After I died, my personal maid rebelled.

Upon arriving at the encampment outside the city, everyone immediately put down their work and rushed over to see the Duke, who was patrolling around with a pipe in his mouth.

It's truly remarkable that His Highness the Duke has risen from the dead once again!

As expected, His Highness the Duke will not leave us.

In response to everyone's enthusiasm, Oswald greeted them with a cheerful smile, "Go ahead and get busy, winter is coming soon, let's all work hard and try to have a warm winter."

Oswald was unwilling to tell them much about his health, lest they worry unnecessarily.

As for the goddess, that's even more unspeakable; she's a creation... Oswald thought to himself, sometimes humans might not even be as good as robots.

Robots are highly intelligent beings; once they are created, they must understand the purpose for which humans created them. And most humans in this world still devoutly pray to the goddess.

Even during their coma, they must have been praying in their hearts, asking the goddess to bless their lord.

This world is actually very simple. After it was formed naturally, life evolved in the world. The goddess of nature tried to learn from this and take control of the power of life, but was defeated by the goddess of life in the war of the gods.

Then the Goddess of Life used the races she created to continuously seize control of the world. Even the dragons, intimidated by the goddess's authority, were forced to leave the continent and go overseas to live.

The cruel truth is that perhaps only after death will the creatures realize that the goddess gave them only a physical body, while their souls flow throughout the entire universe.

They were born free.

In this world, only the ancient dragon race knows some secrets about souls, but they call the place where the systems reside the Land of the End, knowing that all souls that have lost their lives will slumber there and wait.

However, the goddess pays no heed to the creatures' probing questions; she only cares about whether the world is still under her control.

Laws, nature, life.

According to the deductions of the saints in Oswald's hometown, with the three elements of heaven, earth, and man already in existence, there is no longer a place for gods in the world.

As a result, this time traveler, who constantly helps people live better lives, is being tormented by the goddess in various ways.

That damn goddess, was she trying to trick me into becoming a placenta? She even resorted to such despicable tactics!

Oswald grew angrier the more he thought about it. He decided that he would enslave all the races created by the goddess, force them to build a great civilization based on the twenty-four-character mantra generation after generation, and then kick them onto a spaceship, leaving only lonely gods with no one to care for them.

After reassuring the residents, Oswald continued his tireless inspection of the construction progress and the availability of supplies. This influx of new residents placed the greatest pressure on Kuogu City, making its task the most demanding.

With 300,000 new residents and thousands of dwarves gathered here, it looked even more prosperous than Ice City.

The dwarves were excited to see the Duke awake. They skipped and hopped over to him, one after another asking for a hug. Oswald had no choice but to squat down and grant their request.

After exchanging pleasantries, Kindem, as their representative, was pushed forward by the dwarves to make a request to Oswald that was common to all the dwarves.

Kindem rubbed his large beard, lowered his head, and said embarrassedly, "We really like that underground city, and we hope that His Highness the Duke can bestow that place upon us."

"Okay, sure." Oswald thought it was something serious and agreed without even thinking.

The number of dwarves in the Northern Territories will definitely increase in the future, and they will need a city of their own.

Now that all the monsters and bosses in the dungeon have been cleared out, and since dwarves love digging underground, they can make the dungeon their core gathering area.

"Be careful, we don't have any soil in the Northern Territory that can heal broken legs. Make sure to take safety precautions before you start digging."

After patting Kindem's big head and giving them a few instructions, the dwarves left happily.

Oswald shook his head and smiled wryly as he watched their short legs move so fast.

The group of dwarven slaves who initially huddled together and were wary of their surroundings when they first arrived in the Northern Territory have now become more cheerful and are proactively planning for the future.

After touring the area, Oswald was very satisfied to find that the migration plan was proceeding steadily. This proved that the world would not stop turning even if anyone was gone; the only problem was that there would be no successors.

