Munitions Empire

Yes, the night before at Brunas Stadium, the Bailu team’s home ground welcomed the visiting Great Tang men’s soccer team. The two teams had a friendly match, and the atmosphere was quite harmonious.

With only half of its main lineup playing, the Bailu team could be said to have given the Great Tang national team plenty of face, but, alas, the Great Tang men’s team just couldn’t seize the opportunity...

Facing the world’s number one team with only half of its main lineup, the Great Tang men’s team put forth their utmost effort. Unfortunately, the number of shots in the first half was a horrifying 31 to 1, with the Great Tang men’s team’s only shot almost high enough to fit two airships under the crossbar.

In the end, the coach of the Bailu team was so frightened that he kept taking out his handkerchief to wipe the sweat from his brow; he worried that as soon as he left his house, he would be shot into a sieve by the Tang Country mafia.

The second half of the match, which provoked both laughter and tears, saw the Bailu team substitute all their forwards three times and bring in three substitutes.

Despite these efforts, the play on the field didn’t improve, and the final score settled at seven to one—a bloodbath.

In fact, there was a little-known side story to this match, accessible only to those of a certain high status privy to insider information.

Many had heard that the Northern Ridge Countess had attended the match and wagered 3,000 Gold Coins on a bet that the Bailu team would win by ten to one.

Everyone knew that the Northern Ridge Countess had been in a foul mood lately, so even the newspapers in Brunas chose to ignore the news of the Countess placing a heavy bet on soccer, presumably out of disgust for the Great Tang men’s team.

"The more I think about it, the more I feel like Northern Ridge has become my shackle," Alice said, swirling her wine glass with a somewhat hazy look in her eyes as she complained to the woman beside her.

The maid, who recently felt as if she were on the verge of consummating her relationship with the man of her dreams, sighed and lamented, "We women have it tough. Those men are only focused on their careers, they don’t have time for us."

"You said it... as we wait and wait, they achieve great success, but we... we just get old," Alice said, looking at the lovely liquid in her glass and nodding with a trace of melancholy.

This was a low-alcohol beverage made with the finest moonlight wine from the Elf Race, perfect for women to drink, with a sweeter and more fragrant taste.

Its only flaw was its cost—sourced from the highest quality moonlight wine of the Elf Race, it was already pricey, and the other drinks mixed into it were not cheap either.

"How can you call yourself old... You are just in your twenties! His Majesty Tang Mo is older than you... Do you know how hard it is for me? Harry is so much younger than me," the maid grumbled and sighed again, setting down her wine glass.

To outsiders, both of them were the envy of others, and their lives were far more exciting than those of most people.

The maid, when accompanying Sofia, had wielded a power beyond the wildest dreams of many men, and she was already more successful than ninety-nine percent of the populace back then.

Now on her own in Brunas, she became a liaison between Shireck and the Great Tang Group, her status too noble to put into words.

In every banquet she attended, every person present was a socialite, and many Earls and Marquises from various countries would have to nod and bow at the sight of her.

Because she could obtain information and resources inaccessible to others, her small company’s profitability was astonishing; she didn’t even know how much money she had made in the past two years.

Measuring success merely by the amount of money, she could almost describe herself as very, very successful, yet she was not happy.

Because she had fallen for a much younger man, one who was even more successful in his career...

This was truly a heart-wrenching matter. If she needed a man, countless men would eagerly court her, as the maid was very beautiful, otherwise she would not have caught Sofia’s eye.

With her formidable fortune, any kind of man would be easy to come by. Men coveted beauty and wealth, both of which the maid had in abundance.

But she had taken a fancy to a man who was stronger than her in every aspect, a man she had to chase after nervously, and with trepidation.

"Harry is just like Tang Mo, a blockhead! If you don’t tell him you like him, he acts as if he really doesn’t know," Alice said empathetically, as she seemed to have pursued Tang Mo in the past as well.

"It’s different! That guy, Harry, he knows it in his heart but puts on a confused act!" The maid fumed with teeth clenched as she spoke of him.

It was helpless; Harry’s social status was such that it was highly unlikely he would throw away his bright future for a woman like the maid, whose background was not so clean.

So, without Tang Mo’s permission, Harry would not make any moves, even if he genuinely liked the maid.

To settle this matter, the maid had done many things, including quite a few that betrayed Sofia, just to get on Tang Mo’s list by a narrow margin.

After so many demonstrations of loyalty, which cost her Shireck’s trust, the maid finally gained Tang Mo’s tacit approval to pursue Harry.

