Volume 9, Chapter 67 – The Brand New Duchy of Chloe

Half a month had passed since Yisi concluded negotiations with the Empire. During this time, the Duchy of Chloe underwent significant changes.

Firstly, there was the change of kingship. The debauched royal family, along with several hereditary high nobles, were completely uprooted by the Divine Religion. Not only were their noble statuses stripped, but their crimes were also settled one by one according to the law. The new king was Atwood, who had lost his position as Pope.

This process encountered little resistance. Ever since the tragedy of the dead city ten years ago, the Divine Religion’s attitude towards the Chloe royal family shifted from cooperation to complete manipulation. Therefore, the Divine Religion could dethrone the King of Chloe whenever they wished. As for the nobles who commanded troops, they posed no problem before Lin and her companions. In less than three days, all nobles within the Duchy’s territory were either imprisoned or submitted to the new king.

As for the common populace’s reaction, apart from a few individuals with vested interests who expressed dissatisfaction, most applauded the change. The King of Chloe was inherently incompetent, relying on his status to reward and punish subjects based on personal whim. The capital’s residents had long been dissatisfied with him. Now, with Grand Duke Atwood—who had previously enacted numerous laws benefiting commoners—becoming the new king, the populace expressed only praise.

Furthermore, since Grand Duke Atwood also possessed royal blood, this transition of power was unchallengeable from various perspectives—although, in reality, Atwood had no royal blood. However, Atwood had previously made the King declare to the populace that he possessed royal blood and granted him the title of Duke. Thus, the Duchy of Chloe completely transformed into a nation ruled by the Divine Religion.

Besides the change in kingship, the second noteworthy event was the arrival of Imperial supplies as war reparations. Although transporting supplies worth one million gold coins within half a month was challenging even for a behemoth like the Empire, the agreement Yisi and Gore reached was that the Empire only needed to deliver the goods to the border before the coldest part of winter arrived. Therefore, over the past half-month, the Empire had already delivered two batches of various supplies worth about one hundred thousand gold coins. The influx of large quantities of livestock and grain, coupled with Atwood’s declaration upon taking office that these livestock would be distributed to each household, filled the entire Ducal Capital of Chloe with joy these past few days. Not only were people’s faces full of smiles, but even crime incidents within the city decreased significantly.

It’s worth mentioning that Atwood’s original idea was to distribute the livestock to the residents free of charge. However, upon Yisi’s suggestion, Atwood modified the declaration: only families owning cultivable land within the duchy could obtain the right to lease livestock. After leasing, these families needed to submit a fixed amount of grain every autumn, otherwise the duchy would reclaim the livestock. If the livestock died due to mismanagement, the family had to pay substantial compensation. Furthermore, if a family paid their grain dues normally for three years, in the fourth year, they could purchase the livestock at half the market price.

Initially, Atwood didn’t understand why Yisi proposed this. In his view, simply distributing the livestock was enough; demanding grain would increase the burden on the populace. Yisi’s explanation was simple: if the livestock were given away directly, the first reaction of the populace would be to slaughter them for food, just as people who receive unexpected windfalls tend to spend it immediately rather than save it. However, if free gifting was changed to paid leasing, the populace would gradually realize that keeping the oxen as tools for farming was more beneficial than slaughtering them. In the long run, the duchy’s grain production would increase year by year, benefiting its future prosperity.

Although Atwood wasn’t optimistic about Yisi’s proposal, having never heard of such measures, he decided to try implementing it after some former lords within the Divine Religion highly praised the measure.

As for necessities like cotton clothing and grain, Yisi didn’t interfere, letting Atwood distribute them door-to-door. The Duchy of Chloe was simply too backward, lacking even a decent workshop capable of making cotton clothes, with even individual tailors being pitifully few. Distributing large amounts of clothing wouldn’t squeeze these merchants’ living space. Besides, given the current situation where the populace was barely clothed and fed, ensuring they survived the winter without freezing or starving to death was the priority.

