After being forced to step down, the once-annoying nun eloped with me.

"...May I ask, is Elena pretty?"

Theresa's sudden, meaningful gaze made Yang Hao feel extremely uneasy. But soon, this man, who believed he hadn't done anything wrong, simply nodded in acknowledgment of Elena's beauty;

"It's as beautiful as a work of art—it feels like a masterpiece crafted by the finest artisans. But that also means Eden's craftsmanship is incredibly advanced... Speaking of which, I think our Oak Factory will probably need to be redesigned in the future, you know?"

"I was clearly talking to you about women, why do you have to switch the subject to work?!"

"There's nothing I can do..."

Seeing the two arguing, the little elf, caught in the middle like a daughter with no say, could only sigh and ask, "What exactly is going on with the Oak Factory's redesign?"

After playfully teasing Theresa for a while, and even nearly having his clothes pulled off by her, His Majesty the Regent simply held his sulking wife and smiled wryly:

"It wouldn't be a good thing for the Oak Factory to continue producing low-end parts... After all, Bayer Gems' industry will be able to produce a large number of basic components in the future. In order to cooperate with Bayer Gems' industrialization, it is only natural that the Oak Factory chooses to further improve its precision machining capabilities for precision parts..."

"Simply put, it means we elves should focus more on the quality of our oak trees?"

“You’re right… Ouch! Theresa—don’t bite my ear…”

"If you keep ignoring my feelings like this, I won't be responsible for what I do next, okay?"

Seeing the little elf in front of her with a gloomy face and the obvious intention to take off her clothes, Teresa was intimidated. She could only puff out her cheeks and give in, obediently looking down at the work schedule in front of her so as not to cause Yang Hao any trouble.

After this incident, Yang Hao confirmed his next steps... He said he would have to go to Gaparia in person to confirm the work ahead, and that if nothing unexpected happened, he would have to give Arthur a design specification for a new weapon today... and if nothing unexpected happened, today's work would end in Gaparia.

“Gaparia? Then wait until I’ve finished my work here and had dinner before you go over?” Theresa patted a few reports on the table. “My work is almost done too. Other matters are handled by my staff and ministers, so there’s no need to worry about them—we just need to see little Anna before we leave. Little Anna misses you very much.”

"I know. What about Natalia?"

"She started working after becoming familiar with Bayer's laws, huh? But there aren't any legal disputes in Bayer right now, so her daily routine is just taking care of the children—by the way, let's bring Naruja over later too. She really wants to see her children."

"But can't they communicate over long distances using deer antlers?"

Yang Hao made a deer antler shape with his hands above his head. Theresa simply rolled her eyes, pinched Yang Hao's thigh hard, and then sighed.

"If you think that this kind of spiritual communication can alleviate physical longing, then let's fucking use a magic mirror to look at each other's bodies from afar and take care of ourselves, instead of fucking making me lose my mind every night."

"I agree. I'll let you watch us do it from across the mirror."

"Go to hell?! And I was just using a metaphor, just a metaphor!"

Watching the arguing elf and his beloved wife.

Yang Hao gave a wry smile.

Realizing that future family life might not be so peaceful.

Chapter Two: The General Purpose Machine Gun and Entering Golem's Body?! — 8K

Around noon, Yang Hao and the others finally decided to have lunch at Gaparia's place—after all, it would be too pitiful if Naruja didn't have time to eat with her children, right? Besides, they were already at Gaparia, and Theresa, who hadn't had elven cuisine for quite some time, almost couldn't help but drool at the thought of the elven feast...

"Although I know it's not good from my perspective, Basilisa... but before I was Basilisa, I was a young woman who wanted a better life... Waaaaah... When will I be able to eat elven food in Bayer Nevada...?"

Looking at the nun who was crying and pretending to complain in Yang Hao's arms, the elf tilted her head and said, "If you just want the elf's chef and ingredients to come over, you can do it anytime."

"But what I want more is for my people to be able to eat these things anytime, anywhere... to live better through our own efforts, not because of the charity of you elves... After all, we still have to maintain the pride of our nation. If we don't even have national pride, and if Bayern becomes a Roman barbarian in the future, I really won't have the face to meet my ancestors. I'll be so ashamed that I'll commit suicide before I even meet them..."

Seeing the nun's face instantly change to one of worry and concern for the country, Finn could only sigh and say, "Your people won't abandon you because of your needs," and then she didn't know what to say.

However, Yang Hao was quite clear about the situation. Theresa's reason for eating chaff with the people in Constantinople was not only because she, as Baselissa, wanted to set an example of sharing weal and woe with the people, but more importantly, she hoped to use this action to restrain herself... to avoid becoming a ruler like Prince Gassen of the Roman Empire, who only cared about pleasure and neglected his actual responsibilities.