A woman made so many sacrifices for love, just thinking about it made one feel bitter. The maid picked up her wine glass again and took a big gulp, letting the spicy sensation slide down her throat, which made her feel a bit more comfortable.

Fortunately, after the bitterness comes the sweetness. On her thirty-second birthday, Harry finally gave her the long-awaited reward, a brand-new Rolls-Royce Silver Wraith.

Well, that’s extravagant.

But, such a gift at the level of Harry or the maid, actually, is really nothing to them. Both are wealthy, truly wealthy...

"But, I made it!" she boasted proudly, her laugh filled with satisfaction and happiness. She didn’t care whether that broken car was worth any money; what mattered to her was that her efforts had finally been reciprocated.

"You’re lucky, being by Harry’s side, you can follow him wherever he goes..." Alice said enviously, "I must stay at Northern Ridge, which my father entrusted to me, but now my love is on Dragon Island."

"You actually have it tougher than me." The maid looked at Alice with pity, they had the wealth other women could never achieve in their lifetime, yet they longed for the love that came so easily to ordinary people.

The maid understood Alice, knowing she couldn’t let go of Northern Ridge, which her father cared about deeply. But now, for Alice, Northern Ridge seemed like a shackle, a prison that confined her.

"Yes, I was the earliest one, but now, I’m the furthest one. I don’t even know if he remembers me anymore." Alice’s voice cracked as she spoke, on the verge of tears.

"Doesn’t he send you a telegram every day?" The maid was startled, then quickly tried to console the heartbroken young lady.

Indeed, it didn’t matter whether Alice was the Earl of Northern Ridge commanding hundreds of thousands of elite troops or the actual controller of the multi-million Northern Ridge industrial complex; she was still just a young girl.

"Do you know how many secretaries His Majesty the King has? Do you think there’s one specifically to write love letters to me?" Alice leaned back in her chair, weakly mocking herself.

Without the nourishment of love, it’s hard for a woman.

"Don’t be silly, how could he do such a thing..." the maid quickly comforted her but suddenly realized that it was indeed a possibility.

Men, after all, can be dismissive. Isn’t that the attitude they have towards women they’ve secured? The wealthy buy a bag for their lady during holidays to keep them happy, and those without money... those without money don’t deserve to have a woman.

Tang Mo was now His Majesty the King who owned a nation! He had to deal with various affairs every day and secretly control and manage the massive Great Tang Group, certainly a tiring task.

And this King did not lack women, constantly surrounded by romantic encounters, with at least two official ones on the books. With opportunities so close at hand, it was really uncertain whether Tang Mo could still remember Alice, his old flame.

"Sigh..." With this thought, the maid couldn’t help but sigh. Now that she and Alice had become close friends, she tended to see things from Alice’s perspective, which made her worry a bit for Alice. Find more to read at

"Because I have to oversee Northern Ridge, I don’t even have a proper status. If I were to marry him, my rule over Northern Ridge would have legal loopholes," Alice said, her head aching at the thought of these troublesome matters, "What did I do wrong? Why should the gods punish me like this?"

"The contributions you’ve made to Northern Ridge, your people will remember them in their hearts," the maid had to comfort her once again.

Just then, the door was pushed open, and Harry walked in. He went over to Alice, bowed respectfully, and then said, "His Majesty asked me to bring this to you."

With that, he gestured with a wave of his hand, signaling the servants behind him to bring a piece of equipment, about the size of a mantel clock, in front of Alice.

Alice had seen such a device before; her Northern Ridge was not a backwater place, of course, it had cinemas. The device in front of her was a projector, but it seemed a bit more complicated.

Harry then immediately began to operate it. He plugged the device’s plug into the power socket on the wall and then returned to the side of the device, pressing a button on it.

The disc on the device began to spin, and then Tang Mo’s slightly distorted voice came through the speakers below. What surprised Alice even more was that Tang Mo’s smiling face appeared in the light projected onto the wall.

"Dear Miss Alice, this is a message from your most loyal suitor, Tang Mo..." From the speakers, Tang Mo’s voice accompanied by the hum of electricity began to play. Watching Tang Mo’s image on the wall, Alice couldn’t hold back her tears any longer.

Harry gave the maid a look, and, both knowing the situation well, they quietly left the room.

Leaving Alice alone, leaning against the projector, quietly listening to Tang Mo’s love words spoken just for her.

"Soon, we will have the opportunity to meet... The times are developing, progressing... I swear, distance will no longer be a problem, trust me..."

Listening to Tang Mo’s voice, Alice wiped away her tears, unable to hold them back. It seemed all the long waiting was worth it in this moment.

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