Legend: Season One by Nick Venom (best management books of all time .txt) 📕

“First, I thank you for keeping my daughter safe. It seems like the legend was true. Second, I will permit the young child to remain in the castle. Third, I will be hosting a party for Ariana as she will be arriving at the age of sixteen soon. This party will introduce her to noble boys from all over the kingdom. She’ll pick one of the boys as her suitable candidate and will, eventually, marry him. Once the wedding is finalized,  you’ll be freed from your duties. You can choose to return home or stay in the castle.”

Home, Ace thought. He looked down at Teresa’s fearful eyes. Do I want to return home? He then looked up at Mason. “What would happen to Teresa if I choose to leave?”

“She will remain here until she matures. Once she does, she’ll have the option to do whatever she chooses. If she chooses to remain here, become an adventurer, or find the love of her life and settle down.”

“You’re leaving?” Teresa remarked, tears bubbling at the corner of her eyes.

Ace shook his head and grabbed her hands, smaller than his hands by a long shot. “I won’t be leaving you.” I adopted her and promised her a lot, but here I am, not backing it up. What a disgrace, Ace thought. His thoughts echoed and bounced around in his head. “I will always be by your side,” He said as he crouched down to meet her height. 

“Your promise?” She asked.

“Of course,”

“Pinkie promise?” She asked while holding out her, extremely, pink pinkie. Ace nearly fainted at her innocence, smiling with affectionate eyes. 

“Yeah, pinkie promise.” He said as he interlocked his pinkie with her’s. Teresa’s tears dried up, leaving a smile in its wake. I’m going to stay here for a while for sure, he thought. “I will be by your side at all times.”

TBC...

The day of Ariana’s matchmaking party arrived with haste. To prepare, Ronx and Catrina dressed up Teresa and Ace in fancy clothing. Ace wore a tuxedo while Teresa was dressed in a light blue blouse. Catrina and another maid, Jinx, led them to the main room where the nobles and Mason waited for the arrival of the party’s attention. The room was packed with furniture alongside the walls. The empty grand stairway, which was large in diameter and resembled a fairy tale, led to Ariana’s room and, in the opposite direction, led to the front door; two white doors with a red stripe in the middle. 

Mason noticed Ace and waved him over. Ace took Teresa along with him. He held her hand to prevent losing her in the dense crowd. 

Ace arrived at Mason’s table, a large wooden table with the length extending past ten feet, and had a red cloth covering the top. Mason dismissed the people that were chatting with him, pushing glares towards Ace. “May I get your attention!” His voice boomed, echoing off the walls. “Today is the day that my daughter will be engaged. That alone is enough to warrant a great celebration, but, before we do that, I have someone to introduce you all to.” He then motioned towards Ace and Teresa. “The young man here is the bodyguard that has arrived from another world. His strength can overwhelm anybody here as he’s from the legendary tale.” Many scattered gasps popped out of different sections of the room. “Standing next to him is his adoptive daughter. They are guests to our kingdom and must be respected by my citizens as he will be protecting the royal bloodline.” He then motioned towards the crowd near him. “For the candidates that wish to wed my daughter then you’ll, also, need the blessings of Ace. If he does not deem you suitable then you will not be allowed to marry Ariana. Do remember that rank and status will not affect Ace, Ariana, or me, so please refrain from abusing it or suffer expulsion.” Mason declared, his voice overwhelming the crowd and installing fear into the weaker ones. He then looked over at Ace and winked at him, turning towards him. “I apologize for the sudden pressure, but I’ll need to weed out the candidates that wish to use my daughter for her title. If you also oversee the candidates, then I won’t have to worry about any of them using any disgraceful methods to enter the royal family.” He said before letting out a small chuckle. 

“The pressure is slightly overwhelming...” Ace remarked, glancing at the stares directed at him. “... but I’ll be okay with it. Anyways, will Ariana’s husband be in power or will it be Ariana?”

“Ariana will be in power. Usually, the man would take up the power and responsibilities of the crown, but I fear that her husband may misuse the power.”