However—after all, Theresa was just a poor nun before becoming Baselissa... Although she tried very hard to grow, in the end, she still succumbed to the delicious food of peacetime. Ultimately, she was still a girl who should have been living a bright and sunny life in Gaparia...

If the Bayer Zans hadn't come, perhaps...

...

Yang Hao tenderly ruffled Theresa's white hair. With a soft, dissatisfied groan, this little incident of indulging Theresa's capricious whim came to an end.

They accompanied Theresa through the final business of the morning. And in the process, they discovered something concerning...

"This is... our people are actually spontaneously resisting the existence of the Romans?" Yang Hao stared at the paper in his hand, lost in thought. "I remember we hadn't even started publicizing the negative information about the Roman Empire yet, right? How did things suddenly... turn out like this?"

In Constantinople, many citizens have signed a petition requesting the purple-robed royal family to refuse all diplomatic actions related to the Roman Empire.

Keep in mind that it hasn't even been a year since Bayer Zans reappeared... Their only contact with the Romans was during the attack on the western farms, and Yang Hao didn't even send his soldiers into the city to conduct reconnaissance. What's going on?

Theresa glanced over, then rummaged through the pile of already processed documents for a while before looking up at Finn and gesturing with her chin:

"This is the result brought about by the elves."

"Elves? Ah...you mean that—"

"Not elves fighting side-by-side, but old elves who came from the Elf Forest to reminisce—Yang Hao, you know elves have long lifespans, right? In this situation, there must be many ancestors of the Bayerzans who were related to some elf..."

“Even though the Bayerzens haven’t come to visit us in person, more and more elves have been coming to us lately.”

"Moreover, the half-elves have been frequently active in both places... Under such circumstances, some Bayerzens will surely ask, 'I wonder how the people we protected back then are doing now...'"

"Guess how the elves will defend Roman the Barbarian?"

Teresa's statement made Yang Hao thoughtful.

Fen, however, shrugged indifferently.

"Of course, we'll curse them as harshly as possible, and we'll use facts to do so—you can't expect the elves to forgive the Romans. Especially now that it's clear the Romans were the bastards who betrayed us back then, let alone the fact that they still plan to invade us."

"How would the elves describe it?"

"It's the truth. Didn't I say? [Facts first]. They definitely told us how they treated the demons, how they were ungrateful and drove you away, how they hunted you down, how they ate people, how there was internal strife, how they were so stupid they were worse than paramecia—oh right, I guess some elves also told us about St. Petersburg and the Church of Light, so it's quite normal for the Bayern people to be so indignant..."

For the Bayerjas, immersed in memories of the past, the Roman Empire was the barbarian empire they once protected—but these same barbarians not only stabbed them in the back, but also betrayed the holy city that was so sacred to the Bayerjas...

This is absolutely a heinous crime deserving of death!

To the people of Bayerges today, Yang Hao is the founding father of Bayerges, the de facto... ahem, the male head of their purple-robed royal family. Not only did they know that their founding father was nearly betrayed and killed in that barbarian country, but the barbarians also completely destroyed the reforms that the people of Bayerges could see as valuable? They even targeted doctors and teachers?

Are you all fucking crazy?!

Influenced by a mix of emotions, the Bayernians who had interacted with the elves all wore expressions of indignation. They jointly petitioned the Purple-Robed Royal Family to refuse all diplomatic activities related to the Roman Empire—aside from declaring war, they even put forward the slogan "Take the land, not the people."

Well...

"That's exactly what we expected... After all, we really wanted land, not people... Now it saves us the trouble of propaganda, yeah, that's definitely a good thing..." Yang Hao was somewhat amused and exasperated, feeling a warmth in his heart and thinking how lovable his people were. "The only thing is we need to prevent the war sentiment from escalating further—after all, this peace and stability was hard-won... If we don't focus on farming and development, and continue fighting, it will only lead to our own collapse..."

"So what are you planning to do? The elves will cooperate, okay?" The little elf smiled and kicked Yang Hao's calf. "But—don't expect the elves to forget their hatred. We might compromise, but we will never forget our hatred."

"So that's why the elves made Arthur suffer so much? Oh well... how about we publicly announce next week that we're refusing all diplomatic relations with the Roman Empire? Then we'll immediately follow up with a development slogan and decree, and finally, through economic support and planning, encourage everyone to have more children as soon as possible... How about that?"

"The royal family can't afford not to set an example."

"...What can I do?"

Yang Hao shrugged.

"Exactly, exactly, what the hell can I do? I just can't get pregnant! Are you planning to cut open my stomach, stuff a baby inside, and then sew it back up?"

