Chapter 86: Ulstro Kingdom – Cleanup and Preparation (1)

Lying in bed and staring at the ceiling, he muttered,

“It’s time to start preparing.”

“Yes? Pre, preparing what…?”

Beatrice, who was resting her head on his arm, was startled by his words. As a woman who had loved the Hero for a long time, and as a Queen, she felt a sense of unease. He had only said “preparing,” but her intuition was sending out warning signals.

“For revenge, I have to leave.”

“Aah…”

A sigh escaped her lips involuntarily. Her anxiety had been spot on.

But she couldn’t stop him. Even though she was his woman now, what could she say as someone who was also a traitor and a target of his revenge? She knew well what revenge meant to Valdes.

Moreover, as the Queen who had sworn complete obedience to him, she didn’t want to go against him again. She couldn’t risk losing his love by doing something foolish.

Sensing Beatrice’s trembling voice, Valdes reassured her.

“Don’t worry. Ulstro will be my foundation and base camp. I’ll come back often.”

“Uh, yes…”

Pleased with her acceptance without any complaints, his hand stroked her elegant golden hair.

“Ah, ung… Aaah…♡”

With the warm touch, the Queen let out a pleasant moan and snuggled closer to Valdes.

It was morning after a night filled with ecstasy, but as the beautiful woman’s naked body pressed against him, his lower body reacted naturally. What had been just a physiological phenomenon turned into genuine arousal, his cock twitching and leaking precum from the tip.

“Huung. Queen Beth will, give you a morning service…♡”

Before Valdes could even respond, Beatrice slipped under the covers. As she went down, she casually ran her hand over his body.

No matter how many various magic spells installed in her bedroom kept it in optimal condition, it didn’t mean that the sheets soaked with sweat, semen, and vaginal fluids would become clean. Unfazed by the lewd smell and sticky texture, Beatrice quickly buried her face between his legs.

Since they had fallen asleep without cleaning up, semen and vaginal fluids had dried on his penis, but she was rather immersed in the arousing and thick scent.

Sniff—

“Haaa…♡”

The Queen took a deep breath, taking in the smell deep into her lungs, and then took his glans into her mouth with a lewd expression.

“Heeup, umm… Chup, chup chup, chup…♥ …Ah.”

Then, belatedly remembering that Valdes liked glans kisses, she hurriedly pulled away. The Queen’s soft lips touched the tip of his penis, which had become even dirtier with her saliva added.

“Chup, chup, chup, smooch- smooch- smoooch—♥”

It was the fruition of her long, unrequited love that she couldn’t achieve 18 years ago.

To top it off, his body had even become younger, just as she liked.

She kissed his glans with all the affection she could muster.

Such a large penis on a boy’s body was quite incongruous, but she liked it even more. Or rather, it was obvious that most women would prefer this. Perhaps this imbalance was what made it even better.

“Hnnh.”

Humming a tune, the Queen continued her loving service.

“Ugh…. Listen while you do that.”

“Uunh, yes…!”

“The next target is the Kingdom of Ventorino.”

A certain man naturally came to the Queen’s mind.

The current King of the Ventorino Kingdom.

A man who knew nothing but swordsmanship, but somehow managed to marry well and ride the tide, rising from a fallen noble to become a king. Just like Ulstro, there wasn’t any particular target for revenge there.

“Heum… Haa♥ Slurp, chuuup… Ah, chup, heup…♥”

“So I need your help, Beth.”

Valdes wants her help.

Beatrice’s ears perked up under the covers.

“Request a meeting with that bastard Marc.”

A meeting.

With just that one word, the Queen understood what Valdes was thinking. She also understood what he meant by foundation and base camp.

It seemed that Valdes intended to legally travel between countries as a completely reformed citizen of Ulstro. In fact, that was the easiest and wisest decision. It would be foolish to start anew when he had already taken control of half of Ulstro.

“The topic of the meeting should be about the Dezak Empire, I guess. Their recent actions haven’t been normal, right? There’s no way they’d send something to Ulstro and not to Ventorino. That bastard will probably be receptive.”

“Hnng… Chuuup.”

“If there’s anything else you want to add, take care of it yourself. Considering the travel time, the date should be… Hmm, yeah. A month from now would be good.”

It was almost like he was talking to himself, but Beatrice engraved his words deep in her mind.

“As for the rest… Well, decide for yourself. I’m not that familiar with the situation here.”

“Smooch, chup…♥ Haa… Alright.”

“Then shall we pay the price in advance before the maids come?”

“Ah… Yes♥”

Early in the morning, another wave of passion swept through the Queen’s bedroom.

-Oh! Look who it is. Isn’t it our neighboring Queen!

The voice coming from the crystal ball made her frown involuntarily.

A voice that sounded annoying and debauched just by hearing it.

If it weren’t for her beloved, she wouldn’t have contacted him first. He was the type of person Beatrice hated the most, and as the Queen of a nation, he was also a nuisance.

-Wow, this is the first time you’ve contacted me first… Isn’t that a bit harsh between us?

She had no intention of dragging out the conversation.

“…I’d like to propose a meeting between Ulstro and Ventorino.”

-Huh? What’s that all of a sudden?

“It’s a meeting about the Dezak Empire.”

-…….

The crystal ball fell silent for a moment.

-Hmm, you’ve brought up an interesting topic.

