Chapter 552: Affairs and Acting of the Kingdom of Bolen!
After Ellie taught her the secrets of being a good wife overnight, Bolan followed Rand to the Dukedom of Moon Phase with some hesitation.
Since Ellie has proven herself to be a good king of the White Kingdom, Bolan doesn't have to worry too much.
And now that the possibility of their exchange has been confirmed, Bolan is no longer too worried about having his sister take on the responsibility for him.
Moreover, Rand has been in the White Kingdom for quite some time.
The affairs of the Duchy of the Moon Phase cannot be separated from Rand for too long.
In theory, the territory affairs have been properly arranged now, and various tasks will be completed by the corresponding personnel, so there is no need for top-level decision makers to make decisions.
Rand also spent a lot of time slacking off when he was in the territory.
But the land of the Duke of the Moon Phase could not be away from Rand for long.
And now there seems to be some changes in the Kingdom of Bolun.
It seems that the old king of the Kingdom of Bollen plans to abdicate and pass the throne to his eldest son.
It is estimated that there will be a lot of troubles waiting for Rand, so Rand must go back.
Ellie and Bolan reminded each other of some details related to role-playing.
Then, the group set off.
Only two short weeks had passed.
Everyone returned to the Dukedom of the Moon Phase. Many soldiers were left forever in the cold wind and snow in the north, but overall, Rand's casualties were not great.
As for the damage to the higher-ups in the Sanctuary… that was only because Ellie had turned into Bolan.
Bolan and Rand got off the carriage together. Bolan had come to the Dukedom of the Moon Phase quite often. This land full of vitality and development potential demonstrated Rand's outstanding governance ability.
Bolan had already taken a new look at Rand when he first came here a long time ago.
Unfortunately, at that time, she had not made up her mind to capture Rand, who was only a baron at the time, and make him the Prime Minister of the White Kingdom. If she had done so at that time, she would have been much more comfortable as the White King, and all kinds of things would have been easier, and she could have seen her sister more often.
Now... if I look in the mirror now, I can see my sister, but her soul is far away in the White Country.
Bolan recalled the precautions that Ellie had mentioned to her and followed Rand into the territory.
You don't need to pay much attention to your manners when playing as Ellie, because as the wife of a lord, Ellie herself doesn't pay much attention to her manners in informal occasions such as weddings or national meetings.
There are a few other things to note.
The first person you meet and need to pay special attention to is Olenna.
Borlan and Rand cannot let the higher-ups of the Sanctuary know that Borlan and Ellie have swapped bodies.
First, there are risks.
Because the more people know about this kind of thing, the greater the risk of exposure. It's not that Bolan doesn't believe in the high-level officials of the Sanctuary that Rand believes in.
But different people's positions are not always exactly the same. In the White Country, although Bolan has such a high prestige, there are still many dark things. Obviously, there may be such problems in the Dukedom of the Moon Phase. And exposure is not just because of a certain piece of news, some unconscious actions or reactions may also reveal some important and fatal information in front of those who are interested.
Once the fact that she and Ellie had swapped bodies was exposed, it would bring about a serious security problem. It would be obvious that the White King, Berlan Calant, would not be able to maintain his combat effectiveness.
Then many dark things may happen. After all, in the human world, the only human "king" who is confirmed to be still alive is Bran Calant. The combat power and deterrence of a king are so strong, and if there is a chance to assassinate the king, some countries may not let it go.
So playing the role of Mrs. Rand, Ellie Calant, is a very important job and one that cannot go wrong.
Secondly, the high-ranking officials of the Sanctuary didn’t even know that Bolan was a woman.
If it were suddenly revealed that Berlan was now in Ellie's body, it would be a bit confusing and raise many ethical issues.
For example, meeting Olena now is the first obstacle.
Bolan actually trusts Olenna completely. Olenna was the person Bolan personally selected to take care of Ellie.
Olenna and Ellie are like mother and daughter, and Bolan sees it. Olenna will definitely not do anything that is not good for Rand and Ellie.
But she must never reveal the fact that she was Bolan in front of Olenna.
