11

The funeral was nothing special. There were many mourners, but among them, there were few who truly grieved the deaths of the three. Most brought condolence money and gifts—and offered them to Louis. The ruling power had changed, so they were switching sides and, in effect, having Louis reconfirm the authority they already held. Louis faced all of it with an unblinking stillness, showing neither acceptance nor rejection.

A few more days passed. After the funeral ended, he summoned the mage Jerome and the architect Hector to begin constructing the Wonder. Jerome looked flustered, as if the new residence had him overwhelmed, while Hector—perhaps having already guessed why Louis had called him—stared at Louis the moment he entered, with the bright-eyed expression of a dog spotting a bone.

Hector’s guess was correct. What Louis had spread out before him was clearly a new building. Jerome trudged in, bristling, intimidated by an office five times the size of the one in Proia. Hector, bold yet properly respectful, stepped toward Louis and spoke.

“Could it be… is this the thing I have waited and waited for, Duke Louis?”

Without even looking at Hector, Louis answered while rechecking the blueprint for flaws.

“Yes. This is the structure you will build from now on.”

“May I have the honor of seeing it?”

“Wait a moment.”

“As long as it takes, I will wait.”

Hector spoke with barely contained excitement, while Louis continued examining two plans. One was the unique Wonder, the Hanging Gardens, obtained by investing 10,000 points. The other was the magical device that would draw water upward to the Hanging Gardens. Naturally, to manufacture a magical device, a skilled blacksmith also had to be present.

All of a sudden, Enneu appeared—panting as she ran in, a beautiful girl with an oddly innocent face. Everyone had migrated here from Proia, following Louis. The moment she arrived, Enneu muttered loudly enough for anyone to hear, Whew, I finally made it. What if Lord Louis scolds me?

Of course, she was smiling brightly as she said it. Seeing the bold slave who wanted to be acknowledged, Louis let out a dry laugh. In any case, judging purely by talent, he now had two individuals who could bear “great” titles, plus a chief architect—so he believed they could complete the Babylonian Hanging Gardens without issue.

As he scanned them, he noticed Jerome turning red and fidgeting the moment Enneu arrived, and Louis understood at once. So Jerome had feelings for Enneu. Enneu belonged to Louis, so it would not be that simple. If he worked harder and produced results, Louis would let him marry Enneu.

In any case, Louis had finished his review, so he spoke to them.

“Come closer and confirm it yourselves. Hector will build this, and Jerome and Enneu will make this.”

As expected, Hector moved first. As if he had been waiting for this moment, he rushed forward and began to drink in the Babylonian Hanging Gardens with undisguised hunger. Unlike Jerome, who hesitated, Enneu studied the blueprint first.

And while Enneu and Jerome were still reading, Hector let out a spontaneous exclamation.

“It’s a refined building where genius shines through. If it’s completed, it will make a name for itself in the world. Forgive the irreverent question, but when did you conceive of this? It’s astonishing beyond measure. That said, there is one issue: the magical device that lifts water. The construction itself—its scale and cost—won’t be the problem, but I’m somewhat worried the device may not operate.”

Hector immediately identified the greatest problem of the Babylonian Hanging Gardens.

“Mm. I thought it through in the spare moments during the war. Don’t worry about whether the device will work—your duty is to raise this in the plaza, so do your utmost.”

‘To think he devised such a masterpiece amid that chaos… how unfair the gods are.’

Hector’s pride took a blow at Louis’s words, yet he could not help admiring him. This sort of genius was not as famous as Louis’s war record, but the creativity was more than worthy of being called brilliant.

“I think we can make it.”

Jerome also spoke in a voice mixed with awe. It would take several attempts, but it was not impossible. Yet Jerome desperately wanted to ask how Louis had even imagined this—only the words would not pass his throat.

After agonizing for a long time, Jerome exhaled and decided, on his own, that perhaps a god had revealed it to Duke Louis in a dream—and he accepted that explanation.

Then, unexpectedly, Enneu spoke. After reading the blueprint several times, she looked at Louis and said:

“Duke Louis. If we complete this work, will you grant me a reward?”

“Of course. If you finish quickly, I will give each of you a generous reward.”

No one disliked being offered a carrot, so Hector and Jerome both grinned broadly. Then Enneu continued.

“I want to choose… my reward.”

Louis actually enjoyed this behavior from a slave. Enneu had been genuinely useful to him in many ways, so he did not think of her the same as the other slaves.

Mihoff, seated to one side, narrowed her eyes and spoke.

“Slave. You stand before the Duke. You do not possess the right to choose. If not for the Duke, that statement would have earned you a clean beheading from me.”

Hearing Mihoff’s reply, Louis thought Mihoff had opened her heart to him somewhat. Since that incident, she had been a woman of few words. Come to think of it, today Mihoff’s younger sister, Reiner Ermia, would arrive. Louis had promised to help her settle here.

“Well, it’s fine. Enneu is useful talent to me, and if she produces a bit more for me, I intended to grant her freedom anyway.”

The atmosphere, which had chilled, loosened under Louis’s words. Mihoff apologized to Louis and returned to her seat.

Enneu, sweating as if the not-quite-threat had startled her, hesitated—then spoke anyway.

“When this work is finished, I want Duke Louis to step on me… hard.”

“……?”

Not only Louis, but everyone went rigid. Mihoff, who had been idly touching her dagger, froze with her mouth hanging open.

“What does that mean? For such a thing to be your reward? That’s called punishment, Enneu.”

“I don’t need anything else. In any case, that is the reward I want. I would be grateful if you would include whipping as well.”

Enneu kept flicking uncertain glances at Louis, her expression restless—as if she were desperate with pent-up desire.

“Mm… fine. When this is done, I’ll do as you wish.”

Only then did her face bloom into a bright smile. Watching her, Louis let out a heavy sigh.

‘I need to educate Jerome so this kind of thing doesn’t land on me.’

Mihoff’s face suddenly reddened for reasons no one there noticed.

After issuing several overarching directives, Louis left the rest in others’ hands and departed. His destination was Lebledna, the capital of the Duchy of Eron. No matter how little the Prince-King’s power reached into the other factions, the capital was still the capital. Lebledna lay along the Rhine River, which flowed in from Beiherobo—the city ruled by House Batenberg—and above all, it had a road network that spread immediately to every region.

For trade in goods, it was practically impossible to avoid the capital. That was why, with money at least, the Prince-King could secure supply in his own way; what Prince-King Orpendius coveted was only one thing: strengthening the dominion of royal authority. Because the seven houses that controlled each region of Eron checked the king and formed secret, tacit alliances among themselves, it had become an open fact that the Prince-King wished to align with House Pontina—rising like a comet in the west—rather than force his way into their gaps. After all, Prince-King Orpendius had sent invitations across the entire land.

And the opportunity the Prince-King created applied to the seven houses as well. They could attend Louis’s succession celebration party, or they could refuse. Refusing would still place them on an antagonistic line against House Pontina, but attendance, at least on paper, was voluntary.

At the end of the Rhine River, the house arriving by ship so lavish it was nearly bursting with splendor was House Batenberg. Standing at the prow was Batenberg Blancfor, sent by his father to ally with Louis.