He fell in love with her the first time they met, on her wedding day. The more he got to know her, the more mistakes he made. If he did not hurry to redeem himself, the others would sweep her off of her feet!
Excerpt from the book:
Matthew found Marius sitting in the training yard surrounded by all twelve King's Guards. Marius saw Matthew and bade him over. "Here comes my currently least favorite person in the Kingdom of Calibrinnia. I'm assuming you're here because you've figured out a challenge? You only have five days left."
The other Guards looked at Matthew with amusement.
"Yes, Captain, I have a puzzle for you, as the challenge," Matthew replied.
"A puzzle?" Marius asked.
"Yes, a puzzle. Realistically I can't beat you at soldiering so a puzzle it is," Matthew said. Matthew had found this puzzle some time ago but was not sure if it was a good enough challenge. Now five days were left; he didn't have time. So he was hoping Marius wouldn't have enough time to solve it.
"Sure, hit me." The Captain sank into his chair.
Matthew started, "A commander had lost a battle and was retreating with his army. They had suffered greatly. When they were at a safe spot, the commander wanted a count of the remaining men. If the commander lined up his army seventeen deep, there would be five men left over. If instead the men lined up in rows of twenty-three, fourteen would be remaining at the end. Finally, were they to form rows of thirty-one, twelve men would be remaining. How many of the men were left in the commander's army?"
Marius asked incredulously, "Mathematics?"
Matthew felt relieved. Marius was stumped. Good. Five more days and he would win. "Not mathematics. Battlefield mathematics."
The other King's Guards laughed. "Mate, you got guts, we give you that," one of them commented.
Marius frowned. Matthew finally smiled. "Five days, Captain."
Matthew saw a young and skinny King's Guard walking up to Marius and whispered in his ears. Marius' smile grew wide; Matthew began to worry. "Two days. Meet me and Lisa for dinner at her cottage in two days and I'll give you an answer."
