Villain : I reincarnated as a Prince! Shouldn't I have a Harem?

"How would my gift look if I went now? I'll be laughed off and compared to the second prince"

Almost every remaining prince and princess had the same thought running through their heads, making them nervous and unable to take the stage.

They wanted someone else to take the brunt of the ridicule and they could follow later.

If they went right now, they knew that their gift would be compared to both previous gifts and they'd be embarrassed.

And which royal child wanted to face that kind of treatment?

The grand minister also found the silence awkward.

Even after his announcement, no one had occupied the stage.

How would that reflect on the emperor's reputation?

He couldn't let that happen as he spoke: "Has none of the remaining prince or princess had brought a gift to present to the emperor?"

He directed all the attention to the royal children of the emperor, asking a question that would hit their reputation.

If none of them came out, he would move on and treat it as if they hadn't prepared a gift for the emperor.

Not even presenting a gift was worse than giving a bad gift.

However, even knowing that no one wanted to rush to the stage. They didn't want to make a clown out of themselves and let their siblings take advantage of their sacrifice.

Right now, the most pressure was on the third princess since she was the eldest among the remaining bunch.

She should lead with an example and make the sacrifice, however, today was her big debut. If she was ridiculed in front of everyone, that would make her debut a nightmare, a stigma on her name.

The tension was building up each and every second that passed.

Each of them wanted someone to take the stage, no matter whom, just someone other than themselves.

At this moment, someone left their gallery, flying to the stage calmly.

"Princess look, someone has taken the stage." Xue Nanxi nudged the princess, who had already tensed up and was about to leave for the stage.

As soon as she heard Nanxi's words, her body relaxed as she sat back down.

"Who is it?" She asked.

She wanted to know who was that was making such a noble sacrifice.

"It's... the ninth prince," she replied.

"What?" The princess exclaimed in surprise before directing her attention to the stage.

"But why would he do that? He should care the least about this." She wondered, continuing to observe him.

He was standing on the stage confidently with a long wooden box floating beside him.

The grand minister was slightly surprised to see him, not even recognizing him at first.

It was only due to the banner on the gallery from which he had flown out that the grand minister guessed his identity.

"I welcome you, Ninth Prince. It is truly rare to see you presenting your gift when you are the second youngest among the children of the emperor. I didn't expect you to be the one to present his gift after the second prince."

This all was a taunt to the other princes and princesses.

He was talking about his age and his expectations to highlight the cowardice of the other royalty.

It sounded as if a child had the courage to do something that even an adult was afraid to do.

A slight smile played upon his lips on Ashen's lips in response to his words.

He respectfully bowed as he spoke: "I apologize for breaking your expectations, Grand Minister, however, I was tired of waiting and since no one took the stage, I found myself unable to contain myself from jumping to the stage."

There was a mocking underline in his words here that the grand minister understood clearly.

Though it sounded filled with respect and nothing wrong with his words.

However, if one were to pay attention, he started by apologizing to the grand minister for breaking his expectations, highlighting the fact that he was underestimating Ashen just because of his age, not taking him seriously. Your next journey awaits at My Virtual Library Empire

Secondly, He also highlighted that no one was taking the stage.

This undermined both the grand minister's authority since he was the one announcing and no one even cared to follow his words.

He appeared like a fool to wait and speak when no one appeared, creating an awkward environment.

This also insulted his siblings who couldn't even take the stage.

Lastly, he represented the audience, and everyone to express their opinion that they were tired of waiting and just needed someone to take the stage.

"Ahem..." Deciding to keep quiet about the hidden meaning in his words, the grand minister continued: "You can present your gift."

"Thank you, my lord minister." He nodded as he continued: "For His Majesty, the emperor, I have prepared..."

He held the box on top of his right hand before opening the top, revealing the gift inside.

"This Low level, Saint grade weapon, The heavenly thunder sword!" He announced.

And as soon as those words left his mouth, everyone's eyes opened wide in disbelief.

"What, A low level, Saint grade weapon? Why is he gifting such a treasure away?"

"But how did he get one? Aren't they a rare treasure, even for the empire?"

"It is even of the lightning path, suitable for the emperor. All the other weapons of this grade that our empire has are of different paths. If he really gifts this, he'll come out on the top in this event."

Even the grand minister was unable to believe if he was hearing correctly:

"Low-level Saint grade? Ninth Prince, are you sure about this?" He asked.

A low-level saint-grade weapon the highest grade of weapon that any empire had. Even in their empire's treasury, only three weapons of this grade could be found.

Even if Ashen had this weapon, why gift it to the emperor?

He wasn't even in the succession fight.

He could easily give a low-level gift and be done with it, but parting with such a treasure, even the grand minister had a hard time believing this.

Even the emperor, who hadn't spoken a word till now couldn't hide his surprise and doubt.

"Son, how did you acquire this sword? According to what I have heard, the Shang clan doesn't support you and I can only think of them possessing such a weapon."

Narrowing his eyes, he asked: "Has something changed that I don't know about?"

His voice was deep and heavy, rumbling like thunder in the arena.

His words obviously attracted everyone's attention.

Everyone paid attention to Ashen, waiting for his answer.

Ashen nodded: "Yes, Your Majesty! There are many things that have changed. If I may have your permission, I'd like to correct some incorrect information that you and everyone here may have received about me."

Without hesitation, the emperor nodded: "Go Ahead."

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(A/N - Thanks for reading. ^..^)