Chapter Text
Charles Francis Xavier was the Crown Prince of the Westchester Kingdom, but to Sharon Xavier, he was just her son. Her rebellious son who hadn't gotten married yet.
Of course, this made her extremely uneasy…
Anyone who had met Charles Xavier was instantly enamoured with him. His blue eyes were like bottomless oceans, making you lost in them, and the way his eyes sparkled when he talked (with that lovely accent of his, too), only added to his appeal.
His intelligence was second to none, his words and actions wise, and most importantly, he had a heart of gold, working tirelessly with his ministers to improve the lives of the people in the kingdom.
Indeed, Charles Xavier was well-loved by everyone, be it the nobles who interacted with him in court or the common people who benefited from his reforms and fair ruling.
Charles Xavier was so well-liked that even Tony Stark, notorious for his sarcastic remarks and impetuous temper, became well behaved in front of him. In fact, Stark had made several new machinations dedicated to Xavier and declared that the two of them were, going forward, the best of friends.
Charles’ parents, naturally, were proud of their son. King Brian Xavier would be smiling from ear to ear whenever someone mentioned the Crown Prince, and Queen Sharon would always, always brag about her son in front of the other court ladies.
There was, unfortunately, one problem. Charles Xavier was still a bachelor.
He was twenty-six years old and yet he had no fiancee! This matter had caused the King and Queen (mostly the queen, really) to have headaches and worry all day long.
The Queen had tried, numerous times, to introduce various people to her son, and yet he paid them no mind.
“I don't like them,” he said.
“They aren't suitable for me,” he said.
“I need to focus on the kingdom,” he said.
“I'm still too young to be married,” he added. (As if being twenty six was too young! The Queen had been furious when he said this.)
At first, the Queen thought it would be fine if Charles rejected the people she chose. After all, the first time she tried to introduce someone to Charles was when he was twelve, and perhaps Charles was too young to fall in love then.
However, as time passed, the Queen realized that her son wasn't falling in love with anyone at all! Perhaps he needed a gentle push from his mother, she thought.
She introduced him to Lady Emma Frost when Charles was fifteen. Emma was older than him by a year, but the Queen thought it was fine.
Perhaps a more mature, gentle lady like Frost would melt Charles’ heart and he would have his first crush.
It seemed like everything was going well.
Charles and Lady Frost went out for picnics, stayed in the library for hours on end together (the queen's servants made sure to keep an eye on them to see if they developed feelings and maybe kissed), had lots of tea together, and chatted amicably.
At the time, the Queen couldn't help smiling and thinking her goal had been finally achieved.
Alas! A few weeks later, her son announced that Lady Frost would become a member of his cabinet and would be helping him run the kingdom when he became king.
And no, she wouldn't be helping him run the kingdom as his wife! She would be “just a friend” and “simply a colleague”!
The Queen had been utterly furious, but she didn't give up. There were plenty of people who would want a chance with the Crown Prince, right?
A few years later she introduced him to Sir Scott Summers and Lady Jean Grey, hoping at least one of them could sway her son’s heart.
Instead, her son helped those two people confess their feelings for each other and even officiated their wedding.
(When she heard the news, Queen Sharon had promptly fainted).
When Charles was twenty, she introduced Sir Logan Howlett to him, because even though the Howletts were originally simple soldiers, their courageous deeds during the war had earned them the right to become nobles. Also, even though Sir Howlett seemed gruff, the Queen thought that maybe her son liked it a little rough.
They seemed to get along, really. Sir Howlett was impertinent (calling her son ‘Chuck’ and ‘bub’ instead of Your Majesty), but her son seemed to thoroughly enjoy his company, and that was enough for her.
However, instead of proposing marriage, Sir Howlett proposed to create a new Knight Unit responsible for the Crown Prince’s safety, claiming that he was “a national treasure” and “had to be protected”.
“I'm not worried about my son's safety you dingbat! I'm worried about him dying alone without a spouse!!!” Queen Sharon had been tempted to yell. Of course, the years of training and the elegance that had been drilled into her bones made her unable to say this out loud.
