episode_0071

My door opens roughly…

A gray-haired woman comes in and speaks to me in an argumentative manner.

“You! Where were you last night?”

Theodora, with her gaunt face, glares at me and I feel puzzled.

“Huh? I worked here all night?”

I’m worried about her as I see her dark circles, as if she didn’t sleep a wink all night.

“Did you stay up all night? Are your dark circles dark? My eyes were bloodshot too…”

In my words…

“Hmm… no!”

Or maybe not… Why are you yelling like that?

But, I’m in such good shape today that it doesn’t matter.

“By the way… This is an investment fund plan I put together with bonds from the opposing principality faction. Take a look.”

When I handed out a thick stack of documents, he took it and asked as if it was absurd.

“You said not to interfere in the affairs of the Grand Duchy?”

I answer that question in a joking tone.

“This is a project that the Grand Duchy and the Empire are working on together, so take a look. Your Majesty?”

“Ha… I wonder what they are planning again.”

He takes the document and looks through it quickly.

“The content is not a joke… Did you stay up all night?”

At those words, I smile and stretch.

“Ugh! That’s right, I was feeling strangely good today. So, I was busy working and it was morning.”

Theodora’s eyes dimmed for a moment at my words, but then turned cold.

“Hmph! Get hit by work and die!”

-bang!

He says something incoherent and takes the documents and leaves.

“But can I drink it today too? Unicorn horn?”

I don’t know about your stamina, but your vitality is amazing.

It’s like an energy drink.

The taste is a little bit good, but I want to drink a little more.

***

Terra and her son-in-law’s first breakfast after their union.

Terra frowned and glared at Devian, as if she was in a bad mood.

In contrast to my daughter and Terra, who had dark circles and red bloodshot eyes as if they hadn’t slept all night, Debian looked so energetic that his face was glowing.

Seeing those two makes me feel good.

I guess Debian didn’t let me sleep all night.

I used to make that face when my husband drank dragon heart and unicorn horn.

When I see those two, memories of my youth come to mind and I smile involuntarily.

Hehe… finally! at las!

It was a good idea to prepare the unicorn horn.

I’m sure things were hot between you two yesterday, right?

I speak cautiously, just in case something happens.

“Hmm… Did you both sleep well?”

When I say that, Terra sighs and says.

“Whoa… It was just like that.”

“I was the best!”

What is best?

My son-in-law too…

As a mother, I feel strange knowing that she likes her so much, probably because she had a hot night with Terra the night before.

I should praise my daughter for coming of age and spending a good night with her beloved husband… but I always thought she would be a child…

Seeing my daughter grow up like this makes me feel old.

“Hmm… I’m glad you did that. Come on, let’s eat.”

As I said that, my son-in-law looked at the oysters set out in front of him and cautiously opened his mouth.

“That… mother-in-law… that dragon heart… and unicorn horn…”

Oh my… did I really like that that much?

“You! After yesterday, those words are coming out of your mouth?”

Seeing Terra getting so angry at her son-in-law makes me happy because I think my prediction was correct.

In my dream yesterday, the grandchildren I held in my arms because they were nice to me flash through my mind.

Ah… Ian and Renee…

I feel like my husband answered my prayers yesterday, and I wonder if drinking it two days in a row would be bad for Terra’s health.

Wouldn’t Terra be too difficult? Yesterday would have been the first time…

For a moment, I hesitated thinking about my daughter, but then I realized that I wanted to meet Ian and Renee as soon as possible, and that people don’t die that easily.

At that time, I too felt like I was going to die, but haven’t I still survived and am fine?

After organizing my thoughts, I spoke to the chamberlain.

“The chamberlain did that yesterday…”

Looking at Terra with a frown and Devian with a bright smile, I feel deeply sorry for Terra.

Terra… I’m sorry. Please forgive your ugly mother.

But I can’t wait to meet the lovely and pretty Renee and cute Ian.

At my words, the chamberlain skillfully brought out yesterday’s liquor in front of Devian and sprinkled the unicorn horn on the liquor…

I get chills watching it empty all at once.

“Kha!”

You must be good at it, right?

But I guess I’m not the only one who thought that way, as Joey whispers to me.

“Mom… won’t you die if you do that?”

As I see Joey talking nonsense next to me, I smile and whisper in his ear.

“Don’t worry… My sister won’t die until she gives birth to Ian and Renee.”

Joy asks me back with a puzzled look on her face.

“Who are Ian and Renee?”

A dream my husband showed me last night.

When I couldn’t sleep worrying about Terra and Debian, my husband must have had a precognitive dream to show me not to worry.

“What are you two whispering about?”

You don’t like this situation. Terra’s sparks fly here.

“It’s nothing.”

“Hehe… It’s nothing, sister.”

I feel truly happy as I see Terra looking at us with suspicion and my son-in-law eating raw oysters.

***

That day, I stayed in the office until late at night and did some work.

