"Your Majesty is too soft on your family...

　Raimondo muttered with a sigh after sending Alms off to Ron and the others about a week ago.

　It would be a virtue as a human being to take care of your family.
　It's not a bad thing for a king to do, because if there's a bad situation in the royal family, it will lead to civil war later on.

　But a good husband and a good father are not always good kings.
　It is a good king and not a good husband or father that Almus must aim for.

　Almus is a king and a lord before he is a father or a husband.

　'It would be useless if he himself were to become ill in the first place...'

　Julia and Tetra may be able to let their resentment out and feel better.
　But the body and mind of Almus, who is burdened with all that resentment, is exhausted.

　Whether or not a boy is born in the first place is a problem that only God can solve.
　It is useless to consult with others.

　It will be a problem if the alms breaks or explodes at this point.
　In order to avoid this, Raimondo advised Almus to temporarily forget about his family in a distant place and take a break.

　'Well, here's the problem...'

　Raimondo's head was in his hands.
　He had to take on the difficult task of convincing and scolding them both, which would make a lot of noise in May.





　'What can I do for you, sir?　Lady Julia, Lady Tetra.

　Raimondo greeted Julia and Tetra as they came into his office.
　Raimondo's gaze naturally turned to their stomachs.

　They are swollen.
　According to the schedule, Yulia is due in about a month and Tetra is due in about three months.

　(There's a slight possibility of disturbing the child in her belly, but it can't be helped.)

　Raimondo's stomach clenched.


　'Where is Almus?'

　The first person to open her mouth was Julia.
　You could tell from her expression that she was angry.

　Raimondo thought that it didn't matter that a beautiful woman had a beautiful angry face too.

　''His Majesty has gone on an inspection tour to the West. It's to check out the war situation in the western conquest.''

　Raimondo replied mechanically.
　He didn't show any of the same when Julia and Tetra stared at him.

　'Why?'

　Tetra asked anxiously.
　Is she genuinely worried about Almus, or is it just because she's heartbroken, or both?
　I can't decide.

　If a beautiful woman gives me this kind of look, I can't help but feel concerned... Raimondo thought about something unimportant again.

　''It's just as I said before. It's to check the battle situation of the western conquest, there's no other reason for it. After the inspection, they're going to go on to inspect Rezad next, right?　For the time being I won't be able to come back for a week or two.

　Raimondo replied aloofly.
　Even if the two queens crowded in on him, he didn't move at all.

　If this were Ial or Bartolo, they would inevitably be intimidated.
　But Raimondo is the younger brother of the former king.
　He was the man who had been arranging politics on behalf of the earlier king, who was in poor health for a time.

　This is the level of wavering.

　''In the first place, what do the two of you want with His Majesty?
　For what...
　"Is it to get Your Majesty to listen to you complain?

　Raimondo's eyes narrowed.
　Julia and Tetra choked out.

　''I've asked Your Majesty to leave the palace for a time. I intend for you to forget all the troublesome things and relax.''
　What do you mean by nagging?
　'I mean you people. Are you not aware of this?

　They turned away from each other.
　They were aware of it.

　But because Alms was kind to them, they couldn't help but indulge him.

　'Let me say this harshly but only God knows whether a boy will be born or not. No matter how much we worry about it, it's useless.
　But, but...
　You are a sorcerer, and you know it. You are a sorcerer, and you know that it is impossible to give birth to a child. Even Your Majesty can't answer a question that can't be answered until it's born. There are things that you can do and things that you cannot do. If there is anything you can do, it is to keep praying to God that a baby boy will be born and if not, to move on to the next one. That's all.

　Julia's face turns down and she falls silent.

　Raimondo then shifts his gaze to Tetra.
　Tetra involuntarily retreated.

　'I know you're worried about what's going to happen to your own child. It's natural for a mother to be worried. But it's unfounded. It is not possible for anyone to harm your child, and His Majesty would not approve of it. I'm sure you know that's a very natural thing to do.
　But, but...
　You just want attention, don't you?　Isn't it?　I don't like the fact that His Majesty's attention is only on Julia-sama. That's why he worries about improbable things and makes it look like he's worried about something impossible.

　Tetra's eyes flickered with agitation.

　'No, it's not. I was just worried...
　This worry is a fictional worry you have made up for yourself. So don't worry about it.

　Raimondo stood up just as Tetra tried to open her mouth to argue again.
　Julia and Tetra's shoulders trembled.

　'In the first place, you are the queen of the king of this country before you are mothers and wives. His Majesty the King is the father of the nation (parter patriae). Therefore, you, as his consort, are the Mother of Nations, the Mater Patriae. I expect you to behave in a manner befitting the Mother of Nations, the Mater Patriae.

　Raimondo urged the two men to be public figures.
　The two men were not just Julia and Tetra.

　They are the main and side rooms of the great king who aims to unify the Adelunian peninsula.
　We can't have them remain as 'daughters' forever.

　"A child is born without a father. We can't let them get so upset just because His Majesty is away. You are aware that Gaius Rosais, the founder of the Rosais clan, did not have a father, right?　It was his only mother who raised him. She raised her only son without the help of her husband or any of her relatives. That's the kind of strength a mother needs. ...It doesn't seem to me that you guys are worthy of being mothers.

　Raimondo continues to tell them both how to be mothers.

　'In the first place, a wife is a subordinate thing to her husband. Certainly you are excellent sorcerers. But first of all, you are wives. Wives are governed by the patriarchal authority of their husbands. It is the role of the wife to support, encourage, inspire and sometimes comfort her husband. What about you guys now?　You are supported, encouraged, inspired and comforted by His Majesty.

