My wife is an immortal black snake.

...

Not long after Yang Hao fell into a deep sleep, although she also felt very tired, the immortal black snake still went to the bathroom to take a good bath to wash off the dirt on her body. After changing her clothes and having breakfast with Monica's help, she dragged her tired body to the audience hall to reflect on whether she had gone too far the night before.

"Um..."

Although I was indeed very hungry, the way I played last night, almost without regard for my dear's physical condition, was really too bad. Sigh, this is a lesson, Koschche—I can't do that again.

She sighed softly, then sat on her throne, stretched, and began to handle her work for the day.

After the start of the civil war, Kosiché's workload only increased. Not only did she have to handle her original work related to people's livelihoods and politics, but she also had to deal with a series of events triggered by the civil war.

The most typical example is the matter concerning the United City—should we say that the United City is still too politically sensitive? Almost at the same time that the Ursus Empire declared civil war, they immediately sent people to the Duke's mansion to tell Kosiché that they were leaving.

Although Koschei allowed them to leave, it did not mean the end of her work. Soon, matters concerning the military, business representatives, concerns from the administrative center, and representatives from surrounding nobles all flooded into the audience hall. If Koschei had not handled countless similar matters and was very familiar with them, most people would have collapsed long ago.

Fortunately, she wasn't an ordinary person. She sighed, and after reading yet another document, she spoke to the air beside her:

"It seems that our territory is still far behind Duke Nikolai in terms of military strength—the equipment on the landships brought back by the ponies is still not enough to meet our needs."

"Yes. The equipment and landships that Theresa and the others painstakingly brought back can only change our army from a passive defense to an active defense... But for us to cooperate with His Majesty the Emperor's attack, we still need to wait for a while, until the production of equipment increases."

Monica's voice came from the other side. This maid was keenly aware of her shortcomings as a mortal, so she was diligently learning things she could use in the future—military affairs were one of the things she was studying.

In response to Monica's suggestion, Kosiché simply shook her head, explaining the predicament that still existed in her territory—a predicament that, even though it had been alleviated, still remained.

That is—the production of equipment.

"And more importantly, there is one land-based ship that we cannot send to the battlefield yet—the military factory crammed inside is a precious commodity."

"Yes."

Theresa and her entourage brought back a large quantity of equipment—but compared to the total number of soldiers in the Duke of Nikolai, the equipment could only be considered a "relatively large quantity".

The Duchy of Koschei still needs more equipment to train more soldiers, not to mention the infected who volunteer for the army—their equipment needs to be separated. Furthermore, considering that normal soldiers cannot risk using infected equipment, that separated portion of equipment cannot continue to be used as part of the "regular reserve" in the future.

So that's the gist of it—the Duchy of Kosice still needs to wait until weapons production reaches a certain level before it can support His Majesty's offensive. But how long that will take is another matter entirely.

And then again, isn't Catherine's chosen route of attack a bit strange? It seems that when her army attacks the Nikolai Duchy, St. Arthur's Castle will conveniently stop near the Kosichean Duchy...

Am I thinking too much?

Kosichek shook his head, thinking to himself that he had been quite suspicious lately—as suspicious as a short-lived man not yet 50.

Chapter 43

At 5 p.m. on the 19th.

When Yang Hao awoke from the illusory, seemingly familiar, dreamlike state of Mansu, he found that his body seemed to have regained a lot of strength, and he could move around properly on the ground again.

He tried it and was relieved to find that it wasn't his imagination.

"Um... I should take a shower first," Yang Hao muttered to himself, then started planning his afternoon: "Then I need to check on Theresa's condition before dinner... oh dear..."

He had originally planned to check on Theresa, who was seriously injured and could only rest in bed, at noon today... but who knew his wife and maid would exploit him so much? Sigh, but that's all in the past now. He'll just have to be more careful in the future and exercise more—but then again, is exercising more really the solution to his current situation?

