“Hmm, hmm, hmmmmm!”
“You seem in awfully good spirits, Your Majesty.” The queen sighed, watching the king as he hummed and prepared his sword for battle. He really was the only king in the world who would force his way into a school field trip each year with the same excitement as if he were going on a picnic.
The king grinned, showing off his pearly whites. “It’s because I’m going to get to go a little crazy again after so long, Victoria.”
“Prince Edward will be attending, so please try not to go too over the top this year. You’re getting up there in age too...” Queen Victoria Charlotte Royale could only shrug when the king smiled at her. This was just the kind of person he was. He was always the type to prefer working out to his regular government duties, and any time he had a chance, he’d try to get in with the knights’ training.
Meanwhile, Victoria, who had been his betrothed since both of them were very young, had always been devoted to learning history and government affairs. In a society where all women had to do was smile and look pretty, most looked with disapproval upon her ambition and desire to learn more than she needed. Even then, though she’d held far more prominent standing than most women in the kingdom, she still hadn’t been given the opportunities to do the things she really wanted. It had always been miserable for her.
Yet in that terribly restrictive life in the castle, the king and Victoria became engaged. They were partners in crime and comrades in arms. When he got an education from some of the best teachers around, he made sure that Victoria could also sit in with him. When he would sneak out to participate in training with the knights, she would come up with excuses for him. The two of them worked together so they both could do what they wanted, and all those little tricks they’d concocted and pulled off had led them to the people they were today.
“I’ll be counting on you to handle our government affairs while I’m away...though I bet it’ll be much better for everyone here to leave it to you anyway! We’ve got a bunch of stubborn jerks around the castle again lately...” Every time one left, another one would pop up to fill in. The king sighed and scratched his head, wondering why that even was. Of course, he didn’t realize that the reason was because he was too free-spirited, so his vassals had to be strict.
“Why, the government work is awfully difficult for me too. After all, I have to deal with the cotton shortage, the bizarre requests we’ve been getting year after year from the Western Empire, and someone’s infidelity...”
“Whoa, Victoria?! Do you think I’m Lady Juana’s father too?! Rose is always glaring at me, Edward’s treating me like a stranger, and Jadwi’s been telling me not to give her kissies anymore because my beard is too itchy... What about Max?! He should be coming home from his study abroad in the Western Empire! You haven’t been telling him anything weird in your letters, have you?!” After a brief panic, the king waited for Victoria’s reply with great anxiety.
The firstborn prince and Queen Victoria’s son, Maximilian Lewin Royale, had been studying the politics of various countries in short periods abroad to fill in the gaps between his own government work. Like his mother, he took a great interest in politics. In fact, he was even more fascinated with it, and his hunger for knowledge that might help his country had everyone expecting great things from him as the next king.
“Look... He’ll be coming home soon anyway. Do you really think I could tell him such a pathetic state of affairs in a letter?” Victoria simply couldn’t bear the thought of writing a letter to tell her son, who was learning in a foreign country, that his father had an illegitimate child.
“B-But I’m saying I’ve never loved another woman other than you and Rose! You have to believe me!” the king insisted.
“They do say that what happens twice will happen thrice...”
Maximilian was a large child, even when he still had been growing inside his mother’s belly. The petite queen had been able to manage giving birth to him, but was unable to have any other children afterward. It was a risk to only have a single heir, especially given how the king’s older brother, Cain, was brazenly after the throne. With that in mind, Victoria was the one who made the suggestion.
The king should take a concubine.
Having studied history, Victoria knew that in the Middle Kingdom, a country that had been destroyed by monsters, the king had kept multiple wives. They were not just mistresses; they were official concubines of a noble. By birthing the children of a king, the woman would be granted status and her children would become formal potential heirs to the throne. Victoria believed that would keep Cain under control. After all, he should never be king.
“Victoria, how could you say that?! I swore on heaven’s name that I would never love anyone but you! And then a few years later, you said you wanted me to make Rose my concubine! I’ve never forgotten that!”
Most women would have been happy to be told that they were the only one their lover needed. Yet as queen, she had to think about her country’s future. She wanted at least one more heir. How could he have moved on from such fragile, complicated feelings in only a few years...?
“W-Well, I-I mean... It was love at first sight, okay?!” The king pouted under Victoria’s glare.
“My word. Can you be any more childish?” Victoria was the only one who ever got to see the king in such an utterly pathetic state. But she was happy that way. It meant that she was still special to him, as the only one who was allowed to see him like that.
Besides, Rose Alicia Royale had enough beauty to bring down a nation. If the king hadn’t married her right then and there, then the several dozen...no, several hundred men surrounding her would have lost themselves in her. The Middle Country even had a name for femme fatales like her. Having good conjugal relations was pivotal in a relationship and for the continued survival of the country. That meant between the queen and the king and between Rose and the king. As it was, the king’s affection was a bit overbearing, so having it divided in half might have been the best for both of them.
“What are you smiling about, Victoria?”
“Oh, nothing, Your Majesty. I was just thinking that there really are some instances where less is more. You should just go out there and fulfill your duty as king.”
“You got it! Then if I catch a horned hare in the Skyte region, I’ll make you a coat out of its fur!”
“You know horned hares have brown or gold fur during this time of year. If you’re going to hunt a horned hare, I’d far prefer a white one from the winter time.”
“You’re just as precise as ever, Victoria...”
“And you’re just as forgetful as ever, Your Majesty.”
“Heh.”
“Hee hee.”
At this time, the royal family was unaware that the Western Empire was trying to colonize the kingdom out of its desire for more magic stones. Saint Juana had just informed the Western Empire that the king would be away from the kingdom on this field trip, making it the perfect opportunity for an invasion.
The kingdom was in danger of being dragged into the first war between humans since the dawn of history.