[Edward POV]
Amy, Maggie, Frankie and my dad talked in the living room of my house in Manchester. My grandmother and grandfather were also in England, but they were sleeping, tired from the trip.
Amy kept teasing that I had a crush on Emilia Clark since the news about the auction had spread all over the world.
"Shhh! They are announcing the Nobel winners right now." My dad shushed everyone as he checked on his tablet.
The announcement was supposed to be out on October 10, but it was postponed for 10 more days.
We all turned toward my dad. Even Amy sat up straighter.
Normally, the Nobel committee called the winners personally in the early morning hours of their respective time zones.
But this year, someone had created a Nobel Prize tracking app — it scraped official announcements from Stockholm, Oslo, and news wires in real time. It wasn't me who created that, but a student who took my app development course in the community college I bought.
Since the actual awards were announced at different times over several days, this app made it feel like a global scoreboard. Millions of people all over the world were watching the list.
"The Peace Prize and the Physiology or Medicine Prize should've been announced days ago," Frankie whispered.
"They should," my dad said. Frankie added, "But... this year is weird. There's been a delay. They didn't explain why."
She glanced at me but didn't say anything.
The screen lit up with a ping.
{BREAKING: Nobel Peace Prize 2012 Co-Winners Announced:
Malala Yousafzai (Pakistan) – For her advocacy of girls' educationEdward Newgate (United States/Cuba) – For landmark efforts in curing HIV, cleaning the Pacific Garbage Patch, and distributing humanitarian medical cure }
My dad jolted out of the couch and screamed, "YEAHHH!"
Then another ping came.
{BREAKING: Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2012 – Special Joint Award:
Dr. Shinya Yamanaka & Sir John Gurdon – For reprogramming adult cells to become pluripotentEdward Newgate – For the development of synthetic retroviral inhibitors leading to the functional cure of HIV and Type-1 Diabetes}
My heart stopped.
"DOUBLE WINNER! HE'S A DOUBLE WINNER!" My dad was extremely excited and he hugged me.
"They already had winners," I murmured, stunned. "But they... added me to the list. They've never done that before."
"They did once," Frankie said quietly. "In the '70s, I think. It's rare."
"How– How did I even win this? I didn't lobby for it at all." I said with disbelief and a little frustration.
"I think you don't have to." Frankie chuck;ed.
"If governments, scientists, and humanitarian organizations around the world pressured the Nobel Foundation, then it made sense for your name to be put in the list of this year's winners." She added.
Then, I got the call from the Nobel committee. Shortly after that, I received a call from a jealous theoretical physicist who vowed to win the Nobel prize for something better.
Alex called me soon after.
"So, I lost completely huh?" She muttered with a tone of accepting defeat.
"Unless you cured cancer within a year," I snickered.
I was joking, but Alex really thought about it.
"Can I cut you open to see which part of you holds the cure for it?" She asked seriously.
I was stunned for a bit and said, "Wow, you really want to lay me out on the bed bare naked huh?"
"Yup– WAIT NO!" Alex realized she had fallen into a trap.
I said seriously, "Gross pervert," and then ended the call. She texted me furiously to defend herself later on.
I received hundreds of congratulatory calls and texts from everyone I knew. Even the President of the United States formally congratulated me in a press conference.
The situation got quite chaotic so I asked Pepper to do something for me.
Pepper held a press conference to congratulate me on the matter on behalf of the company. He took the chance to reassure the other teens in the world that even if their parents compared me to them, it didn't mean anything.
Pepper even released my IQ test result, and shocked the world when people knew I had an IQ of 225.
Kids hated being compared to the other kids. With my IQ being released, they had a reason to speak up for themselves.
Their mom could say, "Look at Edward Newgate, he found a cure for HIV at 17 years old? You're still laying down on your bed, playing games and sleeping all day."
And they could say, "He has an IQ of 225! I could study like him, but I would never be able to become like him!"
Alex called me again and kept spamming me questions about my IQ. Then I realized, except for Vanessa, no one knew the exact number.
