“Good evening, father”, I saluted as I opened the door.  

“What are you doing here? I told you not to show yourself”. The king scolded me, as if he was talking to a little kid.  

“I apologize for my behavior, but I would like to meet my bride”.  

“For what? To scare her away?” He laughed. It was usual for the parents to celebrate an engagement with a couple of drinks; however, the King liked to clean the cellar. And he found a drinking companion in Duke Conwenna. His phrase proved that he was already intoxicate.  

“Father, you underestimate me. I agreed with this marriage because you asked me, and as a prince I have a responsibility with the Kingdom”.  

“Responsibility?” He laughed, again. “The only thing you can do for the kingdom is to get out of the way. What can a cripple like you do? You can’t even get a wife alone”. 

That was easier than we predicted. The country was lost in the hand of such a stupid king.  

“With all due respect, I may have lost my leg’s movements, but I’m still a prince and a legendary general”. 

“Kiddo, you are thinking too much. You were a legendary general”. The duke Conwenna answered with an arrogant smile.  

“You are correct, sir. I was a legendary general. However, that means I’ve already done a lot for my country. I fought and killed for this country...” 

“Enough!”, the king interrupted. “You may have been someone once, but you’re nothing now. Put yourself back in your place. You’re lucky I found someone almost as useless as you to marry. During these last years, you were just an expense, and I’m happy to finally get rid of you. And, to do that, I still had to pay for them to take you. No woman will lay with you unless you pay them, that’s who you are. A good-for-nothing son that brings shame to our family”. 

“That’s not true. I could have found a wife alone; I chose to marry the lady you chose”. As I said those words, the duke snorted. “You laugh sir? You must think I’m insane, but if you gave me two days, I could find someone who would be willing to marry me without any payment. In fact, I could do that in twenty-four hours even”.  

“It seems you’ve lost not only your legs, but also your brain. Even if I gave you ten years, you’d never find such a woman”. Father answered.  

“I’m certain I could find one in less than a day”. 

“Go back to your room! You’re disturbing our guest”. He screamed. 

“Your highness, father, you want the sigil back, right?”. As we talked, Duchess Astrea and I realized that we would need some leverage. Even if they were drunk, we couldn’t just force them to sign some random paper. After a long discussion, we came to the conclusion that this was our best bet. The military sigil has been lost for years, even before I came back from war. There were some leads, but nothing much conclusive. I had some information that I never shared, or, let’s say, I never had the opportunity to share. It wasn’t much, and in any other occasion, if the king was sober, they would only brush it off. But, after some liquor, even that small information could amount to something.  

“As if you could get me that”. The king snorted and the duke accompanied.   

“Maybe. I have some information about it that I never disclosed. So, would you like to make a bet?” 

“Bet on what?” 

“That I can find a wife on my own”. 

“And how long I’ll have to wait for that? A decade? Maybe you can find some prostitute who would like to marry you”.  

“So, what would you give me if I could find a fitting lady, a noble one, that would marry me without any payment? Let’s say... what about a day? Twenty-four hours, to be exact”. 

“Dear prince, if my daughter wasn’t such a useless woman, she wouldn’t have accepted to marry you, even with the reward. Do you really think you can find someone?”, the duke laughed. His arrogance was infuriating, but it made me feel even better about our plan.  

“The wedding will happen in two weeks, if I’m correct. There is no problem if I use this next twenty-four hours for myself”.  

“If you could find a woman to marry you in 24h, I would give you the Kingdom, even”.  

“I would be happy keeping my position as a prince”. Fake humility is the way to go at this moment.  

“Let’s make a bet, you’d lose anyway”. The King answered.  

“I’ll bring the paper. This is important to me”.  

“Bring it. I’ll wait”. After the King agreed, I asked for a loyal servant to bring the contract. I told him before to take his time, as if he was writing it. While we waited, I asked for more alcohol to be brought, to guarantee they would stay drunk.  

“Before we sign, I’d like to propose another term”.  

“Another term? What? More time?”  

That was the only part that was uncertain, but as Astrea suggested it could be our silver bullet against the kingdom.  

“If I have a son, in a year, with the woman I chose, a legitimate heir, I want to be promoted to First General”.  

“A son? Are you seeking a goddess or a saint? Or maybe expecting a miracle?” The stupid men laughed so loudly they sounded like animals.  

“If you think it is such an impossible event, do you agree with the terms?” 

“Another stupid clause won’t change a thing. Just add it”.  

“And you, sir, what about a wedding gift, to this prince?” 

“Whatever you want, your highness”, the duke answered, sarcastically.  

When they signed the document, they didn’t even notice it was a magical contract. After I left the office, I could still hear the king say that if something goes wrong, he would just annul it. How could our country have such a stupid king?