It doesn't seem like that's the case. He shook his head, then took his clothes and went into the bathroom.

After quickly taking a shower to fully wake himself up in just a few minutes, Yang Hao, soaking in the bathtub, looked up at the ceiling and shouted into the empty space:

"Monica? Monica—could you come here for a second?"

"Yes? My lord? I was just waiting for Lord Koschche's instructions."

She arrived quickly, appearing on the water's surface dressed in a maid's outfit. She watched Yang Hao's bathing movements with curiosity, and finally, this dashing and earnest head maid simply teased him, saying, "It's amazing that Lord Yang Hao still has the energy to come and bathe himself!"

"Don't laugh at me..."

"Yes Yes Yes."

The head maid smiled and knelt down in front of Yang Hao. While helping him wash his body, she asked him what he wanted to do by calling her over.

It wasn't a big deal—Yang Hao just wanted Monica to arrange a car for him to go out, and then have her tell Koschche that he would be home before dinner.

"I understand, where is the car going?" Monica blinked, and her hand, which was wiping Yang Hao's body, gradually stopped.

"I'm going to the hospital to check on Teresa's condition..." As he said this, Yang Hao already felt a growing sense of guilt. After all... although his two closest friends didn't mind him secretly finding someone, right? But speaking of it in front of them, he still felt guilty...

"I understand."

However, Monica didn't say anything. She just smiled, gently pinched Yang Hao's lower abdomen, and then left.

A moment later, she returned and said that the car was parked where Yang Hao often went out. If they went there now, considering the time he spent at the hospital, they could return before dinner.

I don't know how Monica calculated things down to the minute and second... but whatever.

He got out of the bathroom, and after the head maid carefully dried every inch of his body and changed his clothes, he left with the head maid Monica, ready to cause trouble for the pony.

.......

5:30 p.m.

Theresa was lying on her hospital bed, lost in thought.

Because of the wounds on her abdomen and left arm, she cannot sit on the bed to read for long periods of time. Instead, she can only sit for a while before collapsing onto the bed to rest and wait for her body to recover.

But waiting for her health to improve—that's easier said than done! After all, not everyone is the kind of person who can lie in bed and just daydream for more than ten days. Making Theresa, an active Kuranta girl, lie in bed with nothing to do is worse than killing her!

But what good did her complaints do? After the doctors and nurses gave him his fifth order, the former knight finally gave in and lay peacefully in bed, waiting for the day his wounds would heal.

"Ugh."

Lying in bed, she sighed. Because of work and the civil war, Mars and the others hadn't come to visit her for very long—and if she remembered correctly, Mars seemed to have actually hooked up with that Paul from the Snake Scales?

This morning when Lily came over, she told me they went on a date at the Gauls' headquarters?! Fuck you! I haven't even made any progress on my end and you've already run off with me?! I don't consider you my sister anymore, you runaway old hag!

Theresa looked at Mars with envy and jealousy...and then? She was still stuck in bed, idly staring at the unfamiliar ceiling screen to pass the time—

"Dong dong dong."

"Eh? Please come in—"

Then, her boredom was shattered by a knock on the door. She blinked dryly, said something towards the door of the deluxe private hospital room, and saw her boss, who always carried a cane and tapped the floor wherever he went, push the door open and enter.

“Oh, little pony.” The innkeeper seemed oblivious to the astonishment on Theresa’s face. He simply closed the door properly, placed his hat on the coat rack, leaned his cane against it, and then sat down on a small chair beside Theresa’s bed. “You did a good job. But while I’m quite satisfied with your loyalty, what about the disobedient Miss Theresa? Didn’t I also say that this operation would be carried out with the safety of our personnel as the top priority?”

The boss reached out and touched Theresa's hair and her ears, and Theresa didn't seem angry at first...

“But the problem is, how can I get a better reward if I don’t do this?” she muttered quietly, unusually, because she was paralyzed in bed and could only turn her head to one side instead of lowering it.

