“So that’s it, then? That’s your reason? You’re willing to force a girl as incredible as Gabrielle to marry someone she didn’t choose because your king, her father, ordered it? That’s wrong! It’s completely wrong! No one should be forced to marry when they don’t want to for the sake of someone else’s convenience, daughter of a king or not!”
Alex thought about Gabrielle’s situation and his blood boiled. While he might have been upset after discovering that her kidnappers weren’t galactic slavers, all of that fled upon finding out about her situation; the isolation, her sheltered life, everything. Her father trying to marry her off was merely adding oil to the conflagration.
“You know, in our history class back in grade school, we learned that arranged marriages were pretty common back on Earth. It was apparently done in order to end blood feuds between families and bind noble houses together and stuff. However, humanity abolished those practices ages ago! Centuries before we even knew traveling the stars was possible! I don’t understand how a galactic empire could use such outdated traditions!”
“Hmm…” Azazel cupped his chin, nodding several times. “You do make a good point. To be perfectly honest, arranged marriages aren’t very common on Angelisia, either.”
“Then why are you going along with this?”
“Because this isn’t an arranged marriage so much as it is a competition for Princess Gabrielle’s hand in marriage.”
“W-what?”
That threw Alex off. A competition? What the heck did Azazel mean by that?
“King Lucifer is the most powerful man in the galaxy. While he does not control all of the galaxy, more than three-fourths of it have been conquered by him, and more planets and solar systems fall under his banner with each passing day. I have no doubt that he will eventually control all of the galaxy soon enough.”
“However, this has left my king in a quandary. He wishes to eventually abdicate the throne, but he needs a male heir in order to do so. However, he cannot leave the throne of Angelisia in incompetent hands. In order to find someone who is worthy of ruling his empire, King Lucifer has declared that whoever can prove themselves to be the strongest in the galaxy will marry his daughter and become king.”
Alex’s teeth were grit so hard he felt blood stain his tongue, warm and coppery and repulsive, just like what he was being told. “You know something? I listened to that entire speech of yours, but nowhere in it did I hear a single thing about what Gabrielle wants. Your king treats her like some prize in a game, heedless of her feelings or what she wants out of life.”
Even though Alex had promised that he would protect her, he hadn’t understood how bad Gabrielle had it until this moment. To think that her own father would be willing to do something like this, treating his daughter like a prize spaceship to be won via shuttle racing. The idea was inconceivable.
And yet, here, before him, was proof that this notion, a ridiculous idea, had clearly been conceived by someone, and that someone controlled most of the known galaxy.
It pissed him off.
“Gabrielle is an outgoing and friendly girl! She doesn’t deserve to be treated like this! Not by you, her father, or anyone else! No one should be forced to marry against their will, least of all her! I won’t let you take her back! And I sure as hell won’t let her father marry her off!”
That was right. Even if it killed him, he wouldn’t let Gabrielle go back to a place where she wouldn’t be happy. They might have only known each other for a grand total of three days, but that didn’t change how he felt.
“If you want to take her back, then you’re going to have to do so by stepping over my corpse!”
On any other day, Alex would have laughed at the dumbstruck expression that crossed Azazel’s face, but not today. His body was feverishly hot after hearing about how callously these people acted toward Gabrielle’s feelings.
Gabrielle, who was bright and cheerful, never seeming to let anything get her down…
Gabrielle, whose keen intellect was more than a match for his own…
Gabrielle, sheltered and naive, a person who would undoubtedly be taken advantage of in a marriage of convenience…
This wasn’t even about being a hero anymore. This was about a girl his age being forced to do something that she didn’t want to by a father who was never there for her. What kind of man would he be—no, what kind of person would he be if he listened to this nonsense and let Gabrielle go without a fight because it wasn’t any of his business?
Not a very good one, Alex decided.
Azazel didn’t speak for several seconds. “Why are you willing to go so far for Princess Gabrielle? You can’t have known her for more than a few days.”
“I fail to see how that matters. Still, if you want to know the reasons I’m doing this, then I’ll be more than happy to tell you. I’m willing to protect Gabrielle because I know that what her father is doing is wrong, and I’m not the kind of person who will just stand aside when someone needs my help. I’m doing this because Gabrielle is an amazing girl and doesn’t deserve to be treated this way. I’m doing this because everybody deserves to marry whoever they want, and Gabrielle should have that same choice.”
Alex shook. He felt like his body was being overwhelmed, swept up in the storm that raged within his heart.
“But most of all, I’m doing this because I made a promise. I promised that I would protect her. Do you know that means? That means protecting her from people who would try to take advantage of her, as well as keeping her safe from bodily harm. I won’t let anyone harm a single hair on her head, and I certainly won’t allow her to be married off to some douchebag who’s only desire is to control the galaxy.”
Alex set himself in a fighting stance. A fire lit within his heart. Determination. Resolve. A will of steel forged by his belief in what he was doing. He wouldn’t let this man take Gabrielle back to her caged lifestyle, no matter what.
“So come on, Commander of Angelisia. If you want to take Gabrielle back, you’re going to have to go through me, and I can promise you that I won’t go down easily.”
