Elara: ...How did they come to the conclusion that she likes children?
Elara looked at Oswyn's angry back as he stormed off, then suddenly reached out and held Sindri's slightly raised hand in her arms.
Sindri paused a little when she grabbed him, then lifted his handsome face from her neck and looked at her with his usual charming expression, "What's wrong, Wife?"
Elara looked away and lowered her eyes to stare at his face without missing a single expression, "Do you still remember what I asked you to promise when I brought you back? You're not allowed to touch anyone around me."
Sindri's calm expression paused slightly. Then he held her hand back, his pale fingers lacing through hers as they intertwined. He buried his face back into her neck, breathing in her warm scent deeply.
"I remember, Wife. I would never do anything to them. It's just that when he suddenly kissed you just now, I lost control for a moment and felt the urge to kill, but don't worry, Wife, I won't actually act on it. I'm your blood puppet now, and you can sense me and control me anytime, right?"
Elara looked down at his beautiful face, only the lower half visible, for a while, "Sindri, don't make me regret bringing you back."
Sindri froze again, then buried his face even deeper into her neck. His whole body leaned even closer into her arms.
"Wife, don't say that, it hurts…"
His voice was low and sticky, full of heavy emotion, "Wife, I was wrong. I'll try hard to suppress my killing intent toward them. I'll be obedient… Wife, trust me. Or, if that doesn't work, you can just tie me up and lock me away. As long as it's you, I'll accept anything… Wife, don't abandon me… I'm begging you…"
Elara certainly did not lock Sindri up. If locking him up could control him, then the Sacred Beast Kingdom would not have let him defect so easily in the first place.
Physical imprisonment only works on people with weak minds or poor physical strength.
Sindri, however, is already one of the strongest in this land in both strength and combat ability, and his mind is clearly unstable. Locking him up would be nearly useless.
But leaving him unchecked clearly would not work either.
In every way, Sindri is quite significant to Elara, especially since, no matter how things are, he is still the father of her child.
So in the end, Elara spent another thousand points of national fortune to upgrade the gu worm inside Sindri, allowing her to monitor every aspect of him at all times.
Sindri actually became even more pleased about this, as if Elara had rewarded him rather than trying to control him. He clung to her even more for several nights after that.
But since then, Elara has not heard of any more trouble related to Sindri within the harem.
Oswyn, during this period, seemed to be busy researching something again and stayed holed up in the medical department almost all day. Aside from attending court sessions, Elara barely saw him.
The two not seeing each other actually made things more peaceful.
After initially resolving the matter of Sindri entering the harem, Elara turned her attention to the pile of state affairs that had built up over the past few months and began to focus on handling them.
First was the overall development of Plumera Kingdom. Over these past few months, the nine main departments of Plumera Kingdom had each expanded significantly based on their previous foundations.
The road construction teams under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry had increased by more than ten squads. With the rapid increase in manpower, road paving across the kingdom also progressed much faster.
At present, not only were the main roads in dozens of major Northern Frontier cities mostly completed, but several key highways had also been built in the south, stretching all the way to the coastal regions.
Trade routes leading from major central and northern cities down to the sea were nearly open. Once the first two sea ships returned with enough information, Plumera Kingdom's maritime trade could officially begin. Goods produced in Plumera could then be exported through sea routes.
Over the past few months, Plumera Kingdom's economy and trade had flourished under the leadership of Mr. Gong's reforms. Multiple integrated trading methods helped both domestic and international commerce become more vibrant. With the roads connected, the movement of local specialty products became easier, and the economic conditions of cities across the kingdom steadily improved.
Economic growth also directly boosted development in many other industries.
The nine main departments had mostly set up branches in various cities across Plumera Kingdom. Technical officials in the Ministry of Works, through months of dedicated study, could now understand many of the beginner and intermediate technical books Elara had given them. Some officials even started inventing new tools based on the principles they learned, which made Elara quite pleased.
Various factories were being built at an increasing rate as more technologies were mastered. And it was not only in Plumera City. As national highways connected more and more regions, and with the fourth and fifth rounds of national exams producing more skilled individuals.
Plumera City began sending more types of technical workers to cities across the kingdom. Other regions also started copying Plumera City and Marigold City, the second most developed area. Many local governments began building factories of all sizes, meeting local demands and solving employment issues, forming a positive cycle and boosting all aspects of growth.
With different industries becoming more prosperous, the coastal cities in the far south that Elara had recently conquered were also quickly absorbed into Plumera Kingdom's development plans and began to align with national growth.
Several new docks were built in those coastal areas over the past few months.
At these docks, large and small commercial and military ships were being constructed to prepare for future trade and conflicts at sea.
After finishing domestic affairs, Elara focused mainly on the sea regions.
Based on reports from the first two sea ships, maritime trade in this world was still in a primitive state. The matriarchal nations in the eastern part of the continent had the strongest naval forces, but most of that power was used for war, not trade.