The villain daughter did all kinds of things

"So... old man, what do you say? I want a magic-powered warship as my dowry, are you going to give it to me or not?"

"..."

Baphomet gave Milain a deep look, but didn't answer immediately. Instead, he turned his gaze back to Emerald.

"Little Ellie, are you sure the Ise Retsu Group will definitely run into trouble next year?"

"...I can't say."

Emerald's answer was still a sweet smile, ambiguous.

"Mmm..."

Baphomet frowned deeply, pondered for a few more seconds, and finally sighed:

"Forget it, the family has been under my control for many years. If you young people want to be radical this time, then go for it... Anyway, even if we fail, the losses are bearable."

"Great!"

Milain jumped up excitedly, first hugging her brother Pias, and then, after Pias pushed her away with a look of disgust, she ran to Emerald and gave her a high five, looking very happy.

The other few longtime fans of Mao Zedong exchanged glances, their expressions all strange.

Well, now the family is going to owe the Ise Retsu Group the cost of building another magical warship. It seems like the Ise Retsu Group is definitely going to run into trouble next year.

Then they all gave Emerald a complicated look.

Is this your precognitive ability, Ellie?

Emerald, seemingly oblivious to the stares, celebrated with a sweet smile and a high-five with Elaine, then casually remarked:

"By the way, I heard that Rin has grown into a great beauty. Uncle, you'd better introduce her to me properly when we go to Sakura Country... Oh my!"

Amélie was suddenly tapped on the head with her finger by Milley, and immediately covered her head with a wronged look, glaring at him as if she was about to tattle at the slightest provocation.

"Little Ellie, don't go too far!"

Milaine, however, was not afraid at all; instead, she glared fiercely at Emerald.

"Rin-chan is my own daughter! Your cousin! Don't think I don't know how much of a scumbag you are, Ellie, just because I rarely stay in the country... You better stay away from Rin-chan! At least when you two are together, you can't leave my sight!"

"Tch, you stingy girl. Can't I, as the older sister, even be a little affectionate with my younger cousin?"

Emery pouted:

"I'm just worried about my cousin. I'm worried she'll be fooled by some scumbag or gold digger... Uncle, you won't let me give her some advice. What if she gets tricked by some wild boy? In those picture books and novels, aren't naive princesses always the ones who easily fall in love with silly, poor boys?"

"You believe things from those picture books and novels?"

Milain first scoffed, then snorted:

"Besides, if those wild boys dare to flirt with Rin-chan, I can go up and smash their heads without saying a word! But if it's you, Ellie... tsk, let's not even talk about me not being able to hit you. Even if I really wanted to scold you, Rin-chan would most likely protect you. I know your methods. Some of your scandalous stories have already spread to Sakura Country."

"Huh? I'm already this famous? Hehe~~"

Emerald then gave up, stuck out her tongue and said nothing more, reverting to her obedient girl persona.

Chapter 231 Checks and Balances

At the year-end meeting, the youngest members of the two core family members, Emery and Milaine, joked and laughed with each other. The older members of the pink-haired group also took the opportunity to discuss in hushed tones and decided to send a magic warship as a wedding gift to the Queen of Shangying Kingdom.

The Melson Magic Workshop will complete the assembly and adjustment of the new magic warship within a month after the New Year, so that Milaine can start operating it directly when she returns to Shangying Kingdom, without affecting the spring appointment between Emerald and the old lich Granny Ya.

Don't be fooled by the fact that the Allen Federation currently only has seven magical warships in service. That's because the maintenance cost of magical warships is too high, and there's no need to maintain so many in peacetime.

However, if the Allen Federation or Melson enters a state of full-scale war, they can launch 10 new magic warships within 2 months and more than 20 within a year.

In addition to the fact that the manufacturing technology is already quite mature, the more important thing is that the Melson Magic Workshop had already prepared a large number of parts for the magic warship.

Normally, these parts can be used to repair and maintain the existing magical warships, and when needed, these parts can be assembled to form new magical warships.

Milaine's magical warship was to be assembled entirely from stock parts. This work could actually be completed in about a week. The real troublesome part was the sea trials, adjustments, and crew assignment.

However, all of this had nothing to do with Emerald. The magic workshop was not under her jurisdiction; she only needed to wait until a month after the New Year to go to Shangying Kingdom on business.