Of course, besides these two most important points, other major and minor events occurred in the Duchy, such as the Ymir Church suddenly establishing a temple, a new Magic Caster Corps appearing in the army, and the royal family recruiting large numbers of knowledgeable commoners without status. While these were also important, their significance paled compared to the change of royalty and the Imperial reparations.

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The only thing Yisi didn’t understand was Tina, the Demon Lord. Yisi had initially expected her to wake up within a week, but the truth was, even today, Tina showed no signs of waking.

Reviewing various matters, Yisi sat inside the flower carriage, head lowered in thought.

“Your Holiness, today is a day of national celebration. Please put aside those official matters for later.”

“If the people below see Your Holiness looking unhappy, they will surely think something unpleasant happened between our duchy and the Ymir Church.”

Atwood and Purple, standing with Yisi in the carriage, each offered words of comfort.

Just as Atwood said, today was a day of national celebration. After half a month, the Duchy of Chloe welcomed the coronation ceremony of its new king. According to continental custom, the new king should tour the capital in a flower carriage, letting all subjects know the king had changed. In this nation secretly controlled by the Divine Religion, the carriage naturally carried not only Atwood but also Yisi.

However, due to the Divine Religion’s past enmities, it couldn’t operate openly. Therefore, to prevent ordinary people from wondering “Why is there an unknown person on the carriage?”, Yisi proactively used her status as Cardinal of the Ymir Church to resolve this potential conflict. In the eyes of ordinary residents, their king receiving recognition from the Ymir Church, a divine authority, was quite an honor. Additionally, the Ymir Church establishing a temple in the Duchy meant people could receive treatment there when injured. Having the Cardinal appear alongside the new king on the carriage was, in fact, something to be celebrated.

Yisi couldn’t help but raise her head with a wry smile. The carriage hadn’t reached the King’s Avenue yet, so everyone was still inside. Even so, she could glimpse through the side windows the people crowded below, welcoming Atwood and herself. Although unchanged from her first arrival—the residents still looked sallow and poorly clothed—she could no longer find that look of lost hope, that dimness regarding the future, on their faces. Instead, their faces held only joy for the new life brought by the new king.

“Exactly! It’s a happy festival; Master should cheer up!”

Mary, acting as a handmaiden, stood by the window scattering flower petals downwards, chiding gently. Originally, Mary only needed to stand beside Yisi like Edith and Camilla. But since she herself loved this job of scattering flowers for the people, she specially requested Atwood’s permission to wear a handmaiden’s dress, stand beside Yisi, and toss petals out the window.

Opposite Mary, Tiffany, who had been handed a flower basket by Mary, pouted. Perhaps thinking children should scatter flowers like this, Mary, after getting Atwood’s permission, added Tiffany to her team. Thus, Tiffany also wore a slightly more ornate handmaiden’s outfit identical to Mary’s. Although Tiffany was usually the one giving orders, once Mary got serious, Tiffany quickly became obedient.

“Nn.”

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Yisi patted Tiffany’s head.

“Alright, alright. This is work that brings joy to everyone; Tiffany should be happy.”

“For you.”

Expressionlessly, Tiffany offered the flower basket to Yisi with both hands. Yisi couldn’t help but smile wryly. While personally, scattering flowers wasn’t an issue, she was currently appearing as a Cardinal of the Ymir Church. Acting like a handmaiden would be deemed inappropriate.

Yisi bent down, leaned close to Tiffany’s ear, and secretly pressed a sparkling gem into her hand.

“Can’t let Mary see you looking so glum.”

“Umm, okay.”

Still expressionless, Tiffany nodded.

It probably means not making Mary sad. Yisi could roughly guess the meaning. As her level increased, the maximum number of words Tiffany could say in each sentence also rose, but she seemed to dislike using long sentences, preferring short phrases in non-urgent situations.

