To put it in nice words, the 51st king of the Flame Kingdom, King George・Aurenfert・Flame was a person of finesse, but to put it bluntly, he was just mediocre.

The tax during his rule was not too taxing nor was it too lacking. Similarly, the land under the domain of the Kingdom too, did not increase nor decrease. There weren't any shocking policies, nor were there any disappointing defeats. The foreign affairs of the kingdom weren't so exceptional that other countries would voluntarily bow down to Flame, nor were they so weak that Flame would be looked down upon.

He was not a bad ruler, nor was he a good ruler. He was just average.

Even so, he was regarded as 「the luckiest king in the history of Flame」. The reason lies in his two wives, his official wife (正室) Angelica and his concubine (側室) Liselotte.

Even without flipping through history books, one can deduct that the relations.h.i.+p between the first wife and the concubine could not be good. To put it bluntly, it's always about who gets to be the successor of the throne, atop uncountable wealth. Hoping that the child they gave birth to would be the successor of the throne is commonplace within the palace. The appearance of another woman who is loved by the king brings absolutely no benefits.

Even though logically, the relations.h.i.+p between the two women should be rather bad … … maybe it was because of their n.o.ble characters and good upbringing, those two actually got along rather well. Angelica never abused her position as the official wife, but instead respected Liselotte's opinions and ideas, whereas Liselotte never forgot about Angelica's position being higher than herself by giving her the respect she deserves.

The greatest success of the King of Flame is being married to a great wife, and two wives on top of that!— was what the king of Westlia exclaimed during a private meeting.

Rumours say that because he was so tired of all the infighting between his wives, he refused to return to the royal palace for over an entire month.

No matter how great their relations.h.i.+p was, when it was Liselotte who had given birth to an adorable girl before Angelica, the atmosphere in the royal palace became very tense and high-strung. No matter how kind or good-hearted Angelica was, she was still human. Would she reject the child conceived through the womb of a concubine? As the onlookers worried about her reaction, the very first words that left Angelica's mouth upon seeing Liselotte's daughter Erica were —

「S-s-s-so cute! She is just too cute! Liselotte, I want to hug her! Let me hug her!」

A totally unexpected reaction. Of course, in a good way.

Ever since then, Angelica treated Liselotte's daughter as her own and showered her with love. From the very start, Angelica loved children. Even though Erica was not the child she carried in her womb, if it's her beloved husband's child, how she could not love her— was her viewpoint. Plus, Erica's natural intelligence also fuelled Angelica's love for her.

When Erica was two years old, it was Angelica's turn to bear a child. Like three years ago, the atmosphere in the country became tense. Angelica was human. Even though she loved Erica very much, would she favour her own child more than the concubine's?

「Erica, look! It's your little sister! Her name is Elizabeth! You can call her 『Liz』! Please take care of her, 『onee-chan』!」

Another totally unexpected reaction. Angelica immediately called Erica over to the bed and said such words to her. In contrast, towards George who had cancelled meetings with other country leaders and rushed to her side, she just coldly said, 「Oh, so you were here too, your highness?」

Even after Liz was born, Angelica still loved Erica. It was as if wanting to tell everyone, 「even if I have given birth to Liz, Erica is still my cute daughter」

Liselotte also loved Liz very much. According to her, 「Isn't she the dear child of Angelica and his highness? How could she not be cute?」

Furthermore, Liselotte being the one who had taken care of Liz during the period Angelica was recovering from giving birth, was also one of the reasons for her affection for Liz.

Under the care and affection of both mothers, Liz and Erica grew older day by day. Their relations.h.i.+p was close even though they fought occasionally. The elder sister loved the little sister, the little sister loved the elder sister, and they became the ideal「family」

Originally, the people of Flame thought that the fight for the throne would not happen in that generation, but in the end a fight about it started when Erica was seven years old.

「What are you talking about, Liselotte! Listen closely! It's Erica! The one who should inherit the throne should be the elder one! It should be Erica!」

「Of course not, Angelica. About this matter, I will not back down, even if it's you! The successor of the throne must be Liz!」

「Why! Don't you think it's pitiful for Erica? She's the eldest one! She's the elder sister!」

「Angelica, what are you talking about! Don't you think that Liz is pitiful? She's the daughter of the official wife!」

At this point, no one in the palace was surprised anymore. Having correctly guessed that this would happen, George, Lotte and Liselotte tried to convince Angelica. Angelica finally backed down from the argument and accepted Liz as the successor to the throne, of course, with some 「conditions」

「Fine, I get it … … But I have 2 conditions. One, Erica must get a n.o.ble status and land!」

When Erica was ten, Lotte gave Erica the t.i.tle of d.u.c.h.ess and a piece of land under her control in accordance to the agreement. It was a piece of land near the sea with beautiful sceneries, and was then onwards ruled by the pretty and intelligent princess and, in the future, the elder sister of the Queen Regnant.

This land was called Rond de Terra or commonly just「Terra」

It was also hailed as 「the Paradise on Earth」