History Main / PerfectlyArrangedMarriage

* ''Webcomic/CursedPrincessClub'': Zigzagged. When the Pastel King Jack goes to tell his daughters of their arranged marriages, he's worried they'll be upset. His musings are interrupted by them squeeing over their handsome husbands-to-be (and anticipating the wedding night a little too eagerly for his comfort). While her sisters pair up just fine, poor Gwendolyn's introduction to her prospective groom does not go off rosily.
** Also, as the story progresses, it becomes apparent that whilst Princes Lance and Blaine might be well suited for Maria and Lorena they are still practically strangers to each other. Interestingly, it is Prince Frederick - despite claiming disinterest in Gwen - who gets to know her a lot more personally by focusing on her personality rather than being satisfied with looks alone.

*** George II's grandson and successor George III, despite only meeting Sophia Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz on their wedding day, was HappilyMarried to her. He and Charlotte were absolutely devoted to one another, even to the point where they would [[KingIncognito take walks together in the English countryside dressed as relatively ordinary gentry]] with absolutely minimal security. Unlike his grandfather and father--and most of his sons, he never took a mistress. Together they had fifteen children (eleven of whom lived past the age of 60).

*** George II's grandson and successor George III, despite only meeting Sophia Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz on their wedding day, was HappilyMarried to her. He and Charlotte were absolutely devoted to one another, and he (unlike his grandfather and father--and most of his sons) never took a mistress. Together they had fifteen children (eleven of whom lived past the age of 60).

* The British monarchs of UsefulNotes/TheHouseOfHanover produced three of these.[[note]]UsefulNotes/QueenVictoria and Prince Albert don't count. Rather than being set up by their parents or governments and falling in love after the marriage, they married because, of Victoria's multiple eligible royal suitors, Albert was the one she fell in love with. Not quite the same.[[/note]]
** George II and his wife Caroline of Ansbach were HappilyMarried and devoted to each other. George particularly relied on Caroline's advice in politics, as she was universally acknowledged as a much shrewder player than her husband. They were happy even in spite of his [[ReallyGetsAround constant philandering]]--she knew of and cleared all his [[TheMistress mistresses]] ahead of time, vetting them for both personal flaws and potential political entanglements. He never remarried after her death: Caroline begged him ''on her deathbed'' to remarry when she was gone, but he was so certain no woman could replace her that he replied tearfully, "''[[GratuitousFrench Non, j'aurais des maîtresses!]]''" ("No, I shall have mistresses!").
** George II's grandson and successor George III, despite only meeting Sophia Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz on their wedding day, was HappilyMarried to her. He and Charlotte were absolutely devoted to one another, and he (unlike his grandfather and father--and most of his sons) never took a mistress. Together they had fifteen children (eleven of whom lived past the age of 60).
** George III's third son William IV was originally reluctant to make a political marriage, choosing instead to live unmarried for twenty years with an unsuitable Irish actress (by whom he had 10 children). However, after that relationship ended, he married the German princess Adelaide of Saxe-Meningen as a political match--and a financial one (he had been deeply in debt before the marriage). The marriage got off to a rocky start: William famously treated the wedding ceremony as a joke, offending the pious Adelaide. However, with time, the marriage proved to be a happy one; William does not appear to have strayed much if at all, and he treated her as a confidante and advisor as well as a beloved wife (much as his great-grandfather George II had treated his great-grandmother Caroline). For her part, Adelaide was happy to treat her husband's illegitimate children almost as her own - especially the youngest ones, as neither of her own daughters with William survived infancy. She also shared her husband's great affection for his niece and heiress presumptive Victoria; Victoria's mother's incessant snubs to Adelaide were the trigger for William's famous announcement that [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech his only mission in life was to live just long enough to allow Victoria to become Queen without a regency]]. (He just barely did, to Victoria's eternal gratitude.)
** Princess Mary of Teck ([[UsefulNotes/HMTheQueen Elizabeth II]]'s grandmother) was engaged to marry Prince Albert, second-in-line to the throne, but he died of influenza six weeks into their engagement. Queen Victoria subsequently set up Mary with the new second-in-line, Albert's shy younger brother George (the future King George V), and the couple were soon pressured into an engagement by their families. Nonetheless, they quickly fell in love and remained devoted to each other throughout the lives.

