Black Dress, White Stockings-Does the Grand Duke Like This?

Magana felt something was wrong with her and wondered if she was sick.

Why do I feel so uncomfortable being with Ryan?

She muttered something to herself, sounding a little puzzled.

She hadn't thought much of it when Ryan picked out clothes for her, since it was supposed to be her and Ryan's turn anyway. She just wanted to finish this quickly and then head back to the Western Territory.

When Ryan praised her, she felt a little flustered for no reason, so much so that she chased Ryan away after only choosing a Magana outfit.

"Strange, how did I get sick?"

Magana stood in front of the mirror and looked at herself.

Her smooth white hair was spread out, and she wore a black lace headband. Her exquisite black silk dress perfectly accentuated her figure. The sleeves were ruffled, and the hem was decorated with white lace patterns. Her slender legs, clad in white silk, were visible beneath the skirt, and she wore black Mary Jane shoes with heels that were at least five centimeters high.

At this moment, Magana looked like a delicate porcelain doll.

"Ryan actually likes this kind of outfit? It's not that it looks bad, but I'm definitely more used to wearing armor."

"No, maybe Ryan wouldn't dare say it looks bad, after all, he's my subordinate, so he'd have to say nice things."

"Um..."

Is it good-looking or bad-looking?

Magana began to feel conflicted. She had just let Ryan go, but now things were in this awkward situation. If she called Ryan back, what would that look like? Was she some kind of monkey? Grand Duke Magana wasn't that kind of person.

Oh, I've got it.

Magana stepped out of the tent and shouted twice.

"Everson! Everson! Get your Grand Duke over here right now!"

Thump thump thump thump!

The sound of heavy footsteps pounding the ground echoed through the camp, and in no time, Everson's giant figure rushed over.

"Your Grand Duke, you were looking for me?!"

Iverson showed an honest smile.

The Grand Duke ordered that they be available at a moment's notice.

"Do you think I look good in this outfit?" Magana asked.

"Dressed up?" Everson paused, looked at it for a moment, and scratched his head. "Your Grand Duke, I wanted to say this last time, but lately you've been dressing like a woman."

Magana: "..."

"The Grand Duke looks best in armor, so powerful and imposing! That's the Grand Duke we all know and love! This outfit... well, it looks like something a woman would wear."

Magana replied blankly, "I am a woman."

Everson was taken aback. "Yeah, the Grand Duke is a woman too, I almost forgot."

"Everson."

"Ah, Your Grand Duke?"

You stepped on my shadow with your left foot.

Bang!

Everson was sent flying high into the air, crashing to the ground and creating a large crater some distance away.

"Snort!"

Magana clapped her hands, turned, and went into the tent.

"Phew~ I feel much better now."

After giving Everson a good beating, Magana felt great all over, and the awkwardness she felt when she was with Ryan earlier had disappeared.

"It must have been just my imagination."

She's made up her mind; she's going to dress like this, and anyone who dares say it doesn't look good will have their legs chopped off!

Ryan had no idea that his fleeting thought would harm the Everson brothers. His intention was simply to see what Magana looked like in white stockings—a loli, white stockings, a black skirt—she was practically a dreamlike anime character.

He had actually tried sculpting a loli before when he was sculpting Noxiya, but he was never quite satisfied with it, mainly because he lacked the skill and experience.

Perhaps it was the comparison with Magana, a truly legal loli character whose attributes were too perfect, that caused Ryan to subconsciously compare himself to her, ultimately leading him to reject his own character creation plan.

Therefore, Ryan has no plans to create a loli character for the time being. It's more realistic to make the Grand Duke his goal.

After all, a real-life version of an eroge (adult game) walkthrough isn't out of the question, right? Isn't that how the characters and storylines unfold?

Go on a date with her and make her shy!

Then I began a shameless and carefree life.

If he could actually enter the Grand Duke's personal storyline, it would actually benefit the peaceful unification of the Augustus Empire. Thinking about it this way, Ryan felt that he was indeed making an important contribution to the empire.