The man on the other side of the crystal ball, Marc de Ventorino, the King of the Ventorino Kingdom, changed his expression.

He was from the Dezak Empire, but he hated his homeland terribly. It wasn’t just because he was from a fallen noble family. Even when he worked as a mercenary and when he joined the Hero’s party, he had been subjected to all sorts of interference and unfair treatment from the Empire.

It was the result of such things accumulating one by one.

As the King of the Ventorino Kingdom, there was no reason for him to like the Dezak Empire either. Despite being the most stable country, they didn’t provide proper support and instead tried to interfere in his national affairs, citing the fact that he was from the Dezak Empire.

On top of that, there were countless schemes going on behind the scenes.

If it weren’t for his wife, he would have already lost his country to the Empire, or at least wouldn’t be able to exist as a proper king. He was well aware of that, even though he wasn’t particularly wise, he wasn’t stupid either.

-So, what do you want?

“I’m proposing that we form a united front to fight against the Empire together.”

-Don’t we already have a united front?

Marc was pleased with her sudden contact, but at the same time, he was suspicious.

It had been over 10 years since he became king. Even though he hadn’t systematically learned about statecraft, he had accumulated experience over the years. The first thing he realized was that there were no proposals in politics without a reason, and there was no such thing as goodwill without a price.

“A united front… Huh. Can you really call that a united front? A gathering that barely meets once or twice a year through communication?”

A deep sneer formed on the Queen’s face.

Indeed, high-ranking figures from each country, excluding the Dezak Empire, often communicated with each other through group calls. Initially, it was a secret meeting of the party involved in the Hero’s assassination, but after the Archmage’s death, it gradually transformed into a gathering to oppose the Dezak Empire.

But that was a story of the past.

No one doubted the death of Hero Pedro anymore. And as the Dezak Empire didn’t reveal their ambitions as blatantly as expected, it was gradually becoming a mere formality.

-So you’re saying we should cooperate more closely among ourselves?

“Because our two countries are the ones the Dezak Empire is targeting first.”

Ulstro and Ventorino, whose national power had weakened the most after the war with the demons. The Dezak Empire planned to swallow up the two countries through means other than military force. They would focus their remaining national power on other countries that still had abundant military strength.

As rulers of their respective nations, neither of them could fail to notice this.

-Yeah, a kind of anti-Dezak alliance. One that doesn’t come out into the open, though. Hmm… Not bad.

As expected, his response was positive.

There was no reason not to cooperate when they had a common enemy.

Just like the secret mission entrusted to Valdes and Mercedes, there had been several instances recently where the Ventorino Kingdom had thwarted the Dezak Empire’s schemes. As a result, their hostility was bound to increase significantly.

“We’ll slowly draw in the other countries depending on the situation. They’re not in that much of a hurry, so for now, our two countries need to join forces and show some results before they’ll show interest.”

-That’s right. Those higher-ups always prioritize their own immediate gains and losses.

“I’m glad you seem positive about it.”

-Hehehe, who made this proposal?

Beatrice sighed inwardly at his sly grin.

Strangely, she got tired quickly when talking to him. Just as she was about to say that they should discuss the details later, Marc spoke first.

-Besides that… I have a good offer.

“A good offer?”

-Yeah, an offer that will solidify the bond between our two countries.

“Don’t tell me…”

-As expected of our Queen. That’s right, a marriage alliance.

Beatrice desperately tried to suppress her grimace.

No matter how unofficial it was, and even though she hated him, he was still the king of a nation. An excessive reaction would be disrespectful to him.

Whether he knew it or not, Marc continued.

-My son is turning 14 this year. It’s time to find him a marriage partner, but there aren’t any young ladies I particularly like. You have another daughter in Ulstro besides the heir, right? They’re not that far apart in age either.

‘Marie.’

She couldn’t give her beloved second daughter to the son of such a fool. She had only met him a few times, but just the fact that his father was Marc made her affection for the prince plummet.

But on the other hand, she was slightly tempted.

‘He said he touched Marie too, not just Mercy….’

Valdes had told her that he had taken Mercedes and Marie’s virginity. In other words, her daughters were her beloved children, but they were also rivals competing for the love of one man. It wasn’t that only one would be chosen, but it also wasn’t that all the women would receive equal love.

‘…No. Get yourself together, Beth. You can’t get scolded by him because of this.’

Marie would be angry if she knew that she was rejected not for her sake but for a man’s, but for her now, love took precedence over her daughter.

Still, the Queen decided to leave some room for negotiation.

“…I’m sorry, but I’d like my daughter to marry someone she loves. Not a political marriage or anything like that.”

-Hmm….

“Let’s do this. We’ll hold this meeting in Ventorino. We’ll send a delegation. We’ll include our Marie in it, so try to persuade her or let your prince woo her. Of course, if you threaten her with political reasons or something…”

-Haha! You don’t have to worry about that! I’m definitely not that kind of guy.

Beatrice chuckled.

She knew that well too. But the one in charge of schemes and conspiracies in Ventorino wasn’t him, but his wife, the Queen.

A kingmaker who had made a mercenary from another country the king of a nation, despite being from a fallen noble family. In a way, she might be the true power behind the Ventorino Kingdom. That’s how dangerous a woman she was.

‘But even she will soon be thoroughly… Hehe.’

With different thoughts in mind, the two monarchs smiled.