*** With his first wife, Eleanor of Castile[[note]]Incidentally, a paternal-line great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great aunt of the aforementioned Isabella of Castile[[/note]]. They were famously devoted to each other, having married quite young at 15 and 12 respectively as part of an alliance between his father, Henry III of England, and her half-brother, Alfonso X of Castile. Despite having only met each other the day before the wedding, Edward and Eleanor became virtually inseparable over their 36 years of marriage, and Edward was never known to have taken any mistresses. Utterly distraught when Eleanor died in 1290, Edward accompanied his beloved wife's body back to London and ordered the construction of memorial crosses at every place where Eleanor's body rested for the night, the [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eleanor_cross Eleanor crosses]], some of which still survive.

* ''FanFic/ARoseAndALion'': The betrothal of Margaery Tyrell came from Kevan first, but Tyrion wanted to be sure she would understand what she was entering into. As such, both of them have difficulties putting down their political minds or facades with each other, but they enjoy each other tremendously. Their sharp minds, breaking down the walls of each other, and finding a common connection in their empathy towards others make for a enjoyable if not perfect marriage.

* Rodrik Forrester and Elaena Glenmore are arranged to be married in ''VideoGame/TelltalesGameOfThrones'', but are clearly in love besides. [[spoiler: It's to the point that when House Forrester becomes the enemy of the powerful House Bolton and Elaena is engaged to one of their allies, she becomes a RunawayFiance and joins the Forresters.]]

* The case of Sisi and Franz Josef spawned one of these - but ''not'' for Sisi and Franz Josef themselves. While they got along decently for royals, inasmuch as they didn't really fight (though he probably got two or three mistresses over the life of their marriage),[[UnrequitedLove Franz Josef was way more into Sisi than she was into him]]; as the free-spirited Sisi found the ultraconservative Franz Josef a little stiff. Instead, it was Helene of Wittelsbach, Sisi's older sister, whose ArrangedMarriage with Prince Maximilian of Thurn and Taxis turned out to be very happy. Indeed, Nene was the ''only'' HappilyMarried one among the ''very'' [[LoveHurts unlucky-in-love]] Wittesbach sisters until Maximilian died of kidney failure at the age of 36. [[TheMourningAfter Helene never remarried, and turned to philanthropy and managing the family businesses to ease her loneliness.]] The particularly ironic part of the whole thing is Helene was originally intended for Franz Josef.

** [[UsefulNotes/EdwardTheFirst Edward I]] was fortunate in having this with his marriage
** With his first wife, Eleanor of Castile[[note]]Incidentally, a paternal-line great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great aunt of the aforementioned Isabella of Castile[[/note]]. They were famously devoted to each other, having married quite young at 15 and 12 respectively as part of an alliance between his father, Henry III of England, and her half-brother, Alfonso X of Castile. Despite having only met each other the day before the wedding, Edward and Eleanor became virtually inseparable over their 36 years of marriage, and Edward was never known to have taken any mistresses. Utterly distraught when Eleanor died in 1290, Edward accompanied his beloved wife's body back to London and ordered the construction of memorial crosses at every place where Eleanor's body rested for the night, the [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eleanor_cross Eleanor crosses]], some of which still survive.

