After I died, my personal maid rebelled.

The lamplight flickered, rising and falling within the window frame.

Automatically silencing the woman's cheerful voice, outside the camp not far away, the soldiers quickly completed their changing of the guard. They gripped their rifles tightly, tidied their appearance, and with proud expressions, cast their steady gazes into the distance.

Not just anyone is qualified to stand guard for His Majesty the Duke.

To secure this spot, they fought each other for several days under the guise of training, using every dirty trick they had on their dear comrade-in-arms over and over again.

So those who can stand here now are the men of men, the males of males.

Oswald stretched in his tent. The year's plan starts in spring. The livestock development plan for the Northern Territory has been submitted, but there are still many problems to be solved, especially the financial budget.

Jacob's plan was conservative. According to his proposal, it would take at least three years for livestock farming in the Northern Territory to be fully implemented and reach every household, assuming no mistakes were made.

But Oswald didn't want to wait. The advantage of concentrating resources on major projects was that he could invest large sums of money regardless of cost for future development.

In the short term, the total population of the Northern Territory is unlikely to change significantly.

To be honest, Sward is already doing everything he can to plunder people. If he continues, Frank will most likely turn against him.

Since quantity can no longer be increased, Oswald can only focus on quality.

He would fantasize from time to time that even if half of the people in the Northern Territory had only graduated from primary school, let alone nine years of compulsory education, he could immediately twist off the Demon King's head and kick it like a ball.

The saying "knowledge is power" is not just a saying. If every soldier and logistics officer could read and write and was good at calculations, the fighting power of this army would be extraordinary.

Once the war begins, Oswald can at least confidently guarantee that, thanks to the high efficiency brought about by its high level of organization, the Northern Army's advance will always outpace the enemy's.

He rubbed his face vigorously. The fantasy was wonderful, but the reality was that Oswald was currently still worried about whether his people could eat more meat.

It's tough. The more difficult it is, the more Oswald admires his predecessors, while he himself finds even copying homework incredibly difficult...

It feels like going back to school days, when the teacher repeatedly emphasized that this problem had been explained countless times, but I still only had a vague understanding of it.

As Jenny entered the tent with a cup of freshly brewed tea, she saw Oswald sitting in a daze, pipe in hand, with the table piled high with processed documents.

"Your Excellency works so hard every day," Jenny thought as she walked forward, then suddenly froze in place.

No, the thickness of the documents on the table is incorrect.

Sure enough, a sudden neighing of warhorses came from outside the tent, followed by soldiers shaking their armor and saluting in unison.

Elena lifted the curtain and fell silent as she looked at Jenny.

Her gaze slowly moved downwards, and when she noticed the teacup in Jenny's hand, steaming and fragrant, Elena chuckled softly.

"How could the noble saintess do such a thing? Please put it down and let me do it. This is what I, as her personal maid, should do."

Jenny took a deep breath, her suppressed anger causing her eyes to twitch, and maintained her smile, saying, "We've been apart for months, and this is what you say to me the first thing we do when we meet?"

Aline smiled and slowly stepped forward. "What I mean is, work still needs to be divided, into what's within our responsibilities and what's outside."

"It was just to make the Duke a cup of tea. Isn't it because someone is too possessive? By the way, what was that inequality about...?"

Before she could finish speaking, Eileen immediately stepped forward and covered Jenny's mouth from behind. Jenny was startled and dropped the teacup in her hand, but Oswald, who had regained his senses, caught it steadily.

Oswald was bewildered by the sight of the two acting so intimately and looking somewhat flustered.

How many layers of affection can a friendship between three people extend into?

He slowly turned around, picked up his teacup, took a sip, and tried not to look at the two people pressed together. Feigning composure, he asked, "Um, if I may ask, what... what are you doing right now?"

The faint sound of faerie drifted over from not far away, and both of them blushed slightly. Elena let go of her hand and took out a bottle of potion.

"My lord, this is a fertility-enhancing potion developed by an alchemist. It may be helpful to your plans."

"Yes, thank you for your hard work."

Oswald put down his teacup, took the medicine, pretended to examine it carefully, and then awkwardly changed the subject.

"Are you hungry? Want some barbecue?"

……

How many hardships must one endure in life to write such melancholy lines as "It is ultimately not like the carefree days of youth."

Thinking back to our previous life, the three of us drank and ate roasted mutton for the first time after we met. We were so full of youthful vigor, feeling like we had known each other for ages, and talking about our ideals for life and our aspirations for our country.

They practically wanted to become sworn brothers on the spot, vowing to be loyal to each other for life and follow each other through thick and thin.

In this life, the three of them discussed it repeatedly, much like writing a thesis: the impact of usage frequency on infertility and the feasibility of a cursed incarnation becoming pregnant.

"Excessive indulgence in lust during youth is not a good thing; Your Grace should take this as a warning."

As Janet spoke, she raised her glass, and the three of them clinked glasses around the fireplace. It wasn't until the bitter wine went down his throat that Oswald realized what was happening.

No, what exactly should I learn from this?

"I've seen that intelligence report. Given Thorne's lecherous nature, he's had so many women in the past ten years, yet he hasn't had a single child."

Elena swirled her wine glass and chuckled, "Does this need any proof? It's obvious that he himself has the problem."

"If you ask me, if it doesn't work out, let's replace a few people. I think we have a lot of people in our barracks..."

Seeing the conversation rapidly veer towards NTR (Netorare, a term referring to incestuous relationships or romantic relationships), the experienced Oswald quickly called for a halt. "Wait, wait."

"You can't use the controlled variable method like that. First of all, Lilith has just behaved herself; she hasn't lost the power to control death. Secondly, based on my experience, I'm afraid only the hero can achieve the effect we want."

It's a bit of a headache to talk about, but Eleanor's relentless nature, if placed in another story, would make her a heavyweight villain.

The three continued grilling meat and drinking. Elena got up to pour drinks for Jenny and Oswald and continued talking.

"My lord, please forgive my rudeness, but I believe that the inference that making the embodiment of death pregnant can break the curse is a false proposition."

Upon hearing this, Jenny shook her head; she had been the first to agree to the hero's plan.

Despite completely overwhelming Lilith in combat, Duke Oswald did not immediately use Devour to resolve the curse. From that moment on, Janice deduced that the Duke must have his own concerns.

Moreover, she had received a lot of new information during this time. Apart from the matter of time travel, Oswald told her almost everything he knew.

The exceptionally perceptive Jenny quickly noticed the crux of all the problems—the soul.