Chapter 579: Shengzai: Are You Treating Me Like a Stud?

Prince Shengzai’s position remains the same: if the “Golden Princess” does not oppose the marriage, he will support it.

But if the “Golden Princess” disagrees with this engagement, no one may force him—otherwise, he will not hold back.

Upon hearing the scribe’s words, Gilknifer also wore a wry smile.

“Just moments ago, I was mocking those fools trying to forge alliances with the Empire through marriage.”

“Now that I think about it, I seem to be one of them myself.”

“Your Majesty, in my opinion, even if you do not marry the Golden Princess, as allies who jointly resisted the Magic Kingdom, our Empire should already have established some degree of friendship with Prince Shengzai.”

“Moreover, regarding the ‘Golden Princess,’ there are rumors within the kingdom that she is no ordinary person, so…”

Before the scribe could finish speaking, Gilknifer raised his hand to cut him off.

“Friendship? Even among commoners, such things are unreliable—how much more so at the level of nations?”

“In this world, only interest is eternal.”

“I already knew the Golden Princess is no ordinary person—but Prince Shengzai’s deep concern for her wishes and thoughts proves their bond is strong.”

“If you marry the Golden Princess, it will make his ties with us even more secure.”

“But if King Zanak V and the former King Lamboza III approve this marriage, wouldn’t Princess Lana, as a royal princess, have no choice but to comply?”

Though the royal family holds exalted status and enjoys luxury from birth, they often find themselves powerless—especially regarding matters like marriage.

“Ha? In other nations, perhaps—but do you really think, given Prince Shengzai’s current status and power?”

“If he refuses to let the Golden Princess marry you, do you believe Zanak and the former king would defy his will?”

“Don’t assume that because the kingdom officially exiled Prince Shengzai, he is no longer their Third Prince.”

“If the royal family truly intended to sever ties, they would have stripped him of his surname long ago.”

“In short, whether by marrying the Golden Princess or any other means, for our Empire to endure on this continent, we must cling tightly to Prince Shengzai’s leg.”

“If I had any brothers or sisters, I’d even consider giving one of them to him as a concubine.”

“That woman from the Holy Kingdom probably saw Prince Shengzai’s potential last time, which is why she acted as she did.”

In fact, after the Battle of Kaz Plain, many others shared Gilknifer’s thoughts.

Because he became the “hero” of the Battle of Kaz Plain, numerous kingdoms sought to marry their princesses to Shengzai—even offering them as concubines without hesitation.

Anyone with eyes could see that the Magic Kingdom would inevitably return.

Building ties with Shengzai now might one day save one’s own life—and one’s nation’s.

Unfortunately, those who came seeking him couldn’t even enter the gates of the Yishen Kingdom.

The Yishen people also have their own selfish desires; a child’s potential largely depends on the parents’ genes.

To ensure the birth of more powerful new Yishen and a future successor to Shengzai’s position, the Yishen naturally hoped Shengzai would leave offspring within their kingdom.

The Yishen regarded Lord Shengzai as their god—though human in form, his arrival in this world must have been the will of the Yishen deity.

Such an outstanding and majestic Lord Shengzai, if he were to leave offspring, should surely choose a Yishen woman as the mother—how could mere human women possibly be worthy of their Lord Shengzai?

Nazarick Great Tomb, Tenth Floor—Throne Room.

After several days of rest, Old Bone and the others had fully recovered.

At this moment, Demiurge and the other Guardians all knelt before Old Bone to apologize.

“Lord Ainz, it is our incompetence that brought shame upon the great Nazarick Great Tomb and upon you, Lord Ainz—please punish us!”

“Please punish us, Lord Ainz!” Xn

Facing the chorus of apologies from Demiurge and the others kneeling before him, Old Bone raised his hand to stop them.

“Don’t take all the blame upon yourselves—this defeat was also due to my own carelessness.”

“But Lord Ainz…”

“No buts. Everyone in this world makes mistakes—even I, whom you call the Supreme Being, am no exception.”

“The key is whether one learns from failure and grows because of it.”

“In this battle, most of the undead who perished were low- to mid-tier—this loss means nothing to Nazarick.”

“Though we lost two priceless World-Class Items, we now clearly understand the true strength of this world—it’s the price we paid for our earlier arrogance.”

“Regarding our plan to conquer the Empire, we must temporarily put it on hold. Due to our earlier carelessness, we underestimated the Third Prince’s strength.”

“From now on, our priority is gathering intelligence on him—only when we are certain will we strike him down in one swift blow!”

After the Battle of Kaz Plain, some among the allied nations did propose directly attacking Nazarick Great Tomb and annihilating Ainz Ooal Gown and his followers.

But the moment this suggestion was made, Shengzai outright rejected it.

Come on—our victory at the Battle of Kaz Plain was pure luck.

I never expected that after barely winning, the Empire and the Church would get so arrogant they’d actually try to storm the entire Nazarick Great Tomb.

The forces Nazarick sent to the battlefield weren’t even their full strength.

Moreover, Nazarick Great Tomb, as Ainz Ooal Gown’s guild stronghold, is itself a fortress.

It contains countless traps and mechanisms set by the Jade Record and Urbert.

Frankly speaking, to capture Nazarick Great Tomb, you’d need at least twice the force of Old Bone’s group.

With their current forces, if they actually chased us to Nazarick, Old Bone would probably welcome them with open arms.

Shengzai understood why the Church and the Empire wanted to eliminate the Magic Kingdom as soon as possible.

The latter feared the Magic Kingdom’s immense threat and dared not let their guard down.

The former, meanwhile, coveted the Magic Kingdom’s staggering wealth and resources.

The Magic Kingdom’s army had been seen by the allied nations—its ruthlessness could only be described as monstrous.

In that single battle alone, the enemy deployed two World-Class Items.

One of them is now Shengzai’s trophy, but the Church firmly believed the Magic Kingdom still possessed more.

Of course, the allied forces were brimming with morale—but when Shengzai declared he would withdraw if they attacked Nazarick Great Tomb, every other nation instantly backed down.

(End of Chapter)