“Can a woman be the ruler or is it allowed in your rules thingy?”

“Any gender can be a ruler, but who becomes the ruler depends on the previous ruler or the elder. In this case, I am the previous ruler and elder, giving me the choice to pick whoever will be the next ruler.” Ronx then walked over to Mason and whispered into his ear. Mason nodded and dismissed Ronx. “It seems like it’s time to reveal her.” He declared. He then faced the crowd and cleared his throat before announcing to them. “I welcome the next ruler of the Great Wolfstein kingdom and fair maiden, Princess Ariana!” He shouted. Ariana’s doors slowly opened, revealing Ariana to the crowd. 

TBC…

Ariana emerged from her room, wearing a gorgeous pink floral dress that went down to her knees, resembling a wedding dress. She wore white high heels and held a golden crown with rubies embedded in it. She stood at the top of the stairs overlooking the party with Catrina, Jinx, and two other maids lined up behind her. She took her time walking down the steps; the crowd speechless and watching with starved eyes, filling their brains with Ariana’s beauty as it overwhelmed the atmosphere. Nobody dared to move a muscle. The candidates’ jaws fell open as they watched her transcend onto the ground floor. She stopped at the bottom of the stairs and struck a model pose, which Ace wasn’t a fan of. “Where I came from, they’re a saying that you can’t put lipstick on a pig.”

“What does that mean?” Teresa asked him.

“It means that no matter what somebody wears, they will always be ugly. Ariana is a perfect case of that.” He whispered to Teresa. “She can wear the fanciest and stylish dress, but she isn’t any better than a woman dressed in tattered brown cloth.” His voice echoed around the room, catching the attention of everybody in the room. Mason looked at Ace and shook his head, disappointed at his distasteful words directed at his daughter. Ariana heard him and stomped towards him.

“What was that,  Ace? You got a problem with me?” Ariana asked. Ace looked around and noticed that everybody except for Mason was glaring at him and Teresa. 

I’ll stop here or else I won’t be making it out of the castle alive, Ace jokingly thought. “Nope, just a joke from my world. It seems like the context of my joke is different compared to my world.” He retorted. She glared at him before walking off to, reluctantly, greet the candidates. 

Mason cleared his throat, attracting the attention of everybody in the room. “I will announce the candidates!” He announced. The room fell silent, allowing Mason to rattle off the names of the candidates.

“Liam Tanu, Zach Wolf, Kent Diam, Aver Wing, Rock Porento, and Ex Minder.” A total of six candidates held the chance of becoming Ariana’s husband and entering the royal family. The position of king didn’t grant the candidates any power as they will act more like the queen’s puppet, however, the king will receive benefits that are directed towards his family, ensuring their freedom, and a bump up in their title. 

There are also potential connections one could get as the king, allowing his family to have chances of gathering benefits from the connections. Ariana, on the other hand, will hold the most responsibilities as the ruler of the kingdom alongside the responsibility of continuing the bloodline through bearing an heir. “Ariana will be choosing her future husband and will not be persuaded with money or power! A reminder to any individuals that intend on pursuing Ariana with money or your title will be expelled from the kingdom!” Mason declared. Ariana continued her conversations with the candidates while Mason chatted with some influential people of the kingdom. Catrina walked around the crowd, serving drinks to the partygoers. Ace looked around the party, mingling with the party with Teresa in tow. She didn’t want to leave Ace’s side. 

Ace smiled as he looked around the party. “Do I still want to leave this world?” He asked himself, in a whisper, faint enough for Teresa to not hear. “Is this world better?”

TBC…

Ariana picked a suitor that she fancied. She introduced the candidate to Mason and Ace. The candidate kneeled in their presence, bowing his head. “My name is Aver Wing and it’s an honor to be in your presence.” 

“This is the man you picked?” Ace asked, looking at Aver up-and-down. 

“Be nice,” remarked Mason.

“Sure, sure, sure,” Ace muttered, staring at a clump