I clear my mind by looking at recent reports on the war, the establishment of an intelligence agency, and the development of fertilizers.

The anti-principal faction has not yet accepted my conditions.

But now they don’t last long either.

Slowly, their major cities began to surrender, and there was no power left to stop our troops.

“You might still be reluctant to surrender”

I get lost in thought as I look at the map in front of me.

The enemy is now trying to gather as many troops as possible, but there are barely more than 10,000.

However, this side has already joined the Golden Knights and 10,000 of the emperor’s soldiers, and the number is already over 50,000.

This side has both numerical and qualitative advantages.

However, it is not easy for them to recruit mercenaries.

There won’t be many mercenaries who want to participate in a war that is already over.

Plus, even if you hire someone somehow, you’ll need a lot of money.

My guess is that they are very strapped for money.

The only way to raise money is to receive it from Ioanes or to issue additional bonds.

Ioanes is not stupid enough to give money for a war that has already been lost.

I’m going to have to prepare for a war with the Emperor’s faction soon, and you probably don’t think there’s any need to offend me in a fight that I’m sure I’ve already won.

However, it is impossible to issue additional bonds.

Even if we wanted to issue additional bonds, there was no one to buy them.

They know there’s no hope now…

Well, time will tell.

With that in mind, a report was posted about the opening of an intelligence department.

Currently, the military officials have decided to hire former diplomats as instructors.

Originally, diplomats were high-ranking people who secretly spied on in the name of promoting diplomacy between two countries, so there was no one better suited than them.

But the biggest problem is the operative training instructor.

“Hmm… First, I hired assassins as temporary fixers…”

We are considering hiring a large number of assassins, like Rebecca, who are secretly requested to assassinate us as instructors.

Hiring them is more difficult than you might think.

First, I received help from Rebecca and was introduced to a few acquaintances…

I’m worried because they say I’m no different from a newbie on the floor there.

“Phew… I’m frustrated because money can’t solve the problem.”

Even if you want to hire highly capable assassins, it is not easy to do so.

First of all, there are two main reasons.

One is that they cannot trust the country because of their own sins.

This means that even if I write an amnesty decree, the majority of assassins will not believe it, and secondly, assassins with skills have already made a lot of money and do not prefer to be tied down somewhere.

“Let’s think about it one by one slowly.”

And check the next agenda.

“Fertilizer factory…”

This is the project that is currently showing the most sluggish performance.

First of all, an astronomical amount of money was spent…

“There is no performance…”

From requesting the tools needed for the experiment and developing new magic suitable for the experiment, to developing materials that can withstand high temperature and high pressure…

I have a feeling that this topic will probably ask for additional research funds soon, as it has not had much track record so far.

The good news is that our finances are abundant this time.

It’s not abundant yet.

The war is not over yet, and even if it is, procedures are needed to legally use Pieta Company’s money.

If I arbitrarily take money from a company that has nothing to do with me legally and spend it…

It’s almost like admitting that I’m a market manipulator.

“This… will be resolved slowly.”

at that time…

“Please have a cup of coffee.”

I say happily as I watch Lucius bring two cups of coffee.

“Ah. thank you! But haven’t you finished work yet?”

Lucius grumbled at my words.

“So-and-so told me to prepare the materials by tomorrow…”

Those words remind me of myself.

Should I ask my mother-in-law to share some of the unicorn horn later?

I was impressed by the definite effect of the horn.

Even if I stay up all night like this, I don’t get tired.

What a great drug this is!

I’ll have to ask Lucius a favor later.

“Keuhum… So-and-so is wise. ah! I still have something to say.”

Once the war is over, you will have to rule over the territory of the opposing principality faction.

It is natural that many talented people are needed to govern effectively.

“You went to Lucius Academy, right? Are there any useful talents there?”

He says my words with an evil expression.

“Yes! There are so many! There is Müller, who graduated from the same academy as me and is graduating this year, and Maximilian, who is the same age as me and is an excellent magic engineer!”

Lucius actively appeals to me about them.

“Müller, of course!, has excellent academic records to the point where he is called the treasure of the Academy, and Maximilian comes from a family of blacksmiths for generations. He is a huge genius when it comes to magic formulas.”

Seeing the people recommending these two so sparingly, I feel like God is on my side.

Yeah… I’m having a hard time like this. There should be a lot of good talent.

Additionally, if a technology investment fund is created soon, guilds and factories seeking investment will come with investment proposals, right?

Among them, I was struggling with how to select a technician who would be able to filter out the crowd.

You’ll know once you see Maximilian…

Still, things are going better than expected.

“If you get those two, this empire will have peace for a thousand years… and the population will increase…”

I say this while looking at Lucius who is talking nonsense next to me.

“Because I understand. Please make an appointment with these two people.”

When I said that, Lucius, with a bright smile on his face, nodded solemnly.

“Haha! All right! His Majesty the Archduke!”

And as I watch him leave my room, I smile involuntarily.

Is it really that good to have more slaves?