** [[UsefulNotes/EdwardTheFirst Edward I]] and his wife Eleanor of Castile[[note]]Incidentally, a paternal-line great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great aunt of the aforementioned Isabella of Castile[[/note]] were famously devoted to each other, having married quite young at 15 and 12 respectively as part of an alliance between his father, Henry III of England, and her half-brother, Alfonso X of Castile. Despite having only met each other the day before the wedding, Edward and Eleanor became virtually inseparable over their 36 years of marriage, and Edward was never known to have taken any mistresses. Utterly distraught when Eleanor died in 1290, Edward accompanied his beloved wife's body back to London and ordered the construction of memorial crosses at every place where Eleanor's body rested for the night, the [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eleanor_cross Eleanor crosses]], some of which still survive.
*** Edward was fortunate in having this with both his marriages, as he also had a very happy marriage with his second wife, Margaret of France. Despite a 40-year age gap (he was 60, she was 20), he and Margaret were said to have been extremely happy. She was kind and loving, and was a very GoodStepmother to his children by his first wife. She was known for her unjealous nature, attending memorial services for Eleanor with him and even naming their own daughter Eleanor after her. When he died, after just 8 years of happy marriage and despite her only being 28, she never remarried, famously saying, "When he died, all men died for me". She remained close to her stepchildren though, even attending the births of their children.

** The aforementioned Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor--son of Juana the Mad and Philip the Handsome--initially selected his [[TheWomanWearingTheQueenlyMask very competent]] [[KissingCousins cousin]] Isabella of Portugal - Manuel I and Maria's eldest daughter - to be his wife for purely political reasons. When they met for the first time (to finalize the agreement), however, they fell intensely in love with each other almost at once. They honeymooned for several months at the Alhambra in Granada, where he ordered the seeds of a red carnation, which delighted her. He then ordered thousands more to be planted in her honour, establishing it as Spain's floral emblem. As a sign of how happy the marriage truly was, he remained faithful to her for as long as she lived. Despite their mutual affection, their marriage was not easy due to his constant absences. She wrote to him regularly, but often spent months without receiving letters, and he was even absent when she died. He was so distraught that he retired to a monastery for two whole months of mourning.[[note]] He would later return to the monastery after too many years fighting the Wars of Religion in Central Europe led him to AbdicateTheThrone completely.[[/note]] He never recovered from her death; wearing black for the rest of his life and never remarrying[[note]], though he had an affair long after her death[[/note]]. In her memory, he commissioned portraits, which he kept with him whenever he was.

*** George II and his wife Caroline of Ansbach were HappilyMarried and devoted to each other. George particularly relied on Caroline's advice in politics, as she was universally acknowledged as a much shrewder player than her husband. They were happy even in spite of his [[ReallyGetsAround constant philandering]]--she knew of and cleared all his [[TheMistress mistresses]] ahead of time, vetting them for both personal flaws and potential political entanglements. He never remarried after her death: Caroline begged him ''on her deathbed'' to remarry when she was gone, but he was so certain no woman could replace her that he replied tearfully, "''[[GratuitousFrench Non, j'aurais des maîtresses!]]''" ("No, I shall have mistresses!").
*** George II's grandson and successor George III, despite only meeting Sophia Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz on their wedding day, was HappilyMarried to her. He and Charlotte were absolutely devoted to one another, and he (unlike his grandfather and father--and most of his sons) never took a mistress. Together they had fifteen children (eleven of whom lived past the age of 60).
*** George III's third son William IV was originally reluctant to make a political marriage, choosing instead to live unmarried for twenty years with an unsuitable Irish actress (by whom he had 10 children). However, after that relationship ended, he married the German princess Adelaide of Saxe-Meningen as a political match--and a financial one (he had been deeply in debt before the marriage). The marriage got off to a rocky start: William famously treated the wedding ceremony as a joke, offending the pious Adelaide. However, with time, the marriage proved to be a happy one; William does not appear to have strayed much if at all, and he treated her as a confidante and advisor as well as a beloved wife (much as his great-grandfather George II had treated his great-grandmother Caroline). For her part, Adelaide was happy to treat her husband's illegitimate children almost as her own - especially the youngest ones, as neither of her own daughters with William survived infancy. She also shared her husband's great affection for his niece and heiress presumptive Victoria; Victoria's mother's incessant snubs to Adelaide were the trigger for William's famous announcement that [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech his only mission in life was to live just long enough to allow Victoria to become Queen without a regency]]. (He just barely did, to Victoria's eternal gratitude.)

