The Prince's Betrothed
The prince studied the girl before him.
Even without sight, the contours of her form took shape in his mind — drawn from the air, the flow of movement, the resonance of sound. She was a lovely girl. Pretty enough in her own right. Her healthy, slender figure held a certain charm of its own. She seemed to have only just begun to show the first signs of womanhood.
That aside, she struck the prince as quite young. No — before even that, he felt no attraction to her as a woman. He himself was not fully aware of it, but part of the reason lay in her slight frame, so different from his own tastes.
"Ah — if you'd like a jewel, shall I give you this?"
Without much thought, the prince slipped the ring from his finger and placed it on the girl's hand.
"Ahh…"
"So that's the Elephant Prince's type?"
"Good grief…"
Sighs rose from every corner. Unfortunately, the prince had no idea whatsoever what his gesture meant. He only stood there like a fool, bewildered by the reactions around him. For someone ordinarily so sharp, it was an extraordinary lapse.
"…"
"Um… you don't like it?"
For some reason, the girl still wore a look of dissatisfaction. He could have simply ignored her then and there, but the prince had always found women difficult. Young as she was, she was still a girl — and the thought that he ought to soothe her rose unbidden in his mind.
He pried the jewels from his clothing and offered them to her. When even that failed to satisfy her, he made to strip off the clothes he was wearing. Only then did the girl smile and stop him.
"That's enough. I don't want jewels so badly that I'd strip the prince of everything he's wearing. If anything, I'd rather adorn you with this body of mine."
"Pardon?"
"I am Yasodhara, princess of Koliya."
"Ah, I see. I am Gotama Siddhartha."
And so, that day, the prince met his betrothed for the first time.
"I made a mistake."
After the banquet, alone with the king, the prince let out a sigh. At the time he had been too flustered to notice — but once a little time had passed and he thought it over, he belatedly realized what he had done.
"It's already too late. In front of everyone, you made a show of peeling off the ring on your finger and even the jewels on your clothes to win the princess's heart."
"…"
"Quite a bold child. She must have known you were unaccustomed to women. The king of Koliya has raised his daughter well. I took a liking to her myself. What about you?"
"She seems fine."
In truth, he did not care either way. He had no one he particularly liked, and he figured that whoever he married would be much the same.
"Why doesn't it matter?!"
To Inanna, it most certainly did. Having watched the entire exchange, she pounded her chest in frustration.
"Why would you give her that? Just ignore her! You're so naive you're being completely played by that cunning little—"
"…"
"Aaaargh!! It's so annoying! So completely annoying!!"
Enki watched from a distance as Inanna shrieked and flailed her arms and legs. He was tired of trying to stop her — but on the other hand, watching her overreact was quietly entertaining.
"Very well. I shall send an envoy to Koliya."
Regardless of all that, the king dispatched a messenger to the foreign king and declared his intent to propose. But the foreign king did not accept the proposal at once.
"Since ancient times, our house has taken only the strongest man as son-in-law. We cannot send our daughter based solely on inherited power or wealth. We ask that you understand — we have no way of knowing what kind of man a crown prince who has barely set foot outside truly is. We shall hold a martial tournament. Should you win it fairly and squarely, we will prepare a bridal palanquin with all due ceremony."
At the foreign king's words, the king nearly erupted in fury. He did not care for the tone of "granting an opportunity" — as if the other side were the one doing him a favor.
"How dare he! What does he take our Shakya Kingdom for?! He came to the banquet gladly enough to court us — and now he changes his tune?"
"I would like you to accept."
The prince, by contrast, showed interest in the foreign king's proposal.
"What do you mean by that?"
"I don't think there's any need to push back. And besides — all I have to do is win everything, right?"
The king looked at his son. It was the first time he had known his boy could wear such an expression.
"…You're confident? This is not simply a matter of whether the marriage happens or not. If you enter the tournament and lose, people will look down not only on you, but on our entire nation."
"I know what responsibility and duty mean — you've always spoken of them, Father. On the other hand, if I smash their scheme head-on, wouldn't that elevate the renown of both you and our Shakya Kingdom?"
"…"
"If you still find me unreliable, why not trust the words of the sage from long ago? If I cannot even resolve a matter this small, how could I ever become a great king?"
"…When you put it that way, you leave me with nothing to say."
In the end, the king accepted the foreign king's proposal.
"Why go to all this trouble, Father?"
The princess asked her father.
"You were going to form an alliance with the Shakya Kingdom anyway, weren't you? Was there really any need to provoke the king of Shakya by holding a tournament like this?"
At his clever daughter's question, the foreign king nodded readily.
"It is rather dangerous, yes. But it was a father's wish — to marry you to a man strong enough that I could truly entrust you to him."
"If that was the plan, you shouldn't have told me to accept jewels from the Elephant Prince in the first place."
The princess puffed out her cheeks in a sulk. She knew her father well. Quite apart from being a king, he was capricious, and in more ways than one, impossible to read.
"What's the matter? Are you afraid you might end up marrying someone else?"
"Th-that's not—"
"As if I wouldn't know my own daughter. Do you think I can't see that you've fallen for the Elephant Prince?"
"Ugh…"
It was true. The princess had fallen for the Elephant Prince. He was, after all, remarkably handsome. Beyond that, there was a strangely mysterious air about him that drew her interest.
"Still, don't worry. If my guess is right, the Elephant Prince will take the championship."
"…You sensed something strange about him, didn't you? And this tournament is to confirm it?"
The foreign king did not answer. He merely chuckled and laughed it off. The princess looked at her father with open disapproval.
People did not know much about the prince. He had almost never engaged in public affairs, and even when he suppressed bands of bandits, he had concealed his identity. Precisely because of that, much about him was shrouded in mystery.
So that's the Elephant Prince?
As the referee made the introductions, Mahanama stepped out into the arena. Mahanama was a renowned warrior of his generation. He had mastered the Four-Image Martial Arts at a relatively young age, and had built no small reputation through minor wars and the suppression of bandits. But "young" was only relative — in truth, the age gap between him and the princess was considerable. Of course, in a distant future, an older man chasing a young woman would draw scornful fingers, but that was not yet the case in this era.
For the first time, he faced the Elephant Prince of whom so many rumors swirled. A youth far younger than himself. Rare silver hair and refined features. A solid, well-built body that stood in contrast to them. His first impression, frankly, was that the boy was irritating.
Why he was called the "Elephant Prince" had never been clearly established. Some said that when the queen was pregnant with him, she dreamed of an elephant entering her chambers. Others claimed he possessed a certain… implement so magnificent it called an elephant to mind. There were even those who said he simply looked like one.
"A pleasure to meet you."
From the first meeting, the prince spoke down to him. Given rank alone, a crown prince and heir to a kingdom stood higher, so it was not strange. Still, having a smug-looking young brat do it somehow grated.
"…Why an elephant?"
The question was not meant to needle him. He was simply, genuinely curious. At Mahanama's question, the prince flinched for some reason, looking flustered.
"…I don't know either."
Was it his imagination? The prince seemed a little annoyed.
"Then — begin!"
The referee's signal fell. Mahanama approached slowly, intending to test the waters — but the prince was far faster. Before he knew it, the prince was upon him, shoving Mahanama's chest and sweeping his leg.
"Wha—?"
Thud.
Mahanama's body toppled with absurd ease.
"Take this seriously. That can't be all you've got."
The prince looked down at him with clouded eyes. The rumor that he could not see appeared to be true.