serendipity and sex

Part 1

The Roan Kingdom's monarchy has a male harem.

It was just one of those strange traditions that no one even questioned these days. The sort of thing that might make a foreigner confused but it was so built into the system that no one really had a suitable explanation for its existence.

Sort of like how people rarely question society while living within one. Customs vary greatly from society to society but everyone who lives within one merely accepts things as 'just the way it is'.

The male harem was just one of those things. Just as most people didn't care about the existence of a Count, most people didn't care about the harem.

It was an interesting position too, depending on who you were. For commoners, being chosen for the harem was like a golden ticket. Your family would live in luxury and you would want for nothing.

For nobility, it was a convenient place to shove unwanted family members. Illegitimate children, embarrassment sons, that sort of thing. The position wasn't without its perks and it made the undesirables someone else's problem.

It was no wonder that no one knew why the harem existed though. It was a tightly kept secret within the royal family that required the utmost secrecy.

Every male member of the royal family was required to have one. It was a tradition as old as the kingdom itself.

Alberu Crossman, although he'd come to understand the necessity for it, had absolutely no desire to have one. For starters, any use of the harem would risk his deepest secrets being leaked. And just as importantly, the concept left a foul taste in his mouth. He knew that the arrangement was created to be beneficial for all those involved. The participants lived a life of luxury, their families were well compensated, and there were very little complaints all the way around. It was also supposedly voluntary but considering the perks involved for the families, Alberu doubted that it was always voluntary.

He just didn't like it.

The absolute minimum number he could invite by custom was two and that was why Alberu only selected two applicants. A poor orphan from the gutters who had apparently applied with absolutely no options left in his life and the strange eldest son of Count Henituse, who was well known for his trashy behavior.

Among the applicants they were the two that appeared the most enthusiastic, at least on the scroll sent in, and Alberu dreaded the concept of selecting a person who'd been coursed into it.

The lout of the Henituse territory had a suspicious pattern of behavior that led Alberu to believe this was actually his golden ticket and the homeless man appeared to be in such sincere need. Of course Alberu had researched them both thoroughly, to determine how trustworthy they were. Aside from his own tightly kept secret, they would need to be trusted to keep the secret of the harem.

Despite all his preparations, research, and determination that they were the best men to select, Alberu still frowned deeply at his desk that held all the appropriate paperwork.

Alberu Crossman sometimes felt cursed because of his maternal bloodline. Not because he resented her or his maternal family, they were the only real family he'd ever known. But it was impossible not to feel, from time to time, that even aspects of yourself that you loved were like a curse when they held you back.

It wasn't a feeling of shame. If anything he felt ashamed for the world who would reject dark elves over misguided prejudice. Perhaps it was shame that he needed to hide it. There was nothing wrong with his mother and his aunt or any of his maternal family but for as long as he chose the path to throne, it mustn't leak out.