When I was eating lunch with my family, the UK government representative finally arrived. He looked formal but friendly, carrying a slim leather folder.
"Mr. Newgate," he began, "I'm here on behalf of Her Majesty's Government. After careful consideration, we would like to offer you a knighthood in recognition of your extraordinary contributions — your medical breakthroughs, environmental efforts, and technological advancements."
I nodded, intrigued but cautious. My grandmother kicked me out of the dining table as it was rude to talk to a guest like that, so I couldn't finish my food.
He continued with a disarming smile, "You have two options. First, you may accept a full knighthood, which requires British citizenship. This would involve a naturalization process if you're willing. You would then be addressed as 'Sir Edward Newgate.'"
I raised an eyebrow. "And the other option?"
"An honorary knighthood," he said. "This is for non-British citizens. It carries the honor and recognition but doesn't grant the title 'Sir,' nor does it involve citizenship."
I paused, "So I get to choose?"
"Absolutely. This is entirely your decision. We do not wish to pressure you. We simply wanted to inform you personally and hear your thoughts before proceeding."
I glanced around at my family. "Thank you for your honesty. I'll need some time to think."
He smiled warmly. "Of course, Mr. Newgate. We appreciate your consideration and hope to honor you soon, whichever path you choose."
As he left, my face turned quite sour. My grandma was elated, as meeting the Queen of England had been a dream of hers since she was young.
"Oh my goodness, Edward!" Grandma Jules hugged me. "You're going to become a knight!"
"If I said yes, though," I said, pouring cold water on Grandma's enthusiasm.
"Why would you reject the honor?!" Grandma asked, exasperated.
"Taxes," my dad answered simply.
Frankie guessed, "If he was naturalized or had dual citizenship, he might need to pay taxes to both countries."
My grandpa added, "Not to mention he would have to involve himself in the country's politics and governance. Edward, you're only 17 years old. I suggest you reject it."
"NO!" my grandma got mad and smacked my grandpa's arm. "It's rude to reject it! The entire country will hate you if you reject it!" she added.
I listened to both sides. Both of them had a point. If I rejected it, I might incur the ire of the countrymen here in the UK. I didn't know if the government would leak the honor bestowment to the citizens prior to the announcement or not.
All of this reeked of a PR stunt. The UK hasn't had the best of years nowadays, with the living situation for the ordinary class becoming harder day by day.
"Maybe I should pull out Excalibur from the rock and become the ruler of the country," I joked.
Maggie blinked twice before replying, "Yeah. Maybe you could get the sword out of that rock."
"Maybe someone can finally clean that blade. It's been bothering me for years to have metal stuck in a rock like that," my grandpa complained.
"I was just joking." I looked at them with disbelief.
"We aren't," Maggie and my grandpa said simultaneously.
Amy tapped my shoulder after we finished lunch and asked, "You're going for the night walk today, right? Won't people bother you since the news is already out there?"
"I thought of the same thing. But Emilia told me that we can do it in the countryside, where there's not much of an audience. She'll bring me to a special place where she always went as a child."
"Maybe she'll bring you skinny-dipping," Maggie teased.
"In the middle of October?" I looked at her with disbelief. The fall air outside was already frosty enough. We had to wear thick jackets if we wanted to take a walk outside the house.
Other than myself, who was born and raised in California, the Wisconsin-bred people didn't have a problem with the cold.
"Ha-choo." I sneezed as a cold breeze blew by.
…
"It's hard to even meet up," Emilia complained as she arrived at the meeting spot.
Paparazzi and reporters had been following her since she got out of her house. They were privy to the auction information, so they wanted to get photos of us walking around together.
However, Emilia drove around with her bodyguard, even doing the classic car switcheroo with a doppelgänger inside—she had help from the UK police—and finally arrived at the secret meeting place.
The meeting spot was at Radcliffe Square, Oxford. She was bringing me for a stroll in her hometown.
