Chapter 148: The Wedding (2)

“In the name of God, whether I’m happy or sad, whether I’m poor or rich, I promise to cherish, respect, and love each other…”

Even as he was listening to the priest officiating, Milton couldn’t focus. He was distracted by his brides on his left and right side and could only think one thing.

Faster, faster, come on, FASTER.’

Milton was desperate for this wedding to end. It had been a long and solitary life. 

“As your evidence of love, the groom may kiss his two brides.”

“Finally…”

Milton had unconsciously spoken out loud. He refocused and looked at his two brides. He lifted Queen Leila’s veil first and looked into her eyes.

“Are you nervous, dear?”

Milton responded in an even softer voice to her whispered question.

“No.”

It was a lie. He was so nervous he was afraid he would kiss her on the nose instead, but Milton regained his senses and gently pressed his lips onto Queen Leila’s. He lost himself in the softness and the warmth of her lips, but then gently lifted his head. It would become very awkward if he continued the kiss any longer. 

Then, he turned to lift Sophia’s veil. Unlike Queen Leila, who had been very calm, Sophia’s face was full of shyness.

“……”

She had closed her eyes tightly and was waiting for Milton to handle everything. Finding her so lovable, Milton pressed his lips against hers and again lost himself in the softness and the warmth. He felt like his entire body was melting from the kiss.

“In the name of God, the three of you are married.”

According to the priest’s declaration, all the formal procedures for the wedding were over. 

“Congratulations, My Lord.”

“Congratulations, Your Majesty. 

“Congratulations, Lady Sophia.”

The people’s congratulations continued to pour in and Milton thought it was finally over. However, even if the wedding was finished, something else still had to be done; there were a lot of official things to get through that day. Immediately following the wedding was the ceremony to become a Grand Duke.

Queen Leila took off her veil, put on her crown and stood in front of Milton. Standing next to her was an attendant holding an impressive coronet and scepter that had been prepared in advance. Queen Leila began to speak solemnly.

“Kneel before me, Marquis Milton Forrest.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Milton knelt. This was most likely the last time he would greet her in the manner of subject and monarch. She spoke to him as she placed the coronet on his head. 

“In the name of Leila von Lester, the only legitimate monarch of the Lester Kingdom, I give my husband, the hero of the country and a valiant knight, Marquis Milton Forrest the title of Grand Duke, a rank that is equal to mine, the queen.”

“I swear to uphold all my duties with my life, Your Majesty.”

When Milton stood up with the coronet on his head and the scepter in his hand, a loud cheer roared from the audience.

“Wahhhh!!”

“Long live His Highness, Grand Duke Forrest!”

“Long live the Lester Kingdom!”

A lot of the people were sincerely happy, but they couldn’t be happier than Sansen and Thomas, who had been a part of the Forrest Estate from the previous generation. Sansen and Thomas watched with tears in their eyes. 

‘My Lord, are you watching? The young master… sniff’

Sansen, an honorable knight, now knew what it meant to die without regrets. 

One-by-one, Milton called up those who had made great accomplishments during the war: Jerome Taker, Randol Sabian, Rick Storie, Tommy Croix, and Trike Row. All of them had made great contributions during the war and Milton was personally presenting rewards to each of them. He gave Jerome Taker the title of Marquis along with his estate while Randol Sabian was given the title of Count with his own estate as well. To Rick Stories, Tommy Croix, Trike Row, he gave a reward of 5,000 Gold and the title of Viscount. He also gave Max the title of Viscount for having taken good care of the territory while he had been gone as well as the position of Chief Administrator of the Grand Duke’s Estate.

Just as all these events were finished, Milton received an unexpected message.

[The level of the Monarch has risen.]

[You have officially acquired the title of a monarch. The administrative area changes from territory to country.]

It had been a while since his level went up. Milton immediately pulled up his status window.

[Grand Duke Milton Forrest]

Lord LV. 5

Strength — 89         Command — 90

Intellect — 84                Politics — 77

Loyalty — 100

Special Traits — Monarch’s Dignity, Hero’s Halo, Strategy

Monarch’s Dignity LV. 3: Your presence alone instills faith in allies and strikes fear into enemies. Vassals’ loyalty can be greatly increased through apt reward and punishment.

Hero’s Halo LV. 2: Able to draw strong support and respect from the people. Even if an unreasonable policy is established, public support is not lost. On the battlefield, it can become the enemy’s target. 

Strategy LV. 5: Excellent ability to discern the overall flow of war.

‘Nothing’s changed significantly compared to last time.’

The title changed from Marquis to Grand Duke and the overall stats went up a bit, so did the level of the special traits. But it was a pity that his Strength was still at 89.

‘I feel like I’m on the verge of becoming a Master…’

Currently, Milton was at the top level of an Expert. It felt like a thin wall was blocking Milton, but he couldn’t get over it. Since there were cases where some people couldn’t get over that wall during their lifetime, it was really frustrating for Milton. When he had consulted with Jerome, Milton had been told that the more he obsessed with it, the harder it would become and that he should first be at peace with it. However, during this war, he had learned that Siegfried was a Master, so how could he be at peace?

