Talk:Baumeister Family/@comment-44576847-20200604152854/@comment-45880342-20200612124837

They're mistresses for social reasons that prevent them being wives.

Wendelin's harem is already one of the largest in that world (though the number of children he has in total is about average for the higher nobility, but that's just because at current he only has ~1 kid per wife). Having more wives would not be impossible, but adds other constraints. That's because marriages in that world are highly political, often being arranged independently of the woman's (and even sometimes the man's) wishes.

And that takes us back to the mistresses...

In Amalie's case, she's a widow, to someone who attempted assassination of an important noble, which also made her his sister-in-law in particular, and who already has kids from that union. That's a lot of social baggage to carry in high-society if she were to become one of Wendelin's wives, and a lot of risk of potential political issues regarding inheritance were they to have a child with standing as a legitimate heir.

In Therese's case, she's a high noble of another nation (even though she's retired the fact remains that it's an influential rank), one which at that time just had a major conflict in which Kingdom soldiers were lost and which ended the 200 years of peace. It isn't just that she would likely have to be made first wife due to her social rank; it's that the Kingdom cannot allow the appearance of such potential influence of the Empire over any of their important nobles, least of all over Wendelin.