Theresa shrugged, but for some reason, her suggestion gave Yang Hao a strange sense of déjà vu...

Everyone looked at each other, at a loss, feeling a little awkward because of Theresa's analogy... After a while, for some reason, Finn raised his hand and said, "Let's go find Naruja first, then hurry up and go to Gaparia to work before having lunch."

"Isn't there still one last job?"

"You said you'd deal with it a week later, so it's okay to review tonight, right? Let's go, Theresa, let's leave this man who's still trying to figure out how to work..."

Left with no other choice, Yang Hao had to give up his last job related to public opinion resisting the Roman Empire and instead set out with his two wives to find Naruja.

Naruja was put in a guest room by him yesterday, and no one knows where she went today—but while looking for Naruja, the court president, who was not with Anna, ran into Yang Hao and his group first.

She was surprised that Yang Hao and his group were active at this time, and asked them if they had seen Anna and her guards pass by.

"No, we didn't see Anna or her guards—what happened?"

Faced with Yang Hao and the others' surprise, Natalia simply sighed and said that Anna seemed to be getting more and more disobedient lately.

"She hasn't been really interested in going to class lately... She's been hoping you could take her out for a walk all the time, but considering your responsibilities, I haven't given Anna a chance to be affectionate with you..."

So this is...sigh. I don't know what to say...Your Majesty, if you have time, could you please talk to her for me? After all, I simply cannot bear the role of a "father," you know? She probably doesn't even know why she's studying...”

Natalia's sigh was exactly what Yang Hao had expected.

After all, this is a common dilemma for adults. Taking up a sword means being unable to embrace one's lover, but putting down a sword might mean losing one's lover—Yang Hao chose to take up a sword, and naturally, he might neglect Anna's feelings... Although Anna is obedient and certainly knows Yang Hao's predicament, frankly speaking, there is a limit to how much people can control their emotions.

When Anna could no longer bear it, it was understandable that she chose to skip class and go out and have fun... It's just that Natalia had to work so hard.

Yang Hao touched Natalia's cheek, and in Finn and Theresa's deadpan gaze, he sighed towards the presiding judge, who kept his head down and wouldn't show his expression:

“I know, I’ll have a good talk with Anna when I get back from Gaparia later… Thank you for your hard work, Natalia.”

"...Yes, it's what I should do."

The presiding judge responded with his head bowed, his face flushed, not wanting others to see his expression at that moment.

She then left, feigning composure, and before leaving, she pointed out Naruja's location to Yang Hao and the others.

Theresa and Finn witnessed it all. In the end, all they could do was sigh involuntarily.

If they were the two most important women in Yang Hao's heart, then Natalia was equally important—after all, without Natalia, there would be no Yang Hao as we know him today. If Natalia hadn't risked her life to forcibly exile Yang Hao, Teresa might have ended up with Yang Hao's remains instead of something else.

...It's understandable that their own men are popular. But frankly, if they could choose, Theresa and Finn would still prefer the two of them...

"We have to find a way to make him only look at us..."

"Instead of making him only watch us, it would be better to find a way to prevent others from watching him..."

The two women murmured amongst themselves; although their goals were essentially the same, the differences between Theresa and Finn seemed to be growing.

One suggestion was to make Yang Hao only look at him, while the other was the terrifying suggestion to "make sure no one else looks at him"—the former, at its worst, was merely a temptation, while the latter... tsk tsk.

Considering the elves' morbid views on love, and the record that "in the end, the victims didn't even know that several people had liked them"... Theresa has reason to suspect that Finn really intended to kill the women who followed him.

So the head of the family just smiled and patted Fen's hand, saying: If doing this makes Yang Hao angry or sad, then you'll have to deal with it.

Although it was a question, Finn was certain that Theresa wouldn't mind really having a big fight with him... Now that Theresa had mastered the power of light, she was, in a sense, the most powerful divine spellcaster in the United Kingdom. If she were willing to concentrate her divine power, it would be very easy for her to instantly kill Finn when he was caught off guard, using the priest's system of casting divine spells...

...well!

The elves sighed and chose to back down. They followed Yang Hao to the courtyard, where they found Naruja, who had changed her clothes and was sunbathing on a bench like a small animal. They finally took the dazed Naruja to Gaparia, intending to find Arthur there to discuss some serious matters before having dinner.

But then again...

Finn's teleportation spell did indeed take them to the weapons testing grounds in Gaparia...

But at the test site, they didn't see the familiar Arthur. Pretending not to see Mr. Joseph, who was being hung upside down from a wooden stake by a logistics elf and shouting, "I want to research that kind of shell! I want it!", they found an elven girl who seemed to be in charge of the overall situation.

What's going on? What happened?