"Speaking of which, I do remember quite a bit about the Princess's main storyline."

In the game's storyline, Ryan did attempt to become the Princess, while the Grand Duke's side hasn't progressed that far, and Haino's storyline only unlocks much later.

However, he still has leverage over Haino, which he can make good use of, though it's a bit dangerous. After all, Haino is a seventh-tier Holy Word Master, and if he fights to the death and takes him to meet the God of Death, it would be a huge loss.

So let's leave Hainuo for now; as long as he's obedient, there shouldn't be any problems.

While pondering, Ryan called over a Predator soldier and drove him toward the castle.

He has to go to the castle to deal with Kalkart's affairs... well, on behalf of the Grand Duke.

On the way, Ryan opened the game to check on 'Shally's' situation. After attacking the granary, the Holy Blood Legion did not launch another attack, and the Allied Forces were also silent, neither attacking nor retreating. Ryan guessed that they were currently experiencing internal strife.

Kossol is gone, key players are missing, and all that's left are commanders from various countries. So how do we fight next?

The officers from each country are definitely not willing to concede to each other, and they may have already started shifting blame. It's estimated that this Northern Coalition Army will withdraw in less than half a day.

However, by then, it will be the battlefield for the Holy Blood Legion.

Given 'Shally's' personality, she certainly wouldn't just stand by and watch 'Experience' escape. And yesterday's battle not only stunned the Northern Coalition, but also the nobles of the Kingdom of Lotte.

If we can wipe out this allied army, the name of 'Lotte the War God' will resound throughout the entire Northern Coalition.

Ryan guessed that Elvian was so angry her belly was aching.

Upon arriving at the castle, Ryan was invited by Princess 'Vainay' and, led by a maid, entered a courtyard, where he could see 'Vainay' enjoying afternoon tea with 'Lin Qi' from afar.

"Oh my, Lin Qi, you're here too."

Ryan raised his hand and greeted his old friend 'Lin Qi'.

"You may leave now."

'Vainay' dismissed the surrounding maids, leaving only 'Noxiya' as her personal guard. At this moment, the entire courtyard was left with only her, 'Lin Qi', 'Noxiya', and Ryan arrived last.

Four people, one heart!

"Let me say a few words first," Ryan said, taking a sip of his black tea and gesturing for 'Noxiya' to sit down as well.

"That Kalkart has secretly contacted the Grand Duke; it seems he's driven to desperation. The Grand Duke has replied to him; he'll launch a coup, and the Grand Duke will pretend to be an inside agent. Let's see how many traitors will jump out this time."

"When Kalkart attacks, he'll be accused of rebellion, which will be perfect for killing him and seizing control of the Imperial army. Then, Vainay can ascend the throne, and we can sign an alliance with the Kingdom of Lotte."

"I'm thinking of sending Ina over, what do you think?"

Kalkart is definitely going to die. This incident will also help to purify the management of the imperial nobility. If anyone is willing to rebel with Kalkart, then kill them all.

The Grand Duke's role is naturally to set traps and enforce the law; otherwise, Kalkart wouldn't have had the courage.

However, this will likely result in some troop losses, but there's no other way. Keeping such a person, whose loyalty isn't absolute, is just a menace. Now that the Augustus Empire is in our hands, what Ryan needs to do is to continuously refine and eliminate all factors that could lead to internal strife.

"Instead of Ina, how about we just let Shally reveal her identity?" 'Vainay' pondered. "Shally is over there anyway. She's helping the Empire win over the Kingdom of Lotte and then enter the High Lord Council. As for Ina, let's just leave her in Baron. I have too many things to deal with and I need her to help me."

"That's... fine too."

Ryan had originally planned to use Ina's achievements to pave the way for her entry into the High Lord Council, but it didn't really matter. The power was in his hands; who got into the High Lord was entirely up to him.

On the contrary, there are relatively few roles that involve handling political affairs. Among the wives, only 'Vainay' and 'Ina' are good at that; the others are all about killing.

