Chapter 200:
"Yes, Your Majesty, I understand you will be spending the holidays in the United States."
Oh Kang-hyuk, head of the Korean Hunter's Association, bowed at the voice over the receiver.
[Lord Spinner has asked me to arrange for the proper cargo to be transported.]
"Yes, I have sent the blessed crops and the devotees of the Temple of the Ten Thousand Gods together, as His Majesty wished. It was a ceremony of blessing, wasn't it?"
[Yes, I will finish my work here and return to Korea.]
Oh Kang-hyuk was trying to be as accommodating as possible to the TTG Temple, since he wanted Leon to return as soon as possible.
"Then, Your Majesty, you won't be back until after the New Year, will you?"
[I will depart after the Christmas celebration, why are you so impatient?]
"Haha, I'm sorry about that. It's just that His Excellency wants to celebrate the New Year with the TTG Temple."
The new survivor, Grand Duchess Karina Dragonia, is a hot topic in Korea.
Oh Kang-hyuk put his phone down after receiving a positive response from Leon.
"Wow, you must be pretty excited."
Mr. Oh was surprised to hear Leon's excitement throughout the call.
"Of course, Im excited to see my daughter after hundreds of years."
Mr. Oh planned to call his grandchildren later. These are the grandchildren who have a taste for receiving pocket money. Before the Lunar New Year, he thought about joining them at sunrise to celebrate the New Year.
The President wouldnt call him, would he?
Normally, presidents take their ministers around to give them a pat on the back, but it's hard to imagine Ahn giving Leon a pat on the back.
"By the way, it looks like it went well."
It was a miracle that Black Gate didn't result in a single fatality. On top of that, he'll be returning to South Korea with the full force of the Grand Duke of Dragonia.
Oh Kang-hyuk knows better than anyone the power of a Holy Knight, and he's been sensing something in the air lately.
A great war might be coming soon.
He had a hunch that they would need every ounce of power they could muster to prepare for that day.
He read a report that was addressed to him. A report from a knight under TTG Temple and published by Yappy as shared information.
"Report on the Rescue of Compatriots in the Hoeryong Camp"
Based on this report, which he received during the process of naturalizing a number of North Korean defectors, Oh Kang-hyuk dispatched an investigation team.
Nominally, it was an envoy for inter-Korean talks, but it was supposed to use hunters from the National Intelligence Service to scout out North Korea.
"I hope nothing happens, but."
He felt a strange sense of reluctance.
Unfortunately, Mr. Oh's premonitions are usually right on the money.
* * * *
"Karina, let's have a meal together. President Hobson recommended a good chef."
"Karina, why don't you join me for a bear hunt in Olympic National Park? You've only hunted orcs since you were thirteen."
-Karina.
-Karina.
-Karina.
"I can't do this."
"Hmm?"
Ha-ri narrows her eyes at the words Karina uttered while she was in the middle of buying a garment in a dressmaker's shop on Washington Street, USA.
"Your Majesty. You're wearing this as if you've never been married."
"Isn't it true that I never got married?
Ha-ri asks, though her one attempt to go was thwarted in real time by her father being too strong.
Its not that I couldnt. Its just that I didnt go.
"Huh!"
Ha-ri's mouth drops open as Karina reads her thoughts. Is reading people's minds their specialty, or is it a tradition?
"By the way, how about this? This is the latest style!"
Ha-ri holds out a suit-style outfit and Karina stares at it in disbelief.
"Why is this outfit so short?"
"Because it's called a navel tee! It's a hot trend among young people these days!"
"How can an overgrown maiden go around with her belly button out in the open?"
""
Ha-ri, who had become an overgrown maiden, clamped her mouth shut.
"Is that~ comfortable? There's a nice breeze and it's cool."
"It's stifling."
Karina flicked her hair out of her face and looked Ha-ri's outfit up and down.
She was dressed formally now, but when she'd met her at the palace, she'd been dressed like a renegade by Dragonia's standards.
"His Majesty prefers a maiden who is young and modest."
"Hmm?"
"You only have to look at my mother to see that."
"What are you talking about?!"
Ha-ri freaks out but Karina continues with her bombshell.
"The position of mistress to the honorable King Lionheart is vacant. Shouldn't a woman have her eye on it?"
"Your Excellency?! Don't you think your idea is too old-fashioned?!"
How many people want to be a queen these daysshe wanted to say, but she didn't know Come to think of it, it wasn't even that.
"Handsome. Strong. Has a lot of money but he's a little old.
