Elizabeth I continued her rule much more peacefully after reaching an agreement with the House of Blue Bloods.

Fortunately, the nobles didn't go back on their words.

However, Elizabeth I's 'meritocracy' was, at best, aspirational.

Nobles had limits to their tolerance. Appointing women was one thing, but appointing commoners was a step too far.

They passed a resolution that prohibited commoners from holding positions of power unless at least 35% of the House of Blue Bloods confirmed them.

It was basically a complete ban, as it is unimaginable for the House of Blue Bloods to confirm a commoner.

In line with her commitment not to repeal any resolution without prior approval, Elizabeth I criticized the resolution but did not pass a decree repealing the resolution.

Like the nobles, she wanted a stable kingdom, not one where she would repeal and the House of Blue Bloods would overrule ten days later.

As a result, she had no choice but to surrender in this case.

Fortunately, the order only applied to officials with responsibilities relating to nobles.

The House of Blue Bloods had no authority in matters exclusively affecting the royal territory.

The dukes were an interesting situation.

Even though they were all appointed by the king, they were technically nobles, so the House of Blue Bloods did have the authority to pass resolutions affecting the dukes.

However, it was a convention for the House to refrain from interfering with dukes. They stuck with the convention in the latest resolution, explicitly exempting the dukes from the policy regarding hiring commoners.

As a result, dukes were free to hire as many commoners as they wanted in any job.

The next important issue that came up was the matter of succession.

Typically, kings marry many women and have lots of children.

But Elizabeth I, as a woman, is different.

Her ability to have children is much more limited than that of male kings.

But it was still her duty to give birth to successors. Giving birth to successors was one of the king's most important duties.

Here comes some awkward part.

The House of Blue Bloods always chooses the queen from a list provided by the Johnson family.

The matter of the queen is a negotiation between the Johnson family and other nobles.

The Johnson family has a separate leadership structure, and even as the king, Elizabeth I doesn't have power over them.

The king has no say over the queen.

To be brutally honest, kings never cared much about the queen.

They could be with any number of women as they wanted, so who the queen would be more wouldn't bother them.

In any case, the Nobles would surely choose a beautiful woman, so why not?

There were anomalies, like King Mark VI, who married a commoner.

But that commoner never became the queen; she remained a concubine, as the House of Blue Bloods never chose her to act as the queen.

It's just that Mark VI made sure to have his most senior children with his commoner concubine and not with the queen. That's why Elizabeth I became king despite her mother not being the queen.

Soon, the House of Blue Bloods started the process of finding a suitable 'queen.'

The twist was that this queen was a man and not a woman.

The kingdom system was based around men being the rulers, so the terms began to look weird as a woman became king.

For now, however, nobody cared, so everyone started looking for male candidates for the 'queen' position.

The Johnson family began negotiating with the House of Blue Bloods on whom to choose. Nobody asked for Elizabeth I's opinion.

She has become the king and has all the powers of the king, so naturally, she must also accept the responsibility.

The nobles, already harboring grudges deep in their hearts, wouldn't make things easy for her.

After a few months, the Johnson family selected seven candidates.

One of these seven candidates would be chosen by the House of Blue Bloods.

If the king were male, one would have been chosen as the queen, and the other candidates would have been sent to as 'concubines.'

Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

But Elizabeth I strongly indicated that she doesn't want any 'concubines.'

However, the House of Blue Bloods ignored her, chose Mike Johnson as the 'queen,' and appointed the rest as concubines.

The House of Blue Bloods can appoint concubines for the king, but the king is not obligated to sleep with them.

It's usually just a show of goodwill from nobles to the king to send concubines for him. Now, however, the usual show of goodwill became much more sinister.

The views regarding men and women are different in the kingdom. If male kings sleep with thousands of women, few take issue with it, but if women king(s) do it, the people will look at it with disgust.

Nobles were obviously targeting Elizabeth I's popularity with the ordinary people, and this act was trying to portray her as if she was a prostitute.

Elizabeth, I could only sigh when she saw all these dirty maneuvers.

With no other choice, she began to embrace the tactic. She gave a royal order to find 200 male concubines for her!

Now that the nobles put her in the spot, she must take the initiative and go even further.

She had a problem with the culture that thought it was okay for men to do something but not okay for women.

She just used this opportunity to remove hurdles for her future female successors.

The people must get used to equality; the times of double standards are over!

The selection of 200 male concubines was spread far and wide, with nobles amplifying it secretly. The people criticized, but nothing more.

In any case, what ordinary people thought was of little importance.

Soon, it was time to marry!

In a grand event, Elizabeth I married Mike.

At least the nobles chose a handsome person for her.

She fulfilled her kingly duty and got pregnant after 3 months.

She didn't have any plans of sleeping with her 200 concubines.

She truly wasn't interested.