Faced with Theresa's refusal to look at him, Yang Hao simply shrugged. He patted Theresa's hair and then said:

"Actually, I've always been curious about what you were thinking when you were being persuaded..."

"Wow, you knew that?"

"After all, it's my ability. But I only know the result you produced; I don't know what you were thinking."

"Um... um... can I not say?"

Yang Hao shrugged helplessly as he looked at the shy Kuranta girl. He noticed that her ponytail had started swaying for some reason.

　 Then he heard the Kuranta girl make a hesitant, coy sound:

"Never mind... but, once I'm better, can we go on a date?"

"No problem. You deserve it."

Yang Hao rubbed Kuranta's ears, while he rubbed Theresa's ears. Outside the ward, head maid Monica was leaning against the wall, listening to the conversation inside.

Chapter 44

After chatting with Theresa for a while longer, Yang Hao had to go home before dinner. Seeing Theresa's somewhat lonely yet docile and relaxed demeanor, he stroked her horse-ear-like ear, then gently pinched her cheek as she blushed before leaving.

Before leaving, he repeatedly told Theresa to wait until she was fully recovered before discussing it further.

"After all, I'll be spending most of my time in the Duchy of Kosiché during the civil war, and the Creeds won't have that much work to do next, so you should get some rest, understand?"

"Yes Yes Yes..."

"Be good. If you don't, I'll spank you next time."

"..."

Leaving aside the strange expression Theresa gave at the end, when Yang Hao packed his things and left the luxurious private room, Monica, the head maid who had been waiting for him outside for a long time, simply smiled and said—

My lord, you really seem to have a knack for flattery.

Yang Hao broke out in a cold sweat and quickly forced a laugh, saying that his favorites were still Kosic and Monica.

"Then, wouldn't that little bat be...? Hehe, sir, you don't need to explain any further. After all, the more you explain, the bigger the loopholes will become, you know? I don't mind you doing so, although I am indeed not very satisfied with Miss Theresa... but, let's go back now?"

"Uh...hmm."

Yang Hao smiled awkwardly, and then, with Monica's help, he got back into the car.

...

There was still some time before the car returned to the Duke's mansion. So Yang Hao decided to take this opportunity to confirm the current situation of the Dukedom of Koschche with Monica.

"Current situation? Hmm... Sir, do you mean everything?"

Faced with Yang Hao's question, Monica simply nodded, somewhat puzzled, and then, muttering to herself, "You clearly know more about this than I do," she began to explain the changes in the Duchy of Koschche.

In a sense, the changes Monica described weren't that different from the changes Yang Hao knew, but he still preferred to hear reports from people close to him about the actual situation. Moreover, if it was a real person responding, at least Yang Hao could understand the substantial changes those changes were bringing to the people of the duchy.

It's not like watching idiots play games—you say the people's stability is +10%, how am I supposed to know what makes them stable?

"Well... after Theresa and the others brought back the landships, equipment, and the military factory, our territory is training urgently needed soldiers. But even on a regular basis, we can't actively cooperate with His Majesty's actions—after all, our total number of soldiers is still too small. Right now, the best we can do is hold that pass to prevent the soldiers of the Duke of Nikolai from attacking His Majesty's flank."

"But after all, it's a mobile city..."

"Yes. If Duke Nikolai really intends to move the city south and engage in a protracted war, it will be a bad situation for us as well."

Warfare in this world is extremely difficult, far more difficult than ordinary wars.

Even with the technology to create mobile cities, the army's composition remains primarily infantry, a small number of artillery units, and armored units (landships). In this situation, for an army to capture another mobile city, it must have the support of its own landships or even the mobile city itself—capturing a mobile city without landships is simply a pipe dream, an unthinkable miracle.

As a result, the Duchy of Kosiché and the Duchy of Nikolai are now in a delicate balance. The Duke of Nikolai certainly wouldn't dare send his entire city to the Duchy of Kosiché for a protracted street battle that could last for years, and if he simply sends infantry and a small number of land-based ships to attack, those troops wouldn't even be enough to satisfy the Duchy of Kosiché's hunger.

