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

Nia said that Yang Hao didn't seem like someone who disliked titles like "Prime Minister" or "Secretary-General"—if all else failed, she would ask him in person at tomorrow's meeting.

Margarita said that was fine. But if all else failed, spreading rumors about the president's mistress would also work—Yang Hao, a seasoned veteran, knew this was just a rumor. Conversely, if the people tacitly approved, it could give him a number of legitimate advantages...

"...But I always feel like Margarita, you have other ideas?"

"Illusion. Rather, I'm wholeheartedly devoted to Isgard, and I would never do anything to destabilize Isgard for personal gain—you know how risky that would be, right?"

"I understand, I understand. Those opposition parties will definitely pounce on Mr. Yang Hao like sharks smelling blood... And if nothing unexpected happens, not long after this rumor spreads, Mr. Yang Hao will inexplicably be surrounded by several young and beautiful siren or other beautiful virgin maidens..."

"You understand this better than I do. That's why I said this plan is very risky—it would be best to come up with a title that Mr. Yang Hao would accept and wouldn't find offensive..."

Issugard, as a young nation, is in some ways not yet stable.

At least in Margarita's vision, Ysgard is still at a turbulent age—in human terms, he's practically a hot-blooded teenager.

They may show their vitality due to chance opportunities, or they may act recklessly and ignore danger for chance gains, or they may even speak ill of their parents because of something that doesn't go their way.

Isgard has all the typical flaws of a teenager. Although Margarita has tried her best to avoid them, some deeply ingrained problems in Isgard's mindset still put this young nation at risk of tilting or even sinking at any time.

At this crucial juncture, the arrival of Yang Hao, an outsider, alone could plunge Isgard into turmoil—if rumors spread that Yang Hao was his lover, this turmoil could even directly threaten the very foundation of Isgard.

Driven by malicious individuals, the sacrifices of the colonial army might be directly compared to their own physical bodies. The thousands of fallen soldiers might be seen by the United Nations as less impressive than the president's beautiful figure—such rumors would not only severely damage trust between the two nations but could also create a rift between the military and the nation, potentially even leading to the disintegration of a previously stable country...

Margarita knew perfectly well that some people within Isogai were capable of such heinous acts—and she knew even better that, with universal education and upward mobility, such things could be suppressed as much as possible by gradually rising social morality and patriotism...

When granaries are full, people know etiquette. Ysgard can now ensure that even beggars have a meal a day. For those in education, being well-fed and able to receive an education should be feasible...

But how exactly should we do it? That's another good question.

After all, there are already many problems within Issugard itself.

Despite the existence of universal education, the wealth-based system and skewed educational resources have trapped the poor in a vicious cycle: to change social class, one must study in a good school; to study in a good school, one must be rich; to be rich, one must work; but working means no time for studying, so one can only attend a low-quality school that requires little time and resources, and then continue to work.

In addition, the lack of clear upward mobility channels for educated individuals is also a problem... Especially given that a large amount of resources in the country are still monopolized by former nobles, current capitalists and businessmen, how to provide educated individuals with a suitable upward mobility channel has become a major headache for Margarita, and she is even too preoccupied with other matters.

The disparity between the rapidly developing industrial society and the living standards of ordinary people is a good problem... Although Ysgard can now produce ironclad warships, steam trains, and even watch good movies that only adults can enjoy on black and white TVs.

But for the vast majority of ordinary people in Isgard, their most pressing concerns are how to improve their daily meals, ensure their children have access to education, create a safer working environment, and secure their livelihoods after losing their jobs.

Not to mention the demonic mother nest awakening deep within the mines...

...

Margarita sighed heavily. Thinking about it, it seemed that most of Isgard's major problems were outside of politics.

"I hope Mr. Yang Hao can help me when he comes over"—just as Margarita was thinking this, Nia, who had been silent for a long time, brought her a new question while drinking her juice:

"But then, shouldn't we start thinking about the good question of how to join the United Nations while ensuring our sovereignty? I mean... we need to get a cabinet proposal on it."

"...Yes. It's about time this proposal was leaked a little. After all, to be honest, if the United Nations treats us like outsiders, the tariffs and the monopolistic pricing of magic storage devices will be enough to give us a headache... Sigh. Luckily, our country has flat terrain and produces enough food to avoid having our necessities monopolized..."

"But the necessities for national development have already been monopolized, haven't they? After all, we can't just build a magic research institute directly on the continent of Elusia, can we? At least not until it's safe there..."

"Ugh."

How to join the United Nations in a dignified manner was also a major concern for Margarita.

She knew very well that Isgard was no longer capable of remaining unscathed—even if it wanted to, the imminent threat of demons was enough to force Isgard to kneel on the ground in the most humble posture, begging for the aid of the United Nations. She was even willing to literally become their dog.

This is not a joke, but a very real problem.

After all, demons are a formidable enemy for the United Nations.

But for Ysugard, it was an axe hanging high above his head.

Even worse, Ysgard was a pitiful man tied to an axe and unable to move.

If she could run, Margarita wouldn't have come up with such a terrible plan... but the problem is, Ysgard can't run.

As the leader, she was able to lead all the high-ranking officials to seek refuge on another continent.

What about the more than 100 million ordinary people on this continent? What about the factories, the farmland, and the vital resource reserves?

They can't escape. So Margarita has no choice but to stay here and do everything she can to fight off the approaching demons—but the problem is, the demons' evolutionary abilities are proving incredibly difficult to develop...