　Families on the Adelnian peninsula are ruled by wives, children and slaves, with the father at the top - a very strong rule by so-called patriarchy.
　Some sorcerers, whose status in society is equal to or higher than that of adult males, are also incorporated into the patriarchy once they marry.

　The family is the smallest unit of human society.
　Without order in the family, there is no order in the state.

　...This is Raimondo's view and the general Adelian value system.

　If I may be so bold as to say, it is not good for the country if you remain a queen. If you will be a further burden to Your Majesty, I will ask you to disassociate yourselves.

　Raimondo's words make Tetra turn blue.
　This is because in Tetra's case, she could be forced to leave at any moment due to political instability.

　What solidifies Tetra's position is the love from Almus, and conversely, there is no other strong backing for her.

　''Yulia-sama, have you now thought that you will not be forced to be detached no matter what happens to you...?''

　Raimondo shifted his gaze to Yulia.
　No impatience could be seen in Yulia's expression.

　What justifies the throne of Almus in the first place is the bloodline of Julia's Rosais clan family lineage.
　That's why Yulia can afford it.
　It's because she has a firm backing.

　''.........In fact, the one who would be in trouble if you let me leave is Almus, right?''
　'Not at all. You've heard from His Majesty, haven't you?　His Majesty is thinking of creating a new house called the Julius Clan Family and founding a different country than the country of King Rosais. ........For the sake of stability, your bloodline of the Rosais clan family sect is necessary, but it's not a necessity.

　If Almus is going to take over King Rosais' country, he needs the bloodline of Julia.　
　However, Almus wants to set up a different state than King Rosais' country, which is different from King Rosais'.

　If he wants to keep things simple, he needs Julia's bloodline, but.....
　It's unnecessary for the legitimacy of the throne of Almus.

　''In the first place, you're the only one of the Rosais clan family sect's bloodline, but there are plenty of replacements for a daughter of a close relative's age. A woman who is as good looking as you are, and more solid than you are.

　(Looks are a bit of an exaggeration...)

　Raimondo thinks of the face of his relative's daughter.
　She is not an ugly woman, but she is not a beautiful woman. Compared to Julia, she is the moon and a swoon.

　Nevertheless, in this case, the problem is not her looks, but her bloodline.

　Raimondo looks at Yulia's complexion.
　She looks a little more pale than before.

　He realizes that his status is not as certain as he thought it was.

　'Most of all, I do not wish to cause you any embarrassment either, and I'm sure His Majesty will oppose the detachment. But it is quite possible. Men are creatures that are easily distracted by the attention they receive. Speaking of which, His Majesty seems to be quite friendly to this girl, Alice, lately. I heard that you are taking her along on this inspection.

　Not that Raimondo has even the slightest idea of making Alice the wife of Almus.
　No matter how beautiful the blonde woman is and how thin her attributes are, she is still a former slave barbarian (Germanic).

　Even if Almus says something delusional like he wants Alice as his side room, Raimondo is going to be adamantly opposed to it.

　The reason Raimondo brought up Alice is to make her a rival to the two of them.
　The two men seem to be sitting on Almus' affection for him.
　At least, they haven't made any effort lately to make Almus love them.

　Raimondo believes that this is due to the lack of competition between the two men.
　It would be nice if Julia and Tetra could compete with each other, but the two have compromised on good terms, for better or worse.

　Of course, it would be preferable for Raimondo to have Julia and Tetra not compete with each other, as increased competition would lead to political problems.
　But without competition, one becomes corrupt.

　In that respect, the woman Alice is a great competitor.
　Because no matter how much Almus loves Alice, no matter how much he loves her, Alice's child cannot be his successor, even if heaven and earth are split open.
　Even if the gods allow it, the people and their vassals will not allow it.

　Besides, Alice has no family.
　There is no possibility that Alice's family, as a foreign relative, will be in power.

　Therefore, Alice will never be a political issue.
　It would be a family affair, though.

　First of all, it's going to be more than a week before Her Majesty returns. In the meantime, why don't you spend some time studying makeup?

　Yes.
　Okay.

　Julia and Tetra left Raimondo's office with their shoulders slumped.

　.........
　.........
　.........

　Oh, I'm tired...

　Raimondo plopped down on the desk.
　Scolding someone who is superior to you is a great display of spirit.

　A lot of rudeness worked, too.
　It was fortunate that they were both good listeners.

　'I don't want you to be reckless with the old man at all.

　Raimondo cowered his shoulders.



　Then about a week later....
　This was around the same time that Alms and Alice began their flirtatious spa trip.

　Raimondo was processing a large amount of paperwork.
　Now that Alms is out of the picture, Raimondo's workload has doubled.

　As Raimondo sorts through the documents, he clears out the problems one by one.
　By the way, water conservancy lawsuits make up 70% of the documents.

　Conn.

　A knock on the door echoed through the office.
　Raimondo stopped his pen.

　'Sir, may I enter the room?'
　Yeah, yeah. Get in.

　A woman walks into Raimondo's office.
　She is a sorceress in King Rosais' country.

　She is a sorceress in charge of counterintelligence under Ron.
　She watches over the commoners and the great families. Counterintelligence detections. Stopping drug trafficking is her job.

　I need to hear something right away.

　The sorcerer tells Raimondo of a new and urgent requirement.
　Raimondo's complexion changed.

　'Are you sure about that?'
　We're investigating, so we can't know for sure but we do have some credible information.

　Raimondo meditated and was lost in thought.
　Then he told the sorcerer.

　'First of all, I will report to Your Majesty. Have the horses ready. And keep your mouth shut about this. You must keep your mouth shut to anyone who asks for news of this. If it gets out, you'll lose your heads.
　Ha!