What should Yang Hao do if Duke Nikolai sends his main force to attack the Duchy of Kosiché?

The answer is to watch with a smile: because if Duke Nikolai really hands over all his assets, he'll be doomed. Then, His Majesty's army will march straight in and take Duke Nikolai's head. Yang Hao only needs to hold out for a while to wait for the civil war to end. If he dares to do this a hundred times, Yang Hao is willing to do it a hundred times!

After all, it's a sure thing, no risk. He smiled and waved his hand, signaling Monica to set aside military matters for the time being, and then she began to talk about matters concerning people's livelihoods...

"Ms. Kal'tsit is currently in charge of research on medical drugs for Oripathy. However, she's been very busy lately, often having to travel between the two places..."

Are you referring to the area where infected individuals are concentrated?

“Yes. Because Lord Koschiché agreed to her proposal, there are now experimental Oripathy clinics and dedicated research institutes in the infected area. She often studies drugs there, and Mr. Grovazel goes over to help from time to time—but I have also reminded them that it would be a loss for us if they become infected.”

"That's true..."

Now, within the Duchy of Koschei—no, throughout the entire Ursus Empire—Yang Hao and Koschei's reputation for "benevolence" among the infected masses has reached its zenith. If they had ever known the situation in the Duchy of Koschei.

Thanks to their efforts, infected individuals can now obtain almost identical rights and obligations to ordinary people in the Duchy of Koschei through labor or knowledge. These seemingly mundane rights and obligations alone make the Duchy of Koschei incredibly attractive to infected immigrants from other regions.

Not only are countless infected people from the Ursus Empire desperately trying to get in, but infected people from outside the Ursus Empire, once they learn about the situation here, are also trying every means to get over.

During the ten-odd days that Yang Hao was away on business in Saint-Junburg, the Duchy of Koschei received more than 7000 infected immigrants... If it weren't for the outbreak of the civil war in the Ursus Empire, which blocked many key passageways due to the war or made it impossible to pass through due to the standoff between the two armies, the Duchy of Koschei would probably have received even more infected refugees, and their reputation would have only increased.

However, simply accepting so many infected people wouldn't be of much benefit to the Duchy of Koschei. Yang Hao and Koschei needed to find a way to arrange jobs for them, allowing them to utilize their cheap labor—and it wasn't just them who needed to think this way; Monica certainly thought so too.

She believed that the duchy was accepting far too many refugees. If this continued and refugees were allowed to flood in without being given jobs, the duchy's hard-won stability would plummet to a dangerous level within just a few days.

"The jobs we created based on your work-for-relief strategy are now becoming insufficient. Sir, do you have any good solutions?"

"The limit of work-for-relief programs is just endlessly building roads, destroying roads, and then building roads again... To be honest, I still need to study the situation of the infected. And it's not just the infected. If we want the territory to be better, sooner or later we'll need to find them long-term, stable jobs... I'll discuss this with Koschche when I get back, Monica?"

"Yes."

She nodded, and just as she was about to say something, she realized that the car had already arrived at the Duke's mansion.

After thinking it over, it would be really inappropriate to stay here and say anything more. So, the head maid Monica simply stopped asking questions, disappeared from the car, and then came out again to open the door on Yang Hao's side before helping him get up and embark on his journey home.

Faced with Monica's care, Yang Hao didn't say much. He just made a strange comparison in his mind—if Sonia's mother were here, she would probably want to take him home right away, right?

Indeed, Monica and Sonia are different people. Monica wants me to accept her care while maintaining an adult demeanor, while Sonia wants me to simply become a child and be pampered by her without restraint...

With both sides being so great, Yang Hao really couldn't tell which was better or worse.

"grown ups?"

"No, it's nothing... Let's go back."