The reception room was open, and a silver-haired general walked in. She had a strong nose, strong eyes, and entered with confident steps.
With an energy that was like a sharp sword, she was a heroine without a doubt.
But at the same time, her tight armor showed her curvy body, and her vivid red lips were seductive.
With a body that was showing her strong power and undeniable beauty, she was Eustasia Liland, the best general out of the four kingdoms.
“You are…”
Eustasia looked annoyed when she saw Sungjin sitting in the center.
“Please to meet you. Let me introduce myself. I’m Cha Sungjin, and I became the owner of this land.”
When Sungjin officially introduced himself, she looked even more annoyed, but she presented herself to Ereka first.
“Your Majesty, the Queen of Sevrantina, I am Eustasia from the Kingdom of Cariana. Thank you for accepting to meet me without a request in advance.”
“Eustasia. It’s just us, be yourself.”
“I won’t. Now we have different statuses…”
“Don’t. We have been friends for a long time.”
“Okay! If you say so.”
Eustasia hugged Ereka. Her hug was so strong, Ereka felt her breasts being squeezed.
“I’m so glad you survived the Blood Ruler!”
“Ouch! That hurts!”
“You are so stupid. I told you not to provoke the heroes,” Eustasia commented.
“I’m sorry.”
“No, it was my bad. I couldn’t help you because of my king’s orders.”
“No, I understand. Like a great general, you had to follow the king’s orders,” Ereka replied.
“I’m so happy to see you again.”
Eustasia smiled while looking at Ereka.
“And…”
Her eyes turned to Sungjin.
“Ha. So that was you. I was totally fooled,” Eustasia said.
“I didn’t mean to! It was just a coincidence,” Sungjin apologized.
“Ha! You didn’t mean to? You didn’t tell me who you were. Well, I should have known better with an extra who didn’t show any fear when in front of me. I was too slow to realize.”
“Sorry, but the timing wasn’t right to tell you who I really was.”
Ereka wondered what had happened between these two, who were talking as if it was not their first time.
“Sungjin, did you already meet Eustasia?”
“Yeah. Something happened.”
Sungjin smiled it away.
He couldn’t tell Ereka that he went to the waterfall in his underwear and saw Eustasia naked, only to have an incident of very close body contact.
“Ha. That was your own territory. I used it for old times’ sake. I should be the one apologizing.”
The waterfall used to belong to the family of Ereka. So when Eustasia, a friend of Ereka, came around, she used to take a bath without permission. But now, she quickly deduced that the waterfall belonged to Sungjin.
As he watched her calculate all this, Sungjin knew that she was not a great general for no reason.
“Don’t worry about it. It was just a misunderstanding.”
“You are cool. Good. Let’s keep it that way.”
She laughed while sharply looking at Sungjin.
“But you really look like this…? I guess I need to punish the painter. He shouldn’t have changed your face that much.”
That’s why she didn’t recognize me.
Sungjin guessed that the portrait Eustasia received of him was quite doctored. Listening to their conversation, Ereka felt uncomfortable.
There is… something… between you two that I don’t know…
She thought she was the closest girl to Sungjin, but they never had their own secret.
Ereka felt like pins were sticking into her heart.
“Haha. Let’s keep it that way.”
Sungjin smiled.
It was not a “minor” incident for a girl to show her naked body to a man, but Eustasia was not just a girl—she was a general.
Well for Sungjin, who was a guy, it was a pleasant experience at that moment. The touch of her fit and soft body trained by martial arts was a thrilling experience. On top of that, her glamorous body was real eye candy.
Well, Ereka has a great body as well.
He had never seen her naked body, but he saw enough when her dress got wet from her falling into some water.
Sungjin was now imagining two naked bodies.
One is a graceful moon, and the other is a blessed sun.
Ereka’s golden-ratio body was a blessing. Sungjin was not the only one who had her as a heroine in his dreams.
It would be a real heaven to have both in his bed…
That’s enough.
Sungjin stopped his thoughts. As soon as he was reminded of Eustasia’s naked body, he couldn’t stop imagining the dangerous scenes. This meeting was too important to go sideways with some dangerous imaginations.
Control yourself Sungjin. Control yourself.
“That’s enough for greetings; what brought you here?”
“Good. I hate to waste my time. But let me show enough respect and give you a present.”
Eustasia took out a bundle of paper. They were promissory notes.
“This is my present to you.”
“Huh? What is this?”
“These are dishonored promissory notes with extremely high interest from the heroes to the extras. Real dishonored bonds.”
A dishonored bond was a loan that was impossible to be paid back.
Under the ruling of the late king and Ereka, who were trying to pursue a Merciful Rulership, the heroes tried to find “lawful” ways to exploit extras. One of them was to loan out money with interest that was a few times more than the principle.
