"For Odin, the Father of All Gods, love was simply a relief during his years of conquest, while marriage was a vital tool to solidify the rule over the Nine Major Kingdoms.
He believed that there was no need to enter a marital relationship without an exchange of benefits. After all, sharing his rule, bestowing honours and status to a partner should come at a price. Otherwise, it was meaningless.
In some ways, he wasn't wrong. Marriage inevitably involved the exchange of interests; an equal love could last, and a mutually beneficial marriage was stable. If only one party maintained the contribution, a breakdown was only a matter of time.
Odin was very satisfied with Thor's marriage, as his union with Sif had strengthened the internal rule of Asgard. Sif could also help Thor implement various reforms. So far, the benefits of this marriage were gradually emerging, promising a bright future.
Thus, Odin was only troubled by Loki's marriage. Now that the internal rule of Asgard was very stable, the next step was to extend its influence to the Nine Major Kingdoms. The human race was the most potential-filled race amongst them.
Most members of this race were weak, but the strong ones were absurdly powerful. On the bright side, these mighty humans could ensure the continuation of the weak ones. Given the humans' reproduction rate, the day when human civilization would flourish throughout the cosmos would come sooner or later.
But Odin was wiser than other kings, he believed that even marriage alliances should have an emotional basis. That's why he considered Sif the best choice for Thor's wife. They grew up together, if there was no romantic love, there must still be affection.
If two people had no feelings for each other, even to the point of animosity, their marriage would inevitably end in a split, even leading to a complete rupture between the two families or powers. It wouldn't yield any benefits, but instead erect unnecessary enemies. This was definitely undesirable.
So, Odin's range of selection for Loki's marriage was very narrow. It was mainly a few powerful humans who had a good relationship with her. This not only provided an emotional basis but also shared interests. With slight matchmaking on his part, things should fall into place, wouldn't they?
Odin's first target was naturally the Iron Demon Stark. Apart from his own unparalleled strength, his Stark Group influenced every aspect of human society and played a significant role for the entire race. This allowed him to partially dictate the direction of human civilization, and Asgard could influence this through marriage.
The convenient part was that Helen's existence gave the two a common topic and a basis for forming a family. Helen herself also had infinite potential and would serve as a solid link between Asgard and humanity.
Odin thought that Iron Demon Stark was a perfect partner for marriage. So, when Thor complained about Loki's frequent visits to Stark, he consoled Thor on the surface, but he was inwardly chuckling, feeling lucky that both of his children could find the most perfect marital prospects.
However, reality dealt him a blow — Loki's Stark was not the Iron Demon, but just Iron Man from another universe.
Odin wasn't clear about the conditions in the Multiverse, but he had an intimate knowledge of matters within the Nine Major Kingdoms. Through the eyes of the Raven, he could see that Stark, who was now with Loki, had no traces of breaking through the barrier of the Individual Universe. Moreover, his physical strength was incredibly weak, just a bit stronger than ordinary humans.
Odin knew from the situations of Spider-Men, who had been travelling among various universes through the Spider Totem pathway, that there were vast disparities in the strengths of the same characters from different parallel universes. Everything about Peter Parker, from age, life stages, strength to skills, varied tremendously.
To put it simply, if this universe's Stark were fully upgraded with max stats and +16 equipment as a limited-edition sparkling card (ranking T0 amongst his universe's Top Tier), the ordinary Iron Man Stark, looking just at card strength, would barely qualify as T1 even amongst his universe's Avengers; if compared within the entire human civilization, he would just be an average Joe.
As it turned out, Odin had drawn the short straw. He thought he had hit the jackpot, but upon a closer look, he realised he had drawn from the common pool. The character he had drawn was the same, but their strengths were worlds apart.
Fortunately, Odin still had a chance to turn things around. He immediately called back Thor, who had just left, and said, 'Bring Loki back to me immediately! Tell her to come see me, hurry!'
Thor was puzzled. Just now, Odin was all smiles, cheerful, why has he suddenly become so furious? What did Loki do this time?
But seeing Odin looking so cross, Thor had no other options. He promptly returned to Los Angeles through the Rainbow Bridge and brought Loki before Odin.
Facing an innocent-looking Loki, a heartbroken Odin said, 'You actually used illusion techniques to seduce Tony Stark?! Loki, can't you remember your status as a member of the Asgard royal family all the time? Do you know what restraint is?'
'And furthermore, isn't that Tony Stark from another universe? You two have only known each other for a few days, and you're already thinking about sleeping with him? You know nothing about him!'
'Shouldn't I know what kind of person he is if I want to sleep with him?' Loki looked down at her fingertips, speaking nonchalantly.
Odin nearly fainted with rage. He stared at Loki and said, 'Aren't you considering the feelings of the Tony Stark of this universe? You two have known each other for that long...'
'Yes, we've known each other for that long, and the moment he has spare time, he chooses to vacation with Pepper in Los Angeles...' Loki retorted, her eyes rolling.