This is a serious case of being severely unbalanced in one's studies.

"Vainay, what are your thoughts on the future administration of the Augustus Empire?"

"Lin Qi, is there any news from the Gate of Janus? Do they have any plans regarding the Northern Coalition?"

"And Noxiya, your leveling up is too slow. Go find a rift in the Inner World later."

After a friendly half-hour conversation, Ryan and 'himself' exchanged ideas and reached an agreement.

He didn't intend to directly interfere with the development of the Alts, but he would occasionally exchange information. There was simply too little time for internal monologues, and most of the time Ryan didn't know what they were up to.

Therefore, frequent and in-depth communication is essential.

According to 'Vainay's' plan, after Kalkart is dealt with, the Imperial Army will be reorganized and placed under the leadership of 'Noxiya'.

The problem is that 'Noxiya's' level isn't high enough. An imperial general should be at least at the fifth or even Sixth Tier, right? This can only be improved gradually.

Fortunately, there's still 'Shally' to fall back on. When the two countries form an alliance, we can take the opportunity to bring 'Shally' into the High Lord Council... Hmm, we'll talk about that when the Grand Duke returns to the Western Territory, otherwise Ryan is worried she'll get so angry she'll jump up and hit someone.

The engagement party is tomorrow night, and Ryan will use this opportunity to have Kalkart launch an attack on Baron tomorrow in Magana's name, coordinating an attack from within.

This is essentially a pledge of allegiance; if Kalkart doesn't comply, it's a slow death for him.

If we do it, it will only hasten our demise, and at the same time, it will allow us to clean up the imperial military and political system, eliminating any nobles who still harbor ambitions.

After a tea party with the Alts players, Ryan walked out of the castle with 'Lin Qi'.

It's been a long time since I took a walk with my first wife.

The main problem is that the situation at the Gate of Janus is too complicated. Even as Saintess, Lin Qi cannot do whatever she wants. As a result, the two of them spend too little time together, which is why Ryan's plan to have her team up with Shally for QQ has not yet been realized.

However, he still had time to take a walk. Anyway, he and 'Lin Qi' were old friends, so no one would say anything.

You know, back then Old Joe was even thinking of setting him up with 'Lin Qi'.

"Huh? You guys..."

Not long after leaving the castle, they ran into Haino returning from outside.

Since Caslathdi was temporarily staying at the castle, she stayed with him, partly to protect Caslathdi.

After all, it wouldn't be safe to leave Caslathdi alone in Baron. Haino would only consider returning to the St. Marian Academy once the situation had completely stabilized.

"Hello, Ms. Haino," Ryan greeted her with a smile.

Lin Qi merely glanced at her indifferently, showing no intention of speaking.

"Hello, Earl Ryan, and... the Saintess."

Hainuo really didn't want to be with 'Lin Qi' for even a second longer.

"I'm going back now." After saying this to Ryan, Lin Qi turned and boarded the carriage at Janus Church.

"Then I will too..."

"Earl Ryan, please wait a moment."

Haino called Ryan to a stop.

"What's up?"

"You... you seem to have a very good relationship with Saintess Lin Qi."

Ryan chuckled, "Princess Caslathdi should have told you, right? Lin Qi and I met back in Berman City, before she became Saintess... Haha~ Don't laugh at me, but if Lin Qi hadn't become Saintess, we might have ended up together."

"Oh?"

Haino nodded secretly. Caslathdi had indeed mentioned her time in Berman City; Ryan and 'Lin Qi' were already friends before she arrived.

She then joined, making it a trio.

I never imagined Ryan and 'Lin Qi' were this close.

Now it seems this was clearly a game between one person and two... Haino sighed inwardly, "Caslathdi, you certainly didn't lose unjustly."

Not only was she betrayed by her subordinates, but her most trusted confidante, 'Lin Qi,' also defected with the Gate of Janus. Although it was ultimately explained as an 'internal decision of the Gate of Janus,' as the Saintess, if she truly wanted to help, wouldn't she have been able to?