Side Story 3.1 – The Grand Duchy is Always Bustling

“Asher, listen well to your Godmother.”

Diana handed a candy to her five-year-old nephew, Asher. Her voice was as sweet as the candy.

“Yes, Godmother.”

Asher, with platinum hair from his father and blue eyes from his mother, was absorbed in the rare treat.

“When you come to the palace, you can eat even more candy every day.”

“Every day?”

“Yes, and not just that. I’ll let you have chocolate too. Won’t you come to the palace with me?”

Diana looked like a witch enchanting a child.

“Will father and mother come too?”

“If you come with both, you won’t get candy or chocolate.”

“Then I don’t want to. I like father and mother more than candy or chocolate.”

Having finished his candy, Asher shook his head firmly.

On the other side, Liber spoke to two-year-old Lydia.

“Lydia, watch closely.”

Liber used magic to create toys that Lydia liked.

“Wow.”

Lydia, with black hair like her mother and teal eyes like her father, clapped her hands in delight.

“Isn’t it cool? Be my apprentice. You can become a Grand Mage greater than me. Now, say it. ‘Master’.”

“Ma-ter.”

Lydia repeated with a babyish lisp.

“That’s right, that’s right. My apprentice is a genius.”

Liber patted Lydia’s head repeatedly, and Lydia soon grabbed the toy to play with.

Braden, just entering the drawing room, sighed as he watched them coaxing his children.

“Whew. I shouldn’t have made that warp magic circle.”

He had made the warp circle for convenience, but Diana now visited almost daily to tempt Asher with candy.

“She wouldn’t stay away just because there’s no magic circle.”

“True.”

When there wasn’t a circle, she’d hire a warp mage to come.

Even so, no one could keep Diana away. Everyone kept quiet, but Diana’s depression was only getting worse.

Due to insomnia, Diana nearly died from an overdose of sleeping pills, causing an uproar in the Empire.

It was inevitable: with the Empress in critical condition and no heir, Braden almost became Emperor.

After suffering from severe depression, Diana suddenly improved when her first nephew was born.

Day by day, she became more lively and energetic. After becoming Asher’s Godmother, she even received health care, saying she wanted to watch the child grow up.

She was his only sister. Even if Braden couldn’t help in other ways, seeing her motivated to live for her child, he couldn’t be cold-hearted.

“Still, Asher only takes the candy and doesn’t get swayed. Sir Liber is more dangerous than Her Majesty.”

At Shutal’s words, Braden irritably ran his hand through his hair.

That guy somehow knew—ever since Adela was pregnant with their second child, he’d been going around singing, “This child is my apprentice.”

True to his reputation as a mad mage, he was persistent. Braden worried that Liber might kidnap the child once born. If he decided to hide, who could ever find Liber?

So, after discussing with Adela, they kept the potential kidnapper tied to the castle. More surprising was Lydia. Her innate mana was enormous, and she was a genius.

She was only two, still speaking with a babyish lisp, but she could already form perfect sentences and even read.

“Did you see it? Lydia showed light magic the other day. It was only for a few seconds, but how can a two-year-old show such focus?”

“That’s why it’s dangerous. Teaching magic to a toddler—Liber is out of his mind.”

Braden ground his teeth.

Liber spent all day with Lydia. Liber, who never remembered people’s names, called Lydia by her name, which made it even stranger.

“Where’s Queen Adela?”

“She went out to check the parade preparations for the upcoming festival.”

“A parade?”

Shutal’s eyes widened.

“She was impressed by the parade in Lasve Neutral Country. She suggested we do the same for our festival.”

“Wow. She’s really something.”

Shutal clicked his tongue.

At first, he couldn’t understand why this couple wanted to take such a vast, useless land as their domain. But in just six years, the wasteland had been cultivated and became a specialty region for special crops.

The wealthy grand duchy became known as a great place to live, and free citizens began migrating there. As the population grew, even more wasteland was cultivated, making the grand duchy richer.

