Marital Problem

"I have a problem with my wife," Viscount Muller begins his explanation.

You supress a sudden urge to sigh. Of course, problem with one's marriage is harder to solve than trying to manage a territory. And looking at his face, you think you know what kind of problem he's having.

"I've been sleeping with another woman,"

Despite spouting religious text every day and hounding the churches on Sunday, some of the nobles didn't really follow the holy scripture to the letter. Adultery is prohibited, yet many of them indulge in it. Many nobles marry for the sake of creating heirs and once that is achieved, they almost stop sleeping with each other and instead keep lovers on the side even to the extent of having illegitimate children.

Appalling, to be sure.

It's a good thing that you're not like them. You practice what you preach; since you don't preach those holier-than-thou principles, you don't have to practice them.

Despite Muller being one of those who preach good values but at the same time fornicating with someone not married to him, you don't really see the problem with his conduct. He's free to do whatever he wants unless he's going to cause a problem.

A problem.

Ah, now you understand. Although a Viscount, he ended up in that position not because he inherited the position, but because he married into the Muller family and taking its surname. Because of that, the Viscountess holds the real power. If she decides to divorce him because of the affair, he will lose everything.

But Muller told you that he has been sleeping with the other woman, which means it has been going for quite some time. Which means, the wife probably knows and tolerates. Then there must be something else that happens that changes the status quo.

"The other woman is now pregnant even though your wife is yet to have any male heir, is that it?" you ask.

The other man's eyes widen. "How do you know about that, Your Majesty?" he asks, clearly not comfortable with you having understood the whole situation.

You wave him off. "That's not important. Who's the other woman?" you ask while mentally going through the Muller family. Since the previous Viscount passed away, apart from Muller who inherited the title, there's the mother-in-law, Ursula, the wife, Susanne, the second daughter, Ingrid and the youngest, Gisella. Of course, the other woman is not limited to Ingrid or Grisella since it could be one of the maids or even any other woman in his territory.