[Poll] If you were king, would you order your crush to marry you?

. Note: Flip the genders in the scenario so that it works for you (you can pretend that it's a matriarchal society if you're a girl)

Once upon a time, you were the prince of a certain country, and you had a childhood friend whom you always liked. Your childhood friend was a princess-in-exile (her country was taken over by rebels), and she was staying with your family until they could raise an army to take back their kingdom. Your childhood friend was extremely talented, smart, and amazing in every way and you've always had a powerful one-sided crush on her. You confessed to her in your youth, but she rejected you saying that she has no time for useless things like romance.

You have never liked anybody else. You are not romantically interested in anyone else, and over the years (at least a decade), your childhood friend continues to be the only person you have feelings for. You have tried to get rid of your feelings by distracting yourself, but your attempts to stop yourself from liking her have been unsuccessful.

A couple years ago, your father died and now you became the king of your country. You are the last member of your bloodline. You are expected to eventually produce a heir, and your culture does not allow polygamy. If you die without having a child, there will likely be an enormous civil war that breaks out in your country over who is going to succeed your throne (with other disastrous outcomes, like being invaded by foreign powers during the chaos). If you abdicate from the throne right now, a bloody civil war will likely break out instantly.

Your childhood friend became a warrior-princess who eventually retook her country from the rebels. She became a battle-addict and spends most of her time waging war on the front lines, fighting barbarians and other enemies. She wants to inherit the throne of her country and rule it on her own, which is highly unusual because you live in a patriarchal society.

That said, her father (the king) is still alive, and he holds a great debt to your country for sheltering them while they were in exile. If you were to ask to marry his daughter, he would force his daughter to marry you, against her will. Furthermore, your childhood friend is that king's only child, so you would gain their entire territory through marriage, making your kingdom twice as large.

In summary, here are the advantages of forcing your childhood friend to marry you:

• You get to marry the crush you've always liked.
• You would gain an entire country's worth of territory through marriage.
• Your crush is a talented warrior/tactician.

Here are the disadvantages:

• Your crush doesn't want to marry you.
• Your crush wants her country to be independent and not merged with yours.

​

1. Would you force your crush to marry you?

2. What would you do? How would you approach this situation?

3. What if there was a risk that a different prince/country was going to marry her? What if she liked a different prince and was willing to have her country merge with an enemy country hostile to your kingdom?

4. Would you be okay with a marriage in name only (i.e. the two of you live separate lives)? What if you were expected to produce a heir, and your crush isn't interested in baby-making? (note: polygamy is not allowed in your country)

5. Would you be okay with marrying someone else, even if you still had residual feelings for your childhood friend?

 

I will do it like any other king in stories, which is marry some nobility girl for political power. And then I will suffer from lovesickness for the rest of my life...

 

1. No. Not interested in marrying someone who's not interested in marrying me. Moreover, it's one thing if I marry of my own volition, another if I'm forced to marry and produce heirs for political reasons. Not interested in the latter.

2. Abdicate and disappear. Hv no interest in ruling or having such heavy responsibility thrust on me.

3. As stated above, would hv nothing to do with me.

4. No, that would be pointless.

5. Yes. Feelings can change. No point in letting residual emotions hold you back, esp. when nothing is expected to come out of them.

 

1. Nah, she can do whatever she wants.

2. Same as 1.

3. She can marry someone else but if she marries an enemy then there would be no other choice but extermination.

4. As an alliance the sure I would be ok with a marriage in name only but I will have an heir and it doesn't have to be with her and I'm king, polygamy is allowed now.