** The aforementioned Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor--son of Juana the Mad and Philip the Handsome--initially selected his [[TheWomanWearingTheQueenlyMask very competent]] [[KissingCousins cousin]] Isabella of Portugal - Manuel I and Maria's eldest daughter - to be his wife for purely political reasons. When they met for the first time (to finalize the agreement), however, they fell intensely in love with each other almost at once. They honeymooned for several months at the Alhambra in Granada, where he ordered the seeds of a red carnation, which delighted her. He then ordered thousands more to be planted in her honour, establishing it as Spain's floral emblem. As a sign of how happy the marriage truly was, he remained faithful to her for as long as she lived. Despite their mutual affection, their marriage was not easy due to his constant absences. She wrote to him regularly, but often spent months without receiving letters, and was even absent when she died. He was so distraught that he retired to a monastery for two whole months of mourning.[[note]] He would later return to the monastery after too many years fighting the Wars of Religion in Central Europe led him to AbdicateTheThrone completely.[[/note]] He never recovered from her death; wearing black for the rest of his life and never remarrying[[note]], though he had an affair long after her death[[/note]]. In her memory, he commissioned portraits, which he kept whenever he was.

** The British monarchs of UsefulNotes/TheHouseOfHanover produced three of these.[[note]]UsefulNotes/QueenVictoria and Prince Albert don't count. Rather than being set up by their parents or governments and falling in love after the marriage, they married because, of Victoria's multiple eligible royal suitors, Albert was the one she fell in love with. Not quite the same.[[/note]]

%%Make sure you don't mistake this trope for MarriageBeforeRomance.
* Certainly the ''goal'', if not the reality, of a huge number of arranged marriages in the past. A marriage alliance will hardly pan out if the linchpin people don't like each other.
* Behold, ''Los Reyes Católicos'' (Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabel I of Castile--you know, the ones from 1492, Columbus sailing the ocean blue, turning on the Emir of Grenada because God told them to, those guys), first rulers of united Spain. Following their advisors (and, on Ferdinand's part, the recommendations of his father), they mutually arranged their marriage for purely political reasons--their marriage would unite the Castilian and Aragonese branches of the House of Trastámara and place all the Christian kingdoms of Iberia (save Portugal) under a single royal line. However, they were both young, reasonably attractive, and made a good team, and by all accounts, they got along tremendously. Additionally, at least four of their five children and their most famous grandchild all had marriages like this--with the twist that it never ended well:

** Juana, their third child and (after the business with Isabel and Juan) heiress to the unified kingdom, married Philip the Handsome, Duke of Burgundy, through the same alliance that married Juan and Margaret (Philip was Maximilian's only son and heir). The marriage turned out this way... too much. They literally fell in love at first sight,[[note]]Hardly surprising, considering they were both teenagers, of similar temperaments, and, oh yeah, attractive -- he wasn't called Philip the Handsome for nothing, and Juana was by all portraits and accounts a stunning pale redhead.[[/note]] and they begged to have the marriage formalized the day they met so they could get it on right away. They had six children (including [[UsefulNotes/HolyRomanEmpire Holy Roman Emperor]] Charles V, the ruler of the first "empire on which the Sun never sets"). Eventually, things happened, and [[{{Yandere}} Juana started to get jealous]]--but she still loved Philip deeply. But then he died young, and her grief and her jealousy had some kind of wicked party in her head with a familial disposition towards insanity (in fact, it was something of a minor miracle that both of her parents were sound of mind, given that both were members of the [[TangledFamilyTree ridiculously-inbred House of Trastamara]]). Hence the epithet "the Mad" - her father Ferdinand had to become Regent of Castile upon his daughter's ascension instead of ruling jointly until she inherited Aragon upon his death. She also carried around Philip's dead body on her travels, another reason for her to be considered mad. And she had him buried so that she could see his tomb from her bedroom's window. Poor mad girl indeed. Phillip the Handsome's death would require a trope of its own.