But that had a limit as well. The people who had no money couldn’t pay anything, and the heroes couldn’t trade the extras as slaves under Sungjin and Ereka’s rule. So those were loans that had no means of getting a paycheck.
“Huh? Did you buy those?”
“Yeah. My butler negotiated in advance, and I met him and bought these yesterday.”
Debt was a suffocating pressure that made people lose their motivation to get back on their feet again. So Eustasia bought those promissory notes for only a part of their written value.
The heroes didn’t see any possibility to get more money from extras, and it took too much time and effort to take the money back. So they were all sold to Eustasia at the minimum price. But on the other hand, these things were suffocating shackles to the people.
Eustasia tore the notes into pieces.
“Here’s the list. You can tell them they can live their lives without it.”
That was a real liberation.
She spent the minimum to buy out the promissory notes to force the heroes to give them up. This was a wise solution with no opposition.
Confidence was not her only charm. She was also wise when dealing with sensitive issues. That was why she was a great general. Her intelligence was not only on the battlefield; it was all around.
Sungjin nodded unnoticeably.
I like her.
He was interested in her ever since he read about her for the first time.
That ability of hers gave her the title of the “greatest general of the four kingdoms.” She was the pillar that held up her kingdom who supported an incompetent king. She was a generous hero who took care of the lower class.
He experienced her generosity when he met her.
She was attractive in every aspect, and Sungjin wanted to keep her on his team.
Her hot body was a plus.
No. Not that.
Sungjin smiled awkwardly when he was reminded of Eustasia’s body under her clothes.
“Thank you, Eustasia.”
Ereka smiled with gratitude.
“I’m sure you’ve got enough jewelry and dresses, so I tried to be creative…”
“You took care of the part that I didn’t have a chance to look into. Thank you.”
“Haha. Don’t mention it.”
It was a beautiful scene to have the blessed sun and the glamorous moon standing together.
“So let’s get to the chase.”
“Let’s chat over a cup of tea.”
Ereka poured out a cup of fresh tea.
“Thank you. But isn’t it a bit boring to just chat over a cup of tea?”
Eustasia looked at Sungjin as if she wanted to provoke him.
“Do you play chess?”
“Oh. That is not my specialty, but I’m not too bad. I’ve studied the principles and how to play it,” Sungjin answered with a grin.
The game of chess from this world and his world were the same as if it came from the same origin.
“Good. It’s a good game to play out military plans. Shall we chat over a game?”
Her sharp eyes showed she didn’t intend to play it casually. She brought a “present,” but it was not as a friend.
“Let’s move to the game room.”
* * *
“I’m not too bad. I won’t go easy on you,” she said while arranging the chess pieces.
“Haha. Don’t worry, I won’t underestimate the greatest general of the four kingdoms and think that she wouldn’t be good at such a game.”
Ereka felt anxious while looking at these two being fiery.
I’ve never seen Eustasia interested in a guy.
She used to say that guys were boring when Ereka told her of her dream to meet a guy and fall in love.
You said guys were boring… and now!
Ereka realized why.
Sungjin was not a “boring guy.” He was a great and charming one.
That’s it. It was not that you were not interested in guys.
Eustasia was just not interested in guys who were not compatible with her.
Oh… What should I do?
She had yet to capture Sungjin’s heart, and now Eustasia was also interested in Sungjin. It seems like they had already met before when she was not there…
Moreover, Eustasia’s beauty was highly reputed. She was such a confident beauty.
Ereka became a queen to “protect the people from the greed of the heroes. Ereka didn’t have any prominent abilities, whereas Eustasia was the greatest general of the four kingdoms.
She must be better at conversing… with Sungjin… what should I do…?
The four kingdoms included the southern four kingdoms below the Kingdom of Sevrantina.
Eustasia was not called the greatest because of her family background. Two years ago, when General Gareth, a close associate of the Golden Wise King, attacked them, the alliance of the four kingdoms was in a panic after a crushing defeat.
The alliance didn’t know what to do.
Some wanted to surrender while they were not sure if the Golden Wise King would treat them as the owners of the land if they surrendered.
Then she stood up.
She said that they still had the military power to fight against the Golden Wise King, and if they did, new allies would make their move to fill into the power balance.
When the people said that they should send a messenger to their new allies, she flatly responded with a “no.”
She said that if they did, their new allies would ask for treasure but still want to keep the power balance among them. So until their new allies made their own moves, she said that the only thing the four kingdoms needed to do was to defend once or twice.
When the people argued they wouldn’t be able to fight back the fierce General Gareth again, she said she had a plan and later commanded the army.
With her brilliant plans and heroism, she defeated Gareth.
I think her military intelligence is the best of the four kingdoms, apart from Sungjin.
Ereka thought that the one she loved was a better general. She also thought that Eustasia had more connections with Sungjin as compared to herself.
Confident, intelligent, driven, and charismatic—they were the perfect match.
What should I do?
Ereka watched their game restlessly.