Chapter 892: Possible engagement


    ?


    There was an awkward silence that followed as Ariel didn''t seem to hear me at all.


    She waspletely focused on the dessert that the maid brought her that she didn''t seem to hear a single thing that was happening around her.


    There was an awkward look that appeared on my face seeing this, but I stopped my wives who were beside her from interrupting her as she ate.


    When she was done, I finally said the same thing again.


    Ariel looked at me with a surprised look this time before slowly giving a nod and saying, "Alright, I have a few things that I want to discuss with you as well."


    I was surprised to hear this, but I gave a slow nod in response.


    When the dishes were cleared and the maids left the room, I didn''t speak right away as I looked at the prime minister.


    Only when I saw him giving a nod did I say, "Let''s talk about the favour that I want to ask of you."


    At this, Ariel finally revealed a serious look. However, at the very least, she gave a nod and didn''t seem like she was against this.


    I took a deep breath and looked like I was arranging my thoughts. It was only when the prime minister looked at me with a look that seemed like he was encouraging me to speak.


    With another deep breath, I said, "There''s a problem in our kingdom that I want your help with."


    Ariel raised a brow hearing this, but she didn''t say anything as she waited for me to exin.


    I took another deep breath before continuing, "We''ve run into a problem with the Tide Empire that we need your help with. As long as you''re willing to help, I''m certain that this problem will easily resolve itself."


    To our surprise, there was a look of difficulty that appeared on Ariel''s face.


    It didn''t seem like she was confused by what she heard, it just seemed like there was something about this that made it difficult for her to act.


    It seemed like it was rted to the Tide Empire...


    Since she wasn''t saying anything, I continued by saying, "Just a while ago, we might have done something that might provoke the Tide Empire''s royal family. We were hoping that with your help, we would be able to smooth this out with the Tide Empire."


    I was even more surprised when I saw Ariel''s face filling with even more difficulty.


    It was clear that there was something that was making this hard for her to ept.


    None of us said a thing since unless she told us what was making this hard for her, we wouldn''t be able to move on.


    After a long silence, Ariel gave a sigh and said, "Since you''re asking me this favour, you should know the rtionship between the Tide Empire and our Merman Empire, right?" We werepletely taken aback when we heard this.


    The others had confused looks on their faces, but I wasn''t confused at all.


    I didn''t tell them about the rtionship between the Tide Empire and the Merman Empire after all, though there were some people that had their suspicions because of the rumours about the Tide Empire.


    So when it was confirmed for them, it was a bit shocking and confusing.


    However, I gave a simple nod as I waited for Ariel to continue her exnation.


    Ariel gave another sigh when she saw this before saying, "In the past period of time, the Tide Empire suddenly started trying to build a deeper rtionship with our Merman Empire. Even though we have maintained a good rtionship because of our shared ancestors, it seems like they want to deepen that rtionship."


    The moment that we heard this, all of us knitted our brows.


    The prime minister and I immediately looked at each other as we could guess what the reason for this was, but we still didn''t say anything as we kept listening to what Ariel had to say.


    She had paused as if she was gathering her thoughts before she continued to say, "They have proposed that an engagement be formed between our royal families."


    "So you ran away?" I suddenly cut her off.


    It wasn''t hard to guess what the situation was with what Ariel said, but that confused me quite a bit.


    After all, this wasn''t the case in the game.


    In the game, after meeting Ariel and progressing along her storyline, the main character would be invited to the Merman Empire. However, there was no sign that the Merman Empire had been in contact with the Tide Empire about a possible engagement in the game.


    The game had been quite in depth with the Merman Empire after all, so there were quite a few quests that were found under the water.


    There wasn''t a single one that involved the engagement between the royal families of the Tide Empire and the Merman Empire...


    That was why I was confused hearing this.


    Ariel was surprised to hear me ask this, but after a moment of hesitation, she gave a slow nod. The way that she looked at me was as if she was asking me to understand her situation. Since she had run away, she was naturally the one that the Tide Empire had proposed to. So if she were to get involved with the Tide Empire to return the favour to us, there was no doubt that she would be caught up in this mess once more. She had just run away, so she didn''t want to be caught up in this again.


    That was why it was difficult for her.


    I could see the others looking at me as if they were asking me what we should do about this,


    but there was only a look of deep thought that was on my face as this happened.


    I understood that Ariel had her own circumstances, but it wasn''t as if we could just give up on this idea since it was an important matter for our kingdom...


    "What if we..." I started to say this before suddenly cutting myself off.