"Thank you for your hard work~" I smiled at her.
"I noticed this yesterday. You're really tall," she said, glancing at her red heel. "Thank goodness I wore this today."
She had her hair tied in a ponytail and wore a simple dress under her green jacket. She looked cute and, at the same time, elegant.
Excited, Emilia said, "Are you ready? I wanted to make sure your 5 million pounds was well deserved, so I called a few places, forcing them to make an exception and open late for us."
"Really? I am impressed," I said as I grabbed her hand. Emilia was startled, but she didn't pull it away. She bashfully said, "Holding hands isn't on the docket, but I'm going to let it be since I didn't wear my gloves."
"What a coincidence. Me too," I said as I pulled her hand inside my gray, suede jacket pocket. It was so cold that night, we could see our own breath as we spoke.
"First up, the Museum of Natural History," she said gleefully, even jumping slightly as we reached the first destination.
The warm lighting and the silent museum made it feel like I was going on a date with an older woman.
To be honest, I had seen a dinosaur with my own two eyes—inside a memory, I mean. A T. rex has feathers like a chicken. Jurassic Park totally got it wrong.
Emilia also arranged a small dinner inside the museum. However, even she was startled when she saw the arrangement was more intimate than what she had expected.
"I need to get something out of the way before we continue," she said after wiping her mouth with a napkin after we finished eating our dinner. We didn't have any wine, as I was underage.
"What is it?" I asked, curious.
"Well, some government people came by my house this morning. They told me to convince you to accept the Knighthood—the full version—and become naturalized. They even asked me to use 'whatever's in my arsenal' to convince you."
Her eyes flashed disdain for those people as she used air quotes.
"I hate being used as a honey trap, and I hate even more to take advantage of someone who offered their help to me at my worst moment. So I said no to them," she said with a heated tone, clearly angry.
A smile broke out on my face as I leaned forward on the table, propping my head up with the back of my hand, and charmingly said, "Oh. This isn't a seduction technique, is it? Because right now, I'm becoming increasingly interested in you."
She was taken aback; her cheeks blushed slightly. "What?" Her eyes shifted quickly, and she looked downward. "No. It's not a seduction technique."
She looked into my eyes again and clarified hurriedly, "I'm not trying to seduce you at all tonight! Believe me. I'm nine years older than you, anyway."
"So if our age gap were closer, you would have?" I teased.
She was stunned again and immediately stood up, saying, "We should go. We still have a few more places to visit." She pushed up her cheek, trying to stop her face from blushing.
We walked to South Park, where we watched the Oxford skyline together. Emilia almost slipped on the fallen trees, but I caught her instantly.
"Are you okay?" I asked. "Are you hurt?"
She was stunned for a second, probably because the moon was shining right behind my head, which made my silhouette seem ethereal from her point of view.
She kept mumbling to herself, "Jailbait, jailbait, jailbait," as we were walking to another place.
We also played around at the Cotswold villages before ending the night stroll.
"It's so freaking cold." I said, hugging my body.
Emilia laughed and said, "You're a true Californian, you can't even handle this type of weather. I'm here, at night, wearing a skirt, you know?" She lifted her leg slightly, showing her bare skin teasingly.
"You do have a nice thigh." I nodded in admiration. She was stunned again and said instantly, "That's not what I'm trying to say!"
In the span of a night, we were already quite close to each other.
"I know this doesn't seem like much for a 5 million pound–worth event, so I'm going to add something else to sweeten the deal," she said as we walked to her car. Her manager was already inside, waiting for her while on guard for potential paparazzi.
"It's fine, honestly. I told you, I made that bid as a donation for the cause." I stopped her, smiling as I reassured her.
She argued, "The cause that only happened because of you. So listen to me first."
"Alright," I agreed easily, which made her chuckle slightly.
"I thought there would be a lot more resistance," she joked.
I shrugged and said, "The Mother of Dragons wants to give me something else. I'm not going to reject her wish."
