Living a Maiden Game in Hard Mode

Chapter 63 – Duke of Son Family

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After the Lord’s conference, Hart, accompanied only by Xuě Lì, boarded a three-man high-speed ship and headed for the Athena System.
Yuna and the others had a lot to do on the Capital planet, and Fortress Kerviel was also undergoing renovations.

The journey takes about half a month, but there is a separate ship operator.

With nothing else to do, Hart deepened their interactions as they played games together with Xuě Lì and the spirits.

Yuna’s mental state is not good, but neither is Xuě Lì’s.

The Diete Star System Battle has made many to lose a lot.

Yuna lost her parents and grandparents, lost the home she lived in, and even lost her freedom after being crowned as the Sovereign.
Although there are no royal citizens who have been burdened with a heavier responsibility than Yuna, there are many people who have suffered damage to their spouses, descendants, and other entities that leave offspring for the next generation.

Among these many people, the women who had come to the Monarchy a year ago in marriage diplomacy had lost something that was difficult to compare with others.
What they had lost was their home system and backing.

The government had the mass media report on Fukashiro in order to assert its rights to the star system, but the content was lacking.

On the other hand, the MacLir System has declared independence from the Monarchy as a protectorate of Tenka, and more news is not always better.

“In the Fukashiro system, which was occupied in July last year, the communication satellites have been destroyed, so we don’t know anything about the situation.
Lord Hào Lán, who was the representative of the Fukashiro system, has nominated Xuě Lì as the successor to the Sòng family and applied for subordination to the Monarchy.
The Monarchy has also approved by former Sovereign Valfrete.
The Monarchy government has included the Fukashiro system in the realm of the Monarchy, and the operation to retake it is certain to take place, but the timing is undecided…”

Fortunately for Xuě Lì, she was able to establish a relationship with Hart before Fukashiro was occupied.
Hào Lán also named Xuě Lì as the Sòng family’s successor, making her valuable in governing Fukashiro, which led to the establishment of the Duke of Son family by Xuě Lì and Hart.

Thus, Xuě Lì became the ruler of the 21 billion people of the Fukashiro system who proposed subordination to the Monarchy, and would maintain a position as Duchess of the Duke of Son Household, which became the core governing entity, with her husband Hart as co-ruler.
However, she was not able to maintain her psyche.

Asked to become a co-ruler of the Fukashiro system in the future, Xuě Lì, despite the fact that the message had been delivered with the utmost care, froze after the transmission and became desperately distracted while her body quivered.

Those who think that Xuě Lì’s life is less difficult should try governing the 21 billion people of the Fukashiro Star system, which is occupied and contested by 3.75 billion refugees from Shinkyō and Kyūyama.

If the people of Shinkyō and Kyūyama were inhumane during the occupation, after the reoccupation by the Monarchy, 21 billion vengeful occupied people would begin a fierce vendetta against the 3.75 billion who occupied them and the security would be at its worst.
Once that is settled, some will be dissatisfied and rebellious against the Sòng family for their subordination to the Monarchy.

Even if Xuě Lì wasn’t a game loving shut-in with a communicative disorder, she would still have difficulties in governing.

The risk of being assassinated by the remnants of Shinkyō and Kyūyama would be the highest in the Monarchy territory, and in fact, even Hart had his cheeks twitching.

However, the Fukashiro system will become Fleur’s own domain, and then she will be able to connect a transition gate to other systems.

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If the Fukashiro people are equipped with spirit crystals, they will be able to receive the same kind of assistance that the spirits attached to the Royal citizens in the Deite star system provide to Yuna, such as protecting her and gathering information for her.

If even one of the assassination conspirators is wearing a spirit crystal, the information will be leaked, and if none of them are, they will be identified as a suspicious group, so the difficulty will be reduced somewhat.

Besides, the use of the transition gate will stimulate economic activity and enrich the people.

The Diete System, connected to the transition gate, is home to the Marquis of Amakawa.
And the MacLir, which is in Serafina’s realm, is likely to become the domain of Yuna, who will take the Grand Dukedom after her abdication.

In the Monarchy of Diete, there is an unwritten rule that one Duke is assigned to each star system.
The purpose is to enable independent decisions and action should the Diete system become dysfunctional.

If this unwritten rule is to be followed, the Duke of Son will be placed in the Fukashiro system, the Grand Duke Yuna will be in the MacLir system, and the Duke of Strani will be placed in the Athena system, where the Duke of Langlois was demoted and there is no Duke.

The Athena system, which has been part of the Monarchy from the beginning, is much easier to govern than the MacLir system, which is a former Coalition System, and the idea is to appoint the prince that could not be Sovereign there.

