Frederica had no one else to blame, as she was the one who had come up with the plan to reassure countries by loudly announcing the development of Sol’s rear palace. And for better or for worse, the physical preparations for accepting candidates had gotten well ahead of the process.
The idea at first had been to make do by reopening the Great Bath Palace, an expansive area inside Emelia Palace built long ago to house a royal harem, but everything had been moved to the floating islands, with the entire arrangement reviewed from the ground up. Completion of this new rear palace, which included Sol’s living area, was given top priority without anyone asking him. Gawain practically jumped for joy when he first laid eyes on the floating islands, then went full bore until he was fully satisfied. As a result, Sol’s private island was now furnished with practically every feature needed for a rear palace, sans a few final buildings.
In the center of San Jeluk’s Tear was a World Tree sapling planted by the Elven Queen. A ley line dense enough to be visible to the naked eye extended from it to the main World Tree on the Floating Continent below, as well as to the ten medium-sized islands floating around San Jeluk’s Tear. These ten islands were to become the private pavilions of ten concubines given the official title of “consort,” including whomever he would choose as empress. There were ten positions to start, but should more catch Sol’s eye, that number would naturally be raised as needed. Conversely, there was a nonzero possibility that he might end up never choosing more than ten consorts.
At the moment, the island that was largest and therefore outfitted for the position of empress was being used by Reen. The next two, of similar size, belonged to Frederica and Eliza—the second consort and third consort, respectively. The buildings on their islands were new constructions inspired by the residences they had chosen in the Great Bath Palace, with some relocated as is. The three of them had effectively already begun living on their islands.
It was likely one more would be given to Queen Rosalind of Crystania, leaving six consort positions still open. It didn’t take a genius to predict how fierce competition over them would eventually become.
As an aside, Sol had taken such a fancy to the Great Bath Palace that the main residence on his private island was almost a perfect recreation of it. He had grown to appreciate having easy access to a large variety of baths and therefore asked for the concept to be applied to the entirety of his new rear palace.
By reverse-engineering the floating islands’ core mechanism, Gawain obtained the ability to make as many of them as he wanted—small ones, at least. Partly for experimentation’s sake, he decked Sol’s rear palace out with all sorts of eye-catching installations. The most notable were the boulders he suspended in midair around the ten medium-sized islands that produced endless streams of water coursing down like waterfalls. The top boulders had magic stones embedded in them that produced clean water using mana, therefore eliminating the need to hook up pipes. The water was then ultimately scattered into the atmosphere, creating rainbows that were visible around the floating islands at certain hours and angles. Furthermore, Gawain also created rivers on the islands and one big stream that flowed into the main ley line. If this palace deserved a nickname, it was the “Water Palace.”
Dozens of smaller islands also surrounded the main one, set up to be used by concubines who had not reached consort status. These were proper islands, not mere boulders produced by Gawain. In fact, they were the same size as those granted to countries. There was no end of speculation about what this meant, but one thing was sure: Becoming a concubine was a big deal.
Each concubine was expected to be accompanied by a whole company of ladies-in-waiting, servants, and the like—all female, of course. All those blessed with the honor would likely be beauties in their own right and probably hailing from noble lineages, to boot. Case in point, those who had resumed their roles in serving Reen, Frederica, and Eliza in the new rear palace were all daughters of noble Emelian families. Some among them had such high pedigrees that it would have been unthinkable for them to be servants in the past. Considering the privileges they now enjoyed, however, it was only natural that other countries would also be doing the same.
Safety was one such privilege. There was no safer place on the planet. Even if the entire surface was completely devastated, this was the one place that would remain unscathed. Magic and the Floating Continent could produce enough water and food to support a limited population, making the whole floating ecosystem a Noah’s ark of sorts.
A position in Sol’s harem was extremely desirable from an objective point of view, even when divorced from the idea of seeking his love. It was natural for countries to want one of their own to be accepted. Frederica had said that each country could sponsor one girl, but there was no telling when Sol might simply say, I don’t need that many and call off the entire system at the drop of a hat. Therefore, everyone was vying to seal the deal with him before then. If a country’s concubine managed to catch Sol’s eye like Frederica and Rosalind had and was granted a consort’s island, that country was guaranteed a place in the top ten of the Panhuman League.
At the moment, the world was enveloped in an arms race where the arms being sought were girls of beauty and talent who could obtain the absolute ruler’s favor.