“Alex,” a voice said behind him.
Alex turned around. Gabrielle stood not even half a meter away, her eyes never leaving his face. Tears gathered in those eyes, and though none fell, the waterworks appeared to be minutes away.
“I…” Gabrielle sniffled, wiping her eyes, overcome with emotion. “You really are an amazing guy. Even though I’ve been nothing but trouble, you promised you would protect me and are even fighting against Azazel for me. You even understand exactly how I’m feeling.”
And suddenly, as if some kind of switch had been flipped, Gabrielle smiled and clenched her left hand into a fist, her eyes blazing like an exploding spaceship.
“But you don’t have to worry about fighting alone. I’m not gonna let you do all the work. I can help out!”
“Eh?”
Gabrielle ignored Alex’s confused stare and moved to stand in beside him. She glared at Azazel, who stared at her, the stupid look on his face matching Alex’s emotional state perfectly.
Gabrielle placed her hands on her hips. “It’s just like Alex said. I want to live my own life. There are so many things that I want to do, like eating more of Alex’s food and making more inventions with Alex… oh! And I still have to try that strawberry cheesecake parfait!”
Azazel looked even more confused. “Strawberry what now?”
Alex just snorted. What an odd girl.
“And I want to choose my own husband, too. I don’t wanna marry someone that I don’t like.”
Gabrielle turned to Alex.
“Alex, I’m sorry. What I said back there, about wanting to marry you? When I said it, I didn’t actually want to marry you. I just used it as an excuse to make Azazel leave me alone.”
“Yeah, I thought so. Listen, don’t worry about it, okay? I would have said something if your words bothered me.”
Gabrielle smiled at him, but pressed on. “However, after listening to y
ou talk about how you wanted to protect me and wouldn’t let Papa marry me off, I think I can—no, I want to marry you.”
“Huh?” Alex scratched his cheek with his index finger, suddenly feeling very uncomfortable. “Listen, Gabrielle, I’m flattered and everything, really, but I’m not sure you understand the whole concept of marriage.”
Gabrielle just tilted her head. “What is there to understand? Marriage is when two people live together forever, right?”
“Well, yes, but there’s a lot more to it than that…”
“Then that is what I want,” Gabrielle declared. “I want to stay with Alex forever, so we should get married!”
Alex wondered at this girl’s sanity. Did she not understand what she was saying? Wasn’t she against getting married?
And what about him? They’d only known each other for three day. He wasn’t all that sure he was ready for marriage. He was only 16!
Even if he did agree to marry her, would she still want to be with him five years down the road? Would she not regret marrying him once she knew him on a deeper, more intimate level? What would happen if she learned more about him and decided that marrying him had been a mistake?
“U-ugh!”
Alex froze. Slowly, ever so slowly like a civilian staring down the turbolaser cannon of a star cruiser, he turned to the person who’d emitted the strange, strangled sound.
Azazel had covered his eyes with one arm. Tears were streaming down the man’s cheeks. He was crying. Again.
What. The. Hell?
“It seems I have lost to you, human—no, Alexander. All this time, I kept trying to follow my king’s orders and ignore Princess Gabrielle’s feelings. I knew it was wrong and that she didn’t want to marry, but I ignored her feelings in order to satiate my own desire to remain true to my king. However…”
Azazel started crying harder. Snot dribbled down his nose, which he wiped away with an armored gauntlet, smearing his nasal excrement all over the gleaming adamantine.
“However, you have shown me that I can no longer remain ignorant of my princess’s feelings, and that you, a human who has only known her for three days, have proven to understand her feelings even better than I do. With this, I acknowledge your worthiness to marry Princess Gabrielle and admit my defeat. I shall entrust Princess Gabrielle’s care to you, the person who knows her best.”
“Uh…”
“Isn’t that great, Alex?” Gabrielle lunged at him, wrapping him in a hug that made him remember how tender his ribs were. “Azazel’s going to let us stay together!”
“U-urk… yeah, that’s just… ugh… lovely.”
Goodness but this girl could hug. He was sure that she’d just broken something inside of him. Didn’t she know that he needed those ribs intact?
As if fate wanted to mock him, all of the power that had been coursing through him vanished, and the body damage accumulated from his battle with Azazel suddenly crashed into him with the subtlety of an elephant in a space shuttle.
To make a bad situation worse, as Alex crumbled to the ground with an obliviously laughing Gabrielle on top of him, several Mars police shuttles showed up and surrounded them, and a female voice that Alex recognized but couldn’t place blared out from one of them.
“All right, you three! Put your hands in the air right now! Especially you, Azazel! You’re all under arrest!”
As darkness crowded around Alex’s vision, only one thought came to him in that moment.
This is definitely not my day.
Epilogue
The Beginning of my Un-normal Married Life
Standing in Karen’s office once more, Azazel received a verbal lashing that made him feel almost like he was being browbeaten by his king. It wasn’t his king doing the browbeating, however, but a human woman with a frighteningly harsh disposition.
“I cannot believe you, Azazel! I thought I had made myself clear! I told you to find your princess, gather her up, and leave, not start a fight with Alexander in the middle of the suburbs! Do you have any idea how much public property you two destroyed in your scuffle? Do you know how much it’s going to cost to have it repaired?”
