Chapter 154 Three Months
"But this Duke Virlet... I remember she just divorced the leader of the Dawn Knight Order not long before she went to the eastern battlefield, right?"
"I heard about that too. A divorced woman - how easy would it be for her to find a husband?"
"What nonsense are you talking? Look at who's backing her - a ducal house, and she commands the Empire's top legion. Those are real military achievements. Marrying her would only benefit one's family. Who would care whether she's been married before?"
"Exactly! Forget once - even if it were two or three times, it wouldn't be a big deal!"
"Besides, with Duke Virlet's looks, even without the military achievements, marrying her would be no loss. Tell me, just how blind was that Holden Titan to pass up a rose and go pick wildflowers by the roadside?"
"Who knows? But I remember there was news before that whoever married her would have a chance to inherit the dukedom. Back then, plenty of people wanted to court her. Now there'll probably be even more."
The crowd around them grew noisy, everyone discussing the King's order.
Anne was stunned. She never imagined His Majesty would be so eager to marry her off, but what could be the reason?
The four people in the carriage heard Conor's words and exchanged shocked glances. When Anne had mentioned the King's marriage plans earlier, they thought it was just a royal whim. They never expected it would become an actual order with a deadline.
Three months?
Finding a suitable husband in three months? That would be a miracle!
Anne wanted to ask more, but there were too many onlookers around. She didn't want their conversation to spread further - after all, with everyone adding their own spin, who knew what it would turn into by the end. Anne could only give Conor a helpless look, indicating they should talk somewhere private.
Conor didn't refuse. Maintaining his cheerful demeanor, he got back on his horse and escorted Anne's carriage out of the royal city. Only when there were fewer people around did Anne get out of the carriage and walk with Conor to a corner. "Uncle Conor, please tell me - what exactly does His Majesty want me to do?"
If he really just wanted her to marry, back at the palace, he could have had the Queen give her information about all the selected husband candidates and made her choose one.
Now, giving her three months - all those people who'd been eyeing the ducal position and getting restless would probably all come swarming. In such chaos, she still had to select a husband candidate. How outstanding would someone have to be to stand out?
But would such an outstanding person really be interested in marrying a woman who'd been married before?
It wasn't that Anne lacked confidence in herself. On the contrary, she knew how capable she was. But whether others would mind - Anne couldn't easily judge that. Unless there was someone who was both outstanding and didn't care that she was remarrying. But would such a person really be unknown to His Majesty, or someone he didn't know?
For some reason, a figure suddenly flashed through Anne's mind.
But Anne didn't dare imagine that such a person would fall from his pedestal and develop feelings for any woman in the world. She'd rather believe it was her imagination than think Friedel would be interested in her. Otherwise, during their time together on the eastern battlefield, wouldn't there have been some sign?
Conor looked at Anne gently and said softly, "Perhaps His Majesty simply hopes Miss Anne can find her own happiness."
Without outsiders present, Conor had reverted to his usual form of address. Looking at Anne's beautiful face, he sighed lightly. "His Majesty regards Miss Anne as a sister and knows it's hard for you to handle the Virlet family matters alone, so he wants to find someone to share the burden. As for the three months..."
Conor smiled. "Probably to give people the courage to approach Miss Anne."
Anne felt Conor's words had hidden meaning, but she couldn't very well ask more.
Though on the surface, Rolf treated Anne like a sister, Rolf was still the King after all. His decisions were never simple. This time, it seemed he was giving Anne three months to choose someone, but what if three months passed and she still couldn't find anyone?
Would he punish Anne then, or forcibly arrange someone to be Anne's husband?
Anne couldn't answer. The request seemed too strange, and His Majesty clearly knew she'd just gotten divorced and had no interest in starting a relationship with anyone else. Forget three months - even three years might not be enough for her to consider remarrying.
Seeing Anne still thinking it over, Conor rode off with a chuckle.
Anne was at a loss. She climbed back into the carriage and slumped in her seat with her four companions. "What kind of situation is this?"
Morris scratched his head. "Maybe it's because you control the Ivy Knights and you're a duke of the Soth Empire, but you're young and look easy to deceive?"
Samira thought this made sense. "That's quite possible. After all, he's the King. Even if you're close, he has to consider the future of the Soth Empire."
But Cynthia frowned. "I don't think so."
Seeing everyone looking at her, Cynthia snorted. "If it's about controlling a knight order, the Ivy Knights used to be in the Kivara family's hands, and we didn't see our King having any opinions about that. Now he insists Anne must marry - I think someone must be interested in Anne but doesn't know how to express it, so they went to His Majesty."
"Otherwise, why would a King interfere with a duke's marriage situation!"
Originally, Cynthia had worried the King might arrange husbands for her and Samira on a whim, but fortunately this special honor was Anne's alone. They'd both received the Empire's rewards for soldiers.
Cynthia didn't care about this small amount of money. The Yadley family behind her was incredibly wealthy, and she was used to the finest things in life. So as soon as she received the money, without batting an eye, Cynthia handed it to Anne to distribute to knights in the Ivy Knights who needed it.
Morris and the other two didn't come from wealthy families, so they were happy to keep the money.
The group discussed it together for quite a while, but no one could figure out what His Majesty was thinking. Finally, exhausted, they curled up in the carriage and dozed off again.
What they didn't know was that Conor's public words to Anne spread almost instantly, as if someone was deliberately helping to pass the message along. Almost overnight, the entire Soth Empire was discussing Anne's marriage.
Those who'd previously had designs on Anne or the Virlet family also emerged one after another, wanting to visit Virlet Manor.