Chapter 605 – Side Story 3. Ustina’s Love (1)
Demon Kingdom Agriel.
Although it has now officially established diplomatic relations with the empire under the official name of Agriel.
Until then, the Demon Kingdom was in chaos.
The death of former Demon King Lucifiel. After the official disappearance.
The Demon Kingdom, which had lost its focus due to the absence of its king, was in disarray.
‘No. The Demon Kingdom was in even more of a mess long before Lucifiel became the Demon King.’
In the first place, Lucifer appeared and showed the possibility of centralization for the first time.
Until then, the Demon Kingdom had been operating in the form of a loose union rather than a centralized form.
The fact that it was called the Demon Kingdom, with the feel of a union of demons, without even a proper name, speaks volumes about that fact.
And a woman was thinking for a moment about the forces of the devil kingdom.
A woman with flaming red hair.
She was Ustina.
Agriel’s highest-ranking noble.
At the same time, the dragon is called the Red Dragon King because he is recognized as the king of a feudal lord.
Ustina rested her head on the chair in her office for a moment and continued her thoughts.
‘There was a reason why the previous Demon Kingdom was unable to compete with the Empire.’
Under the reign of Lucifiel, the former Demon King and friend of Ustina.
Although there were some signs of integration.
In the end, it was impossible for even the merciless devil to completely integrate those forces.
Although the symbolism was strong because it included a primeval forest in the territory.
Before the appearance of Lucifiel, the forces that were weaker than other forces in the Demon Kingdom were the Western Lords and the Western Demon King’s Army.
Naturally, the traditional powerhouse was the Central Demon King’s Army ruled by the Red Dragon clan.
And even the southern Demon King’s army and the eastern Dark Elves, who had strong regional characteristics.
Ustina also thought that it was impossible for the strong local lords and nobles to unite.
‘Even though I recognized that Lucifer. The demons are so individualistic and clan-oriented…’
But the atmosphere has changed now.
The newly crowned Demon King of the Demon Kingdom.
Under the name of Julian von Reinhardt.
The Demon Kingdom was being newly integrated into one system.
“It’s already late today. Now you can go to sleep…”
“It’s okay. “I still have a lot of work to do, so I’ll work a little more.”
“All right. Ustina!”
A young female dragon maid from the Red Dragon clan bowed her head very politely to Ustina.
Ustina spoke in the same tone as usual.
The young maid didn’t complain at all at Ustina’s words and went outside.
Ustina is the head of her clan.
To that extent, her words were an absolute command.
However, Ustina did not have time to feel impressed by such a greeting.
“Whoa… Damn dark elves.”
And she sighed as she looked at the mountain of payment documents.
If it were the Demon Kingdom before, it would have been possible to run it in a brute force way.
Three years have already passed since the temple ended.
Under the Julian regime, the Demon Kingdom was emerging as a new empire.
However, a radical new system always causes great opposition.
So there was quite a bit of conflict between the existing old nobles and the young demon officials newly appointed by Julian.
And the one in charge of direct coordination is the Red Dragon King Ustina.
This is a demonic kingdom that is developing day by day.
Now, Ustina always felt like her body was lacking even ten pieces.
‘Well… I did suppress the old nobles’ animosity to some extent.’
The clan that has a very strong influence among the nobles is the Red Dragon clan.
Ustina, the head of the clan, follows Julian without a word.
As of now, there are no people who are openly dissatisfied with the demon kingdom that Julian is changing.
‘Well… I guess he’s hiding his dissatisfaction to some extent.’
So Ustina worked busier than ever.
Perhaps dissatisfied forces may revolt.
Of course, the Demon King’s army and the Royal Knights directly under Yulian would be able to suppress them.
That small spark might start a big fire.
So, the local nobles who make Ustina the busiest right now.
Those guys were also of the dark elf clan.
‘Dark elves… They are much smarter than the flower-headed elves.’
As smart as they were, the Dark Elves had a lot of dissatisfaction and greed with reality.
In the end, the Dark Elf clan stuck to Knoia and betrayed the demons and humanity.
And their leader, the dark elf Yuranes, even defected to become an apostle of Knoia.
So, it is right to purge all remaining dark elf clans.
In reality, that wasn’t possible.
Dark Elves are also clans of the Demon Kingdom with a long history that are inherited from the High Elves.
Therefore, there is no small blood relationship or bond with other elf clans or demons.
‘And there are so many smart guys.’
The clans that have developed magic engineering along with the dwarves, or even beyond the dwarves, are the dark elves.
Rather, it is because high elves are obsessed with the ideal of pure magic.
They have rejected magic engineering, a field of application, dismissing it as a trivial pursuit.
So now the development gap between the Demon Kingdom and the Ramir Empire is very large.
Dark elves who fled through the southern part of the empire.
They passed on magical engineering to the south, and the empire developed the engineering knowledge that flowed in.