Of course, the grand duchy was still a land where monsters appeared. But in years when monsters rampaged, the King personally went out to defend the country.

The Queen didn’t just manage the inner palace; she participated in state affairs with the same authority as the King. No nobles or citizens complained, knowing how capable the Queen was.

Because of this, mercenaries flocked to the grand duchy. When monsters were active, they could make money from them, and in dormant periods, from specialty crops—there was no reason not to come.

The grand duchy absorbed mercenaries into its knights, building military strength rivaling the Empire. In name only, it was a grand duchy, but along with Sovaro Empire and Orden Empire, it became one of the three great powers.

All in just six years.

Sovaro Empire’s nobles regretted giving such a vast land as a Grand Duchy and insisted some of it should be confiscated. Greedy, foolish nobles. 

The couple managing the grand duchy didn’t strike gold in the desert—they turned the desert into treasure.

To be friends with such incredible people, Shutal felt proud. In public, he acted formally, but in private, he was still comfortable around them.

“By the way, shouldn’t you have more children?”

“What?”

“One will be taken by the Empress, another by Liber.”

“Who’s taking who?”

Braden flared up, but was secretly worried.

Adela said these people wouldn’t harm the children, and that their futures were for the children themselves to decide, so there was no need to worry. She’d given them an excuse to openly recruit the children.

‘Should we really have more children?’

***

That night.

“Do you still have work left?”

Braden, dressed in a robe over his pajamas, approached Adela, who was sitting at her desk in the study.

“I just had something on my mind.”

Adela looked up and smiled brightly.

With her long hair draped over her shoulders, freshly washed and without adornment, her face was clear and pale. It was a look only seen in the bedroom.

His spine tingled and blood rushed below his waist, making him feel heavy. Odd, wasn’t it? He saw her every morning and night, yet every time, he felt aroused.

“Is it urgent?”

Sitting on the armrest of her chair, Braden leaned down and kissed his wife’s lips. Her soft lips made a gentle passion bloom.

“It’s not urgent, I’ll finish soon. Go ahead.”

“I’ll wait. Finish up.”

“All right. I’ll be quick.”

True to her workaholic nature, the Queen never said she’d stop, even after marriage and two children.

Braden, feeling petulant at being the only one impatient, slid under the desk, spreading her knees and kneeling between her thighs.

“…?”

Adela blinked at his actions.

“Work. I’ll wait right here.”

Braden grinned mischievously, rubbing both knees with his palms, then moving up her thighs.

As his hands moved upward, her pajamas rode up, revealing flawless, white thighs.

“Hehe, how am I supposed to work like this? Let’s go to the bedroom. I don’t have to finish now.”

Adela set down her pen and tried to stand, but Braden lifted her leg and kissed from ankle to calf, preventing her from rising.

“Here?”

“It’s been a while since we did this in the study.”

“It has.”

“Your thighs are so white. Was I neglectful?”

Braden kissed her knee, then licked her soft thigh, sucking hard.

S*ck, s*ck—the forceful suction left red petals blooming on her white skin.

“Mmm.”

Her fingers threaded through Braden’s hair. Even just lightly grasping his hair sent a shiver through him.

Braden let go of her thigh and placed both legs on his shoulders, gazing at her flushed flesh. The red petals were moist and glistening.

“You’re already wet, and I haven’t done anything.”

“You know how it is.”

“It’s twitching, begging to be licked. Feel it?”

“Mmm.”

Just by watching, she seductively wiggled her hips, urging him to lick.

“Say it. Ask me to lick you.”

Braden teased, rubbing around her entrance with his finger.

“Mmm, lick me.”

“If you ask, I must oblige.”

Braden buried his face in her s*x, licking hungrily at her soaked center. The soft flesh on his tongue was irresistible.

“Haaa…”

She twisted her hips, pressing her s*x against his lips. Braden placed his tongue between the folds, spreading them apart.

He teased her like crushing petals, then pushed his tongue into her entrance. The plump flesh grabbed his tongue like a carnivorous plant snatching prey.