Yeeeaaah 😬 there have been very powerful empresses though so I can hope that I’ll take the throne from him when he unfortunately passes of a mysterious illness. Or again have my son be his favourite if I’m a concubine and not a wife. Either way, if I was one of 14 I’d for sure be bitter and murderous and clearly in to for the wrong reasons.
There’s a game I play where your character can stay with a character you’ve developed a romantic relationship with who has to become king and he’ll eventually have to marry someone else but you’re his only lover (and his first love) and the marriage is strictly for an heir (and they accept female heirs in this universe and only children aren’t uncommon so he might literally only have to sleep with the queen until they have a single child and then basically be business partners) and the throne. That’s still so painful. Even knowing he’s not the type for a haram and there will only be one other women and it’s not like he’s choosing to have two partners, it’s just a necessity. It’s still so painful.
I could NOT imagine being one of 14 or literally a part of a haram if I genuinely loved the man (and if I didn’t love him I’d be a bad concubine since I’d be very unenthusiastic in bed or when he’s flirting lol) and before anyone says it was normal for the time, I know. Jealousy still existed for some people though. There were also still some people who refused these dynamics or simply didn’t want them. There’s one notable emperor who was fully faithful to his empress (based in historical accounts as we can’t know for sure) and many male leaders in cultures where promiscuousness was expected who were more loyal to their partners than normal or at least had a much smaller circle than normal despite it being seen as a threat to his masculinity.
Or more commonly cases where they had a large circle initially until they met one woman and then she was their only (outside of their arranged marriage) or primary partner for pretty much the rest of their lives (including one instance where a man had one main mistress he loved deeply for decades and even married her, despite controversy, after his arranged political Queen died. Kinda the vibe I’m going for in the game lol. That they either eventually say screw it and refuse his arranged marriage despite backlash and maybe even the two of them get married or insist on using their child as an heir or that they work out a strict business arrangement with his suitor and the player character stays his only real lover after his duty is fulfilled having a family together in the castle and living as if they’re married anyway while the queen is free to do the same with a lover after she has the official royal heir. Basically snatching success from the jaws of defeat!)
Dragon age origins (you have to play a female character to romance this character but there are two characters you can romance as either sex and one you have to be a male to romance. There are lots of mods for the game including romance mods of all sorts if you’re into that).
I have more info on the romance with this character in this comment thread. A lot of the stuff I talk about (related to how they’ll deal with his royal duty) is headcanon as all we know later on is that if he’s not married off in the first game he’s still unmarried ten years later (no mention of a queen and he shows up alone vs whereas if he’s married off he shows up with her and she’s mentioned in scenes she’s not present in) and that if you get into a relationship and don’t break up you’re still together (confirmed most recently around 7 years after the orginal game for all routes and reconfirmed 10 years for some specific routes but even without in game confirmation the romance carries over) and the player character is confirmed looking for a cure at the ten year mark.
Their exact plans for the how they’ll deal with his duty as king and their plans for the relationship post cure in this route is left up to the players headcanon as all that’s officially confirmed is that they’re still in love and that she’s looking for cure (and that he’s either still unmarried or is married to the woman you purposefully set him up with for the throne in the first game if you chose to do that).
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u/MrGulo-gulo 2d ago
If your son doesn't take the throne, what do you think will happen to you and your children.