1 Idradale

A DAY after the throne became King Stefan's, a woman with ragged clothes and a crooked smile approached him boldly while he was out walking to see his kingdom on his own.

"Do you want to be a god?" She asks him with the ugliest smile that the king has ever seen on anyone. However, for some reason, he is unable to look away from the woman in front of him. "I can tell you how, sire,"

Shifting his gaze from the woman in front of him toward the guards that accompanied him, the king was surprised to see how both his guards seemed to be in a trance, their eyes lifeless and postures hunched.

"What did you do to them?" He did not bother with pleasantry. He was panicking, the concept of seemingly being defenseless creeping up on him. "Who are you?!"

"Think of me as someone offering her help to the young king who only ascended to the throne because of cowardice," Her yellowed, crooked teeth gleamed wickedly. "Will you refuse my offer and allow your enemies to consider your ascension to the throne as mere luck, sire?"

Stefan could not help but think of how the royal advisor had just warned him early this morning about the impending war between Ennoria. How his father, despite the many attempts of keeping the tension between the two kingdoms at bay during his forty years of rule, was unable to succeed in solidifying a neutral relationship with the much stronger Ennoria.

"I heard that Ennoria is already planning to attack our kingdom in three weeks' time," The haughty smile on the woman's face did not disappear. She even counts her fingers, as if to show the man in front of her. "Can someone like you without strong magic, brilliant swordsmanship, and immense intelligence, save us all?"

Despite how much he wanted to unsheathe the sword on his side and slice the woman's neck off, he knew that she was right. She was right that he lacked the three components that she mentioned, and knew deep in his heart that he was mediocre compared to his father, siblings, and those who were plotting even to this day to take the throne from him.

And it terrified the young king. Terrified him to his bones.

As if she read his mind, the woman's smile became wider. The smile made the king shiver in both disgust and fear. "Now, do you want to know how one becomes a God, Your Majesty?"

Stefan had no choice but to listen to every word that the woman said.

The next day, Stefan surprised everyone when he suddenly became eager to find a wife. Anyone will do, he tells his royal advisors and councilors. It did not take the elders of the kingdom very long before they were able to present the perfect candidate for the position of the queen.

Beautiful and intelligent Miriam, the eldest daughter of the influential Southern dukedom. Her affinity for water was what captured Stefan's attention, and her accomplishment as a five-star magician at the age of eighteen was what solidified his attention on her.

The preparations for their wedding were extravagant and their wedding was undeniably one of the most expensive weddings celebrated in the history of Idradale. Once the formal event has ended and the majority of the guests had left for their chambers, Stefan wasted no time and took his young bride to bed at once, hoping they were able to create a child once he emptied himself on her that night.

Miriam gave birth to a healthy baby boy nine months later. She named him Altair, which meant a flying eagle. When the crown prince opened his eyes days later, blue orbs stared right into Stefan's own.

"He seems to have an affinity for water as well, Your Majesty," One of the court physicians informed Stefan after he conducted a checkup on the crown prince. "The queen is incredibly delighted and impressed,"

Once the court physician had taken his leave, Stefan allowed himself to sigh in relief. His first son is a success.

Now for the second one, he thinks.

However, a second child between him and his queen did not manage to be as successful as their first attempt. Months had passed and they were still unable to conceive.

Despite knowing that taking a concubine would look bad on his wife and would risk animosity between him and the southern dukedom where Miriam is from, Stefan takes Teresa, a count's daughter, as his first concubine. The complete opposite of Miriam's strictness and languor, Teresa was brash and the complete epitome of her power, fire.

She gave birth to twin boys after nine months. She named them Blaine and Ciel, whose eyes bore resemblance to their mother's red eyes but their hair took after their father's.

Surprisingly, Miriam was able to conceive a month after the birth of Teresa's twin boys and gave Stefan his fourth child. The fourth son was named Darius, and much to everyone's disappointment, the boy inherited his father's lack of affinity for any element.