** The aforementioned Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor--son of Juana the Mad and Philip the Handsome--initially selected Isabella of Portugal to be his wife for purely political reasons. When they met for the first time (to finalize the agreement), however, they fell intensely in love with each other almost at once. As a sign of how happy the marriage was, Charles remained faithful to Isabella for as long as she lived, and when she died he was so distraught that he retired to a monastery for two whole months of mourning. (He would later return to the monastery after too many years fighting the Wars of Religion in Central Europe led him to AbdicateTheThrone completely.)

* The marriage between [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elisabeth_of_Hungary#Early_life_and_marriage Princess Elizabeth of Hungary and Landgrave Ludwig IV of Thuringia]]. It certainly helped that she went to live with his family when they were both children and got to befriend each other first, thus making them also [[ChildhoodFriendRomance Victorious Childhood Friends]]. Ludwig was a staunch supporter of Elizabeth's religious and charitable work, despite the disapproval of the rest of his family; after he died, she ran away from both her in-laws and her own family and preferred to become a nun rather than remarry. She was later named a saint.
* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Llywelyn_the_Last Llewelyn ap Gruffudd]], the last native Prince of Wales before it was conquered by the English, arranged a marriage for himself with Eleanor de Montfort, daughter of Simon de Montfort, because the latter was helping him to defend his crown and position. It turned out to be a genuine love match, despite an age difference of more than 20 years; Llewelyn is almost singularly unique among the Welsh princes for never having been known to take a mistress, and when Eleanor went the DeathByChildbirth route bringing Princess Gwenllian into the world in 1282, Llewelyn lost it. He was persuaded by his younger half-brother Dafydd to enter a dangerous campaign against the English, something he had been steadily resisting in Eleanor's lifetime, and died in the fight. (Dafydd, who then took possession of the infant princess and claimed regency, is believed by many historians to have been instrumental in luring his brother into the trap which killed him. He was eventually captured and ultimately RewardedAsATraitorDeserves by becoming the first person in recorded history to be hanged, drawn, and quartered.)
* The case of Sisi and Franz Josef spawned one of these - but ''not'' for Sisi and Franz Josef themselves. While they got along decently for royals, inasmuch as they didn't really fight, and Franz Josef didn't really take many mistresses (probably no more than two or three over the life of their marriage), [[UnrequitedLove Franz Josef was way more into Sisi than she was into him]]; the free-spirited Sisi found the ultraconservative Franz Josef a little stiff and the ultraconservative Habsburg court rather stifling. Instead, it was [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duchess_Helene_in_Bavaria Helene of Wittelsbach]], Sisi's "spurned" older sister, whose ArrangedMarriage with Prince Maximilian of Thurn and Taxis turned out to be very happy. Indeed, Nene was the ''only'' HappilyMarried one among the ''very'' [[LoveHurts unlucky-in-love]] Wittesbach sisters until Maximilian died of kidney failure at the age of 36. [[TheMourningAfter Nene never remarried, and turned to philanthropy and managing the family businesses to ease her loneliness.]] The particularly ironic part of the whole thing is Nene was originally intended for Franz Josef, before he fell hard for Sisi.
* UsefulNotes/PompeyTheGreat married Julia, the daughter of his political ally UsefulNotes/JuliusCaesar, in an effort to shore up their waning alliance. Despite the [[MayDecemberRomance significant age difference between the two]], they were so caught up in each other that many of Pompey's colleagues found it indecent. It is worth noting that Pompey and Caesar's true antagonism to each other didn't arise until after Julia's death, an event that seems to have devastated both men.
* Vipsania Agrippina, the daughter of the famous military commander Agrippa, was betrothed to the future emperor Tiberius when she was less than a year old. Despite this extremely political start, once they actually got married, they fell in love and were very happy together. Unfortunately, it ended badly, as Tiberius's stepfather/adoptive father ordered him to divorce her for his stepsister Julia, while Vipsania was pregnant with their second child, no less.[[note]]His stepfather could do that; the ''paterfamilias'' of a Roman family had absolute authority over his children even when they were adults, especially the female ones, and especially when he was also the emperor, and really especially when he was UsefulNotes/{{Augustus}}.[[/note]] When Tiberius saw Vipsania after the divorce, he actually burst into tears, which is a sign of how much he loved her because Roman men ''did not'' show emotion in public.[[note]]Unless they were lawyers trying to win a court case, in which case ManlyTears were occasionally fashionable, but now we're getting ahead of ourselves.[[/note]]