‘If possible, I must become a Master by the next war. Whatever it takes…’

After resolving himself, Milton looked back at the status of his territory. He was shocked. Unlike his status that hadn’t changed much, the information regarding his territory had changed significantly.

Domain — Lester Kingdom.

National Characteristics — Territory expansion, Maritime trade, Age of Heroes.

Population — 4,832,702 people

Funds — 4,335,008 Gold

Food self-sufficiency — 122%

Strategic Materials — Iron ore, ships, horses, stone

Commercial Status — Productivity Class A, Distribution Network Class B, Price Class D.

International Trade — Maritime Trade Class A (80%), Land Trade Class C (18%), Other Secret Trade Class C (2%)

Public Sentiment — Class C (the resistance of the conquered people is strong). 

Military — 820 Knights, 4,254 Trainees, 25,000 Cavalry, 74,000 Infantry, 35,000 Archers, 9,000 Marines.

‘It changed a lot!’

Milton was extremely shocked. First, the territory had changed to domain. In the past, Forrest Territory was the only thing that was under Milton’s control, but now, the entire Lester Kingdom was recognized as Milton’s domain. Truthfully, Queen Leila was the one who was the monarch of the Lester Kingdom. However, because Milton got married and became her husband, as well as receiving the title of Grand Duke, Milton also had a right to the kingdom. From that moment, Milton’s status window had recognized the entire kingdom as Milton’s domain. 

‘National Characteristic… can this be considered the nation’s disposition?’

Territory expansion, maritime trade, age of heroes. These phrases certainly described the characteristics of the Lester Kingdom very well. Milton smiled as he continued to look through the information on the status window, he had seen that the Food Self-Sufficiency rate was at 122%. 

‘Good.’

Is a nation self-sufficient or is it not? This was an important measure that could be compared to a country’s physical strength. In fact, the Lester Kingdom’s soils were fertile, not to mention, the former Strabus Kingdom’s lands that the Lester Kingdom had absorbed was a region for grains. That land is also most likely the reason that the Hildes Republic had been able to be 100% self-sufficient even when they had poor food yield in their mountainous regions. 

‘No matter how much I think about it, Leila’s plan was exquisite.’

Milton didn’t find any major problems as he continued to skim through the information. Actually no, the public sentiment turned out to be a problem. 

Public Sentiment — Class C (the resistance of the conquered people is strong.)

Despite the popularity of Milton and Leila inside the Lester Kingdom, the Public Sentiment was Class C. It was obvious what the problem was.

‘The Hildes Republic’s people's hostility is at its worst.’

It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that the people of the Republic completely hated the Kingdom. The Republicans believed a status system was in of itself evil and by confronting it, the Republicans believed they were revolutionaries who were leading the world into correcting itself. Of course, if you looked closely at the Republic, it’s not like they were completely equal either… But still, they thought they were better than the kingdoms. Since such people were conquered by a kingdom, it was natural that their resistance would be tremendous. 

‘I’ll have to discuss this with Leila later.’

Milton couldn’t just ignore it when it was obvious that the situation would fester and get worse the longer they left it alone.

“…ton. Milton!”

“Ah… Leila.”

“What were you thinking about?”

“Ah, it’s nothing.”

The award ceremony was over and the banquet had started, when Queen Leila warned Milton who had been standing there, dazed.

“Even if you’re tired, please bear with it a bit longer.”

“I will.”

And so, Milton continued to stay in the banquet hall with his two brides.

“My Lord, please drink with me. Isn’t today a celebratory day?”

“Please accept a glass from me as well, My Lord.”

“If you don’t get drunk on a day like this, when you would get drunk, sir?”

Milton’s subordinates were drunk on the idea of making Milton drink so much that he’d make his new brides miserable and continued to pour him a drink. Milton accepted their drinks to a point and looked around the banquet hall to get a feel of the atmosphere.

‘Let’s think about complex things later.’

***

All the ceremonies were over and the bachelors’ nefarious plot to make Milton so drunk he wouldn’t be able to do anything, unfortunately, failed. He was able to escape the banquet hall with a relatively clear mind. It was now the personal time of the brides and groom.

“Then… I’ll just head out…”

Sophia carefully slipped out. She had spoken with Queen Leila to determine the order in advance. If you think about it, it was natural for Queen Leila to be first because of her rank.

“Thank you, Sophia.”

But Queen Leila had expressed her gratitude to her. Even if she wasn’t very sensitive or empathetic, Queen Leila still felt a bit sorry that a new bride had to spend her wedding night alone. 

‘But it’s not like the three of us can…’

Thinking that, Queen Leila sent Sophia out. However, there was something she didn’t know…

‘But I’m okay with a threesome?’

She didn’t know that her husband, who had been stained with the Internet culture in his previous life, was thinking such naughty things.