Because this is not a question of trust or not, but there are serious ethical issues that cannot be exposed.
She wanted to play the role of Rand's wife and play the role of Ellie well, so it was inevitable that she would have to have some contact with Rand sometimes. Even if it was fake, there would be some intimacy and solitude between them.
So what did this mean in Olenna's eyes?
Brother-in-law and brother-in-law are having an affair?
This kind of thing is too serious. Although it can explain that Bolan herself is a woman, it cannot change the current serious situation.
It is completely understandable that in the early days, in order to maintain his rule, Bolan needed to present himself as a man.
But for unknown reasons, Bolan has swapped bodies with his sister, and now appears as Ellie, acting as Rand's wife...
The reason is of course understandable, it is force majeure.
But this is too horrible to let anyone know.
When he thought about Olenna looking at him in shock, and thought about the serious and even somewhat old-fashioned White King Berlan Calant pretending to be a little girl and his sister's husband...
Absolutely not.
Absolutely not! No! Even if she was as strong-willed as Bolan, she didn't have the courage to face Olena like this. Just thinking about it made her faint.
Back then, she had seriously asked Olenna to take good care of her sister as a man, as the White King Bolan, and now, she had become her sister...
Rand naturally agreed with Bolan and intended to keep the secret of Ellie and Bolan's identity swap.
If he only looked at the political aspect, he actually didn't think that this kind of thing would cause any serious consequences if known by the high-level officials of the Sanctuary, but Rand was not the kind of person who only cared about official business. He knew very well that if Boran was found to be pretending to be Ellie, he would definitely suffer multiple social deaths.
If you only play Ellie in front of outsiders, then there is also a problem. Should the brother-in-law and the brother-in-law pretend to be a couple in public? So for the current situation, the best strategy is to keep it secret.
"The Kingdom of Borlan is now going to have a new king ascend the throne?" Rand spoke first, drawing Olenna's attention to himself and giving Borlan time to prepare.
Although Olenna noticed the unnatural look on Bolan's face for a moment, she didn't think much about it. Ellie was a relatively naughty child, so it was normal for her to do something strange. Besides, Ellie didn't have any specific behavioral patterns.
So after Rand spoke, Olenna turned her attention to Rand: "Yes, according to the intelligence personnel in the Kingdom of Bollen, the current king of Bollen feels that he is too old and does not have much energy for state affairs. He believes that the current Bollen Kingdom needs a young and strong king to boost it, so he decided to pass the throne to his eldest son."
"Have you discussed this?" Rand asked.
"Yes." Olenna replied.
The "you" that Rand refers to is of course the high-level officials who remain in the Sanctuary.
"What do you think the attitude of the new King of Bolen Kingdom will be towards us?" Rand asked.
The Kingdom of Borun and the Dukedom of the Moon are neighbors and have old grudges against each other.
Although for the lower and middle classes of the Kingdom of Bolen, their proud Invincible Fleet had defeated Rand, forcing Rand to pay compensation in terms of manpower and material resources to rebuild their land.
But for the top leaders of the Kingdom of Bollen, they are aware of the Kingdom of Bollen’s repeated failures, and the new king will obviously also know this.
So what will be the new king’s strategy for the status quo?
Should they just admit defeat, take a rest, and restore national strength to plan for the future? Or should they plan to do something else to challenge Rand.
"Youthful and vigorous." Olenna only said four words, but the meaning was very clear.
Since he is young and full of vigor, he will certainly not be able to endure humiliation. It seems that there will be some trouble with the Kingdom of Bolun again.
But Rand is not afraid.
Soon the population of his territory will expand at a faster rate. Rand also got a lot of money and other things from the Wisteria Kingdom, which can be quickly converted into combat power.
The Kingdom of Boren couldn't defeat Rand before, so it would definitely be even more difficult to defeat Rand now.
"So many preparations." Although he had basically guessed the attitude of the Kingdom of Bolen towards him in the future, the coronation ceremony had not yet been completed, and if a military conflict really occurred, it would not be now, so there was no need to worry too much.
