Excellent Omen, A Match Made in Heaven

Everyone was looking at each other, nobody saying a word.

"During the past century, he led a bunch of demon soldiers and hid out in the Wildlands Tribulation Thunder Array," Brandon Xiao said. "There were rumors he slaughtered cities and caused chaos. But in reality, he wasn't the culprit—it was... Lord Noctis."

He looked at Noctis: "Lord Noctis, can you explain yourself?"

Noctis: "Yeah, I did slaughter those cities! But why should I explain myself to you?"

"Noctis!" Tanya called, her voice half teasing, half exasperated. "Come on, spill it—what's your excuse this time?"

Noctis turned to Tanya with a grin so sweet it could rot teeth: "Tanya, are you bossing me around as the Divine Lord—or as my future wife?"

Tanya turned pink, coughed into her hand, and shot Noctis a look that said, 'Behave!' but stayed silent.

"Look at this, Tanya," Noctis spread his arms wide, "the whole hall's packed, the mood's festive—why not just marry me now and save everyone the suspense? If you say yes, I'll be your loyal puppy: you say 'talk,' I talk!"

"No way!" Tanya didn't say anything, but the elder who threatened suicide earlier jumped up and shouted, "The Divine Lord must never marry you! Not even as a consort!"

Noctis's eyes flashed dangerously: "Didn't you swear you'd off yourself if Liam Leshan was shady? Well, he's shady—so what's the holdup? Are you waiting for applause?"

"Even if I die, I won't let you become the Divine Lord's Imperial Consort!" the elder shouted.

"Exactly!" The elders piped up, voices dripping with drama: "Divine Lord, remember Emperor Ray Quinn’s disaster! An emperor and demon mix? Recipe for a cosmic smackdown! Heaven itself will throw the book at you!"

Noctis’s gaze went sharp as a blade: "So now you’re saying Emperor Ray Quinn got a celestial slapdown, huh?"

"No, what I mean is—"

"I know exactly what you mean!" Divine Lord Tanya cut them off. "Emperor Ray Quinn was trapped by omens and divination. So let's do the same—Noctis and I will cast a hexagram. If the omen's bad, we'll drop it! If it's fine... I'll take Noctis as my Imperial Consort. After all, he just did us a huge favor, didn't he? If it weren't for him, you all heard what Leshan Ying said—who knows how much chaos the Three Divine Realms would be in right now!"

The elders fell silent. He really had done them a huge favor.

"Faustin, my favorite fortune-teller!" Tanya turned and called, her tone half-joking.

Faustin: "Your wish is my command, oh illustrious Divine Lord!"

"Please divine for me and Noctis!" Divine Lord Tanya sat down and said.

Faustin said, "Yes! Please wait a moment, Divine Lord."

He whipped out his trusty turtle shell, chanted some mystical mumbo-jumbo, and then broke into a grin: "Divine Lord, this is the jackpot omen! Seriously—made in heaven, signed by the stars!"

"Faustin, you sure Noctis didn’t slip you a bribe or threaten you with demonic fireworks?" an elder snarked.

"No, no! How could I? Everyone knows, Rune Masters can't lie about divinations! Otherwise, we'd get hit by backlash!" Faustin said quickly.

"Here's an idea!" Tanya said to the Cangwu High Priest: "Priest, you divine it too!"

The Cangwu High Priest did his reading, struck a pose, and—bam!—another jackpot omen. The crowd murmured, half amazed, half amused.

Tanya’s lips twitched in a barely contained smile as she waved the Drake Abyss High Priest over. He did his thing—guess what? Jackpot omen, again. The hall was practically buzzing with disbelief.

Divine Lord Tanya didn't decide right away, but instead asked the First Prince: "Your Highness, what's your opinion?"

Brandon Xiao paused, then chuckled: "Emperor Ray Quinn had holy blood, Fiend Princess had demonic blood. Their kids? Wild cards—no wonder the Demon Sealing Well omen showed up. But Noctis? He’s a Spirit Realm native who just picked up a little demonic spice. The omens say all clear, so I say—"

"Big brother!" someone called out.

It was Jenna Summers, her voice as crisp and elegant as ever.