She grinned and became excited. "Okay. So, I'm thinking—since you already bid 5 million pounds for me—I'll let you use me three times."
"..."
"..."
"I'm sorry, what? Yes… No—what?" I was flabbergasted and almost agreed to it.
Emilia was taken aback by my response, and after thinking about what she had just said, her entire face turned red, and she immediately clarified, "ON YOUR MOVIES! I'm talking about the movies!"
"Ah," I exclaimed in realization.
Emilia frantically said, "Not—Not that kind of use. I'm—I'm going to say, you can use me in your movies—Not—Um—"
"Let's use cast instead of use for now," I interjected, and she agreed with me.
"I'll work for free, for three projects." She finally calmed down, before she panicked again. "Of course, you might think I'm presumptuous to assume you'd want to use me as an actor, so you can cast me if you want to—or not. No pressure at all."
I laughed and said, "Emilia, you just made the greatest mistake of your life tonight."
"What mistake?" she asked.
"If you're my friend, you'd know that even though I'm hella rich, I'm still quite stingy. To get a really famous actress working for free in my next project? Yeah, I'm definitely going to do that." I chuckled.
"Aww… I'm not that famous." She giggled and threw her hand in front of her bashfully, as if swatting me through the air. She whispered to herself, "Not as famous as you anyway."
"What's that?"
"No, I said… anyway, we should probably go now, 'cause I'm pretty sure the museum director isn't going to hold off on posting our pictures visiting the museum for much longer. Once the location is exposed, the paparazzi will swarm us like bees."
She joked, giving off a very energetic vibe during our entire stroll. We hugged as friends before saying goodbye to each other.
"Wait, how are you going to get home?" she asked, lowering her car window.
"Oh, don't worry about me." I said casually. At perfect timing, a rope ladder fell from the sky. Emilia heard the sound of blades and looked upward to see a black helicopter.
I stepped onto the rope ladder and said to her, "I'll see you again, Miss Clarke."
"That's such a dramatic exit. I'm definitely going to talk about this if I'm invited to talk shows." She giggled, looking at the sight in excitement.
The helicopter ascended and took me off the streets of Oxford. I climbed the ropes and sat inside as it flew me back to my place in Westchester.
…
After taking a warm bath to fight off the cold, I lay down on my bed when my phone suddenly rang.
I glanced at the caller ID and didn't answer the phone.
"Should I take the Knighthood or not?" I muttered to myself, contemplating the pros and cons.
My phone rang again. It was the same caller. I ignored it a second time.
Then, she called for the third time. I picked up and answered using a rude tone, "Why are you calling me at 2 a.m.?"
Emma Watson was flabbergasted for a few seconds before she said, "C-Can't I call you to congratulate you—You just won the Nobel Prize."
"Yeah. Thanks. Anything else?" I replied dryly.
Emma paused for a few seconds before begrudgingly saying, "Why are you so rude to me?"
"Oh, I'm sorry. Should I give you a trophy for calling me so late at night?" I snarked sarcastically.
She scoffed and said, "You never sleep anyway. There's no difference between calling you in the morning or at night."
"There is now, since I'm going to go to sleep. Goodnight." I said before cutting the call.
I rolled my eyes and threw the phone to the side. As I was closing my eyes, she called again.
"What?" I answered with an angry tone.
"Ah!" She gasped, clearly offended. "I have a question." Her tone became slightly meek.
"Speak quickly." I told her.
She grumbled and said, "Were– Did you… Your bid, that's not on purpose right? You weren't bidding on the stroll because you like Emilia Clarke or something."
"And I should tell you the details of my private life? We're not that close." I said, being brutally honest.
She snapped, "I thought I was being polite, but you're rude! A rude, snobbish, callous person—who's indifferent to other people's feelings! No wonder you got dumped by your girlfriend."
She berated me before cutting off the call. I looked at the phone weirdly before deciding not to think about it.
"I think I'll just take the honorary thing. Then, my grandma can meet the Queen." I decided, and then went to sleep.