@sakuchu A king/emperor hasn't even be mentioned yet, so it could be possible for it to be like the post HRE Austria where the title of archduke was held by the country's ruler (In chapter 10 Baster even tells Karinne "no one has the right to even raise their head and look you in the eye" which wouldn't hold true if there was someone above him). Then again I couldn't find a TL of the novel, so I might be wrong there and a king/emperor ends up being mentioned later.