Two years later, when delegations from the neighboring kingdom arrived and their Crown Prince, En Sabah Nur, showed up, the Queen thought that finally, finally her son would get a fiancee.
En Sabah Nur was handsome, charismatic, and utterly charmed by Charles. He was romantic, too, and the Queen thought that if her son fancied him, then they would be hitting two birds with one stone.
Charles would finally get a fiancee, and the union between the two princes would be a political marriage that would strengthen Westchester’s ties with the neighboring kingdom, Genosha.
Well, Westchester’s friendship with Genosha did improve significantly, but Charles and En Sabah Nur did not become a couple.
(The Queen thought it was a great pity, really, and she was inconsolable for days).
Things seemed to look up, though, when she introduced her son to Sebastian Shaw, who happened to be the most powerful Duke in the kingdom.
Shaw was suave, charming, and wise beyond his years. The Queen thought he would be a great match for Charles.
At first Charles seemed insistent on avoiding the man entirely, and the Queen thought her matchmaking had failed.
However, after a particular incident (the Queen wasn't privy to the details but she heard that it involved a lot of shouting and crass curses and misunderstandings galore), it seemed that Charles’ opinion of the man had changed.
For once, Charles was the one doing the chasing. He stared at Shaw at every event and every ball. He gave the man flowers, and he invited the man to his quarters several times a week.
The Queen was delighted. Her efforts had finally paid off! Her son was in love!!!
She was beaming for days on end.
After six months of laborious courting, wooing, and Shaw and Charles attending every ball hand in hand, the Queen thought this was finally it.
Oh, how wrong she was!
Charles did not submit a marriage proposal, no… In front of all the nobles, her son submitted a list of documents that incriminated Sir Shaw, documents that showed the Duke had been involved in various illegal dealings (slavery and prostitution and even treason).
It finally dawned on her why her son had been so “enamored” with the Duke. Her son had been pretending to be in love, when in reality he had been investigating the Duke and gathering evidence of his crimes!
At this point Queen Sharon realized that it was her fault; she shouldn't have had high hopes in the first place. Hadn't her son proven, again and again, that he wouldn't fall in love with anyone? It was her own mistake that she thought things would be different this time, she thought bitterly.
Perhaps the problem lay with her; she shouldn't have meddled so much in her son's love life. If she left him alone, maybe he'd fall in love by himself.
So for a few years, she didn't introduce him to anyone new or try to match him with anyone. (Of course, she still nagged him about finding a fiancee at every chance she got).
This tactic, though, also proved useless. Charles mingled with nobles and commoners alike, and yet none of them caught his eye.
The Queen felt utterly defeated and she could only blame two people. The first person to blame was her son, for being so dense and, intentionally or not, for always thwarting her plans.
The second person to blame was her husband, who was extremely unhelpful.
“You shouldn't worry so much about him, darling,” he had said. “Our son knows what he’s doing.”
“Of course he does!” She scoffed. “He knows exactly what he's doing, rejecting every suitor that comes his way and ruining his chances of ever getting married! He'll die an old maid!”
Her husband had laughed (the nerve of him!) and she had banished him to the couch for the night.
At the end of her rope, the Queen decided that gentle matchmaking and fervent nagging wasn't going to do the trick.
She had to resort to doing this the ancient way: The Royal Ball Toss.
The royal family of Westchester had an ancient tradition for the royal heir to find a spouse.
The royal family would invite every eligible family in the kingdom (in other words, all the nobles) to a ball. At the climax of the event, the royal heir would stand in the center of the ballroom, hold The Ball, close their eyes, and throw it in a random direction.
Whoever caught the ball would have to marry the royal heir, no questions asked. This Ball Toss was considered a sacred event; whoever caught The Ball was chosen by the gods themselves, and disobeying or refusing to marry the chosen person was an act of sacrilege.
Of course, this tradition was so ancient that it had been forsaken a long, long time ago.
Queen Sharon, though, was determined to find a spouse for her son. And she would do it, even if she had to implement ancient traditions and listen to nonsense such as “Destiny” and “Fate”.
After all, she was tired of worrying over her son's love life. He had to get married.