episode_0026

“…Acting cute?”

In Kristia’s room, I asked her in a fluster.

“You heard me and you’re asking again. Did you not want to act cute? Are you hesitating to respond to me with just a slight chance?”

“No, I was just a little flustered, that’s all.”

Kristia’s expression had softened without her realizing it.

It seemed as though she could barely contain the urge to show that she couldn’t resist whatever cuteness I would display…

“This is the bedroom, so hurry up and change into your pajamas.”

“Yes… understood.”

I quickly changed my clothes in my room and came out.

“Come to think of it, this place was originally a storage room, wasn’t it?”

There seemed to be a lot of paper-like things inside… What on earth had been stored here?

Seeing how hastily it had been cleared, she probably wouldn’t easily reveal what was kept there… I should ask again when I get the chance.

“Hmm, not bad.”

This time, I was wearing penguin pajamas, but it seemed she wasn’t pleased.

“I’ll come out in something else.”

Driven by a dirty desire, thinking that even if the cuteness quality dropped a bit, if the clothes were cuter, she might still get passing marks, I changed three times and came out in puppy pajamas, wearing a satisfied smile.

“If that’s the case, you should have just told me to come out in this outfit from the beginning.”

“It seems like you’re really putting your heart into it, which makes me happy.”

Kristia chuckled and sat down on the bed.

“Now, what kind of cuteness will you show?”

“Buy me a Tteok-burger…”

“Sorry, but we don’t have cheeseburgers here.”

What do you mean we don’t have any!

We even have hotteok, how can we not have cheeseburgers!

‘You just cut it off…’

Can’t be helped.

“1 plus 1 is…”

“2.”

‘Seriously?’

As I looked at her with a puzzled expression, Kristia looked down at me with a smirk.

“What’s the matter?”

“I don’t like clichés.”

So, she means not to act out common cuteness that’s widely spread on the internet, right?

“Alright, then I have something in mind too.”

I climbed onto the bed and snuggled up close to Kristia’s side.

“Hmm?”

“Sis, I’m hungry… Can you give me something delicious?”

“Don’t call me ‘sis’ as if you’re younger…”

“Sisss…”

Intentionally putting air into her voice, it felt like Cristia was choking.

“That worked.”

Even I thought it wasn’t a great line, but Seaker’s appearance was just too intimidating.

“Did I win?”

“W-well, yes.”

When Cristia’s voice started to tremble slightly, I had a hunch.

This round, I won.

“Then I’ll show you the next aegyo right away…”

That’s how I completely crushed Cristia with the remaining four aegyos.

“Victory!”

As Cristia lay there, taking a heavy hit, I made a V sign over her and suddenly she sat up.

“Oof!”

“Do you think I’d just take it lying down?”

She hugged me tightly and rolled around, making my head spin a bit, but I was just so happy.

With a girlfriend whose appearance had been buffed, playing like this was pure joy.

“Ahh! I’m dizzy!”

“Hahaha.”

Cristia hugged me and laughed heartily as we rolled around.

“So that’s why you got mad?”

If our time together is this enjoyable, I could understand getting angry about being underestimated.

“Haha… Hahaha…”

After rolling around for a while, Cristia set me down and gazed at me intently.

It was similar to what’s called a boyfriend pose, but Cristia’s appearance was so outstanding that even that posture seemed naturally cool.

“Do you think you’ve learned your lesson now?”

“Yes, I think I have.”

In the future, aside from the staff, no one else would be in the mansion, so we could enjoy these happy times more often and for longer.

Of course, it wouldn’t be easy with people coming to the mansion like they’re going to work, but after work hours or on holidays, acts like this would happen more frequently.

“Well then, it seems I need to show more aegyo as punishment.”

“Haha, you sure you can handle it?”

Destroy her heart.

****

So the two of them were playing and laughing, but at that moment, in the distant empire from the mansion, unusual events were unfolding.

****

“Unusual movements from the Kingdom of Kristia?”

“Yes.”