* Ottoman Empire:
** [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beyhan_Sultan_(daughter_of_Selim_I) Beyhan Sultan]](who is also a supporting character in [[Series/MagnificentCentury Magnificent Century]]), was more loyal to her husband, Ferhat Pasha, than her family.
** [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaya_Sultan Ismihan Kaya Sultan]]’s marriage started off poorly(she threatened her husband with a knife on her wedding day; [[OldManMarryingAChild she was 13 and he was in his mid-fifties]]). However, when she died in childbirth aged 26, he reportedly wept uncontrollably on her coffin. According to Ottoman traveler Evliya Celebi, none of the princesses and their husbands got on as well as Kaya and Melek. She was also important to her husband’s career.

* Downplayed in ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEED'': Athrun and Lacus are childhood friends, and supposed to marry by their politician fathers' decision. They force themselves to be nice to each other. Then government breaks, Athrun's father declares that his son's marriage is out of the question and he must track Lacus and her father down as criminals. He finally sides with Lacus and both escape. When they reunite, they also learn that Kira and Cagalli, who get along really well… [[spoiler: are actually brother and sister]]. No words exchanged, they agree "you can have Cagalli, I can have Kira? Great!" and are no longer interested in each other, except as friends.

* This happened with the former king and queen Maximillian and Alicia Acorn in ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogArchieComics''. This was a case of BecauseDestinySaysSo since the Acorn family consulted with The Source of All to decide whom the royal family should marry.
* In ''ComicBook/{{Runaways}} Vol. 2'', Xavin and Karolina are supposed to marry to stop a multi-planet war. It's perfect for the "forced couple love each other" part, it's the political part which ends not perfect at all: war resumes despite Xavin and Karolina's best efforts.

* In ''Webcomic/HetaliaAxisPowers'' fanfiction, the Austro-Hungarian Compromise is described as such by the fans of the Austria/Hungary couple. If not, well, either of them will be subjected to DieForOurShip. (Most frequently Austria.)
* There are a ''lot'' of [[Literature/TheLordOfTheRings Éomer/Lothíriel]] fanfics running around to the tune of this trope.

* Chapter 10 of a ''Manga/CaseClosed'' fic, ''[[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2905018/10/30_Hugs_Heiji_and_Kazuha 30 Hugs: Heiji and Kazuha]]''. In a slight variation, they had the {{Slap Slap|Kiss}} part down just fine, but it wasn't until after they found out about the marriage that they realized the Kiss part sounded pretty nice too. They still freaked out about it immediately upon realization, but calmed down and came to their senses eventually.

* ''FanFic/ARoseAndALion'': The betrothal of Margaery Tyrell came from Kevan first, but Tyrion wanted to be sure she would understand what she was entering into. As such, both of them have difficulties putting down their political minds or facades with each other, but they enjoy each other tremendously. Their sharp minds, breaking down the walls of each other, and finding a common connection in their empathy towards others make for a enjoyable if not perfect marriage.
* ''Fanfic/ByTheSea'': Ahsoka, a princess of the Togruta, is offered to the Mandalorians for betrothal, as a condition of the political alliance set up between the two past enemies. She decides to take matters into her own hands and sneaks off with the Mandalorians to vet her potential husbands herself away from her mother the Empress's supervision. Fortunately, the man she chooses and falls in love with happens to also be a more than politically appropriate mate as the crown prince of Mandalore. Their daughter is named the current monarch's successor and is placed next in line for the throne.

