Inheriting a Lost Bloodline, My First Task is to have heirs?!-Chapter 665 - A Generous Dowry (Part 1)

Since the meeting has been adjourned, I asked for the pope and Clarence to come to my room for a private chat for my soon-to-be husband and grandfather-in-law. The elders conscientiously excused themselves to complete their tasks for the day. Some of the paladins intended to follow the three of us but they were told to stand back and not follow by the pope himself.

They looked at the three of us in confusion as if not understanding why they were suddenly not needed. I smiled at the small group of paladins and asked them to return to their quarters and decide amongst themselves who will be accompanying me to forage and hunt in the forests early tomorrow.

The task surprised the paladins who looked at each other excitedly. I then added that they can decide how many paladins will accompany me and also look for a bunch of their foragers that are willing to join. I simply told them that the goal was to bring back as many resources as possible during the short excursion.

Having a task to complete themselves, the group of paladins reluctantly went on their way back to their quarters. As for the three of us, we went our way to my assigned room on the second floor.

As we went out of the door, Yves was standing alertly next to it. Was he waiting for us to finish all this time and just standing here?

I greeted Yves with a smile and asked if he has been waiting for too long. As expected, the young boy just smiled and shook his head though it was obvious that he is trying to move his legs around to stop them from getting numb.

I told him that the three of us will be having a private talk in my drawing room and that if he could get us some snack and refreshments. I told him to bring it over after about half an hour.

The boy nodded his head enthusiastically and ran towards the direction of the dining hall as if his legs weren’t hurting just earlier. The pope has a fond smile on his face as he told me that the boy was given to them by an orphanage who could no longer handle another newborn child so he grew up in this temple as well like the other children.

Clarence on the other hand focused on something else as he asked, "Where will I be sleeping now that you are here in the temple?" The pope choked at his grandson’s blunt question then I simply blurted, "In your own room, of course." followed by a hearty laugh to tease the man further.

Clarence immediately pulled on my clothes, acting like a child and complained, "No! I want to sleep in your room. I want to be with-" His complaints were cut abruptly as the pope that there was no such word hit him on the back of his head.

Clarence turned his head abruptly, anger visible on his face as he looked at his own grandfather. The pope looked at him with angry widened eyes while Clarence glared back with an equal level of anger.

To ease the tension, I spoke in a soft tone, "If you sleep in my room now, I will think that you are already offering yourself to me. Does that mean that we won’t need to get married after three days since you want to go straight to the honeymoon anyways?"

Clarence slowly turned his head towards me and instead of anger, he looked like he was about to cry due to some grievance. He then asked in a soft voice, "So you are only marrying me for my body?"

I looked at him with a raised eyebrow but then I couldn’t help but laugh out loud. I answered to tease him further, "I already have many other bodies I could have anytime. Why would I want yours in particular?"

This time, his tears indeed started falling and he sniffed. He then said, "Does that mean you really did not like me? You were just forced to come here? Is it my grandfather that convinced you to just pity and accept me?"

Huh? Where did this dramatic plot of his come from?

I just realized that Clarence was raised in such a serious and strict environment. He is quite naive of the usual plots in people’s heads and underlying meanings of people’s words. To make it simple, he is the type that I can’t tease since he believes everything I say as truth and he can’t differentiate if I was just joking or being sarcastic as to when I am saying something serious.

I am feeling the beginning of yet another migraine-inducing husband in the making. Before he could even overthink any further, I grabbed Clarence’s cheeks with both my hands and then gave him a chaste kiss but lingering kiss on the lips. Even the pope was surprised at the blatant show of affection in front of him but I couldn’t care less as long as this guy stops being dramatic.

The kiss has successfully solved the crisis as my man looked dazed with a silly giddy smile on his smile. I then told the pope if there was a culture of a dowry when a priest gets married and he immediately said there wasn’t one. He did tell me he was familiar with it since most nobility and rich households have such arrangements whenever their children get married.

He then looked at me in confusion as he added, "It is the parents of the man who brings dowry to the family of the woman. It is also a measure of how much power he will hold in the household especially if there are already other husbands accepted before him."

I smiled at the pope and replied, "Oh! It is different in my family. I never asked for dowry from any of my husbands’ families. I am the one who gives them gifts which is technically like a dowry from me instead."

The pope immediately tried to decline the idea since they were a separate entity and are technically not part of the rich or the nobility. I acted like a child and pouted then told him that I have already prepared everything. I gave him a hint that it was not money, gems and are technically not expensive. I told him that it was a well-thought gift that was more of a mix of several items that I think my husband’s family will appreciate.

With that statement, it became really hard for the pope to say "no" further to my gifts. I told him that it is a secret to everybody for now so I opted to discuss it inside my room with just the three of us.