But she intentionally spread the news that she had been with her concubines every night.

If it's okay for men, then it must be okay for women too!

The people must get used to it.

She is not interested in being with her concubines, but what about her successors?

She will take the heat and pave the way for them.

As for the question that naturally arises about her child's father, it doesn't matter.

The only thing that matters is the king's blood, so no matter who the father is, the child will become the next king.

Pregnancy is hard.

She soon found it the hard way.

Working while pregnant is much more difficult than working while not pregnant.

But, despite all the hardship, she worked harder than ever not to give nobles an excuse to bash female kings.

After 9 months, she gave birth to a boy.

She could only sigh!

The reign of female heirs would stop after a single female king, as her baby boy, the most senior child, is destined to become king.

She sighed with regret.

But, in any case, the boy, Mark VII, was also her child, so she hugged him and gave him her love.

The nobles and the Johnson family wanted to take the child away to 'educate' him in 'peace.'

Taking the mother and the child to the ancestral lands of the Johnson family was customary.

But, Elizabeth, I absolutely didn't allow it.

Emotional sides aside, she must educate Mark VII well and guide him to the 'right' path.

Elizabeth I considers equality of genders to be the right path.

Then, the nobles started harassing her again.

They argued one prince is not enough, and to secure the royal line, at least 10 is a minimum!

They completely disregarded the difference in the physique of men and women.

Male kings could make ten offspring in ten days, and the concubines would bear the unborn child for nine months without the king even knowing.

The matter of having children is trivial to male kings.

But, to Elizabeth I, having 10 children would take years and years.

Witnessing the cruelty of the nobles, Elizabeth I looked with ruthless eyes but couldn't do anything but sigh.

She didn't like her last pregnancy.

It had taken a toll on her body and was an extremely unpleasant experience.

Sure, Mark VII, her boy, was cute, and she loved him, but she didn't feel ready to have more children at this time.

It was her weakness! Nobles could use this 'lack of enough royal blood' to criticize her.

It is a problem Elizabeth I has no solution for.

She couldn't let other women have her child, as she is the king.

Shaking her head, she decided to get pregnant again after a few months. She wanted to impress the nobles, maybe even win them over by being stubborn and hardworking.

She doesn't believe that they can stay united against her when they see how hard she works for the kingdom.

Surely, a few good guys must be among them.

Even 'blue blood' nobels are human, after all.

She can get 40% of the House of Blue Bloods if she wins over a few marquises.

With 40%, she could relax, as repealing her decrees wouldn't be as easy. At that time, she wouldn't mind negotiating the terms of the deal again.

Nobles expected Elizabeth I to back off and admit her inferiority to male kings. After all, even though they never gave birth, it sure looks to them to be an excruciating experience.

But, to the surprise of nearly all of them, she agreed! She said she would fulfill her duties with passion!

She got pregnant again, and even though her physical state wasn't ideal, she was present in every one of the royal court meetings.

Some were very impressed with her stamina and stopped criticizing her. They never saw a male king as hardworking as her.

Elizabeth's father, Mark VI was quite hardworking, but he paled compared to his daughter.

Elizabeth I was like a machine, working day and night while carrying a child.

Soon, some nobles began insisting she take a day off and rest.

She disagreed.

In her view, showing weakness is a sin.

She gave birth to another boy.

Knowing her child's gender, she sighed.

It seems the next king is fated to be a man.

That is if the laws remain the same.

She came back to the royal court only after five days of rest.

Ministers, marquises, and dukes attend the royal court.

The dukes were all on her side.

A mong marquises, all were initially opposed to her, But after witnessing her efforts, many began having second thoughts.

They doubted themselves about their thoughts regarding women.

By any standard, Elizabeth I was one of the wisest and strongest-willed kings in history.

Are women really inferior?

Their view was beginning to change, thinking women were even more suitable as kings than men!

Their experience regarding female kings was indeed a bit biased.

Elizabeth was no ordinary woman.

She was a genius with powerful willpower and a wise father educating her.

Not just any woman can be like her.

In total, it's not that women are better kings than men; it's just that Elizabeth I is a better king.

The matter of who can be a better king is not a matter of gender; it has nothing to do with gender.

Judging people based on superficial characteristics like gender is dumb.

But the Blue Bloods kingdom hadn't yet reached that level of enlightenment, so their thoughts were all about whether men were better or women were better.

If they were rational, they would have considered changing the inheritance law so that at least the most suitable child could become king, not necessarily the oldest one.

As for whether it's a boy or a girl, if smart and qualified, who cares?

Elizabeth I's ultimate goal was to choose her most suitable child to become king. But, even with her strong willpower, she was doubtful whether it could be accomplished in her lifetime.

She will try, but in the meantime, she will train Mark VII as the successor, so if she fails, the next king will be educated and clear-minded in any case.