5. I'll get over her.

 

1. Would you force your crush to marry you?
No, doing that might result in unexpected and bad results, one such result is her cheating and bringing an unrelated child to rule the kingdoms
2. What would you do? How would you approach this situation?
Resources, demand enough resources to pay back their debt
3. What if there was a risk that a different prince/country was going to marry her? What if she liked a different prince and was willing to have her country merge with an enemy country hostile to your kingdom?
That is a great possiblity, well, let us a see, probably kill them (poison, assasionation, etc... there got to be a way), but yes, I would be a great fool to help my enemy get back on their feet to raide my kingdom
4. Would you be okay with a marriage in name only (i.e. the two of you live separate lives)? What if you were expected to produce a heir, and your crush isn't interested in baby-making? (note: polygamy is not allowed in your country)
A king doesn't need love, a king only need to be good ruler (be it with wisdom, force or other) what is important is to ensure that the kingdom lives and prosper, otherwise, he will meet a horrible end, alas, I am sure there will be a willing woman somewhere (especially considering that I am a king in this situation )
5. Would you be okay with marrying someone else, even if you still had residual feelings for your childhood friend?
Feelings can be overwritten if the right partner is found

 

1. Would you force your crush to marry you?
Absolutely not.
2. What would you do? How would you approach this situation?
I’ve been rejected, haven’t I? If it’s been a while, I might ask one last time, to be sure his feelings haven’t changed, but that’s it. I’d try my best to get over him and wish for his happiness.
3. What if there was a risk that a different prince/country was going to marry her? What if she liked a different prince and was willing to have her country merge with an enemy country hostile to your kingdom?
C’est la vie.
4. Would you be okay with a marriage in name only (i.e. the two of you live separate lives)? What if you were expected to produce a heir, and your crush isn't interested in baby-making? (note: polygamy is not allowed in your country)
I’d be okay with that if I entered a loveless marriage, but since I won’t be marrying my crush, is there a point to this question?
5. Would you be okay with marrying someone else, even if you still had residual feelings for your childhood friend?
Yes, it’s what’s expected of me, and who knows? I may fall in love with the person I marry. I hope I am able to find someone who already loves me and who I find acceptable. I’d rather be in a relationship with a person I have no feelings for, but who loves me, than be with a person I love who doesn’t love me.

 

This scenario makes little sense.

"You confessed to her in your youth, but she rejected you saying that she has no time for useless things like romance."

Most marriages in noble societies had no romance. If you were the crown prince, and she wants to take back her country. The marriage would make LOGICAL sense to her.

Not to mention why would you even need to wait to become king? You could always ask your dad the king to facilitate it, unless he is against it.

Or are you trying to say she really hates you to the point that even if it makes logical sense, she would be against it and is making an excuse?

 

1. Nope.
2. I will make a pact with her kingdom and building a good relationship between our kingdoms if possible. I can also put some spies on her close subordinates.
3. If she didn't plan to be hostile to my kingdom then I will do nothing but just in case I'll prepare for a war in the future. I can also spread propaganda to my crush citizens that our kingdoms have a good relationship and that my kingdom helped their queen to take back their beloved country, hire some bards to spread our heroic tale so that her citizen feel reluctant to go war with my kingdom and increasing the chance of rebellion if their country starts to war with mine.
4. -
5. Yes.

 

I feel kind of bad looking at the results now because I would totally do it

I would want the alliance / territory merging, and I would figure out some way to make it politically appealing for my crush. Specifically, I would be considering ways to have a secret surrogate child that I can name as my heir. I actually don't want to have children with someone I don't love, but I would be fine with my crush secretly marrying someone else (even though he's officially married to me), they have a child, and then I can name his child as my heir.

For me, abdicating or not leaving a heir isn't something I can justify, because I wouldn't want to put my own country through civil war simply because of sentimental reasons.

 

At the time of the poll, the warrior-princess has already taken back her country, so there's not necessarily an immediate benefit for her to marry you anymore. Her country just owes a debt to your country, since your father helped them out when they were in exile.

She doesn't want to marry you (in a logical sense) because she's power hungry. She wants to rule her country as queen, and marrying you under traditional custom would result in you becoming the king of both countries.

