"It"s finally over."
Freya placed the pen in her hand down with a sigh of relief. She had finally finished signing the last command. The site selection for the factory, the workers, the governing system and my subordinates" area grading were finally all confirmed.
Thanks to the a.s.sistance of the former n.o.bles, Freya and I were introduced to all of the trustworthy people. The people were former n.o.bles who were willing to help us and absolutely trustworthy. I arranged for locals and people I trusted to manage things. In doing so, I avoided agitating the people due to ignorance.
I followed the province, city and village cla.s.sifications to divide the North into ten parts. I divided them up with local specialties, tribe population and religion as the criteria for one group. However, for Ling Yue"s sake, I gave the Imperial City a very wide radius so that Ling Yue"s home could be included as part of it.
Basically, the new policies, area distribution and population census were in the midst of being carried out. I didn"t intend to declare myself the new King after occupying the Imperial Palace. I wanted to wait for the population census and policies to be completed before officially declaring myself King of the North.
The North was still a mess. Besides the small population, everything else was good. We didn"t lack resources or anything of the sort, either. The large plain in the centre wasn"t inferior to the plains where food was produced in the South. Furthermore, the North had the terrifying manpowered machines. The plan was for me to first control the factories, and then permit private factory operations once the population in the North stabilised.
In essence, we already did what we could for the meantime. We were just waiting for the population census and for the guardians to inform the people of the new policies and area distributions so that they were mentally prepared. Then, I need to wait for my children to be born. That was about it.
Mommy Vyvyan prepared names for my children in addition to clothing for them. She told me there was a particular one I wore when I was a kid, and then I watched her hold it up to her nose and sniff it with her eyes blood-red. Boy, I was so scared I didn"t even dare to speak.
Aside from clothing, Mommy Vyvyan also brought powder to mix with drinks. She apparently didn"t have much faith in Lucia"s body. To be fair, Lucia"s body was small and cute, but not flat chested!! I once caught Mommy Vyvyan comparing her b.o.o.bs to Lucia"s! Come on, man, that had to be unscrupulous play!!
Lucia was small, not flat chested! Vyvyan, who had a body better than human"s, was basically a terrifying existence! It shouldn"t be considered a valid contest! Lucia"s body wasn"t bad among the elves!
As for Mommy Elizabeth, she prepared a mountain of stuff and had lots of things transported to the North from Hilles City as if there was no tomorrow. They weren"t things officials sent to ingratiate themselves with her, but purely things Mommy Elizabeth prepared for the child.
I really didn"t get it. How did Mommy Elizabeth know how my child would be at eighteen years old? How did she manage to have people send everything for my child up to eighteen years of age and even have wedding clothes prepared?
I felt the things Mommy Vyvyan brought were legitimately things for taking care of children compared to the things Mommy Elizabeth prepared. I had the impression Mommy Elizabeth had no idea what taking care of children entailed. I"m willing to bet she just commanded the lady-in-waiting, "All of you, prepare good things for me! I"ll kill you lot if you"re one thing short!" That must"ve been why they brought so many things. Having said that, I was also baffled. I felt there was something I hadn"t told her when I saw her, but I couldn"t figure out what it was.
Freya stretched her back out after she finished sorting out all of the doc.u.ments. With a smile, she said, "I really feel as though I can have a long vacation now. Your children will be born in about a month, right, Onii-sama? We can have a one month vacation, but after that, you will need to ascend the throne and give your speech. Be honest, do you still remember the first time we met, Onii-sama?"
"Are you talking about the church?"
Freya smiled: "No. Let me put it another way. Do you still remember the time we first discussed what sort of monarch you wanted to become? That was the point in time I considered to be my new life. Therefore, that was our first time meeting, Onii-sama. The conclusion we came to that time was that you wanted to become a fair King. Queen Vyvyan is a very benevolent monarch. She is able to forgive others for as long as it was not a serious mistake. Empress Elizabeth, on the other hand, is a very tyrannical Empress. Aggravating her would spill a river of blood. At the time, you said that you wanted to become a fair King. You would also kill, but the people you would kill are those who deserved to die, not the innocent."
Freya then laughed in a quiet voice before resuming: "I initially thought you would lead humanity or the elves as a new King. I never imagined you would obtain your own land. Elizabeth and Vyvyan have no prestige here. You are the only one here. You are here on this land. That is what makes you a true hero King."
Freya walked up to me and hugged me around my waist. She buried her head on my chest and quietly said, "This place is your home. Our home. This is the only place where I will not be discriminated against, so I really cherish this place. I care about this place very much. Only here, can I be by Onii-sama"s side…"
I stroked her Freya"s head: "You"re my sister no matter where you are. You"re my sister I cherish most."
She checked her surroundings, and then giggled, "I never imagined there would be a day, like this. I thought about succeeding a nation with you, but never did I imagine I would be able to establish a new nation with you. I am truly very excited. It feels surreal when I look at everything around."
"This is real and this is what you personally built."
"Yes. You are right."
Freya grabbed hold of my hand. With a smile, she said, "The warmth of your hand is so real. This is real. This is reality. I am very happy. I am honestly very happy. Congratulations, Onii-sama, you will soon be true a heroic king. Establish an empire in the North that doesn"t pale in comparison to Empress Elizabeth as a symbol of your fairness!"
I stroked Freya"s small head: "Uhm. I"ll be fine with you here."
Freya went with the flow by leaning her head onto my chest. She pressed her hand on my belt and giggled: "So, Onii-sama, when can we go to the hot springs at Troy City again? I want to… go again. I want to see the flowers, soak in the hot springs… I also want… Mm… Onii-sama, your wives are all now occupied… You cannot lay hands on your moms, either. Last time was not bad, was it…?"
"Freya…"
"Come on… Come on… Onii-sama… Ah!!! Don"t! Don"t! I was joking! I was joking!! Onii-sama, you can"t do this here! You can"t do this here!! Don"t do this! Ah!! Someone will see us! Someone will see us!! Mm… Mm… Close the door… Lock it…"
I trust that Freya would be careful when she tried to tease me in the future.
"Teasing me is a very dangerous game."
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