Lari, Kharli, and Mo were speechless for such a long time that my shoulders started to ache, so I put my arms down and shook my head. “Guys, I mean my lord and my ladies, let’s go back home for a celebratory feast.”
Kharli looked like she was about to faint. “A baroness! Me!”
Mo dried her tears and smiled. “Baron Lari… Baroness Kharli…”
“And Baroness Mo.” Lari rolled up the Ennoblement Decree and put it in his inventory for safekeeping. “I didn’t know commoners could be ennobled."
“What do you mean? I was,” I said.
“Teacher, you were always very clearly not a commoner,” said Kharli.
“But I was.” I just shrugged because I knew they wouldn’t believe me. “Never mind that, let’s go back and have something to eat. A lady like me who’s expecting a child needs a healthy lunch.”
I announced the news to the others, and everyone congratulated my apprentices. Scholar Wu already knew about it, of course, since she was the one who had written all of the paperwork when I suggested it. We returned to the train, where I mixed orange juice and vodka to make a screwdriver cocktail and allowed the kids to have their first taste of alcohol at the bar. I only burned three drinks. The Demon Chef provided the small glasses that were roughly twice the size of a shot glass.
“Yuck.” Mo made a face as she took her first sip of her drink.
I silently took her drink away and handed her an orange juice and soda water mix.
Kharli sipped hers and said, “Am I drunk now? How do I know if I am?”
Lari chuckled and downed his entire drink in one gulp.
“Hmmm. Lari? Have you been drinking with the kitchen staff?” I asked him.
He crossed his index fingers over his mouth to signal his silence.
“Oh? Well, that’s fine as long as you don’t overindulge,” I said.
The train ride back was pleasant, and when we arrived home, we got news from a clan messenger that the Lady of the West had gone into labor. I would’ve joined my husband there, too, but in this world, they limited the baby’s contact to, ideally, one or two people apart from the parents. This was because the qi from too many people might disturb the newborn.
I asked my housekeeper to send a few more gifts, and that night, we had a truly memorable feast.
***
Over the next five days, Prince Baiyu sent me short notes detailing his activities and assuring me that everything was fine. He said he was learning how to take care of the baby, which would surely prove helpful when ours was born.
I gave the kids three days off since we had been working nonstop and almost completely depleting our energy during the two weeks of harvest and planting season, and they deserved a break.
Meanwhile, I had a spa day. While I was gossiping with the maids, Fengying supervised as they gave me a series of beauty treatments, including a milk bath, massages, and applying a new special face mask made of pearl powder, [Fairy Honey], and [Ageless Beauty Essence]. My hair was also washed with rice water, which was supposed to help it grow longer. Obviously, I could simply use the Cash Shop to make my hair as long as I liked, but it was very soothing to be in the company of women who were making me more beautiful.
After that short break, we finally got down to the business of planting the [Immortal Herbs] in the [Black Soil].
“This is the life!” I took a deep breath of the bracing morning air, which made me cough a little.
Kharli offered me a scarf from her inventory, which I accepted with a smile. I walked across the open field, boots pressing into the freshly turned earth that gave slightly with each step. I had used the [Combine] to till the soil and spread [Mysterious Goo] over it, but planting the seeds in their proper places was a delicate operation that I needed to do manually.
Kharli knelt and scooped up a handful of earth. “[Black Soil].”
The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.
I lowered myself on both knees even though I knew it would soil my trousers. The soil here was nearly black, so dark it seemed to absorb the morning light. I reached out and took a handful, lifting it close to my eyes. The color was uniform, a deep black-brown throughout, not just at the surface. Loose and crumbly, the handful of soil held visible bits of decomposed leaves and tiny root fragments. I brought it to my nose, inhaling the earthy scent.
Was it magical? I couldn’t tell.
I got up. “The soil here is the best quality we could make. Let’s plant those seeds!”
We planted the [Sun Tree Seed] in the middle of the field along with the [Moon Tree Seed]. I did the honors while my apprentices sowed the [Mystical Foxtail Grass Seeds] around the trees. Then we joined forces to plant the [Divine Origin Energy Bamboo] and [Shadow Bindweed].
These plants made up the core of the [Immortal Herb] garden.
Unlike regular crop seeds, we couldn’t just throw them into the field willy-nilly. Each one had to be placed precisely in one particular spot. One by one, I gently let each seed fall into its proper place. System magic made them bury themselves in the soil, so it wasn’t too tiring to do.
The four of us paused once we finished the preliminary work.
“Wow, we really have leveled up a lot, haven’t we?” I said to the others. “The last time we did it, we ran out of energy around this time, but today we have enough energy to continue.”
These days, we could call ourselves, if not master level, then at least experienced and competent farmers.
Using the points earned from [The Divine Sculptor's Arcane Atelier], the kids and I put some exp on our lowest-level skills. It wasn’t much, but every little bit counts, and the game was fun. At first, my apprentices had saved up their points since they couldn't decide what to use them on, but they eventually concluded that the exp was too small to use for the all-important Farming skill, and would do more good for their lower-level stats.