Miriam did not come out of her room for weeks with Darius. Teresa, despite her initial hostility towards the queen, decided not to torment her during those weeks and instead focused on her twin sons whose personalities seemed to be more identical to hers as they grew in age.

The king decided to take on his second concubine Nympha when Teresa bluntly refused to have another child with him when he asked. Regardless of his desperation, the king did not want to be portrayed as someone who would pursue his wives without their consent, therefore leaving his first concubine alone.

Nympha, unlike her predecessors, did not come from a blue bloodline. She was a prostitute, much to the dismay of the king's councilors and the majority of the court. Their marriage was also simple compared to the king's marriage to Miriam and Teresa.

She was, however, able to give birth to three consecutive children. Twin boys, Eclair and Francis, both with an affinity for the metal element. Her third child Gwendolyn, had an affinity for the earth element and was thus granted the title of crown princess.

Once Teresa's twin boys were already old enough to start tormenting their younger siblings, the first concubine gave birth to two consecutive daughters whom she named Hazelle and Isla. Hazelle, unfortunately, ended up having the same constitution as Darius. Isla on the other hand went on to have an affinity for fire, which gave her more renown than her twin sister.

The fourth princess Jocelyn was birthed by Miriam, and to the delight of all, had inherited her mother's affinity for the water element. She also resembled her mother strongly, except for how she did not inherit her mother's black hair.

Katherine, the fifth princess, was brought to the world by Teresa a year after the fourth princess was introduced to the whole kingdom. Just like her older siblings, she had a strong affinity for the fire element and the same brash personality as her mother.

And the sixth princess, who soon becomes Stefan's favorite out of his twelve children, was conceived by Nympha. Larissa, Stefan names her out of affection for among his twelve children, she resembled him the most. Blonde hair and the same grey eyes signify her lack of affinity for any element.

However, Stefan decided to not let anyone know of his youngest daughter's predicament. He tells everyone that Larissa has an affinity for the metal element regardless of how guilt seemed to creep up in him as he saw how hope further disappeared from Darius and Hazelle's eyes.

The king was forty-five when he accomplished what the mysterious woman from decades ago promised him when he followed her words. He was also successful in solidifying a stable relationship with Ennoria and avoided several wars that his predecessors were unable to do, thus growing Idradale's respect for him.

His people worshipped him. His wives love him, despite the predicaments that they faced upon marrying him. His children, despite the animosity that they had for one another, adored him.

But was he really a god? Was this the extent of what that mysterious woman promised him? Three beautiful wives? Twelve incredible children? A prosperous kingdom of people worshipping his feet?

Doesn't he deserve more?

Another kingdom to govern, perhaps?

And just like how people can never get rid of the greed that inhabits their hearts, the king spontaneously jeopardized his already stable relationship with Ennoria by attempting to manipulate its young king into becoming Stefan's puppet.

"You need someone older to help you govern," Stefan sleazily tells the young king of Ennoria, the former crown prince, Valentin. "I can help you with that, young prince,"

Contrary to a quick nod of his head, the young king slices off the Idradalean king's right arm.

"Does that suffice as an answer?" The sword on the seemingly innocent young king's hand shone brightly. Almost like a death sentence. "Or do I have to slice off your other arm?

Needless to say, the king returns to Idradale without his dominant hand and a letter held by his advisor, whose booming voice called the attention of the royal family in an instant.

"Your Majesty?!" Nympha was quick to run to her husband's side and gasped upon seeing the blood that was still attempting to escape Stefan's already-bandaged limb. "What happened?!"

Teresa and Miriam followed suit, their faces betraying their true emotions of concern and surprise at what happened to their husband whose purpose of the journey was supposed to solidify the peace between their kingdom and Ennoria.

Stefan does not respond. His royal advisor breathed heavily before saying the words that the royal family never thought they would hear again after Hazelle's departure.

"Ennoria wants a bride as an apology and in return, they will further strengthen the alliance," The man says loudly, the tone of his voice full of remorse as he watched how the expressions of each family member unveiled. "And not just any bride, they want Larissa."