"What about the Elf Forest?" Ever since he learned about the unrest in the Elf Forest, Rand had naturally been paying closer attention to it.
Although the problem of population source has been partially solved, the quality of the population is also a problem. Rand not only needs grassroots labor force but also management talents and knowledge-based talents.
And the Elf Forest will obviously have a considerable proportion of high-value talents.
As for the elven villagers who were not much different from ordinary human villagers, the more the better for Rand.
Now is a stage of rapid development. The problems of money and people have been temporarily solved, and the foundation of productivity has been laid. Rand can still sustain the current development speed.
As for what to do if there are too many people and they need land? All I can say is that with the size of the entire Lunar Dukedom and the size of the land ceded to him by the Kingdom of Boren, Rand's sphere of influence can be said to be vast and sparsely populated.
The amount of land owned far exceeds the population demand.
As for the future development to a stage where there is a lot of people and less land, Rand will naturally have ways to expand.
However, Rand has had a lot of things going on recently. There seems to be some unrest in the Underdark recently, and Rand plans to intervene and subdue some more monsters.
It depends on which matter becomes urgent first. Whether it is the Elf Forest, the Kingdom of Bollen, or the Underdark, it doesn't matter which problem Rand deals with first.
A lot of serious business was discussed.
Olenna was able to refocus her attention on Ellie.
Olenna and Ellie have a mother-daughter relationship.
This time, Ellie goes to the north with Rand, and not only has to face the brutal orcs, but also the insidious and powerful demigod Grand Duke Vladimir.
Olenna was still quite worried about Ellie's situation.
Of course, she was not unconcerned about Rand, but her concerns about Rand were only when they first set out and when the war broke out.
Now that Rand is back, Olenna only feels sorry for his hard work, but she is not worried about his injuries. Rand only needs to lie on the altar, and he will be alive and kicking immediately, no matter what the injury is, there is no need to worry.
But Ellie might be injured, and Olena noticed her unnatural behavior just now.
Faced with Olenna's worried and concerned look, Bolan felt a headache.
Olenna cared about Ellie, which comforted Bolan.
But she is not Ellie now, she is Bolan, just using Ellie's body.
Bolan is a little older than Olenna.
But let Berlan greet Olenna’s concern from Ellie’s perspective.
It’s not that I don’t have any feelings, it’s just that the situation is hard to explain and it’s also rather embarrassing.
After all, their mental age and life experience are different. Bolan cannot accept Olenna's care with peace of mind, nor can he really act like a spoiled child like Ellie.
But if I don't react correctly now, will I be discovered? Compared to acting like a spoiled child, being discovered that I, the brother, have taken over my sister's body is obviously not a good idea.
If the lesser of two evils is to choose, then it would be better to try hard to put on a good show so that Olena wouldn't get suspicious.
Although this kind of coquettish performance would be noticed by Rand, it was relatively easier for Bolan to accept if he revealed his true colors or left any dark history in front of Rand.
Rand and Bolan are very close and familiar with each other, and this closeness of mutual understanding will dilute the embarrassment of some dark histories forced by the situation.
Then Rand, who saw that Bolan was hesitant and wanted to perform, came out to smooth things over. Of course, Rand wanted to do his best to avoid making things difficult for Bolan, so he just patted Bolan on the shoulder and said, "Don't worry too much. We did have some trouble, but everything is under my control."
Rand didn't say anything to Olenna, which was completely fine. It was not easy to gain people's trust, and Rand didn't want to deceive Olenna.
It's like telling someone close that a secret needs to be kept, and using a lie to cover up a secret, which is different.
At least for Rand, the nature of this matter is completely different.
Olena blinked her beautiful eyes: "Is there really no problem?"
She felt that Ellie was not as lively as usual.
Rand promised: "Of course."
Olena nodded to show that she believed it and stopped asking questions.
Just as Rand tried to avoid lying, Olenna, who understood Rand's thoughts, also believed in Rand completely.
Since Rand said so, there might be some reasons that were inconvenient to explain, and Olenna completely understood this. And since Rand said there would be no problem, she completely believed it.
(End of this chapter)
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