The Dukes of MacLir and Fukashiro System would have an unusually large territory population if the other senior aristocratic families did not come in to assist them.
However, no senior aristocrats who have territories in the realm of the Monarchy want to change their territories to a former Coalition territory or Fukashiro.

The Fukashiro and MacLir systems, which can do as they please and can perform groundbreaking economic activities via the transition gate, may be hard to govern, but they have great potential.

In addition, there are some people in the world who are living a much harder life than the serious Xuě Lì.

The three sisters of Leandre, who traveled from the Monarchy to Fukashiro on marriage diplomacy, are living the most difficult lives of all mankind.
The present-day Fukashiro is overrun by the forces of Shinkyō and Kyūyama, which were destroyed by the Monarchy.
In other words, they are surrounded by billions of people who are raging with vengeance.

In order, they would have been killed, and if they were still alive, they would have suffered even more miserably.

What will it be like in hard mode? After arranging the appropriate terms in his brain, such as Lunatic, Omega, and Death… Hart thought that if by any chance the girls made it out alive, the state should compensate them for the rest of their lives.

If asked to find a marriage partner, they would politely reply that you should get one for them, thus making it impossible to propose, but as far as financial compensation is concerned, the best will be done to encourage the military as they have contributed to the national defense.

Hart’s priority is to fulfill his responsibility to Xuě Lì.

The game chosen for the purpose of stabilizing Xuě Lì’s mind was one that she had been familiar with from playing in Tenka for a long time.
The game consisted roughly of a number of loose cartoon characters that looked like stuffed vegetables, competing against each other in an attraction.

Xuě Lì and her spirit Chloe form a team, Hart participates alone, Mira, Fleur, and Rhea control many characters at the same time like an online game, with the spirits competing with some restraint.

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Xuě Lì had the highest win rate, Hart rarely won, and Mira and the others won more than Hart did, so the development was balanced.

Hart was controlling a stuffed radish with a face and short arms and legs.
It was attacked intensively by Mira’s stuffed tomato, eggplant, and bell pepper, pushed off a cliff and crushed.

“I mean, three on one is so unfair!”

The soon-revived angry radish made a mad dash after the stuffed tomato, grabbed its body, and decided to backdrop it.
Then the eggplant hit the upturned radish in the abdomen, and all three of them fell down the cliff together.

Xuě Lì scored in the meantime, but a brawl between the radish, tomato, and eggplant had broken out at the bottom of the cliff.

The fact that Hurt was so pissed off about losing probably helped, but Xuě Lì, sitting next to him, was able to listen and respond to Hart’s conversation, albeit while playing the game.

After playing with her for a few days to relax her, Hart gradually explained to Xuě Lì about the future treatment of the Sòng family, while keeping an eye on her.

The first explanation was the treatment of the Sòng family as Dukes.

The Sòng family had two paths, one was to be transformed into a Vassal State by becoming a Principality, and the other was to become a Dukedom, a member of the Monarchy aristocracy.

The Dukedom, a lower position, was chosen because it was more convenient for the former Sovereign Valfrete, though of course, from the viewpoint of Hart and Xuě Lì’s descendants, the Dukedom was considered the better path.

“By becoming a Principality, the position will be lower than that of the Monarchy.
Even if the territory of the Monarchy expands, the Principality’s territories will not increase, and there will be restrictions on the rights and movements of the people who are in a lower position.
On the other hand, a Dukedom would be treated as the same Royal citizens of the Monarchy and have no restrictions.
So in the future, the Dukedom may have larger territories, more say, and more rights for the people, which is convenient.”

Considering only the generation of Hart and Xuě Lì, the Principality may be a better choice.

However, in the last 400 years, the Monarchy of Diete has increased its inhabited systems by six times, and the speed of interstellar travel has also jumped.
By the time Hart and others reach their end of lives, the Monarchy may have expanded its territory to 36 star systems, six times the current size, or even more.

As a Principality, the next generation will be left behind in the leap of the Monarchy.
In a corner of the galaxy, it is the descendants of Hart and Xuě Lì who will be left behind as masters of a frontier planet.

At first glance, the Duke seems to be in a lower position than the Sovereign, but Hart believed that the Duke was better in practical terms.

“Why did the Monarchy give us a Dukedom that grants us more rights in the future?”

“From His Majesty the former Sovereign’s standpoint, me being a Duke would have been better than me being an Official Ruler.
Because of the war, it is easier for a Duke retainer to obey him than an official ruler of a Vassal State.
Besides, his daughter Yuna was also scheduled to be married off.
He may have been concerned that a wife who was in a stronger position than the first wife would be a source of confusion.”