 

1. I wouldn't force her. (I think, never loved someone since childhood until adulthood so I'm uncertain)
2. I'm unsure. Probably try to live out my life as a loner. (I think)
3. If she were to marry another and that another is my enemy, then I would probably cry tears of blood but I would not abandon my country because of unrequited love. (I think)
4. Would I be okay in marriage in name only? Maybe. Probably wouldn't have a heir unless she changes her stance in time though. (I think. The other way is to have a concubine or a surrogate?)
5. Maybe? If that person can keep my mind off my crush, then that's that, by means not involving brainwashing I mean. (I think.)

 

1. I wouldn't force her to marry me. If she's a battle-crazed warrior princess, chances are I wouldn't be able to bed her against her will anyway (not that I'd try).

2. I'd try to reason with her. She'd need *some* help becoming a ruler in a patriarchal society.
I'd tell her if she marries me and helps me produce an heir, I'll help her win her country and let her rule it. I don't need twice the territory myself.
Our heir would rule both countries eventually anyway.

3. It doesn't seem plausible. If she wants to be a ruler, she wouldn't want to marry a prince. Not unless his terms were the same as mine.
Either way, if she feels a debt of gratitude (or her father does), she wouldn't wage war against me even if she were to marry my enemy.
And I'll probably try to stop her from marrying my enemy in the first place. Even if I had to wage war against him.
I mean, I'm sure she'd rather marry me, who wants to help rather than my enemy whom I'll fight, which will lessen his forces and the chances of him helping her.

4. Like I said, I'm fine with her ruling her country. Which means living separately, but not producing an heir would be a deal-breaker.

5. Yes. If she refuses all the way, I'll just marry for political benefit.
I mean, I need to prolong the royal bloodline, right? And it's not like pining for her for my entire life and... dying a virgin(?) will get me anywhere... Unless... will I get reincarnated into a different world with a special ability?!?!?!

 

I wana say it's an easy sell but I guess it would depend on if she was will to buy into what I was offering. First off being her friend I would have noticed the trend in her perferd lifestyle and trained my own body and mind to support her in first taking back her kingdom and then taking over the duties that she finds distasteful.

After it was done I would offer her a deal. One that allowed her to continue her military career without the worries of diplomacy or matters of state. Her only concession would be marriage and producing heirs between campaigning.

I think the most persuasive argument I could come up with is that she will eventually need to have a family. Otherwise all her efforts would be for not. So unless she already has one she fancies, wouldn't it be better to leave position to someone she knows she can trust and would never betray her?

A partner she could leave the boring work of government and cleaning up after her last battlefield, while she pursues planning or executing her next conquest. Someone that will provide a place for her to relax or train her children and work in the background to consolidate her new empire.

 

Disregarding that my & her dad's would most probably have arranged the marriage beforehand anyway, I would marry her, expect to have babies and merge the kingdoms together. The 2 kingdoms combined would become stronger, which is also better for the people the princess allegedly wants the best for.

Also, if she is as capable as described I'd see no reason to limit her career ambitions, except ofcourse whenever she's with child or when the kingdom is at peace. Finally, even if she doesn't love me now it is very likely that she will like me later on, as was the case with many arranged marriages throughout history.
(Its just that unhappy arranged marriages are popularised in fiction and thus often seen as "bad". And large (10-15+) age gaps are ofcourse an obvious nono as well)

 

hmmm this pretty complex problem you know?
because it involve country main interest~ territory and resource~ gain more sure sound tempting but it also mean more workload you know? as King or Queen depend on gender you prefer basically country leader there really too many thing to consider to point marriage itself one of luxury item~
anyway as Queen ehem King meh call this cat Overlord!
da spouse should be on level can also handle country problem, more so on level internal affair or foreign diplomacy wrong move then this cat empire may collapse ya know?