‘So we need them to reimport engineering from the empire.’
And all the Eurasian clans that had directly participated in Knoia were executed.
As harsh as the purge method was.
Any more cruel rule will cause resentment.
‘Plus, dark elves have a high sex drive. Compared to the empire, Agriel has an tiny population. In the end, the future birth rate will only increase if there are dark elf clans…’
So Ustina’s head felt like it was going to explode.
Even though more thoughts came to mind.
Now, her personal issues were also of great concern.
***
Ustina has been having a hard time these days due to concerns for which there is no answer.
And that worry is a personal problem that cannot be told to anyone.
‘The childbearing period will end soon. I have already become an ancient dragon. After this fertile period ends, it will be impossible to get pregnant a second time.’
In the first place, she was Ustina, who had no intention of mating for the rest of her life.
However, those values completely changed with the appearance of one man, Julian.
“…”
When she remembered his appearance, her mind was confused again.
She thought that one night’s relationship was enough.
I guess it wasn’t that simple.
Of course, if you mate for pregnancy.
The only target that came to mind was Julian.
And most dragons are not very interested in mating.
Pride is high if she decides to mate with her.
Of course, this means that Julian’s presence in her heart is very large.
‘What on earth are you thinking? I am not as young as the lovers in the harem.’
She has lived for hundreds of years and is now in her mid-30s in human years.
Usti is an unprecedented genius even among the Red Dragon clan.
So, among all dragons, he was the youngest to reach the level of an ancient dragon.
‘Of course, Julian broke that record…’
Anyway, because of that, his age was not that old for an ancient dragon.
Nevertheless, Ustina did not have much confidence as a woman.
Most of the harem members are in their early 20s.
Considering that the older ones among them, Remielana and Tricia, are in their late 20s in converted age.
As expected, Ustina could not help but be concerned about her age.
‘If her childbearing period is over… It will be more difficult to appeal her charms as a woman.’
Her head hurt again, and she touched her forehead.
Even though she has lived for hundreds of years, she has never had this problem.
It was a problem that did not have an easy answer.
A sincere match for pregnancy with Julian. When I remembered that fact, to be honest, I was so embarrassed.
“Phew… Stop thinking about this for now. Julian will be visiting the East soon… So we need to fully prepare for the festival…”
Ustina went back to work to forget her worries.
One month later. Yulian visits the dark elf territory in the eastern part of the Demon Kingdom.
Ustina decided to personally manage the various events that would take place there.
From now on she had a lot of work to do to prepare for the event.
‘Phew… Then today too… That dream too…’
When she previously had a meeting with Yulian about the contract with the demon archduke.
She once relieved her fatigue by taking a bath and having a massage with him at a hot spring.
She thought she would have that dream again tonight.
Ustina buried her face again in her numerous papers.
***
I was riding a carriage.
No, it was correct to say that it was Biryongcha.
Wyvern, a monster so fierce that it can never be tamed by humans.
But now, a huge wyvern was flying, hanging on my special flying dragon car like a horse.
‘Well, no matter how nasty the wyvern’s personality is. In front of an ancient dragon, I become more gentle than a puppy.’
In the first place, the master of all flying things is the dragon.
Even in that dragon, there is no way a wyvern could rebel against me, who has surpassed the level of a dragon and entered the realm of a primordial dragon.
Anyway, I liked this means of transportation.
The wyvern completely obeys my will.
I was able to have some alone time without the need for a driver.
‘Okay. ‘I need time alone.’
And I was busy working inside the flying dragon car.
Although many people yearn for the life of an absolute ruler.
The life of a ruler rather than a tyrant is surprisingly much more difficult than an ordinary life.
This is in order to restore and prosper a country that was once on the verge of destruction.
So, I had no intention of leaving the Demon King’s Palace.
Still, in order to show the emperor’s dignity, he had to move directly like this.
‘The compromise is that I go alone.’
Of course, it is right to form a large-scale tour group.
Doing so would take too much time.
As the emperor of Agriel, I am acting strictly based on efficiency.
‘I don’t want to push myself any further.’
I really didn’t want to go because I felt like it.
Still, this visit was important.
Eastern territory of the dark elf clans.
A new reconstruction of the East and an oath of allegiance to the Emperor. This is the place to declare that.
Preliminary work for the event was very complicated for political reasons.
Fortunately, I was able to save myself some trouble on that matter.
‘Ustina put in a lot of effort.’
As a result of his contribution in the last holy war, he was given the title of king of a separate kingdom from the Demon Kingdom.
That Ustina was a great help to my work in the Demon Kingdom.
‘Ustinara…’
I decided to meet her again on this schedule.
Right at that moment.
I remembered something I heard from Ruiril, the Grand Duke of Lust, not long ago.
– Ustina has been dreaming about you without missing a single day. It looks like the childbearing period is coming to an end.
