"Simply, this union will never be accepted by the kingdom." he said.
"However, if the crown prince is so obsessed with the Rivethans family, there is a much better choice of wife for him." Endrick smiled.
"You mean your daughter?" Endron replied, he was not dumb; what a scoundrel this man standing before him was.
They had not even concluded the matter of the espousal of his son and his daughter too long ago and he was already offering the girl on a silver platter.
"Of course, not only is she a wonderful choice, but she is cultured, well mannered, beautiful, and most of all, there is no stigma of her father to follow her reputation." he smiled.
"You must truly be insane if you think his majesty would agree to such a proposal with how furious he is with your family." Endron replied causing Endrick to frown.
"Well his majesty should consider my goodwill, it is better to control someone as obedient as my daughter than that bloody murderer's rebellious daughter!"
"And what makes you so sure his majesty would even consider this?" Endron asked.
"You will be the one to suggest this to him, he will accept it better coming from you."
"You know Lord Endrick, that is rather bold of you to assume." Endron said meancingly.
"No, what is bold of you is not upholding our deal as you were supposed to." Endrick replied. "You know, I could take you to court for such a thing."
"Is that a threat?" Endron narrowed his eyes.
"No, consider it a warning, the least you could do for me is suggest this slight change in plans to his majesty." Endrick smiled.
"You are nothing but a gluttonous swine." Endron spat out. "I am certain now that greediness runs in your family."
Endrick simply smiled, he was not offended one bit by Endron's insult.
"Say whatever you want, if you do not approach the king on my behalf, we will see in court on the first day of the week." Endrick simply smiled.
"We know how just our king is, he will surely hear my matter, even though it concerns his chief guard." Endrick smiled threateningly.
"I make no promises, the king absolutely loathes your family, however, I will speak to him on your behalf, does that make you happy?"
"I am perfectly happy." Endrick replied smiling.
"Let me make it clear to you that I am not doing this because I am scared of your accusation in court." he said. "But I would prefer to refrain from stressing his majesty even more at this delicate time with a petty case that will be solved in a matter of minutes."
"I knew your respect for his majesty would prove perfect." Endrick smiled.
"Now, get out of here, this will be the very last time you and I ever speak." he said furiously.
"As you please, just make sure you do what you have said you will do." Endrick stated clearly before taking his depature.
Endron scoffed at his retreating figure, Phillip was right, this family was not one to be associated with. They were all a bunch of greedy people, every single one of them.
...
Phillip had his head on his desk, he raised it up when he heard a knock on the door.
"Who is it?" he asked.
"It is me my king." Endron replied.
"Come in."
"Are you alright my king?" Endron asked as he walked into the room Phillip reverted to his previous position.
"I am not alright, Ian is upset with me, and I am sure the underlying issue behind his erratic behaviour is because of his mother." Phillip groaned as Endron sat down across him.
"That is to be expected, he is not the type of person that speaks of his emotions." Phillip replied.
"Just like his mother..." Phillip sighed shaking his head. Had it been anyone else that had walked into his office, he would have composed himself, but it was Endron, his closest friend and confidant, he could show his true nature in front of him.
"So, what are you going to do?"
"There is nothing I can do, Ian has warned me sternly, and I do not want to make him any more upset, he tends to do incautious when he is upset." Phillip raised his head noticing the grave expression on Endron's face.
"What is the matter with you?" he asked.
"I take it that we both agree that this marriage to Viscount Dariel's daughter is unacceptable." Endron said.
"Yes it is, however, I sense that is not what is on your mind." Phillip said.
"You are right, what happened is Lord Endrick came here in search of me, he threatened to take me to court for not upholding the agreement of espousal between our children."
"That vile man, the effrontery he has to threaten you within my own walls!" Phillip exclaimed.
"It is to be expected, but what I did not expect was his new proposal." Endron sighed.
"Which is?"
"He proposed that if Ian is insistent of marrying from the Rivethans, there is a much better choice." he said.
"Do not tell me you are saying what I think you are saying." Phillip replied.
"Yes, Lord Endrick proposes that you find some way to convince Ian to marry his daughter instead of Viscount Dariel's daughter." he said.
"This is unbelievable, is every single person in that family extremely greedy?" Phillip asked shocked.
"I presume they are Phillip, every single one of them." Endron replied. Phillip sighed, they had to be the worst family in the entire kingdom.
"As absurd and unacceptable that man is, he is right to some extent." Phillip said.
"I would rather accept his daughter as a daughter in law instead of Dariel's daughter." he admitted.
"Really?" Endron asked surprised.
"Yes, because Dariel is an outcast, a proposed murderer, definitely any child of his will be like him." he said.
"As greedy as Lord Endrick is, his greed as levels, his brother is certainly more greedy than he, and I prefer his daughter than Dariel's daughter."
"Are you actually considering his proposal?" Endron asked.
"I cannot even consider it if I wanted to. Ian warned me sternly not to dare try to change his plans, or else." Phillip exhaled.
"And you are going to respect his wishes?"
"I have no other choice my friend, he is upset with me for a valid reason, and the last thing I want is that he resents me for the rest of his life and mine." Endron nodded, he of all people knew how much Phillip cared for his son.
"With all due respect Phillip, I believe you brought this problem on yourself when you gave him the free choice to chose a wife." Endron said.
"Can you blame me? I also had the free choice to chose his mother, and I did... I just wanted to give him the same choices I had."
"Unfortunately, it has had an adverse effect than I intended it to."
"Then what do you wish for me to do?" Endron asked.
"Well firstly, I want you to make sure that you inform that insolent man that his proposal is absurd and he should refrain from using his daughter as an object to be sold." Phillip said as Endron nodded.
"Consider it done."
"Secondly, I want you to find out how Ian met with Dariel's daughter in the first place, make sure you know what happened, I want to make sure that girl has not bewitched my son."
"I will make sure to find out everything and anything I can." he replied.
"Good, now I must prepare for a dinner with guests I never invited." Phillip said exasperated.
"The entire family will be present?" Endron asked.
"Of course they will, we are to meet each other's families." he replied irritated.
"Well, I bid you good luck, and give me some time to find out how they met." he responded.
"You can take as much time as you need, just make sure you find out everything I need to know, and make sure you find out information about that girl, what does she do? What is her reputation, is she a loose woman? I need all this so I can convince Ian not to marry her."
"If you manage to succeed, what will happen to the invitations that have already been sent out?" Endron asked.
"I will either cancel the wedding, or if Ian heeds to me words, I can find him a suitable wife and the wedding will go on as planned." he replied.
"I see... well I wish you luck with that dinner tomorrow." Endron said.
"Thank you my friend, I require all the luck I can get, my son is really making me upset." he replied tiredly.
"I am sure he will calm down after a few days, the weight of his decision is still boiling in his body, he should be able to think reasonably soon. I am sure of it, he will."
"I hope so Endron, I really hope so." Phillip groaned.