'Uh...' Odin was stumped by Loki, who had a trace of resentment on her face. It occurred to him, perhaps Loki intended to irritate the Stark of this universe?
So, Loki and Pepper were currently fighting over Stark, and from the sound of it, Loki might be losing, with Stark favouring Pepper more?
Odin took a sharp breath, his anger and worry immediately turning into disappointment. Loki had always been cheerful, her illusion techniques had been exquisitely used, so how could she fail in such an important matter? She couldn't even rival a human woman!
Odin, blind with anger, entirely failed to notice the fleeting look of smugness and slyness in Loki's eyes.
"You..." Odin was about to rebuke her, but he was at a loss for words. No father in this world could teach his daughter how to steal a man, and certainly not Odin. Nor would Frigga know how to.
For generations, the love lives of the Asgard's royal family members had been relatively smooth. Perhaps there were just fewer choices in Asgard, not as many permutations as in the human race. Their range of choice was limited, lacking the potential for complex love triangles.
Odin was nothing like Zeus, who had no attention for proper matters and only thought about affairs. Odin had spent most of his life in production or on the way to production, without much time for romance. How could he have expected to face such a situation one day?
"So, do you... Do you like Tony Stark? I mean from this universe." Odin asked.
"What's the point of me liking him? He needs to like me back!" Loki said, crossing her arms and looking away, then murmuring, "Can I just tie him up and bring him back?"
"But you two... You two are quite a match, and you even have a child..."
Loki remained silent, seemingly lost in thought, or deeply hurt. Seeing this, Thor quickly stepped forward saying, "Don't be sad, Loki. Asgard has many brave warriors. Surely, they can't all be worse than that shortcoming of a man?"
Loki was evidently lost in her thoughts. Seeing this, Odin felt a sinking feeling in his heart.
Actually, Odin thought that even if Loki couldn't end up with Iron Demon Stark, it wouldn't matter. If all else fails, she could choose another human. Like the Supreme Magician, they had known each other for a long time and had a well-founded relationship. The Sanctum's influence on human civilization was also significant.
But if Loki insisted on pursuing Stark and Stark rejected her, not to mention the disgrace to the Asgard royal family, what to do if Thor saw Loki being treated unjustly and started a war between Asgard and humans with a lightning strike?
Odin immediately felt overwhelmed. Thor had grown a lot, but his temper hadn't much improved, especially when it came to Loki. His attitude had always been unwavering; everyone else could be wrong, but Loki couldn't.
Suddenly, Odin held a serious face and said, "Is it not shameful to you to be like this for a human? There has never been a tradition of intermarriage between humans and Asgard. I told you not to date humans. Go into confinement. You're not allowed to come out without my permission!"
Thor stared blankly at Odin and stuttered, "But, Father of All Gods, didn't you say before that love should be tolerant..."
"Tolerant my ass! Go to confinement! She's not allowed to contact any humans without my order!"
After Loki was taken away by the guard, Thor left the Fairy Palace in a bewildered state. The more he thought about it on the road, the angrier he got. Wasn't it the problem of Stark? Why should Loki be confined when he wasn't affected at all?
Once again, Thor's blind spot concerning Loki was infinite. Whenever Loki was involved, Thor was always unreasonable.
Therefore, somehow Thor interpreted the whole situation as Stark deceiving Loki in both body and mind; Odin mistakenly imprisoned Loki while the cheater, Stark, escaped the punishment. Could Thor bear it?
Filled with rage, Thor, holding Mjölnir, flew directly to Earth and started searching for Stark. Since he was more familiar with this universe's Stark, he went straight to this universe's Tony Stark.
At this time, Stark was discussing with a group of Spider-men how to persuade Peter to propose to Gwen, gathered around a table brainstorming strategies.
"Now Gwen has arrived in Los Angeles, she must be with Peter. We can't just rush there and ask Peter to propose to Gwen outright, then Gwen will find out, and there will be no surprise," Stark said.
"I think the surprise doesn't matter," Gwen Spiderman shrugged, but seeing the other dozen Spider-men all turning to look at her, she sighed and acquiesced, "Alright alright, I understand, romantic, surprise. Suit yourself."
"I think, we should first set up the venue, then at the last moment distract Peter, tell him the truth, then let him propose directly. In this way, we can have both romance and surprise," Spiderman Miles suggested.
The other Spider-men agreed, thinking this was a good idea. Stark rubbed his chin and asked, "So, where should we set up the venue? Where can it surprise Gwen?"
All of a sudden, all the Spider-men turned to look at Gwen Spiderman.
Just as Gwen Spiderman was about to speak, a crackling sound came from the window, followed by a flash of lightning. Thor, holding his hammer, stormed into the room, yelling at Stark,
"Tony Stark! You damn philanderer! How dare you deceive Loki's feelings! Today you must answer for your actions!"