Or to put it another way, he's three hundred years old and still so young. A woman who wants to marry the Lionheart King would be worth a thousand truckloads.
Well, I heard that your Excellency also had a lot of suitors?
"Of course, Im a princess. Isnt it natural for men to have their eyes on me?"
"Oh"
What confidence. Ha-ri wondered if the father and daughter have the same pride.
First of all, follow the example of the Magician Queen, who is taking her place next to His Majesty as if it were a given, though I suspect that's her strategy."
"You mean Queen Beatrice?"
"Yes, and the new head of the Knight Order. She's a good candidate, too. She's a future Holy Knight, given that she can borrow power from the Dark Lord without payment."
Karina insisted that being a Holy Knight was enough to be a candidate for Queen of the Lionheart so her gaze shifted to Ha-ri.
"I think you'd make a pretty good candidate since you can receive the holy power of two gods, Poma and Petos."
"I'm notthatthatthat!"
Ha-ri was speechless, her face as white as her hair, and as if she thought it was cute, Karina grabbed her chin to admire her gaping face.
"Well, such innocence is not bad. You must be good at giving birth to children since you have a fair face and a smooth ass."
"Seo, it's sexual harassment"
Ha-ri was flabbergasted by Karina's praising her that she would be a good mother even though she was younger than her.
"No, but is Your Excellency okay with it? Even if I get married?
"What's wrong?"
"Your Majesty, Id be your fathers wife!"
"Do you think I don't know the obvious family tree even if you don't explain it in such a twisted way?"
At Ha-ri's uncomprehending expression, Karina said that it didn't matter.
"It's normal for someone of his stature to have dozens of concubines."
"Yes, yes?!"
"The Lionheart King is proof of a great knight in his own right. The first Lionheart King, Leon Lionheart, had seven wives, and the sixth, Empress Leona Lionheart, had twelve official consorts."
"A female?!"
"Goddess Demera provided a surrogate womb, so the queens had no problem with fertility."
"No, but what's a surrogate womboh, that's not the problem!"
"Then what the hell is the problem"
Karina tilted her head as if she really didn't understand while Ha-ri shook her clenched fist and exclaimed.
"Monogamy! Monogamy is the most natural thing in the world!"
"Han Ha-ri, you have quite an old-fashioned mindset, for the Sea God's priestess."
"I'm old-fashioned? I am?"
"It is the duty of a man of good seed to have many descendants. It will complicate matters of succession, but the gods will see to that."
"Ew, ew"
Ha-ri couldn't keep up with Karina's mentality, which was shocking to modern Earthlings.
Not only does it make sense to have multiple wives and husbands to leave behind many excellent offspring, but it also forces brothers to fight fiercely when succession issues arise?
Even medieval kings didn't intentionally create such beanpole families.
"It was a problem from the beginning. Even if he was cursed by the Moon Goddess at his wedding, hes the Lionheart King and Archduke of Dragonia, and can only produce one true-born child."
"A curse?"
Oh, you didnt know.
The romance of the Lionheart King, who kidnapped Castile, a priestess of the moon and chastity, from the temple and married her in a ceremony that was talked about for fifty years in the kingdom.
The Goddess of the Moon and Chastity was furious that he had broken the chastity of her priest.
"Goddess Dinah, you are too kind, placing such a curse on the Lionheart King, who is supposed to produce an heir."
"!!"
Ha-ri, realizing the implications, could not open her lips but regardless, she wanted to know.
Um, has the curse been lifted?
"That's why I was born, isn't it?"
"Well, yes."
How? Ha-ri's honest gaze reminded Karina of the story she'd heard.
"Through the mediation of the goddess Arianna, it was agreed that the curse would be broken if the king finishes a quest. Apparently, it was to build a temple on the moon alone and it took about three years.
A temple on the moon? Is that possible?
"Not impossible. With the help of the World Tree, tended by the Goddess of Forests and Trees"
"Huh? World Tree?"
"You know about it?"
"Oh, yes! His Majesty is raising seedlings of the World Tree, planted and nurtured in Naju!"
Leon obtained a seedling from Gunnar in Paradise and nurtured it in the Temple of the Ten Thousand Gods in Naju.
But it didn't grow fast enough, so he opened the Gate to the Lionheart Realm to seek a solution from the Sages of the Forest, where he obtained the Grail of the Moon and completed the current Grail.
"His Majesty said we were still one piece short of completing the World Tree."
"One pieceI see."
Karina stroked her chin as if remembering something. Just then, a shadow burst from Karina's shadow and a small dragon appeared.