Before the Second Diete Star System Battle, the First Princess Yuna was scheduled to marry the Marquis of Amakawa and become his first wife.
Then, if Xuě Lì becomes the consort of the ruler of a Principality which cannot be despised, there will be a problem in the official hierarchy.

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However, in the current situation where Yuna is the Queen and will become a Grand Duke after abdication, there can be no hierarchy issue with the Duchess of Son, Xuě Lì.
Thanks to this, the Duke of Son family has established a position to increase its territory in line with the development of the Monarchy.

Hart believes that with the Monarchy having several Dukes, if the territories only increase side by side, they will not be considered dangerous.

In the first place, the first head of the Duke of Son is Hart.

Hart is the arrow of the Monarchy that destroyed the Human Coalition, and all the Royal citizens recognize that Hart and his descendants, who fulfilled the significance of the Monarchy’s existence, are Monarchy Aristocrats.
In fact, no aristocrat or Member of Parliament has complained about the establishment of one of the Duke families along with the subordination of the Sòng family.

That’s how the Monarchy views the Duke of Son family.

“Is the Sòng family okay?”

“Yes, no problem at all.
We’ve already established our position.”

After being briefed on her position, Xuě Lì was both satisfied and relieved.

However, Xuě Lì’s attitude toward being co-rulers was unreasonable and consistent.

“I don’t think joint governance is possible.
I can’t go out in public in the first place.”

“………… Uh.”

Even Hart, who envisioned Xuě Lì as a co-ruler, couldn’t help but feel uneasy about the feasibility of it, imagining the scene of her vomiting and collapsing during official duties.

In the next game round, Hart kicked the eggplant right after the start, and thought about how to respond while proceeding to bump bodies with the pepper, dodging the tomato that was chasing him with flair.

If Xuě Lì had been educated as an aristocrat of the Monarchy, she might have been required to take on aristocratic responsibilities.

However, the three women who went to Fukashiro from the Monarchy for marriage diplomacy were not provided with Fukashiro’s ideological education.
It would be unreasonable to ask the other side for things that you were not doing.

However, Yuna, for example, is not unreasonable, but she is not in a good frame of mind at the moment.

If Hart explains, “Xuě Lì can’t do it,” Yuna could say, “I couldn’t do it either.”

(I’m glad I explained Xuě Lì’s personality in advance.
Also, green peppers don’t turn yellow all of a sudden.
I don’t understand.)

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Yuna, who had been briefed and understood Xuě Lì’s personality in advance, has the leeway to accept the proposal accordingly.

Hart thought of a compromise where only he gave orders on official business, and Xuě Lì would follow Hart to attend a few limited ceremonies.

“The only purpose is to show the people of Fukashiro that Xuě Lì, the successor of the Sòng family, is co-ruler of Fukashiro.
If the people of Fukashiro understand that the patriarch of the Sòng family is the co-ruler and that the descendants of the Sòng family will take over the rule, then they will be satisfied.”

“I suppose most people would agree.”

Xuě Lì reluctantly affirmed Hart’s confirmation.

In Fukashiro, which was led by the Sòng family for nearly 700 years, if Xuě Lì, the legitimate successor of the Sòng family, governs Fukashiro with her husband and passes it on to her descendants, it would be according to the history that has been accumulated so far.

As for the inclusion of other people’s blood, it was business as usual for the six Tenka families, who had incorporated the blood of high magic-powered individuals who had evacuated from Earth many times.

Therefore, if Xuě Lì appears as a co-ruler, the majority of Fukashiro people will be satisfied.
This will enable the Monarchy to rule smoothly and achieve the goal of incorporating Xuě Lì.

In light of Xuě Lì’s circumstances, Hart thought this would be the greatest achievement he could obtain.

“Maybe a few times a year, we could wave together in public.”

“I can’t go out in front of so many people.
I think my stomach will hurt and I won’t be able to really walk.
If they carry me out on a stretcher and put a sheet over my face, I might be able to come out shivering.
But I might really cry.”

“And the people of Fukashiro, convinced of your abuse, will start a massive, system-wide uprising.”

At Xuě Lì’s declaration, Hart was forced to lower his requirements.

“Is there no choice but to record it in advance and play it back?”

“If you’re the only one there when recording, I’ll probably be fine.”

It was barely a compromise… rather, as Hart gave in completely, Xuě Lì showed her willingness to comply.

The two members of the Duke of Son family breathed a sigh of relief at the uncertain future ahead of them, and continued on to the Athena System.