so let see, marry? sure why not but again this cat need to see internal affair if this cat empire first no? dare to protest? it mean those opposition want to be striped from their position and cast away in most traumatic way~

wut da lover wanna full conquest mode? Gimme da detail, if da plan not good enuf this cat not mind to destroy it myself~ create war here and there is troublesome so rather than other kill da love on battlefield this cat not mind kill use this cat own paw~ or kidnap da lover change da head of country~ then fa lover put into dungeon for huehehehe....

if we married then depend on law but at least need two children no? that cuz da lover wanna rule it own territory but to ensure throne succession on both side, alliance, political thing geez to many~

wut cha looking at? do you think just because of you are King or Queen you can act as you please? on past go try it then don't be surprised if your head rolling from assassin~

 

I'd probably marry the princess since I have a cause that would be enough to silence whatever pitiful conscience I may or may not have.

 

After reading only the title my answer was "if you are king and still cannot woo a girl you may as well give up on her, or in girls"
But then i saw it was one of those overly long an convoluted scenarios by lychee, and instead of closing the window and ignoring it like a sane man would i will give an overly convoluted answer because i feel like it

-Im the king, polygamy is allowed for me, or do you want me to be like those royals from that other country that almost got killed by rebels and had no spares to carry on the royal bloodline?
-I get over her, but i still want her just for fun, and because there is a neighboring country ripe for the taking
-in my country i kill the nobility who are not likely to support me, seize their riches and marry a noble girl to establish political stability, and to establish a central monarchy so things can get done instead of endless bickering
-With the excuse of helping them rebuild i use soft power to strangle her country, and announce the "help" through the merchants that operate on both countries so the royals cannot refuse as the people already expects and needs the help, then i produce the same crops as them to decrease their value and send the grain as humanitary aid, make sure their industries can never compete with mine, as they are rebuilding they have to restart their market, but i can simply do it faster and flood their markets with my goods
Even better, i can pretend to help them by outsourcing industries to their country "to give jobs to their people" and suffocate any local budding industry
-Even if they dont accept as much "humanitary aid" as i offer i can simply let their workers into my country and give them jobs, the old and children will be forced to stay so their workforce will not recover as long as i offer a better alternative
And having cheap workers will allow me to sell my stuff to third parties, i use that money to grow the army
-Establish a false flag force of "surviving rebels" and use them to kill the nobility who wants her country to ally with other countries, if they want to ally with another country it will be on my terms
-Flood their economy with counterfeit money and blame it on the "surviving rebels" while circulating my currency at the same time, once their money becomes worthless my currency will be seen as the legitimate one
-The princess who fights monsters at the frontier would be seen as useless when there are so many problems inside the country
-Her country is shit in debt to me so I arrange her a marriage alliance with another country (a lower nobility near our both frontiers, because no king/prince will want her at this point) to prove my goodwill and that i have gotten over her, but mostly as a way to establish that another force will pay for her debts and i will be her guarantor in case the loan is given and she cannot pay back, she will accept because her monster raids do nothing to improve her country and she is pretty much useless at this point, and her country needs any cash infusion they can get, this nobility is promised a share of her industries in return for a big loan, given to her in yearly (or monthly?) installments
-Kill the "rebels" and frame them for "sabotaging" my industries, then retire the economic support for a month or two and claim it was because i had to rebuild what the rebels destroyed
-The debts become massive as they have no way of paying without my industries, the third country realizes the princess is worthless and call off the marriage alliance, or the marriage will stay but with a gigantic debt attached, her value plummets and the people will think everything would have been solved if she just married me before
But hey, im already married and my country doesnt allow polygamy...
-With the fattened army i invade the third country as a way to demand compensation for the marriage or the promised loans "because i need the money to restart my industries," and as plenty of her countrymen joined my army out of need they have personal reasons to despise the third country
-The third country can try to counter invade me, but her country is weakened and way easier to attack so its more realistic to assume they will invade her and then try to pincer my frontier from both frontiers, this is why i choose a nobility close to both our frontiers to begin with
-At this point her country is my source of cheap labor and cannon fodder, not only that but i announce the stuff plundered from the third country will be used mainly to rebuild her country, people after a shitty period are always eager to follow those who promise greatness and they are already used to my humanitary aid, they will follow me
-Should the princess marry me?
Yeah, sure, we are at war and she is a warrior, she can be my general, but both her people and the situation call for her to have an heir with me, just to make sure im not taking over her country and her baby has a claim to her throne if i do so
-With the resources of two countries i can eventually conquer the third country by sacrificing the soldiers of the second, overall my army has few losses and the main problem is to manage that much territory, i make concessions and sell portions of the third country to the other countries to refill my coffers
-With the population of the second and third country decreased i assimilate them into my country and thats the end of their national identity
-I have a much bigger territory, money to pump my industries on steroids and a populace that sees me as a glorious leader, also, people has lots of babies in times of war and right after, time to indoctrinate the new generation and prepare to conquer the continent