“I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve heard that.”

In a rather spacious office, a man at its center spoke as he attended to his duties.

“Every day it’s ‘unusual, unusual.’ Instead of just saying that, shouldn’t we come up with a plan of action?”

“Yes, that’s why I’ve come this time—to formally request support.”

The woman with a sturdy build who was speaking to the man attending to his duties had a rather robust physique. However, it didn’t give off a rough or warrior-like impression; it was simply that she was quite tall and had a warrior-like build.

“Requesting support,” the man sighed deeply. “Alright, what kind of support have you come to request?”

In response to the man’s words, the woman spoke with a flushed expression.

“First, we need to be prepared to counterattack immediately if the Kingdom of Kristia launches an attack. If you look at the plan I’ve submitted…”

“I’ve already read it. Invading Kristia first is out of the question, especially considering the severe cold, right?”

“That’s correct.”

The cold in Kristia was acknowledged everywhere they went.

If Kristia were a weak kingdom, it might be different, but fighting in such unfavorable terrain against a kingdom powerful enough to swallow several kingdoms alone was never a good idea.

“That’s why waiting for the enemy to attack and then delivering a decisive blow in retaliation is the appropriate approach, right?”

“Yes. As soon as the enemy attacks, we must unleash overwhelming firepower and annihilate them all at once.”

At the woman’s words, the man appeared deep in thought.

“Commander.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“There are some issues with the plan you proposed.”

At the man’s words, the woman’s body began to stiffen.

In terms of power, he had much less ability compared to women, but the position he held and the skills he had accumulated throughout his life were pressing down on the bodies of women.

“First, can you concentrate powerful firepower enough to handle the entire force of the Kingdom of Kristia at once?”

“Of course.”

The woman spoke very confidently.

As the commander of all the military forces of the Pandora Empire, she was heavily involved in the development of new weapons. The weapon developed by one of the units was receiving evaluations that it lacked nothing to emit overwhelming firepower instantly.

“If the Kingdom of Kristia steps into our empire, we will attack them all at once, and they won’t escape unscathed.”

Handling the large number of soldiers in the Pandora Empire was not a problem at all.

“Second, are you confident that your plan won’t be leaked to the Kingdom of Kristia?”

Even if a proper plan was established, if this information reached the enemy, it would be over.

Her plan, which would play an immensely important role in the war with the Kingdom of Kristia, was too noisy.

The essence of the man’s words was whether it wouldn’t be more difficult for the Kingdom of Kristia to notice during the process of deploying a considerable amount of resources to unleash overwhelming firepower all at once.

“Of course.”

“What do you have in mind?”

Unlike the first question, where he casually nodded and moved on, the second question asked for specific methods.

Security was just as important.

“The Kingdom of Kristia is arrogant.”

The Kingdom of Kristia was too powerful.

The quality of each soldier was incomparable to other nations.

That’s why they had never engaged in espionage activities before.

“So, we don’t need to worry about security?”

At the man’s words, the woman urgently shook her head.

“No. However, we should be able to deceive the eyes of the Kingdom of Kristia sufficiently with the methods described in the plan.”

At the woman’s words, the man nodded reluctantly.

“Alright, then let’s ask the third question. What exactly is Kristia planning to do?”

Kristia.

Undoubtedly considered the strongest in the world, and perhaps even reaching the absurd level of 11 stars.

“War is not something one does alone. If you kill all the soldiers under her, she won’t be able to do anything alone, will she?”

The man nodded his head appropriately at the not entirely incorrect statement and moved on.

“Then I’ll ask one last thing. Are you going to keep staying on edge, knowing when Kristia’s invasion might happen? Aren’t you afraid of the soldiers’ grudge?”

In response to the man’s words, the woman confidently opened her mouth.

“I know of a means to make sure that Kristia Kingdom will definitely launch an attack.”

“What kind of means?”

“I’ve heard that Kristia treasures one slave. If we were to kidnap him, wouldn’t that prompt them to declare war immediately?”