Back in Kuogu City with Elene, Oswald stood on the city wall with a map in hand. The construction crew for the cement road could already be seen in the distance. He compared the map with the map and asked casually.

"Are you in a hurry to go back?"

Elena flinched, stealing glances at the Duke's retreating figure before finally speaking. "My lord, I..."

"If you're not busy, spend some time with me." Oswald smiled sheepishly; he might not be as strong as he thought.

"Send someone to tell Luna later that she needs to submit her homework every three days. If you have any concerns, you can write them down for her as well."

"Yes, sir."

Elena readily agreed. She had already checked the soundproofing of the Kuogu City Lord's Mansion, and it was excellent.

However, she soon noticed the Duke's low spirits. After finishing his work, Oswald seemed somewhat lost, as if he had breathed a sigh of relief but didn't know how to continue.

Eleanor stepped forward and hugged Oswald tightly from behind.

"Sir, are you afraid?"

"Yes." Oswald put down the map he had examined countless times. "Elini, I'm afraid I'll forget all of this and go back to the past..."

"I'm sorry, sir, I was too greedy and willful. I just... I just didn't want to leave you." Elena buried her head in his back, only to find that Oswald had already turned around and, as if anticipating her move, raised his hand to wipe away her tears.

The two shared a tacit understanding, so there was no need to reveal any secrets.

Oswald lowered his head and softened his voice. "As long as you don't resent me, I'll be content."

Upon hearing this, Elena could no longer hold back her tears and threw herself into his arms.

From childhood, Elena firmly believed that she would never waver in the slightest because of love. But she didn't want to experience that heart-wrenching pain a second time.

Her journey has been fraught with hardship, and her excellence has not altered her life at the academy in the slightest. On the contrary, a powerless and impoverished nobleman who becomes the top student in the academy will only face more difficulties.

It is only natural for a princess to be number one, but if a baron's daughter is number one, she is considered a bookworm and someone no one likes.

Elena gritted her teeth and persevered. After graduation, she couldn't find a job in the royal city. In order to make a living, she went alone to the Northern Territory, which even students of the Central Academy were unwilling to go to.

The Duke warmly welcomed her arrival and even offered her a salary she couldn't refuse. Apart from the fact that the Duke's son was mentally ill and forced her to be his personal maid, she was satisfied with everything else.

However, this period of prosperity was short-lived. The Duke and the King died on the battlefield, and the Northern Territory rapidly declined.

The young duke ascended to the throne and quickly went from being mentally ill to being insane.

The young duke was short-tempered and ruthless, seemingly viewing everyone around him as an enemy. Perhaps because he still needed Eleanor's help, Eleanor became one of the few people who did not suffer his physical violence, but the verbal humiliation was equally unbearable.

For the sake of money, Elena always thought she should persevere for a while longer, and once she was financially independent, she would go to a remote town and live a secluded life.

She simply couldn't tolerate that the Duke was going to intensify his plundering of wealth and oppress his people like a leech, when they were already living in dire straits!

The pressure of work, the duke's cruelty, the shattered territory, and the desperate people...

Ultimately, she decided to abandon everything, even if it meant betraying the Duke's favor, she would leave the Northern Territory.

Even though she knew that the chances of her escaping were extremely slim.

Just the day before she packed her bags and was about to leave the Duke's mansion, she discovered that the Duke had suddenly changed.

It was a snowy winter night. After a busy day, she encountered the Duke standing barefoot in the corridor, looking around with curious eyes.

The scene was truly bizarre, especially after the Duke, who had been scratching his head and stood there in a daze for several minutes, suddenly seemed to remember who she was and gave her a friendly smile for the first time.

"Oh, so you're the one who was captured to be my personal maid. I see. You should go and get some rest. Don't worry about me. Let me walk around by myself."

Elena felt a chill run down her spine as she followed the Duke to the open-air balcony, where the shallow snow melted beneath his feet.

He gazed at the ice city, pointed ahead, and, perhaps talking to himself, said with a sorrowful expression, "It's too bitter."