An ordinary afternoon for the Sacred Dukes, who have become the most powerful family in the empire.
"Hey, guys! Don't go too far!"
The mistress, Lenia, who could be considered the real power behind the Sacred Dukes, was spending each day struggling to take care of her own children.
Seeing Lenia become infinitely weaker only when dealing with her children, Cray, who now had Sacred as his last name, sat down next to Lenia with a light smile.
“You act like the worst villain in the world to me, but to your children, you are like an angel.”
"You're also incredibly weak towards our children. You're not in a position to say anything."
"I'm being incredibly weak towards you too."
They had been married for almost 10 years, but they still had a feeling of bickering similar to when they were newlyweds.
After having a daughter and a son who are so precious to me that I wouldn't mind putting them in my eyes, I felt like we had become even closer.
But while they were living such a domestic life, they were not at all negligent in their magical research.
Rather, he developed many completely new magics inspired by the story of Earth told by Klein, the protagonist, before returning to Earth.
The magic they developed was not magic that could only be used by 'veterans' who were familiar with magic, but rather magic that was easy enough for 'newbies' who were just beginning to learn magic to use, but its impact was by no means small.
If we were to point out one representative magic, it would be the refrigeration magic.
It was a deteriorated version of the cooling magic that could be learned even with a little bit of magical aptitude, so it was a very simple magic that even someone with no knowledge of magic could use it after receiving instruction for about an hour. Although it had virtually no practical use in battle, the usage of this magic that Cray and Lenia announced had an enormous ripple effect that could drastically change the empire's eating habits.
With an insulated box, simply casting a spell every time the door was opened and closed allowed food to be preserved for a long time. With food now able to be preserved for a long time with fewer spices, sashimi, once only available in season, became available in any season.
Foods that could only be properly fermented when refrigerated began to be developed, and these foods opened up yet another new culinary horizon.
The mere introduction of a refrigerated storage method brought such profound changes to the empire. The fact that outsiders, drawn to the empire's unique culinary culture, even visited the empire to dine there speaks volumes about the magnitude of the change.
Cray and Lenia could have received a substantial sum of money from Emperor Kreia for their contribution to the spread of refrigeration magic, but they refused, preferring instead to use the money in a way that would better benefit the empire. Given that the Sacred Dukes were one of the wealthiest families in the empire, this was, in a way, understandable.
Of course, that doesn't mean they went in bare-handed.
"By the way, I heard you got a letter from Kreia."
"Oh, that?"
They did ask Kreia for two personal favors in return.
The first was a request that, just as Renia called Emperor Kreia by name, Kreia also be allowed to call Emperor Kreia by name.
Of course, since this request was only for private purposes, Emperor Kreia readily accepted it.
And Princess Kreia was able to accept the next request without difficulty.
"You're right. I didn't know it would take this long, but Luffy is finally getting married to Prince Halo."
"Ugh, finally! I thought I was going to die waiting for them to get married."
"I guess it's inevitable that they'll be careful about their wedding, after all. It's surprising, even to me, that it took eight years for those two to get married because they were so frustrated."
That was to support Luffy from behind so that he and Prince Halo could get along well, and if the two of them finally got married, he would invite them to the wedding.
Even though Cray and Lenia, who could support each other, felt the absence of Aine and Klein greatly, how much more intense must Luffy's heart have been at having to send off the two people who had been so close to him in an instant, even if their time together had been short.
So naturally, the two people desperately hoped that Luffy would have another chance at success, and they supported him diligently, and he eventually succeeded.
It was impossible for Luffy and Halo to make rapid progress like Cray, Renia, Klein, and Aine had, but at a leisurely pace, the two of them had properly confirmed each other's feelings, overcome several obstacles, and finally succeeded in uniting.
The decisive factor in its success was, ironically, a speeding violation that could be seen as an extreme number...
Later, when I heard the truth from Luffy, I found out that the two of them had agreed to do this in order to gain everyone's approval.
Well, you could say they're a couple who strangely fit together. Cray let out a sigh mixed with a smile as he thought about that.
Lenia, who was smiling slightly while looking at Cray, made a suggestion to Cray with a slightly excited expression.
"Cray, so... why don't we go shopping for some clothes together today? It's Luffy's wedding, so I have to get really dressed up when I go."
"Of course. I'll buy the kids clothes too..."
"No, the children will be looked after by the elders of the mansion."
Cray, who had accepted Lenia's offer without much thought, suddenly felt a chill down his spine at Lenia's answer.
'No way, that can't be true.'
Cray tried to ignore Lenia's answer, thinking it was just his imagination...
"So, do you want to try making a third one this time?"
"...Why is the story suddenly becoming like that?"
His hopes were dashed by Lenia's straightforward answer.
Why on earth did such a trial suddenly befall me?
To Cray, who could not understand the situation, Lenia explained the reason.
"These days, my kids say they want a little brother. So, shouldn't we make them one?"
"W-will that be easy?"
"If Cray gives it his all, maybe it'll be possible?"
Somehow, these days, foods that are said to be good for stamina are coming out a lot, so maybe I was sharpening my knife for this moment.
It was only now that Cray truly realized what it meant to laugh out loud.
Meanwhile, the capital of the empire, Lindres, was in a festive mood due to the upcoming national wedding.
It would be safe to say that the reaction of those who could be considered the common people was the most excited, because Halo Heronias had abolished all the existing strange laws and created new ones that were considered very fair.
In the days of strange laws, a noble who had committed a crime could seize any commoner within his domain and present him as a substitute for punishment, but after Halo overturned all such laws, that practice ceased.
In addition, a new law was created to reduce the excessive tax burden on the common people and instead collect more taxes from the nobles.
Naturally, the nobles opposed these laws, and some even sent assassins to kill Halo.
However, Halo already had her lover and strong bodyguard, Luffy, by her side, and it was impossible to kill Halo through Luffy, who was one of the most powerful wizards in the empire.
There was one time when Luffy threw himself to protect Halo and fell, and Halo, enraged, made a bombshell declaration that he would destroy all the nobles of the empire.
If Luffy, who was sitting on the sickbed with the other royal family members, had not tried to stop him, he could have said that he was serious about using the power of the common people to really overturn it.
A situation almost arose where the noble class would have disappeared and a parliament would have been established, but fortunately or unfortunately, the true Halo barely managed to bring the incident to a close by sending all the nobles who had committed the wrongdoings to life imprisonment.
And after that, assassination attempts against Halo became almost non-existent.
Anyway, thanks to Halo's fair and just rule of law, the Empire, which had been in turmoil for a while after the Emperor's replacement, quickly found stability, and thanks to the hard work of First Prince Franz in the areas of diplomacy and economy, Second Princess Ceria in the area of culture, and First Princess Creia, who became Emperor, in all areas of Imperial rule, the Empire entered its greatest period of prosperity in its history.
Of course, during that revival, the contributions of the skilled magicians Cray, Lenia, and Luffy were no small matter, and there was practically no one in the empire who did not know the names of those three.
'Whew, can I find my dad without getting caught...?'
So, Luffy, who didn't want to get caught up in trouble, had to completely disguise himself in order to go find his father, Winda Esca...