“Onee-sama, is it really alright for us to stand with you on the carriage? We are just your family members. Appearing on the king’s carriage… might lower your standing…”

Camilla, her golden hair styled up like a noble lady, constantly checked her formal attire, looking hesitant. Although Camilla had received quite high-level noble education, riding on the king’s carriage still made her nervous. It was rare to see Camilla worry about her appearance; Yisi found it amusing.

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“Of course, it’s fine. In fact, having you stand with me adds luster to me as Cardinal. Everyone seeing you now, Camilla, will surely exclaim, ‘The Cardinal’s family member is such a beautiful girl!’ Besides, I’ve agreed to become the Pope of the Divine Religion. In that case, the entire Duchy of Chloe is my territory. As my sister, Camilla is essentially a princess of the nation. What’s wrong with standing on the carriage?”

“Hehehe. Miss Camilla, Her Holiness speaks the truth. Originally, the position of king should have been occupied by Her Holiness, but she refused repeatedly, so it ultimately fell to me. As Her Holiness’s sister, you certainly have the right to be here—No, how about letting Miss Camilla become the ruler instead? As the Eldest Princess of the Empire, if Miss Camilla became the ruler, the lives of the people of the Duchy would surely improve day by day. The Empire, for Miss Camilla’s sake, would certainly provide various forms of assistance.”

Resuming his image as a kind old man, Atwood smiled amiably. Unlike his usual gray robe, today Atwood wore a magnificent robe befitting a king. Of course, compared to Yisi—who had spent three or four hours being dressed by Camilla, Mary, and Refina, every detail from the three layers of clothing to various accessories meticulously crafted—he still fell short.

“Atwood, you’d better retract that idea quickly. Camilla is mine; no one can take her away.”

“Hahaha, alright, alright, Your Holiness.”

“Yes, exactly. I am Onee-sama’s property.”

“But if Yisi is the ruler, then wouldn’t I be the esteemed Empress? No, rather, I should be the ruler, and Yisi the Empress. Although my talents are insufficient to govern a vast nation like Hyurent, just a single Duchy of Chloe poses no problem. If I recall correctly, the Duchy’s territory is even smaller than the Pescia territory.”

Confidently yet elegantly crossing her arms, Edith, also dressed in formal attire, revealed a satisfied smile.

Without commenting on Edith’s statement, Laxy, dressed in formal angel attire, nodded to herself.

“Am I the only one unchanged? I remain My Lord’s servant.”

“Hah, if you were the ruler, Pepe, the entire country would descend into chaos. Laxy should just obediently remain an angel. If the followers of the Ymir Church knew there was a God-Forged Angel in the Duchy of Chloe, they would surely risk their lives to come worship. Ah, speaking of which, perhaps Laxy could become the Duchy of Chloe’s…”

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Mascot.

Feeling Laxy would definitely get angry if she said it, Yisi prudently closed her mouth at the right moment.

Laxy raised an eyebrow inquisitively.

“‘s?”

“Nothing. By the way, how are you feeling, Refina? The sun’s out today after a long time. If you feel uncomfortable, don’t force yourself to stand under it. It’s fine to stand in the shade of the carriage with Atwood.”

As king, Atwood would later stand at the most conspicuous, elevated spot under a parasol, while Yisi and her group, being lower in status, would stand one level below him.

“It’s fine.” Refina, dressed similarly to Mary in a handmaiden’s outfit, returned a gentle smile. Her mature and gentle appearance made Yisi pause for a moment—she really had the aura of an older sister. After giving Yisi a slight bow, Refina continued, “I replenished sufficient blood before leaving. This level of sunlight poses no problem for following Miss Yisi and Master the entire way.”

“That’s good.”

At this point, Yisi looked towards Lin, Red, and Purple, huddled in a corner of the carriage, whispering furtively. Since Yisi said ‘the entire Duchy of Chloe is my territory,’ Lin had looked like she wanted to say something but held back. Now, Red and Purple were whispering urgently to her with anxious expressions.

Yisi tilted her head.

“Lin?”