Chapter 26

The beginning of the reign: All Hail Aelfric Elias Tudor!

Aelfric is an old English-German name with the combination of "Aelf" meaning "Elf, fair people, fair, wisdom", "Ric, meaning "ruler, leader". I chose an English name as a Courtesy title/name to deviate from the traditions of Western Europe, incorporating the Asian monarch titling concept. This kind of reform isn't well known in Western Europe, but later German and Russian monarch did make their version of "Caesar" in the form of Kaiser and Czar as their courtesy title/name of monarchs. As such, I am making an English equivalency of this concept. The dual meaning of Aelfric is interesting as well since it also claimed Fair Folk roots, basically like waving a Pride flag as a name 😛

Some other interesting notes: Omega issues are touched upon in this chapter. I have no forgotten that my main character is intersex and there's some sore subjects like pronouns and gender bias issues. In a universe, where binary gender spectrum is all that has ever existed, I wanted to make sure that these issues are explored and discussed. Something few Omegaverse stories touch on is the inherent issues of having a tri-gender human society, there are a lot of sociological problems with various people. Additionally, the inclusion of vaginal sex without erogenous response and the Omega's gestation period being around five months, the Omega gender is significantly different than females and males during reproduction. They need a partner to facilitate reproduction, but on the other hand, the gestation period being so short will allow Omegas to easily grow in terms of population distribution.

Two new characters were added in this chapter: Don Antonio and Matsudeira Takechiyo, both will become important characters for future stories. Don Antonio was the son of a Portuguese prince, who had a claim to the Throne of Portugal, but in history due to various issues (including his Jewish mother) was declared illegitimate. Philip II, son Emperor Charles V of Holy Roman Empire and King of Spain, became King of Portugal as well, cementing Habsburg rule over Iberian peninsula for decades. He's an interesting character in history, someone whose parentage and bloodline was infamous. 

On the other hand, Matsudeira Takechiyo, in history will later rename himself to Tokugawa Ieyasu, is the third unifier of Japan, who would begin a shogunate that reigned for more than two hundred years until the 19th century. He is going by that name right now due to various issues, including his dislocation and sale into slavery to the Spanish/Portuguese, who had made contact with Japan at this point in history. As I alluded to, I am well-aware of Shogun, both the original miniseries and FX series currently airing. I like the idea of introducing Asian ideas into English history, just like the book/show are inserting Western concepts into Japanese culture. It's a juxtaposition and cultural relativity lesson from a modern Otaku.

This week's law of power is 34th law, "Be royal in your own fashion. Act like a king to be treated like one", basically you need to establish yourself like royalty in order to be treated like one. People may think royal titles and names are useless, but it established the concept of presence. A leader is just a leader, if they want to be a king, they need the title equivalent to one. Eli had to take a title like Aelfric to both raise the status of the rulership and effectively command the realm.

References:

1. Henry II did die on July 10th, 1559, followed a year later by his heir and eldest son Francis in 1560. This resulted in the regency of Catherine de Medici, who controlled France for much of the 16th century akin to a Dowager Queen for her remaining children.

2. Interesting fact about Portuguese Don Antonio, I had not realized that he was possibly the son of a Jewish mother until I started researching his background for this story. It raises a lot of unsettling questions about anti-semitism inherent in the lack of succession. There's some touchy subject matter here, but it's a fascinating angle that was worth exploring as the historical figure factored heavily later in English history during the English Armada attack on Spain. Of course, history will likely be different in my story

3. Matsudeira Takechiyo was held hostage by Imagawa Yoshimoto, when his family was defeated during a clan war. He later served Yoshimoto until Imagawa defeat at the hands of Oda Nobunaga at the Battle of Okehazama. The future shogun of Japan had a colorful life, but you should note that he only kept the name Matsudeira Takechiyo until he began serving Yoshimoto at age of 13, when Yoshimoto renamed him Matsudaira Jirōsaburō Motonobu. This meant in my story, he was sold into slavery by the Imagawa or Oda clans sometime before he turned 13 years old. Technical details like ancient Japanese rites of ascension and hostage customs were considered in my story.