* In the Creator/ShawBrothers flick ''Film/HeroesOfTheEast'', the protagonist, a Chinese martial artist named Ho Tao, is absolutely disgusted at his father's prospect at marrying him to an unknown woman of a Japanese family who is a business ally of his father... until he saw his bride, Yumiko Koda, who turns out to be absolutely gorgeous. They both end up bonding through their common knowledge of Oriental martial arts, and eventually ends up a happily married couple.

* Occurs twice in the ''Literature/RealmOfTheElderlings'' series by Creator/RobinHobb; in both cases, a Farseer prince was engaged to a foreign princess to secure an alliance and the couple ended up falling in love. The second one ended quite well, the first one less so.

* The aim of the reality series ''Series/MarriedAtFirstSight'', which arranges marriages between strangers based on compatibility. And [[UpToEleven they don't even meet until the day of the wedding]]. Surprisingly enough, some couples did stay together after the show.

* A justified example in ''VideoGame/RuneScape'''s "Throne of Miscellania" quest. To become the regent of Miscellania, you are required to get engaged to [[GiftedlyBad Prince Brand]] (if female) or [[TomboyPrincess Princess Astrid]] (if male). The royal is initially unimpressed, having been presented with suitors for this purpose by their father before, so you have to actively woo them, show interest in their hobbies, bring them presents, and prove to them that your interest is more than just political. Once you succeed, they and your character fall enthusiastically in love and agree to the engagement.

** In the previous generation, [[spoiler:August and Elizabeth]] truly loved each other and were happy to wed. Unfortunately, since [[IllBoy the former was dying]] and the latter has power-hungry parents, they attempted to undo the engagement despite everyone else being happy with it. Literally everyone ''else''. Case in point: More than a decade after August's death, the fact that [[spoiler:August and Elizabeth [[SomebodyToRememberHimBy had an illegitimate child]]]] comes to light. Bruno, August's younger brother and the head of the Riefenstahl clan, is not scandalized by this; his greatest concern is putting the child under the protection of the clan as ''Elizabeth''[==]'s parents have been trying to hunt the child down for all these years.

** [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaya_Sultan Ismihan Kaya Sultan]]’s marriage started off poorly(she threatened her husband with a knife on her wedding day; [[OldManMarryingAChild she was 13 and he was in his mid-fifties]]. However, when she died in childbirth aged 26, he reportedly wept uncontrollably on her coffin. According to Ottoman traveler Evliya Celebi, none of the princesses and their husbands got on as well as Kaya and Melek. She was also important to her husband’s career.

* Subverted in the ''WesternAnimation/BojackHorseman''. Beatrice Horseman and Corbin Creamerman were paired off by their parents in their youth. As heirs to their respective companies, a marriage would join them in a strategically powerful conglomerate of Sugarman Cubes and Creamerman Ice Cream. Neither parents cared what their children thought but nevertheless the two grew to respect and like each other and their marriage would become this trope. However, Beatrice ends up knocked up by Butterscotch Horseman and the marriage is called off. To this day, Beatrice bitterly [[TheOneThatGotAway regrets her youthful mistakes.]]

* Chapter 10 of a ''Manga/DetectiveConan'' fic, ''[[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2905018/10/30_Hugs_Heiji_and_Kazuha 30 Hugs: Heiji and Kazuha]]''. In a slight variation, they had the {{Slap Slap|Kiss}} part down just fine, but it wasn't until after they found out about the marriage that they realized the Kiss part sounded pretty nice too. They still freaked out about it immediately upon realization, but calmed down and came to their senses eventually.