The princess?
i think she died in the war

 

1. Would you force your crush to marry you?
Nope. I have a "pure-love" fetish, so I couldn't get by with that. I would need things to be mutual.

2. What would you do? How would you approach this situation?
I would offer her a proposition which she could very well reject. If she were to reject it, I'm confident in my ability to repaint my memories of someone to put them in a bad light and not like them anymore, after which I can find someone else.

3. What if there was a risk that a different prince/country was going to marry her? What if she liked a different prince and was willing to have her country merge with an enemy country hostile to your kingdom?
I would pressure her via her father to not marry into that kingdom. That debt would be useless to have her marry me, but I have no qualms about using political means to destroy a marriage that would be politically disadvantageous for me.

4. Would you be okay with a marriage in name only (i.e. the two of you live separate lives)? What if you were expected to produce a heir, and your crush isn't interested in baby-making? (note: polygamy is not allowed in your country)
This is the main reason I would avoid marrying her in this case. It would be politically unstable for me to do so.

5. Would you be okay with marrying someone else, even if you still had residual feelings for your childhood friend?
What residual feelings? I never had feelings for them to begin with lol. In fact, she was kinda a piece of garbage now that I remember things. I definitely would be fine marrying someone else. (Note: I've done this process with several people irl, so I'm confident it works.)

 

1. Would you force your crush to marry you?
No.

2. What would you do? How would you approach this situation?
Stay friends with him/her and be supportive. Strengthen the existing alliance with his/her kingdom through his/her dad. Opt to work out some sort of mutually beneficial peace/trade deal before s/he gets married to whomever his/her future consort is. Continue to build the military and economic power of my country. Better to be safe than sorry.

3. What if there was a risk that a different prince/country was going to marry her? What if she liked a different prince and was willing to have her country merge with an enemy country hostile to your kingdom?
See 2.

4. Would you be okay with a marriage in name only (i.e. the two of you live separate lives)? What if you were expected to produce a heir, and your crush isn't interested in baby-making? (note: polygamy is not allowed in your country)
I'm fine with an arranged marriage for the benefit of the people. Me and my husband/wife can either learn to get along or develop a loving relationship. It happens with arranged marriages all the time. I'm not marrying my crush so that's not a worry. As for procreation, I'm fine with having a child. I don't particularly want any in real-life, but if I had one I'd take my responsibilities as a parent seriously. My offspring would lack for nothing I was capable of giving them. In the event my spouse doesn't want to have sex with me I'll seek, adopt and raise a few promising young seedlings as future leaders instead.

5. Would you be okay with marrying someone else, even if you still had residual feelings for your childhood friend?
Yeah. Being the ruler of a country has a lot of perks, but those perks are balanced by responsibilities. Even though I didn't ask for it, it's my life. Therefore I have many, many other lives to consider before my own. I would definitely marry as well as I could to further the prosperity of my nation and do my best to pick someone who will become a strong consort-ally. Loving my childhood friend means respecting and wishing the best for them - even if I'm not the person they chose. I wouldn't live miserably for the rest of my life pining for something that could never happen.