You and the council can retire behind closed doors

The whole throne room is quiet. They're all taken by the story. The queen was a demon. You give the people a moment to process all this. After a minute or two, you start to hear voices below you. The people started discussing what this really meant for them.

You arise from the throne. "Council, let's retire to the private chambers." You say and they complied.

Behind closed doors, you all sit down behind the round council table. On your left side sat your royal steward, Gilbert Tarn, and left to him sat Sir Garret, the marshal. On your right side sat the royal chancellor, Erwin Dresin and between him and Sir Garret sat Lady Vessa's empty seat. She hasn't fully recovered yet.

"Count Erwin, have you prepared a list of potential royal spouses?" The chancellor turns his head towards you and holds up a paper. "Of course, my king".

Firstly, we have princess Clara of Phebis. She is the daughter of King Claudius of Phebis. Phebis is a small Kingdom that lies next to Itheria to the east. Like Itheria, It too lies along the coast. The relationship between the two kingdoms have always been friendly. Itheria provides military protection to Phebis and much of Itheria's trade comes from Phebis. Because of this, they, and their rulers have always been close. In fact, You and King Claudius were very distantly related. You can't remember exactly how though, perhaps you were not paying attention when Lord Gilbert was going over family trees during your education.

Sir Garret opens his mouth to give his council, "Your Majesty. Many of your subjects, especially those that live on the border with Phebis think that it would be more prudent of us to withdraw our support of them. They're a weak nation that does little, but rely on its neighbors for support. some of the more ambitious voices say we should just invade them."

Count Erwin steps up, "Phebis is a weak nation, yes, but trade from them encompasses nearly a third of our income. A war between them, or even cold relations may result in financial issues"

"Pah!" Sir Garret growls, "If there was a war between them, we would just take what they trade us and sell it to other nations around us."

Erwin retorts, "But if the other nations see us as warmongers who just take what we want. They may be unwilling to trade with us."

You look toward Lady Vessa's empty chair. Her counsel would perhaps have helped. But of course you can't get it right now.

You shrug off your thoughts and turn, finally to your final adviser. "Lord Gilbert?"

He looks at you thoughtfully, "I think...I agree with Count Erwin. Being allies with the Phebisians will only bring positive results and if the succession turns messy, we could press your son's claim. However, at the end of the day it's you who has to make a decision. You need to decide what's best for you and your happiness. A happy king means a happy kingdom." Leave it to Lord Gilbert to offer you a lesson in life as well.

"Our second candidate is the heathen Princess Inga. She is the daughter of King Rodrick of Gautaland. Your father was a close friend of his and this would potentially bring a strong military union between the two countries. As both of your kingdoms are strong militarily, you both could strongly benefit in coming wars from this."

Sir Garret nods approvingly and thus, you don't even need to ask for his opinion.

"Lord Gilbert?" You ask and the steward starts to cough. Although it takes a minute, Lord Gilbert recovers and gives his counsel.

"The only thing that could be problematic is her religion. The heathens believe in Gladowar, Rymr and Frawjaz. The church and the zealots will not be content with a heathen on the throne."

"Who's the third candidate?" You ask curiously.

Count Erwin sits silent for half a minute. You see small drops of sweat beginning to take form on the bald head of count Erwin. Then he tightens up and opens his mouth. "If I could be frank with you, I'd like to say that my second daughter, Victoria, is the same age as you and she is also unmarried. Perhaps you'd take her as your wife."

Marring within your own kingdom could have it's benefits. The people can't really be mad if you marry someone from your own realm and it would strengthen your lords loyalties to you.

It's time to choose. Who will be your queen?