The Annals of the Flame kingdom Chapter 2

Chapter 2: New Home

A brief history of Flame kingdom…

The fifty-first king, King George Flame of the Flame kingdom, in a sense of speaking, was a mediocre monarch. During his reign, the tax levied was light and he did not wage war on other countries. Nevertheless, he defended his territory during his reign, and his subjects and officials were happy.

But what made King George stand out in the history of flame kingdom was his good fortune. He married 2 wives: the legal wife Angelica and his concubine Liese Lotte.

It was observed at different times in history, where the legal wife and the concubine’s relations.h.i.+p were bad. As it involved the right to inherit the throne along with the wealth and glory that accompanied it; and the women tried their best to curry favor for their children. They even used underhanded strategies to help them as much as they can. It was said that there was a kingdom at the west where the king left the palace for a month due to the cold war.

But this was not the case here, Angelica acknowledged Liese’s presence and Liese respected Angelica as the queen, uncontested. This was known as the king’s greatest contemporary achievement.

Although they had good relations, tension ran high through the kingdom when Liese gave birth to a baby girl. Everyone was antic.i.p.ating a reaction from Angelica as the girl was after all the king’s daughter, they were soon relieved when Angelica said, “The child is so beautiful, just like you Liese…” and she cradled the child in her arms like her own child.

When these words got out, everyone was stunned. Of course, in a good sense that Angelica loved Liese’s daughter, Erika, as her own.

For three years the kingdom was peaceful, but tension ran high through the kingdom when news spread that Angelica was pregnant with king’s child.

When Angelica gave birth to a daughter, she was happy but her att.i.tude towards Erika was unchanged.

Angelica introduced Elisabeth to Erica as her younger sister and treated both of them as her children. Even Liese treated Elisabeth as her own, and so both girls grew up receiving love from both mothers, but they did have a major fight, a fight which would confuse any bystanders.

Angelica said, “Liese what are you saying! The next king is decided, it will be Erika!”

“No, Angelica-sama this is not negotiable! The next Her Majesty will be Liz-sama!”

“What! Erika is the first-born of the king, she should inherent the throne.”

“Angelica-sama, what are you saying! Elisabeth is the child of the legal wife! She should inherit the throne.”

This kind of behaviour no longer surprised anyone in the kingdom as they became used to the two mothers’ affection to their two children. George and Lotte had predicted this situation in a certain way; by the frantic persuasion of Liese Lotte, Angelica reluctantly admitted with a “conditional” succession of Liz.

…… “There are two conditions. The first is, you should confer a t.i.tle and territory to Erika!”

At that time Erika was ten years old, George conferred her the t.i.tle of d.u.c.h.ess and a territory facing the sea, a scenic place called “Terra” also known as Paradise on Earth for its geographical beauty.

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“Are you Matsus.h.i.+ro Kota?”

After three days in a high-speed horse-drawn carriage from the Flame Kingdom Capital Rarukia…

“Yes.”

“Welcome. My name is Erika. Erika Flame. Feel free to call me Erika.”

When Kota got off the carriage in front of the most oversized mansion in this town, he saw a beautiful woman wearing a blue dress talking with a smile plastered on her face.

“Well, thank you, Erika-sama.”

“Please drop the honorifics and call me Erika.”

“The place I come from, it is a custom to address women with honorifics, so please excuse me for denying your request.”

“Well Kato, you are not my subordinate and are treated on par with same status as me, so calling me with honorifics is not needed, only my subordinates do that,”  saying that while faintly smiling was a twenty years old beautiful woman. With long blond hair reaching her waist which complemented her blue eyes.

“Please take care of me,” Kato said bowing his head.

“Well kato, you do stand out compared with the citizens of Flame Kingdom, so why not introduce yourself as a person from Yameto Empire? People over there have the same black hair and black eyes.”

“Yameto Empire, huh……”

“It is an island nation somewhere in the east. Rather than saying as a citizen of the continent, saying you are a person from Yameto Empire is convenient, isn’t it?”

“I agree.”

“Well Kato, please familiarise yourself with Terra since it will be your new home from now on, and please ask me if you need anything,” Erica said while maintaining her smile.

“…… So, can you read a book?”

“Yes, if this is to be my new home then I need to learn its customs, and even learn about the world so as to not face any future problems.”

“Well, I can do that. I will have someone send books to your room, please excuse me.”

After saying that, Erica gave a slight bow and left Kato standing behind.

By the time Kato was back to his senses Erica left. He ran towards the mansion to find Erica to ask where his room was but instead was caught by the guards.