“You have my utmost apologies, ma’am.” Azazel tried not to sweat under Karen’s intense stare. By Angelisia, this woman was frightening! How could a human woman be so scary? “You did indeed say that, however, Alexander would not let Princess Gabrielle out of his care without a fight and so—”
“Enough of your excuses!”
“Ma’am!”
Azazel watched carefully as Karen visibly calmed herself down, crossing her arms under her bust and leaning back in her chair. It was evening now, and the light from the sun had turned a dark orange, the color playing off her face, giving her a darker appearance. Finally, Karen sighed and ran a hand down her tired face.
“So, not only did you wind up in melee combat with Alexander S. Ryker, the one person I told you not to fight, you also failed to take your princess back, and now she’s going to be living with Alexander for the foreseeable future.” A poignant pause caused sweat to break out on Azazel’s brow. “Is that about right?”
“That does sum the most recent events up quite nicely. However, I would like to make an addendum to that statement.”
“I somehow feel like I’m going to seriously regret allowing you to speak, but go ahead.”
“Thank you, ma’am. The situation is a bit different than how you perceive it. You see, Princess Gabrielle has chosen Alexander as the person that she desires to marry, which means that Alexander has officially become a candidate for marriage, and is now a potential heir to the throne of Angelisia and the title of Emperor of the Galaxy. What this means is that Gabrielle will be staying with and eventually marrying him, provided he can prove himself to be the strongest person in the galaxy.”
Sitting behind her desk with a flat expression, Karen Kanzaki stared blankly at him. “Please tell me you’re joking.”
“I am not. Alexander has proven that he understands Princess Gabrielle in ways that I cannot, and he is the only person who Princess Gabrielle has taken an interest in marrying. Such a thing has never happened before now, despite the numerous suitors King Lucifer has placed in front of her. Alexander must therefore be considered a worthy candidate, for that reason alone if nothing else.”
Karen rubbed her forehead. “This cannot be happening.”
“I am afraid this is indeed happening.”
“Quiet you.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Karen allowed the silence to spread out over several seconds. Azazel didn’t interrupt her. She must have been using that time to contemplate the current situation.
“So, what you’re basically telling me is that Alexander must prove himself to your king, marry your princess, and become the Emperor of the Galaxy.”
“In a nutshell, yes.”
“And what will happen if he fails?”
“If he fails, then he will not marry Princess Gabrielle… and he will probably die, likely killed by one of the other candidates.”
“And you’re telling me that there is nothing I can do to stop this?”
At that, Azazel straightened and, for the first time since they’d met, pinned her in place with a glare. “You cannot stop what is happening here. Doing so would be an insult to King Lucifer, and my king does not take those well. The last person who insulted him was forced to watch as his entire planet was destroyed. He was then jettisoned into space where his body rapidly decompressed. I don’t think I need to tell you the rest.”
Karen paled, though she tried to remain strong. Azazel’s respect for this woman rose. “What will happen from here on out?”
“That will depend on King Lucifer,” Azazel admitted. “I will inform him of the most recent developments with Princess Gabrielle and Alexander. After which, he will decide what to do next.”
“You will let me know what his decision is regarding this, won’t you?”
“Out of respect for your position and per
sonal respect for your fierce demeanor, I will inform you of his decision the moment I learn of it.”
“Okay then. You can head back to your ship and let your king know what’s going on.”
“Ma’am!”
Saluting to the woman whom he’d gained a steady admiration for, Azazel turned around and left, the door silently sliding shut behind him.
Karen spun her chair around to look out the window behind her desk. The city was painted orange, towering spires reminiscent of roaring flames. The view did little to soothe her, for she felt nothing but turmoil.
She wondered what would happen now that this situation had spiraled so far out of control. One thing was for sure, Alexander’s life was going to become a lot harder.
“I need to find some way to keep a closer eye on him,” she decided out loud.
Swiveling her chair back around, Karen tapped several keys on the desk and a holographic image appeared, hovering in the air. It was Alex’s Mars Police Academy file, which had a large stamp on it that said EXPELLED in big, bold letters.
I’m beginning to regret listening to those old codgers, she lamented in the solitude of her office.
1
Alex, Alice, and Gabrielle sat together in the living room. While Alice sat on the small couch, Alex and Gabrielle had taken on the sofa. Despite the furniture being nearly a meter long, they were practically smooshed together, and Gabrielle had both her arms wrapped around his left arm.
Alice was staring at them like they’d grown six heads and were speaking Latin. Her dull expression seemed even more flat than usual.
“So let me get this straight; Gabrielle is an alien princess, her father controls more than half the galaxy and wants to marry her off, and you have decided to protect her in order to keep that from happening. Is that about right?”
Alex tried not to let his embarrassment show at his sister’s blunt assessment of what had transpired during the last few days. After being scolded by an upset Karen, Alex had decided to tell his sister about everything that had happened. He didn’t want her getting involved, but the situation pretty much demanded that she at least know what was going on.
A Most Unlikely Hero, Vol. 1 Page 17