In the forest, just a few hundred meters from the outer wall of the City of Louisiana, a group of three individuals were hiding behind the trees as they looked at the people entering and exiting the main gate of the city.


    The trio seemed to be all female, aged between twenty and thirty years old, and equipped with sheer silk dresses of verdant hue. It was notable that they all had the same mint green hair, indicating that they might be rted to one another.


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    Their gazes were keen and cautious, but there were traces of curiosity on them. Suddenly, the one who seemed to be the youngest among them spoke up to the others.


    "Sister, are you sure it''s a good idea to interact with them?"


    "I have no choice as it would not be long before they would find us." The one in the middle, who appeared to be the oldest and the leader, made her response. "The timing of the sudden disappearance of the dragon and the emergence of this civilization is highly suspicious. They definitely have something to do with it."


    "That''s right." The other one agreed. "That dragon, even though it did not cause that much problem on us, is still the most formidable being in the forest. If the humans have somehow subdued it, I think it is better to get their good sides."


    "But they are still humans, full of greed. What if they would make use of us for their own interests?"


    "...I have that exact doubt too. But I have made my mind. Let''s just hope that they won''t turn out that bad."


    "Hopefully."


    With courage, the three of them stepped out of the woods and carefully approached the gate.


    ◆◇◆◇◆◇


    Last night, I told Dane the truth about my family. She must have had it hard, but in the end, her love for me prevailed, and she eventually epted my forbidden rtionships with my family.


    The next morning after the revtion, Dane was still acting the same as before, maintaining herposure at all times and seeming to be unbothered by what happenedst night. She was still able to engage in a proper conversation with my family.


    However, no matter how much she hid it, I could sense that she was not fine at all. When I asked her about that, she told me that she was still adjusting to the new atmosphere she was currently in. I just told her that she could take as much time as she wanted for her to adapt herself to the new environment.


    Well, that was pretty much about it. Life was full of ups and downs, but things were going pretty well for now. At least I fully got my third fiancee.


    My personal life aside, I had been constantly keeping in touch with some matters regarding the queendom. During this time, I had been personally checking on the development of the railway system since there were things that needed my presence. Except for a few minor issues like the paperwork, everything looked fine so far.


    Apparently, the station in the city of the formerly Viscount Gespenst and the railroad tracks that connected the city of the City of Lavender were already finished. Although it was notmercially avable yet, it had been put in use for transporting government personnel, valuable goods, and important visitors.


    The Gespenst station was the only entry and exit point to the Kingdom of Astley by rail. By the way, the Lavender station would be the intersection between the Raevender Queendom, the Kingdom of Astley, and the Kingdom of Boulder.


    The restart of the ss in the academy was approaching, and there were not so many things for me to do orply with either here in the pce, in the Lavender territory, or in any ce. Not gonna lie, since the establishment of our nation, I barely got the opportunity to improve my battle prowess.


    I missed the times when my sister and I used to train and grind for levels together in the forest and in the dungeon. But despite our busy schedule, we still manage to reserve little time to train and harness our skills, though not as intense as before.


    But our hard work paid off well. Without it, we would not conquer the dungeon as well as not have this nation. Unarguably, I would have perished from this world multiple times for facing some of the most powerful individuals I had encountered. Of course I could not forget to credit the goddess.


    Anyway, I was kind of looking for that kind of vibe right now. Other than my love life, I also needed to fulfill my urges to explore and face opponents. In the nick of time, I received a report from Michael just earlier that might probably satisfy my interest.


    Afternoon, Mother, Michael, and I gathered in the queen''s office in the pce. As the reigning queen, Mother sat on her designated seat while I was just sitting on a couch nearby. Michael was standing in the middle of the room, ready to ry his report.


    "You are now allowed to speak, Sir Michael."


    "Affirmative, Your Majesty. Earlier, I received a report that we have some unexpected guests."


    "Oh, really? Do you know who they are and what their purpose foring here is?


    "Unfortunately, they did not state who or what they are, but they said that they came from the Great Forest of Darkness. Allegedly, their purpose is to seek an audience with the ruler of this civilization."


    "And that would be me," Mother nodded her head. "They might probably be native to this forest and were affected by our expansion. We just established a nation here spontaneously, so it is natural for them to question our nature."


    "So what do you think about it, Mother? Will youply with their demand?"


    "Hmm. We did not have that much information about them, and we could not just grant whatever they wanted."


    After responding to my question, Mother turned her gaze upon me.


    "I want to hear your opinion, Raphael. Do you know any tribe or settlement inhabiting this forest? You have explored a part of the forest, so I am thinking if you know a thing or two."


    "So far, within our exclusive economic domain, I found no settlements or sorts. Only a few dungeons were the discoveries I found worth noting."


    "I see."


    "When I decided to venture beyond our domain, I dared to explore the coastal area first as those ces were rtively safer than the forest. From there, I found a few human and nonhuman viges along the coast of the forest, and the majority of them have migrated here."


    "So it means that these people mighte from the deeper parts of the forest."


    "Might be."


    "But what bothers me is how it is possible for people regardless of race to live in the middle of the infamous Great Forest of Darkness. No adventure even dared to reach this deep due to the powerful monsters lurking around, let alone live here."


    Mother was right. No one would ever think about making this dangerous forest home. That would be applied if they did not originate from the forest. Aside from the monsters, they were actually some sentient races naturally living in the forest.


    When I took a look at those guests through my Supernatural Observation, I found that they were not humans at all. Moreover, they belonged to a race that was extremely elusive to humans or any other intellectual beings.


    "Well, let''s talk to them, Mother. Let''s hear what they have to say."