"Oh... look, Dad, Mom, it’s so big!"

The sweet, excited voice of a little boy echoed down the street.

His tiny finger pointed at the imposing barracks and the luxurious mansion that loomed on the horizon.

His parents, Aerick and his beautiful wife, froze in the same instant, unable to believe their eyes.

Stone streets. Perfectly constructed sidewalks, adorned with trees, benches, and even a streetlight system.

And it wasn’t just that.

The imposing barracks stood too large to have been built by human hands in such a short time, and the mansion, smaller in size, carried an incomparable luxury.

All of it was wrapped in a mana density at least double that of Windmere.

’You’ll understand when you arrive in Goldenveil.’ Aerick mentally repeated Ethan’s words.

Yes, now he understood why Ethan had decided to integrate his people into Goldenveil rather than take them as vassals.

Goldenveil was barely thirty percent urbanized, and most of the houses already built stood completely empty.

He glanced back, stepping onto the sidewalk beside Ethan, watching his own people and those of Silverbrook pour into the city.

In total, two thousand two hundred and six souls, bringing Goldenveil’s population to three thousand four hundred and fifty-seven.

As they entered the beautiful village, the inhabitants of the two conquered villages couldn’t hide the sparkle in their eyes.

Many among them had lived their entire lives in the eternal forest.

They had never laid eyes on such beautiful streets, such a grand mansion, or such a tall and mighty wall.

Those above the second stage reveled in the density of aura and mana hanging in the air, some nearly moved to tears.

The people of Goldenveil welcomed the newcomers with love and open arms.

Some, like Adam and his sister Veronica, received a residence immediately.

Others took part in a lottery to decide who would stay in their own homes and who would have to wait at the guard barracks, a place that wasn’t exactly bad either.

After all, Goldenveil had only a little over six hundred houses, but it would need at least a thousand to shelter so many people.

"Doran." Standing beside Aerick and his family, Ethan called out to his trusted captain of the guard.

"Ensure that the entire integration process goes smoothly. Aerick will be your new vice-leader.

Take good care of the guard and ensure that the men from Windmere and Silverbrook are well integrated with ours."

With the absorption of the two new guards, the number of soldiers in Goldenveil would reach three hundred and two, nearly the perfect number Ethan wanted to maintain.

Ten percent of the inhabitants as guards, and thirty percent as a reserve militia for desperate situations.

"Yes, my lord." Doran bowed, gave a respectful nod to Aerick, and set off to carry out the orders.

"He is a trustworthy man," Aerick remarked, to which Ethan nodded.

"Yes... it’s rare to find men with as much wisdom and loyalty as he has. It’s hard to believe he was just an ordinary instructor in life... well, in his first life."

"First life?" Aerick’s eyes filled with puzzlement, and Ethan let out a low laugh.

"Start training the guard alongside him and find out." Ethan turned his back and simply motioned for Aerick and his family to follow him to the mansion.

The former Lord of Windmere had many questions about Ethan.

Especially about this place, about how he had transformed a miserable Darkwall settlement into a prosperous and wealthy Goldenveil.

But he chose silence.

It didn’t matter.

None of it mattered.

He just wanted his son to live well and his wife’s heart to be at peace.

Ethan took the lead, waving to the two gardeners tending the gardens of Goldenveil.

Upon reaching the steps leading to the mansion’s door, he stopped.

The door swung open with a crash, revealing Elena, more animated than usual.

His eyes widened as she threw herself into his arms.

Her long legs wrapped around his waist, thighs clamping tight against his hips, while her enormous, soft, fragrant dark tits smashed into his face, smothering him in a warm, perfumed avalanche of flesh.

The plush, dusky mounds swallowed his features whole, the two pillowy globes molding around the contours of his nose and cheeks.

"Ah... My naughty, perverted Lord... I was already dying of longing, fufufu~"

Elena giggled, her supple, silken mounds quivering against Ethan’s face.

But she soon froze, noticing all those strange stares fixed upon her.

Aerick, his family, Adam, and Veronica, who was clinging to Alice.

Elena blushed, peeling herself away from Ethan with all the grace and elegance befitting a woman who had once been an empress.

Her heavy tits dropped free as her legs unwound, the enormous globes falling with a weighty bounce, maintaining a firmness, fullness, and height that were too perfect for her size.

"Greetings, guests... You may come in; lunch is almost ready!"

She turned and strode into the mansion, leaving Ethan behind.

"Lord Ethan is certainly a blessed man..." Aerick’s wife remarked, jabbing a sharp elbow into her husband’s ribs.

It was as if she were saying, "Don’t try to be like him!" or something more direct like, "If you try anything like that, I’ll cut your balls off!"

"Indeed." Aerick nodded, his expression darkening.

He was a one-woman man and didn’t need those threats.

Still, he was happy that his wife still loved him enough to worry about threatening him that way.

Ethan just laughed bitterly, motioning for them. "Come in, let’s eat a little first."

At Ethan’s words, everyone went inside, heading toward the dining room.

Well, everyone except Veronica, who was dragged off by Alice, Elena, and the five maids into a bathroom.

The six girls bathed her, did her makeup, dressed her, and perfumed her.

When she returned to the dining room, she was no longer the near-beggar who had left Silverbrook.

Her body was still too thin, her curves hidden beneath skin stretched tight over her bones, but that mattered little.

She was beautiful.

Her hair, now clean, shone a pure blood-red.

Her green eyes glistened with a faint moisture, and her pale cheeks took on a reddish hue the moment she felt Ethan’s gaze upon her.

She looked down at herself, admiring the elegant red dress that hugged her body, and then smiled.

She looked like a princess.

Adam, the only one in that room who still looked like a beggar, watched his sister with a complicated expression.

It had been so long since he’d seen her smile like that.

His loyalty immediately skyrocketed, reaching ninety percent.

He, too, was taken to the bathroom and given a change of clothes from Ethan, though, obviously, he received no special attention and had to fend for himself.

Soon, with everyone gathered and their faces beaming, the banquet began, featuring a meal carefully prepared by Ethan’s maids.