I was quite surprised that they chose Herblaw, but they found the idea intriguing and were hoping that leveling it up might unlock its use, since I was the only one who could make pills and potions. They had tried to buy some supplies from the merchants in Anwei but always failed since they had no spirit roots, and, of course, the Herblaw supplies from my inventory were bound to me and therefore unusable even by my apprentices.
[Apprentice Name: Kharli
Farming Skills:
Farming Level 30→35, Fishing Level 18→20, Woodcutting Level 24→27, Cooking Level 5→6, Herblaw Level 1→5, Foraging Level 12→13, Hunting Level 6]
[Apprentice Name: Lari
Farming Skills:
Farming Level 30→35, Fishing Level 19→22, Woodcutting Level 23→26, Cooking Level 1, Herblaw Level 1→5, Foraging Level 4, Hunting Level 13→15]
[Apprentice Name: Mo
Farming Skills:
Farming Level 30→35, Fishing Level 4→5, Woodcutting Level 23→27, Cooking Level 6→7, Herblaw Level 1→5, Foraging Level 20→24, Hunting Level 4]
I put my points on Mining since I thought it might come in useful in the future.
[Player Name: Violet
Farming Skills:
Farming Level 44→49, Fishing Level 20→22, Woodcutting Level 28→33, Cooking Level 10→11, Herblaw Level 38→49, Foraging Level 12→13, Hunting Level 8, Mining Level 8→11]
“Shall we each take one pair of companion plants?” I suggested.
“Yes, Teacher!” they said.
Kharli took care of the [Fire Orchid] and [Ice Lily]. Mo wanted the [Day-Blooming Butterfly Weed] and [Night-Blooming Jasmine]. Lari picked the [Wintry Nether Root] and [Summer Sky Mint], which left me with the [Disaster Herb] and the [Miracle Grass].
Once more, I let the seeds fall into the rich, dark soil. We worked in a meditative silence broken only by the sound of insects buzzing and the wind rustling the leaves of the trees in the forest. When my work was done, I looked out at the edge of the farm where cultivated fields met the forest. The treeline rose in uneven heights. Some trees were taller, some shorter, and their crowns formed a gentle, rolling edge against the sky.
The sun sat low, just above the highest branches. Light poured through the gaps between trunks and caught on leaves that had begun to turn. Yellows and oranges glowed where the sun hit them directly, warm and bright. Reds mixed in among the green, creating patches of color throughout the canopy. There were very few patches of pure green. Autumn had truly come.
Kharli, who had also finished her work, walked to where I was standing and pointed at the western sky, “Teacher, there’s a messenger.”
I looked down at my sweaty, soil-covered self. “Gosh, I’m not fit to receive guests.”
“Neither am I,” said Kharli, ruefully gesturing at her muddy boots.
“Let’s try to sneak in to freshen up before we greet the messenger,” I said.
Lari and Mo joined after they finished planting their seeds, and we slowly walked back to the house together. We were taking our time so that Fengying could bring the messenger to the hall. That way, we could avoid meeting up with him or her until we had cleaned ourselves up a bit. To my surprise, the messenger landed at the farm and then took off into the sky again almost immediately.
It must be urgent news.
We exchanged slightly alarmed glances and started walking faster.
Fengying met us at the gate with the news. “Princess, the lady of the West has safely delivered a baby girl. Mother and child are both healthy.”
We all cheered and hugged each other.
“Awesome! Now there’s an official heir!” I said.
When Prince Baiyu was his parents’ only offspring, he was designated as their personal heir, but the position of the Ruler of the West could only be inherited by a female. Now that he had a sister, the dynasty was secure for another generation.
Fengying smiled mysteriously and handed me a scroll. “There’s more.”
I unrolled the official-looking thing, and my mouth fell open when I read the contents.
“What?!” I turned to the other and handed the scroll over for them to read.
“A new adventure!” said Mo, her eyes bright with excitement.
The King is dead.
The Seven Great Houses gather to choose a successor, and Kayode Balógun is summoned to vote.
Five hundred years ago, his blood crowned an Empire. Now he owns no land, commands no knights, and bears a Blight no Healer could cure—one that leaves him Classless.
He is a Great Lord only in name.
When the vote is called, the nobles see him as nothing more than a pawn to be used.
Yet Kayode refuses to play their games.
He refuses to vote.
For that defiance, he is murdered.
Kayode wakes at dawn—alive, unscarred—and bound to an ancient Class long believed lost to time: The Kingdom Maker, the world’s only S+ Class.
Each death returns him to the same morning.
A hundred Loops.
And he will live them all as no one’s pawn.
What to expect:
- A world shaped by West African–inspired characters, traditions, and dynasties.
- Variance in Loop lengths and trajectories.
- Character driven storytelling with deep world-building.
- Political maneuvering, leverage, and plotting.
- LitRPG and progression fantasy systems with steady, earned growth.
- Lots, and lots of action!
*****
Author's Note:
- Um... the stats are temporary for now. I need to go over the entire book 3 before I finalize all the stats.
- The requirement of level 50 for the dragon child will be changed to 60.
- Advanced chapters on my Patreon!
- Thank you very much for reading.
- Please let me know if there are any errors.