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The men’s disappointment and displeasure were obvious to their leader, Poliana. Thankfully, they weren’t blaming her for this change. In fact, they were worried about how Poliana might have felt about the change.

Everyone knew Poliana followed the emperor around like a baby duck and served him as if he was her god. So, just what did she do to get this kind of demotion?!

“Boss, did you get drunk again and act like a dog?”

“You made a fool of yourself in front of the emperor again, didn’t you?”

“…”

Poliana couldn’t even show her anger at them. She remained silent because this was going to be the official story. The crazy thing was that this “official story” wasn’t even realized yet, but her men were automatically assuming that she did something wrong while being drunk.

‘Why does everyone think I’m a bad drunkard? Those jerks.’

This wasn’t fair. Ever since that day when she threw up in front of the emperor, Poliana had been making sure to take care of herself, besides, she had been too busy to drink lately anyway.

Did everyone know about the story of what happened in the Sitrin bathhouse? She supposed that it was a good thing that everyone assumed it to be the reason for her demotion without her explaining it to them, but it still felt odd.

‘Those bastards! I’ll bet the guards told everyone about what happened!’

Soldiers gossiped worse than old women. They especially got excited whenever they gossiped about their bosses.

‘Hmm… Now that I think about it, it has been a very long time since I had a drinking party with the emperor. He still drinks with Sir Ainno though…’

She felt a little envious. Poliana was favored by the emperor, but it wasn’t the same thing as being a childhood friend. On top of that, she was a woman, which meant the emperor couldn’t treat her the same way as the other knights because they weren’t on a battlefield anymore.

***

Most nations recommended monogamy, but a lot of the time, the royal families were allowed to break this rule. This was the case with Lucius the First.

Of the ten top ladies who were selected based on their region, family, personality, and appearance, three ladies were selected to become the emperor’s wives. Originally, the elders wanted all the ten ladies to become the emperor’s wives, but Lucius the First flinched in disgust.

“What will my future descendants think of me when they read I had ten wives?!”

So in the end, the selection process began and it was carried out by several men including Sir Bentier. Those three men gathered around in a private room, it was Lucius the First, Sir Bentier, and Sir Ainno.

The emperor and Sir Bentier were the ones talking while Sir Ainno was technically there for the emperor’s protection.

Sir Bentier insisted, “You must take Tory as one of your wives, your highness.”

Recently, Duke Luzo wedded the princess from Oz, and this upset many northern nobles. Sir Bentier continued, “This needs to be done, your highness. You need to compromise on this.”

“Tory Seeze… Marquis Seeze’s ward. I have met her once before.”

“Yes, my grandfather has been preparing her for this, your highness.”

“Benti, you’ve known her longer than I have, so tell me the truth. What do you think of her?”

Lucius the First didn’t remember Tory very well. He had a vague memory of seeing her at a banquet, but he knew what kind of upbringing she would’ve had if she was primed to become the wife of the emperor. He wasn’t happy about her family and her purpose, but this didn’t mean he had any feelings against her. He didn’t know her after all as a person.

Sir Bentier, who didn’t know Tory very well either but had interacted with her more than the emperor, gave his impression of her. “She seemed kind, obedient, and very lady-like. My grandfather hand-picked her, so you can guess what she is like I’m sure.”

She was probably a perfect lady, a perfect person to become his wife. Lucius the First hated going with Marquis’s plan, but he had to admit that this was the best option for him at this point. Currently, the people of Acreia were angry at the emperor for moving the capital city, and selecting all of his wives from other regions was going to make things much worse. Lucius the First had to appease his people and his nobles and making Tory Seeze from Acreia as his wife was going to achieve this. Also, this would look like Sir Bentier convinced the emperor into this decision, which meant that Marquis Seeze’s trust in his grandson was going to be strengthened.

The emperor sighed, “Hmm…”

If he didn’t have to choose Tory Seeze, it would’ve been ok to just have just one wife. But if Tory Seeze was going to be his wife, he had to make sure she couldn’t hold too much power by herself as his only wife because it would mean more power to Marquis Seeze.

The princess of Oz, which was a part of their colony in the mid-continent, recently married Duke Luzo. The emperor suggested that perhaps they should choose one more lady from the southern region as his wife.

Sir Bentier shook his head, “Your highness, we have been having the most troubles from the people of the mid-continent. The farmers might love you, but there were many aristocrats who still despised you. If you must choose more wives, then you need to choose one each from the mid and southern regions.”

Sir Ainno, who had been listening quietly, joked, “A hero deserved all the beauties in the world, your highness. Therefore, people won’t complain even if you picked a thousand concubines.”

“A thousand women? Don’t be ridiculous, Inno. It would take me three years just to visit each of them if I saw one lady per night.”

Sir Ainno thought about telling the emperor he could see multiple women a night, but he knew it would only get Lucius the First angrier. He remained quiet. The emperor did not enjoy such jokes, and his hatred for it worsened ever since he fell in love with Poliana.

The irony, however, was that even though he had a woman he loved, here was the emperor who was discussing the different women he planned on marrying. After a brief contemplation, Lucius the First held up seven of his fingers and explained, “Let’s say I can visit each woman every three days. Each lady will get to spend her night with me twice a week and I will get to have one night a week all by myself. It’s perfect.”

Sir Ainno replied, “Your highness, any wife of yours will be happy just being your wife. You do not have to be so strictly fair to all of them.”

Only

“Of course, I should! You need to always be nice to your wives.”

Sir Bentier then added, “I agree with his highness on this, Sir Ainno.”

Sir Ainno was the only unmarried man in the room. He supposed that he didn’t know anything about marriage, so he backed down.

In the end, three ladies were chosen. The three wives that were selected were Tory from the north, Stra from the Mongsheim of the mid-continent, and Rebecca from the Nanikun of the south. Lucius the First wanted the least number of wives, and because he could not offend any regions, it was decided that he had to have at least three wives.

Sir Bentier suggested, “There might be a pressure for you to take more wives from Acreia, your highness.”

“I won’t do it.”

“Then… there will probably be a talk that Tory needs to be made the empress.”