Chosen Bride of the Seven Dark Princes

The first mini-movie commercial playing up the positives of CandyLand released within twenty-four hours of the conversation that Dante had with Ash.

During that time, Dante's attendants were rushing around, creating a realistic set of business documents that would allow CandyLand to look as if it would be a powerhouse of a competing force against a major business competitor, the weapons system of Haribou.

Best case scenario was that CandyLand and Haribou Weaponry would both lose and Marakaran would win. Worst case scenario would be Haribou wins.

Of course, Dante knew that war and strife was far more profitable than bringing joy and cheer to families and kids, but sometimes, he had to make do with whatever weapon was available on hand.

If CandyLand won, Dante would simply bite the bullet and make it happen.

Setting it up at such great expense and taking so little profit would essentially make CandyLand Marakaran a money pit, something that the fiscally astute Dante cringed at.

Had this been a normal business dealing, both he and Marakaran would have been able to make money off the tourists.

The way that it was set up, this CandyLand would not only make no money but would also be a financial drain on the other CandyLand resorts which would have to partially support Marakaran CandyLand with its profits.

Unfortunately, there was no other way to compete with what Haribou was offering the investors and legislators on Marakaran, so Dante did what he normally did in uncertain times like these.

He threw caution to the wind and took a gamble with what was coming from his heart.

Conservation of the beauty of Marakaran, along with aiding the elven world in resisting the war machine that was Haribou was something that he would do his best to back.

"Hold on." Dante tapped at the paper. "This is not going to be sufficient to attract the support of Marakaran legislators."

"Your Royal Highness…" The attendant hesitated. He had pushed the numbers as far as he dared. Any more and the shortfall would come directly out of Prince Dante's pockets.

"Add a third more incentive money here. Double the bonus there. And…take a full percentage point off here."

"Sir!" The attendant's eyes bulged.

"Do it." Dante slammed his hand on the document.

"Yes Sir." The attendant bowed and took the document away to make the necessary changes.

By that very afternoon, in all the melee of war propaganda of doom and gloom by the Haribou public relations, a happy cheerful child-friendly CandyLand mini-movie starring the explosively popular Prince Lucas and the Prime Avgo Female Candace began showing up everywhere.

It was supposed to have only been released within the boundaries of Marakaran, but in the age of instant visuals, there was nothing that could keep such a well-produced piece of visual art from being scattered far and wide throughout the galaxy.

People shared the mini-movie to friends and family. Celebrities talked about Marakaran and the new CandyLand theme park that was rumored to be planned at that bright beautiful paradise resort.

Suddenly, everyone was clamoring to book their next vacation on the paradise of Marakaran so they could see the newest and latest CandyLand world in the making.

Ratings and bookings for tourism went through the roof!

In a matter of 48 hours, there was zero availability for the normal tourist to book a stay on the entire world of Marakaran, stretching out for over a year.

Everyone wanted to see, not just CandyLand being built but also Marakaran in all its natural splendor.

There was also the promise of seeing their beloved movie star Prince Lucas and his wife, Candace Farrah, rumored to have been the inspiration and namesake for Prince Dante's CandyLand resorts.

Informal polls began to pick up spikes in the numbers of people who were already firmly committed to voting for CandyLand over Haribou Weapons.

Even those who were staunchly against the development of anything on Marakaran were starting to change their tune and singing the praises of a possible CandyLand Marakaran.

It got so heated, Ash made a quick call to Dante.

"Yes yes," Dante nodded and rubbed his eyes. "I know what you are going to say, Ash."

"What are your plans, now that my people are clamoring for a CandyLand on Marakaran?" Ash grinned.

He was not opposed to the idea of having CandyLand on Marakaran. It was in keeping with the fact that Marakaran was already a hot tourist destination.

Nothing would change other than the fact that they would be even more exclusive and more luxurious. It would be even more difficult to book an adventure on Marakaran, pushing it into the realm of exclusivity for the very wealthy.

Everyone knew Dante protected his investments with guard ships that were basically Erenveil warships painted a nice friendly color.

With Erenveil protection flying around Marakaran space, Ash would not have to worry about hostile takeovers which meant more people would feel safe to come visit.

"I wasn't going to put a CandyLand on Marakaran." Dante admitted. "It was just to split the vote, but I almost can't pull out now."

Ash laughed. "It would be a shame if you did.

I have seen the document you have drafted. It's very generous on your part and may not seem as if it would be beneficial to you, but I promise you it will be quite lucrative for you. How many have you already set up?"

Dante blinked. How many did he have?

"I have four in the eastern quadrant. Three in the southern areas of insectoid space. One in the northern sector, and one in dragon space."

"So this would make the tenth CandyLand you've created."

"Again, I wasn't going to set a CandyLand in Marakaran because I know how expensive the real estate is there. It would not be profitable for me."

"Don't worry. I will give you tax rates and real estate prices that you will not be able to turn down. You were doing this as a favor to me and my world and I will not forget that." Ash smiled.

"Oh yeah?" Dante raised an eyebrow.

"Absolutely. I have done research on your CandyLands. You try to work with the environment that you find yourself in. You don't try to change the environment to suit your schemes."

"Well that's the whole reason for CandyLand. It's a safe place for kids to visit when their parents are on vacation at the more adult areas. It's an extension of their vacation that their children can also enjoy. It shouldn't stick out like a sore thumb."

"I like that. Let's move forward with this, Heavens willing of course." Ash smiled.

They ended the conversation with real plans to begin initial stages of planning and development, depending on the votes within the next four days.

Once King Ashwyn disconnected from the call, Dante shut the folder that was currently in front of him.

He was done—so done they could stick a fork in him and the fork would drop.

"Hold everything for the next twenty-four hours." He called to his attendant and rose from the desk.

His wife was going to land soon and he needed to be at the landing site to greet her.