters of kings shoved at him all evening long in an attempt to entice him into an alliance that would protect said nation from Germa 66. King Akish was too young to have any children, which undoubtedly was why he was encouraging Ichiji to meet his niece. A niece was farther removed from the throne than Ichiji cared for, but King Akish had many allies and it wouldn't hurt for Ichiji to at least pretend that he had an interest.

"Indeed," King Akish said, gesturing toward a demure, dark-haired young woman standing with a few other women. "Please, allow me to introduce you to her."

Ichiji followed the king over, ignoring King Regald's frown over being left behind.

"Prince Ichiji, allow me to introduce you to my niece, Dahlia. She is the daughter of my elder sister. Dahlia, this is Prince Ichiji, the crown prince of the Germa 66 kingdom."

The young woman looked up, blinking wide eyes at him as her companions gasped then broke into whispers.

"It is an honor to meet you, Prince Ichiji," Dahlia said, gathering her long skirts in her hands and curtsying.

"You as well," Ichiji said, giving a slight bow. "Your kingdom is highly respected in these circles. It speaks much of your character that your uncle would decide to bring you with him." Or of his desperation to see his niece married off to a member of Germa 66's royal family.

"Thank you," Dahlia said, blushing as she gave another curtsy. "Your words bring me great honor."

Ichiji was always the son sent to these balls, events meant to bring the elite together to make and break alliances. Occasionally his brothers came with him, but Ichiji was the best at politics of all his brothers, as was befitting of the oldest son and crown prince. But this was the first time that he found himself bored.

These events were never exciting and he was always eager to get back to his war campaigns, but he was usually more engaged than he was tonight. He didn't know if it was because Germa's conquering was going so well that he didn't want to take a break, or if the other attendees were more boring than usual.

He tried to focus on Dahlia and bring his mind back to where he was. Even for a conquering nation, alliances were important. And his father was always on the lookout for good marriage matches for his children, which meant Ichiji needed to be on the lookout as well. Though things in that regard were a little more complicated at the moment since Judge had yet to decide who would marry Nami between Niji and Yonji. He still didn't understand his brothers' obsession with the navigator, but they could have her.

He was more interested in making an alliance that would profit Germa 66. And in marrying someone of royal blood. The group of young women in front of him were clearly more refined than the navigator. Their posture and mannerisms were befitting of woman of royalty. Though he did find it a little annoying that they were clustered together as though they were a group of deer seeking protection in numbers. And none of them had yet to look him in the eye. Nami always looked him in the eye.

The thought made him grit his teeth. Yes, she looked him in the eye, with a challenging look that no commoner had a right to look at him with. It was disrespectful and impertinent, just like everything else about the navigator.

Pushing thoughts of her away, he engaged himself in conversation with the women in front of him while King Akish regularly interjected with various accomplishments of his niece. The women in front of him said all the right things, did all the right things . . . and it was all entirely predictable, which lead to him barely being able to keep his mind on what was being said.

Yonji's words about wanting a strong woman flashed through his mind. Had the princesses at these gatherings always been so meek? Had Ichiji really ever found anything attractive in that? But just because these princesses in front of him were meek didn't mean that they all were. Excusing himself from the conversation, he went in search of someone more interesting.

Of course, interesting wasn't what mattered. Benefiting Germa 66 was what mattered. His brothers' ridiculous actions of late had Ichiji too focused on the women themselves, but they were incidental to the whole thing. Alliance were about nations, not people. He needed to marry someone belonging to a nation with a strong military, not someone with the guts to look him in the eye and challenge him.

Still, his mind couldn't help jumping to past conversations with flashing, fiery green eyes and long red hair flowing in the wind and a traitorous part of his mind whispered that conversations with her were never predictable, and any conversation with her was more exciting than any conversation he'd ever had at one of these gatherings.

He grabbed a wine glass from a passing waiter and downed the whole thing in one gulp.

Air. He needed air.

Making a beeline for the balcony of the ballroom, he ignored any attempts to pull him into conversation. He stopped short when on the balcony upon discovering three men in deep conversation. They immediately stopped talking upon seeing him. It could mean nothing, or it could mean they had been discussing Germa 66 in one fashion or another.

"Ah, Prince Ichiji," one of the men said, casting sidelong glances at his companions. "How fortuitous that you would come upon us right at this moment. Perhaps you could clear up a confusion between the three of us."

"What?" Ichiji asked with a frown, crossing his arms over his chest. He wanted this evening to be done. He wasn't in the proper frame of mind to work toward any alliances or to keep track of other alliances being made.

"We have heard rumors of the reason behind Germa 66's recent . . . increase in victories over your enemies. We had previously been invited to a wedding between your brother Prince Sanji and a woman named Nami from East Blue. The invitation gave little information about this woman and when the wedding was postponed, we had thought that perhaps the marriage had been an attempt alliance with a nation outside of North Blue and that did not turn out well."

Another man jumped in. "The rumors my friend is referring to are that the woman, Nami, is a lost princess from East Blue who is an unmatched navigator and has increased Germa 66's prowess greatly with her knowledge. When we learned this, it seemed not that this alliance hadn't gone well, but that it's going extremely well. So well, in fact, that your father broke Princess Nami's alliance with Sanji so that she could marry you and become queen of Germa 66. For surely, if half the stories we've heard our true, this woman is worthy to be wife to you and queen of Germa 66 if she achieves your father's lifelong goal."

Ichiji was so stunned he couldn't speak. Nami, a lost princess? He recalled his father saying he planned to start a rumor like that so that it would be acceptable for Niji or Yonji to marry her, but he hadn't expected the rumors to spread this quickly. And the thought that Judge intended for Ichiji to marry her was preposterous, but he could see these men's perspectives. What other reason would Judge have for breaking Nami's engagement with Sanji than to have her marry the crown prince? To an outsider unaware of Sanji's weaknesses, having Nami marry Sanji would be the same as having her marry Niji or Yonji. Sanji might even be thought of as better than Yonji since he was older. There would be no visible benefit to having Nami marry a different brother unless it was Ichiji.

"Well?" the third man demanded, causing his companions to throw him a warning look. He ignored them and pressed on. "Is Princess Nami now your fiancé and the future queen of Germa 66? We have a right to know, Prince Ichiji, simply because many of us here have brought our daughters for the express purpose of meeting you. If you are already taken, perhaps your brothers could make more frequent appearances at these events for our daughters to meet them."

No. The answer was no, of course. No because Judge had decreed it and no because Ichiji didn't want to marry her. So why wouldn't the word come? Why did his throat seem closed off to that simple, two-letter, one-syllable word?

Instead, what came out was, "The internal affairs of the Germa Kingdom are none of your concern." With a flip of his cape, he turned and left the balcony.

A/N: Ya'll knew that Ichiji had to join the fray eventually, right? ;)