It was Dragonia.
"Aaah! Ah, hello, Dragonia!"
[Goddess of War and Sea.]
Dragonia glanced at Ha-ri, then settled on Karina's shoulder.
[Tell me, what is the missing piece?]
"Curious?"
[Because of the promise to rebuild my race through the World Tree.]
"Do not be impatient, Dragon God. Your wishes will be fulfilled. It's just a matter of time."
How long it takes is the question, but in any case, the gods intend to honor their promise to Dragonia to rebuild his race.
"As I'm sure you're aware, you should be preparing for the upcoming celebration. It would be an appropriate time to announce a new divinity. However, if you can't reach an agreement with the gods, you'll have a hard time rallying the faith even if you do gain divinity."
[Hmph, theres no shortage of ways to gather the faith of mortals, you do your duty as my Holy Knight.]
Dragonia and Karina's relationship had become quite bizarre.
The relationship between Dragonia and Karina has become a strange one, as the host has been stripped of its soul and body, and Dragonia must now rely on Karina to represent his divinity.
Unlike the other Holy Knights, Dragonia's relationship with Karina was strictly business.
"Han Ha-ri, do you know that?"
"What?"
Han Ha-ri felt a sense of foreboding at the grumpy look on Karina's face.
"Even the first offspring of Dragonia must have a dozen females. As soon as they are born, they must begin to serve as stallions."
He would leave many excellent seeds. Like King Lionheart.
"That, that's sexual harassment!"
The aging Archduke of Dragonia was having a lot of fun teasing the innocent newcomer.
* * * *
"It seems to me that Karina is avoiding this king."
"Oh, is she?"
Despite Leon's outburst, Beatrice continued to tilt the bottle of wine she'd been pouring into Leon's glass.
She listened in silence as he continued to ramble on about his daughter. She was a good listener.
"I'm sure you have a long list of things you've been wanting to do with your daughter."
"That's right, there's so much I haven't done with her, and I'm not sure how I'll be able to spend time with her when I get back to Korea."
"Don't worry, there will be plenty of time."
As Beatrice watched, their relationship seemed so natural.
It's clear that both father and daughter care and love each other, but the father is eager to do things with her, and the daughter responds bluntly.
This is what a normal father-daughter relationship is supposed to be like, but it's a little bigger than that with a 300-year-old father and a 200-year-old daughter.
"Your daughter will need time to adjust to the planet."
"Isn't that what this king is going to teach her?"
"Your Majesty, who can't even use a smartphone yet?"
Beatrice huffs and pulls out her own smartphone.
"A cell phone is only good for making calls, and that's all you need to carry around in the first place"
"Apparently, Archduchess Karina and Lord Vulcanus created social accounts, and Im also following them.
"!"
The picture Beatrice showed was from Karina's social media account. Leon squinted at it.
There were several pictures of Karina with someone else. Probably Ha-ri or one of her traveling companions.
"I don't have "
"What?"
"There are no pictures of her with this king. Here's Lord Vulcanus, here's Lord Raihar, and here's Lord Chun So-yeon and Lord Spinner!"
"Ah~ Come to think of it, there is"
Beatrice quickly covered the two-shot of her and Karina with her thumb, but it was impossible to hide it with her tiny fingers.
"There's a picture of you, too, so why is it only this king!"
"That's"
It would be too harsh to tell Leon that it would be rare for a daughter to post a picture with her father on social media.
"Well, you can still take pictures together in the future, like at this Christmas banquet."
"You mean the capture celebration that President Hobson threw. Never mind. This king intends to spend Christmas alone with Karina-"
"Your Majesty."
Beatrice gently grasped the back of Leon's hand. The gesture was gentle, her expression a smile, but the strength in her grip clearly sent a strong message of intent.
"You mean to tell me that me, Lord Vulcanus, and Lord Spinner have been running all sorts of official duties for you, such as the National Rifle Association sponsorships and celebrations, while you've been spending time with your daughter?"
"Well, yes, it's a lot of work."
"This Christmas celebration is for the entire International Hunter Alliance and their ministers. There is no better place to spread the faith of the Alliance."
"So, with my faith in you-"
"Oh, I'll be attending as Your Majesty's partner, and the First Lady has even gotten me a very pretty dress."
Beatrice's purple eyes sent him a fresh gaze, which contained an unspoken pressure to get to work.
"Is Karina coming, too?"
"Yes. She went with Miss Ha-ri to buy a dress."
Leon didn't see a way out so he sighed and promised to attend the Christmas celebration.
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