Raised From The Wild-Chapter 267: She Is My Girl Friend

"I do not approve of it." Prince Ibarra roared.

Marx remained unfazed. He understood where Prince Ibarra was coming from. If he had a daughter, he wouldn’t make it easy for anyone to snatch his daughter away from him, too.

Prince Ibarra’s reaction was normal for a father who loved his daughter. But the crown prince was not Amaya’s biological father.

Was it possible that he was treating Princess Amaya as his daughter wholeheartedly?

Could it be because Ibrahim was his twin brother, and they shared the same genes?

Could it be that Prince Ibarra still felt guilty for betraying Ibrahim that he was atoning for his sins?

"Calm down, my Son. It is just a girlfriend. It is not a fiancee yet." King Duncan sounded annoyed.

The king checked Marx out for the nth time. He could not find any fault in him, except that he was older than Amaya and not from the Royal family. However, these were the most difficult hurdles that Marx had to resolve.

"Marx is a good person. He protected Amaya well. I think he is suited to be Amaya’s girlfriend." King Duncan declared.

"Father," Prince Ibarra protested, "Amaya is only eighteen and has just returned to us." He distinctly recalled his father using these reasons when he rejected King Ralden’s marriage proposal for Amaya. Why was he suddenly behaving differently now?

"So what! You are making it too complicated. It is just a girlfriend. Don’t you remember that you had your first girlfriend when you were 14? And you changed girlfriends every quarter." King Duncan snapped.

Prince Ibarra blushed. Even the tip of his ears turned pink.

"But I am a man, and Amaya is a woman! It is different when you are a man." Prince Ibarra was almost yelling.

"Stop making a fuss. You are too old to do that. Let them cultivate their relationship." King Duncan reprimanded his son.

Marx was taken aback as he couldn’t believe his eyes. Had King Duncan really agreed to have Amaya as his girlfriend? A sudden grin spread across Marx’s face as he observed King Duncan. His eyes sparkled with a glint that made them resemble a captivating pair of sapphires.

"I am honored by your trust, Your Majesty. I assure you that I will take excellent care of Amaya. Once she completes her college studies, I will seek your permission to marry her."

Prince Ibarra thought he heard a joke. "What did you say? Repeat it."

"When the time is ripe, Your Highness, I will formally request her hand in marriage," Marx reiterated with the utmost courtesy.

"Ah, that is still a long way to go. Don’t overthink about it, Ibarra." King Duncan’s voice sounded firm. Prince Ibarra knew his father did not want to continue the discussion.

"Yes, Father." Prince Ibarra replied respectfully, but his fists were clenched.

...

Marx joined the Royal Family during their dinner. He was seated beside Amaya.

The young Yohan was a chatterbox. He asked to be seated on the other side of Amaya and did his best to make her smile.

With a delectable spread before them, Marx and Amaya had a big appetite. They hadn’t had good food in the last few meals, and being served an imperial feast made Amaya eat fast.

"Princess Amaya, where are your manners? There is a lot of food. Why is it like you are scared that your food will be snatched? Try to eat elegantly like a Princess." Princess Consort Nelida reprimanded her. She acted like she cared about her niece and looked out for her.

"I did not have a good meal in the last two days, Aunt Nelida. I am just hungry." After replying, she focused back on eating.

"Just let her be, Nelida. It is okay for the children to act like that." King Duncan said.

The Princess Consort gritted her teeth but she could do nothing under the circumstances.

After dinner, Marx excused himself and went to the gazebo in the North Garden. He made a call to Usturia.

"Hello, Grandpa," Marx said in a doting tone.

"You finally remembered that you have your family here. It is so nice of you to call." His grandfather’s voice was full of sarcasm.

"Come back here and take control of the Skylar Conglomerate," Hendrix commanded Marx.

"Grandpa, your other grandson is taking care of it. Didn’t he boast he can do a better job than me?"

"He is messing up. If not for your father and me stepping in, the company would be in trouble. Didn’t Karl get in touch with you?"

"I did not take his calls nor read his messages. I am on vacation. Grandpa, I don’t want to go back. I want to take a mission." Marx said casually.

"What did you say?" The old man’s voice sounded more hoarse.

"I just sent you a few photos and a video. The password to open the folder is the name of the first pet that you gave me. Call me back after you have seen the video and the photos."

Marx ended the call. He leaned on the gazebo railing and studied the koi fish that swam in the pond below. The pond has very good lighting and looked romantic during the night.

After ten minutes, his cell phone rang.

"Hello, Grandpa."

"What the hell was that? How did you get those photos and videos? Are those authentic, or did someone with a wild imagination use CGI and create those videos and photos?" The old man suddenly became energetic as he spoke very fast and spewed out so many words.

"Grandpa, weren’t you the one who taught me about genetic mutation? You were also the one to tell me stories about Dark Phoenix and Operation Unicorn..."

The man at the other end of the line interrupted him.

"Are you saying that the Dark Phoenix is responsible for creating these creatures?" Hendrix’s voice was an octave higher.

"It is only my guess, Grandpa."

"But the organization was already wiped out ten years ago."

"Grandpa, what if it was not wiped out? There are survivors who rebuilt the organization from the remnant that was left."

Marx heard a long sigh from the other end of the line.

"Don’t worry, we will definitely look into this matter. Are you sure that you did not find any traces of biological weapons on that mountain?"

The crease on Marx’s forehead deepened. They were escaping and fighting. How can he think about other things? When he really thought about it, he couldn’t remember a clue that would point out that there was a biological weapon in Mount Paraiso.

"I don’t think they have biological weapons in that mountain, Grandpa. They have created highly intelligent half-human animals and some of them are highly poisonous but I did not see any biological weapon."

"Alright,’ his grandfather said on the other line.

"Grandpa, I don’t want to come back yet."

Hendrix clutched the phone he was holding tightly.

"Is it because of that girl, right? You don’t want to leave her? You are just using the mission as your excuse."

Marx chuckled. His grandfather knew him better than his father.

"What if I refused? I can send someone else. I need you to manage the conglomerate." the voice from the other line sounded stern.

"Grandpa, it is not good for your health to stay at home and do nothing. It is easy for your brain cells to die if you have no problems to solve. You are only in your early sixties. Why not go back to the company and manage it? Your good grandson can be your handyman."

"Stephen is good, but you are outstanding Marx." Hendrix sighed.

"But you are the best, Grandpa. I am pretty sure that you can mentor Stephen and he can be outstanding. He is Father’s firstborn after all. If not him, then there is still Karl."

Marx paused. His eyes darkened. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

"I do think that taking a mission is the best thing that I should do. The business empire that you built will be at risk if peace in Usturia is disrupted." Marx tried to use his grandfather’s weakness against him. There is nothing more important to Hendrix than his business empire.

Hendrix signed deeply. His grandson was very scheming. He knew the correct buttons to push. He remembered the time they met with Fiona and Governor Chase. He made breaking off the engagement appear beneficial to Fiona in the eyes of the Governor.

"Alright. I will announce that you will take an extended leave of one and a half years. You should finish the mission during this time. You have to share your report on a weekly basis. If you fail to do so, I will call you back." Hendrix said gloomily. He felt that his grandson had manipulated him but he agreed with him that there was no better person who could do the mission other than Marx.

Hendrix was still clutching his cell phone in his hand. If only that man had not died years ago, then he would never agree that his grandson should risk his life by taking a dangerous mission.

He dialed a number that he hadn’t called for a long time.

"Arrange an emergency meeting with the supremos of the Alliance."