Ysgard is a nation lacking in magic, possessing only the ability to attack in a physical sense—in other words, the demons have evolved resistance to physical attacks, making it easy to crush Ysgard's weak defenses.

Conversely, if Ysugard could receive aid from the United Nations... this defensive line could become even more solid.

The problem is... although I've heard from Nia about His Majesty Yang Hao's broad-mindedness regarding the [Demon] incident... that's only his side of the story.

Margarita had seen many people who said one thing and did another—and even more so, people who couldn't represent themselves.

Just because His Majesty Yang Hao was willing to save the colonial army at the time did not mean that the woman behind him was willing for him to save Isgard.

Unless Isgard also becomes part of the United Nations... otherwise, His Majesty Yang Hao's "good intentions" will most likely be directly refuted by his wife...

Margarita had never seen them, but one should always think of things in the worst-case scenario, shouldn't one?

She sighed again. Just then, Nia said that adding [Decent] shouldn't be a problem. As long as Yang Hao left a few dragon eggs when he came to Isgard on his business trip, that should be enough.

...

Margarita was stunned.

She stared blankly at her best friend in the mirror, a thousand words stuck in her throat, finally bursting out this question:

"Nia, are you crazy?"

“I’m not stupid,” Nia shrugged. “Just think about whether this is the right thing to do—the people in power have a child in another friendly country, and their own country is basically a kind of… [membership-based] [club]… given all this, it doesn’t seem like a problem for us to join, right?”

"Thinking about it now, it really seems... no, no, no, no! This is a huge problem, okay?! I'll just ask you one question: how are you going to get His Majesty Yang Hao to have a dragon egg with you?!"

"The dragon race is a matriarchal society," Nia declared righteously.

"I know?! But it doesn't make sense from an international perspective, does it?!" Margarita's face fell: she knew that dragons were a matriarchal society, and that actions like proposing marriage were done by the female dragons... but this didn't make sense!

You belong to a matriarchal society, and you wanted to propose to His Majesty Yang Hao, so you slept with him. That sounds reasonable.

The problem is, His Majesty Yang Hao is not only a married man, but also the leader of another country... If you really do this to influence international public opinion, we'll truly be locked in a life-or-death struggle with the United Nations...

After all, women are the most irrational devils...

Margarita was about to cry.

But Nia seemed to be seriously working on her own ideas:

“We can drink alcohol. Even if the 96-degree liquor is diluted with water, it should be fine.”

"This could kill someone?! And how the hell could a black dragon like you possibly get drunk?!"

"People who engage in promiscuous behavior after drinking aren't really drunk, are they?"

"So why did you base everything on this premise?! Can't we come up with a normal solution?! Be normal, be normal!"

Margarita's tearful and amused pleading brought Nia back to a more normal state.

But Nia's subsequent question, "Then tell me, how can we maintain a dignified presence when joining the United Nations?" left Margarita speechless.

Yes.

It seems there's simply no legitimate way to maintain sovereignty, join the United Nations to avoid tariffs, and obtain aid in exchange for it, all without damaging diplomatic relations with other countries...

If you're talking about normal diplomatic talks, it'd probably take at least fifty years to reach an agreement—and given Issugard's own state nature, the people would likely spontaneously raise their flags in protest...

If you were to suggest a slightly more radical "secret agreement," many people would probably refuse to accept it... and if it were to be exposed later, the problems would be even greater.

But if you're going to call it an "abnormal" way...

......

Upon closer reflection, it seems that the "abnormal" approach is the most appropriate.

After all, it's already unusual that Ysugard has asked Yang Hao, the national leader, to help clean up the mess.

On this basis, something even more absurd could become a stepping stone to joining the United Nations...

...

Although it is an abnormal method.

But at least.

Could it be made a little more reasonable, so that our people would be more willing to accept it?

Margarita felt dizzy.

It was at this moment, perhaps due to excitement and a lack of thinking, that I acted.

"You'd rather I have an official marriage alliance with him than you fucking force yourself on him?!"

Margarita's scream stunned Nia.

But soon, the black dragon nodded and said to the vampire across the mirror, who had suddenly become stunned as if realizing something:

"good idea!"

She'd been wanting to betray her best friend for a long time, and now that her friend had said so, why not do it?!

Nia unilaterally hung up the communication.

I've decided to make some careful plans tomorrow to ensure Yang Hao can stay in Ysgard in the future.

This chapter has not been approved.

January 5, 006 in the Imperial Calendar.

When Yang Hao met Nia again, he noticed that Nia's outfit today seemed to have more decorations and charm that he had never seen before.

how to say?

Simply saying "more beautiful" doesn't do justice to Nia's transformation... Rather than saying Nia simply became more beautiful, it's more accurate to say that she genuinely changed herself.

The red and black dress accentuated her perfect features in a subtle way. Even without looking, Yang Hao knew that the dragon tail on her back was now adorned with ribbons handcrafted by the Elf Master...

It wasn't just the dress. She had really become bolder... At least before, Nia probably never acted so boldly in front of him that she barely covered her chest, right?

Yang Hao seemed to be deep in thought about this:

"...I feel like you've changed a lot."

"Hey? Really? Maybe. After all, Mr. Yang Hao, your assistance helped us avoid more losses, and we also got what we needed for the plan... In a sense, I'm definitely in a better mood—and when you're in a better mood, you can naturally appear happier on the outside."

"Really? So the real reason you were always smiling but actually exhausted was because you were in a bad mood."

"Of course! If you, Mr. Yang Hao, were to encounter a junior like the Redemption Army, I think you could understand how I felt back then..."