A royal list of Candidates

(Year 235, Spring) In less than two years Crown Princess Emireza will grow up and everyone keep asking why is she not already dating at 23? Penny Peters is our fresh Romance Consultant, and she can assure us that King Tarriot and Queen Venezia have been busy for years already, picking the best candidates for their daughter.

Romance Consultant Penny Peters provides her services in San Myshuno.

In this matter nothing will be left to randomness.

- The Crown Princess' next few years will include her obligatory History university degree, but this won't mean she can not also date and explore the posibilities. She is the oldest child so we won't have any reference to how strict her parents are about her future spouse. To me they seem rather modern, although not totally relaxed.

Penny Peters (26) assumes that true love might not be completely out of the question, but the candidate outside top levels of aristocracy won't be approved as long as royal protocol is followed.

- So, if there exists a list, which I'm pretty sure is the case, she might be allowed to pick the lowest ranked from that list, if that is what she wants.

And the number of candidates should be practically unlimited. The Crown Princess is hands down the top catch no matter how high your unmarried son ranks. Not a single House of Aristocracy would turn down an offer involving their son to become the future Prince Consort of our nation. This list might have been discussed years ago, so hat off to the Royal Palace for managing to keep it secret.

- They will primarly search within other royal families, dukedoms and perhaps counties. Of the dukedoms, House von Heimlich (Windenburg) is out of the question as all sons are too young just starting school. House of Saxor (Meadows) provides no single male, and House de Croismare has no children at all. House of Ross, Rossie dukedom has a total of five sons and were always seen as a good match. The older sons are even same age as the Chrown Princess. The only catch I can  see is that also King Tarriot's late father hailed from House of Ross, so they might choose to look elsewhere?

Among the counties House de Gould, House of Altham and House of Paris all have sons, but they are about 10 years younger than the Crown Princess. Baronies would feel slightly underwhelming, but it might depend on other factors, like the candidate's ancestors. Son of a baron might qualify if you are the grandson of a duke, for example. The catch would be that our Queen Consort Venezia was only daughter of a Baron, and I doubt the Royal Chamber will approve on gowing his low twice.

There are a few obvious candidates though, based on rank, age and geography. Below Penny Peters highlights her own favorites:

Penny's top 5 guess

5. Baron Nicham Phillip de Lumonoso (33) - My score: 7.75 points

House de Luminoso. Nicham is son of Prince Jerome (Count de Tredony) and the great grandson of late King Tybe. This makes him 2nd cousin to the Crown Princess, which would not rule him out. It could be seen as a strategical grip to combine these two lines of the original Luxe-Hamper dynasty. Nicham is 1st in line to the Tredony county, but if he marries the Crown Princess, this peerage will be passed on to his younger brother, Lord Millaus (27), as the royals can not hold high nobility peerages.
Rank (1.75 p): His line back to King Tybe is the only asset regarding rank.
Age (3 p): Less than 10 years older seems like perfect.
Geography (1 p): In order to involve the nation, it might be a disadvantage that they both hail from the same region, Tredony.
Other (2 p): Plus for bringing two family branches together. Negative for Nicham being more interested in creative business than national affairs.

4. Lord Virtus Antonius de Gould (49) - My score: 5.75 points

House de Gould. He is the younger brother of Count Helfert of Ticktop, and currently 2nd in line to the county. Their parents were Count Marcel and The Hon. Penelope (Mandrake) de Gould, who divorced from Marcel before they obtained the peerage.
Rank (1.75 p): His entire score comes from the line of Counts of Ticktop.
Age (1 p): More than 20 years older seems a bit too much for a balanced relationship, so I see his age as a negative, but not neccessarily a problem.
Geography (2 p): Lord Virtus hails from Glimmerbrook in region Crafthole, which seems like a decent geographical spread regarding involving the entire nation.
Other (1 p): His mother Penelope was Aunt to Queen Venezia, making Virtus the 1st cousin to Queen Venezia. Some might see the family relation as being too close, although not illegal.

3. Princi Mulvort Sloth of Snorthia (22) - My score: 9.75 points

Sloth dynasty (3rd proteced family of Yacothia). Mulvort is son of Emperor Orchar of Snorthia and his concubine Tamara. 
Rank (2.75 p): The only rank giving line is the one going back to former Emperors.
Age (3 p): Age is perfect, and to be honest - it might even be of advantage that he is slightly younger than the Crown Princess.
Geography (3 p): It would be good blending two nations. Empire of Snorthia is often seen as a military threat, so a marriage might improve the relation, if approved by both instances
Other (1 p): Snorthia's culture is based on «one male being worth ten females». This might make the Emperor turning down any offer including his son marrying a woman of higher rank and with more power.

2. Baron Robert of Shiningham (24) - My score: 11.25 points

House of Ross. Robert is the 2nd oldest son of Duke Jarret and Duchess Ribra Lynn of Rossie. Also King Tarriot's late father, Prince Consort Clempus hailed from this House, so the two families do hold common history way back.
Rank (4.25 p): Robert's four great grandfathers were the Duke of Rossie, Lord of Prome, Baron of Myshuno and Duke of Meadows. Quite the impressive heritage there!
Age (3 p): Robert and Emireza are equally aged, both 24.
Geography (2 p): Hailing from region Rossie, they would represent different areas and regional cultures, although not exactly a perfect geaographical spread.
Other (2 p): Because the two Houses are already close, it is likely that Robert was on the list for years. He is set to inherite his father's dukedom, which he won't keep if marrying the Crown Princess. However, technically he is only 2nd in line, and because his older brother, who was raised to decline the dukedom, lost rank as his Myshuno barony is no longer high nobility, their game has changed quite a bit, and this older brother might very well break their deal and hold on to the dukedom. In that case, Robert will becme an even more obvious choice. On the negative side it might be better strategically to merge with another House, as House of Ross is already well represented in the royal family tree.

1. Prince Weever of Sea (35) - My score: 11.25 points

House of Oceanus. Weever is the younger son of King Salomar and Queen Medaka of Sea. Their seat is in Verdemar.
Rank (5.25 p): Weever's parents are 1s cousins on their fathers' side, descending from King Oyster of Sea, and both their mothers hail from Empire of Snorthia, though different dynasties.
Age (2 p): Good age, just a year above my perfect range of 10 years.
Geography (3 p): It would be perect building a strong connection to another kingdom. Mazaloom and Sea already have a great relation, and this marriage would seal their tradition.
Other (1 p): The main disadvantage migh be Prince Weever's blue skin. It is pretty common for the royals of Sea, but how would it be accepted for a central royal and possibly our future 1st heir to our own Crown? My guess is therefore that the Crown Princess' personal chemestry with Prince Weever might be the needed factor in this case, more than any.