The nobles of the Lockman Kingdom were now quite distressed. They had initially thought that once Queen Remilia ascended to the throne, the tyrannical Regent Duke would leave, and his restrictive policies would ease. They even hoped to seize more power while the young queen, inexperienced and naive, was in charge.
However, everything that happened after Queen Remilia's coronation went completely against their expectations. That damned Golden Dragon Duke showed no intention of leaving at all. Moreover, the queen, instead of favoring these loyal nobles, became even more stringent, often resorting to mass slaughter.
According to secret information from the capital, the transformation of the once kind and innocent princess into a queen with tyrannical tendencies was closely linked to the Regent Duke, Muria.
It was said that this duke taught the queen daily on how to justifiably kill nobles who refused to obey her. Is this what a wise ruler should learn?
As a king, when the nobles' opinions conflicted with theirs, shouldn't they sit down peacefully to discuss and resolve differences? How could one simply kill those who opposed? This was the behavior of a tyrant!
Fortunately, these difficult days did not last long, as there were signs that the tyrannical Regent Duke truly intended to leave—the ancient dragons began to depart from the Lockman Kingdom.
This was an unmistakable sign. The ten ancient dragons were the foundation of Duke Muria's rule. Their departure indicated that the damned Golden Dragon was indeed preparing to leave.
An even clearer sign followed. A large number of cloud giants, bearing Duke Muria's summons, began to forcibly conscript the monster clans that had migrated into the Lockman Kingdom during the magical disaster, taking them to the capital.
The nobles naturally supported and cooperated fully with this measure. The Lockman Kingdom was a human kingdom, not one ruled by monsters. They were extremely annoyed by the monster clans that had flooded in during the magical disaster.
If not for Muria's governance and his orders, many nobles would have already united to wield the butcher's knife against these monsters. Conflicts over resources on the same land were entirely normal. After all, even the most fertile land had limited resources.
The conscription order to send monster clans to the floating island in the capital pleased the nobles. However, what followed made them even more disheartened—actions that might as well have been taken by the tyrant Muria under the queen's name.
Queen Remilia publicly conferred titles and fiefdoms to twenty-nine metallic dragons in the capital, based on their strength. This was a shocking move, revealing terrifying implications.
Conferring a title on a single metallic dragon was not an issue; many countries had such dragon nobles and even took pride in it, granting them many privileges. But conferring nearly thirty metallic dragons at once was excessive.
Did this imply replacing the human ruling class of the Lockman Kingdom with dragons, turning the kingdom into one ruled by dragons? Did it mean the current queen didn't need the support of these nobles at all? This was alarming.
...
"Muria, why don't you let the little queen confer me as a duke? Once this news spreads, even if you leave, many nobles wouldn't dare to have any bad thoughts."
"No rush. Let's first lure out all the ambitious ones and then eliminate them completely." Muria's lips curled into a cold smile. He noticed that since Remilia's succession, his desire to kill had increased, eager to eradicate any threats to her.
"This works too." The ancient gold dragon, Buster, squinted his eyes with interest. Entrapment was a basic tactic of their Golden Dragon clan.
"Your Highness, isn't the first phase of your cloud island transformation plan almost complete?" Buster paused. He found the terms "phase one" and "phase two" odd but also thought Muria's idea was interesting and novel.
"Almost. At most two more years, and the first phase of all cloud island transformations will be complete." Muria smiled faintly. Mobilizing a country's resources, combined with his own manpower, had sped up the project beyond his initial expectations.
"Once the first phase is complete, do you plan to leave?" Buster knew that the so-called first phase involved installing magical arrays and equipment to enable the cloud islands to move freely.
"Of course. I've been in the Nokhia-Otts continent for almost thirteen years. It's time to continue my travels."
"How do you plan to secure the resources needed for further cloud island transformations?"
"The sea is abundant, with more resources than the land," Muria smiled gently. The civilizations of the ocean's intelligent beings were far less developed than those on land, resulting in very low resource utilization.
"Besides, there are plenty of evil creatures in the sea. I can fulfill my duties and responsibilities as a Golden Dragon."
"That's a good plan, but how long will it take to accumulate enough resources to complete all the transformations?"
Buster coughed lightly. He had no qualms about Muria's plan to plunder ocean creatures. After all, dragon wealth accumulation had always been through such means. Whether metallic dragons, chromatic dragons, or gem dragons, they all amassed wealth through plunder, the fastest way to gain riches since money doesn't fall from the sky. The only difference was their targets of plunder.
"Slowly accumulate. There's no rush," Muria said helplessly.
...
"Are you really leaving, Muria? I'll miss you. Can't you stay longer with me?" On the slowly moving cloud island, Queen Remilia of the Lockman Kingdom hugged Muria tightly.
"Remilia, stop it. You've already delayed me for a year. The two-year project has been extended to three years because of you. You should be satisfied." Muria pinched the cheeks of the young queen, who had grown darker in heart since ascending the throne.
"And besides, it won't be long before I return to clean up the remaining trash for you."
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