After the matter of the magic battleship was settled, and the matter of Milion was also discussed, Baphomet asked the old pink-haired girl and the little pink-haired girl in the room if there was anything else.

According to Emerald's observation, the meeting was supposed to end there, but a series of events that had just occurred made some old-timers with a change of heart, and they suddenly made a new decision.

"I think some things should be decided as soon as possible."

The old pink-haired man who spoke looked very kind, much like Santa Claus on Earth. In reality, he was a ruthless man who controlled the Merson Security Company and had a large number of combat personnel under his command. He was responsible for most of the dirty work for the entire family.

Seeing that everyone's eyes were on him, he chuckled and said:

"Now that the patriarch has decided to pass the position to Pias, shouldn't we make arrangements for the marriage of Pias's eldest son, Polport? After all, Pias only has one son, and Polport is very likely to be the next patriarch, or rather..."

The old pink-haired man chuckled as he looked at Emerald:

"Little Ellie, are you planning to become the next head of the family yourself?"

"No, the position of family head is not suitable for me."

Emery shook her head decisively:

"This position is prestigious, but it also brings a lot of attention and constraints, which makes many of my plans and actions inconvenient. So, barring any unforeseen circumstances, I will not become the head of the family."

"This is it..."

The security company's veteran employee, nicknamed "Old Pink," shrugged, his tone tinged with amusement:

“All the capable young ladies in our family are like this. They only like to do what they like and have almost no interest in managing the family... That’s why, even though more than half of the heroes on our family’s list are women, there are almost no female heads of the family.”

This was absolutely true, and no one had any objections. Even Emery, who was involved in the topic, just smiled and didn't say anything.

Seeing that everyone had accepted him, the old man in charge of the security company, who was also a fan of Mao, continued:

“In that case, the probability of Polport becoming the next head of the family is very high. We need to be stricter with him and change the way we train him... More importantly, we should choose an excellent girl as his fiancée.”

"Should we focus on developing Bobo? That's not a problem."

Pias, Bobo's biological father, nodded first, then pondered for a moment:

"However, Popo does have a potential romantic interest... it's Admiral Bessie's daughter, Judy Bessie. She's a colonel at a young age and has made numerous military achievements. In terms of talent, she's qualified to be Mrs. Melson."

"That girl Judy... I know her, and I'm quite familiar with her husband too."

The Air Force Commander, the old pink-haired man with four stars on his shoulder, also spoke up:

"Judy is a good girl, one of the best among the young officers of this generation. She also seems to have a good relationship with Ellie?"

"Ah."

Emery smiled and affirmed:

“Judy is my senior from high school. We had a good relationship back in school, and now we have many collaborations. She is a reliable ally.”

"So that's the problem..."

Mao, the security company's longtime fan who initially raised the topic, shrugged again:

“I trust your judgment of Miss Judy’s abilities, but if I remember correctly—Little Ellie, you’re five years older than your brother, right? And Miss Judy is your senior, so she’s probably even older… Isn’t she a bit unsuitable in this regard?”

"I have the same concerns."

Before Emery could speak, Pias interjected again:

"Moreover, not only is she older, but Judy's personal image also doesn't conform to the mainstream aesthetic of female charm. It wouldn't matter if Popovich wasn't the head of the family, but the head of the family's wife should ideally conform to the mainstream aesthetic of female charm."

"Does it not conform to mainstream female attractiveness?"

Pias's words piqued the curiosity of many of the pink-haired men in the room. They were mostly the type who spent most of their time burying themselves in research or seclusion, paying no attention to fashion trends, never having seen a movie, and completely unaware of Judy.

Seeing all the curious gazes directed at her, Amelie felt somewhat helpless, but she could only use magic to project Judy's image, a still from "The Demon Slayer," which was already considered the best version of Judy's image.

Even so, one outspoken old pink-haired guy still let out a strange cry:

"Wow... can this even be considered a woman? She's so strong!"

While the other longtime fans didn't express it as directly, they all frowned, clearly disapproving of Judy's feminine charm.

If Judy were a man, she would definitely be considered a charming and muscular man. It's just a pity that strength and bravery are no longer positive terms when used to describe a woman's appearance; they can even be considered derogatory.

At this point, no matter how much Emery wanted to support Judy, nothing could be changed.

After all, she was too young. Although the older fans recognized her talent and achievements, they still couldn't help but see her as a young girl deep down. In her weak position, she had no way to persuade the older fans to change their minds.

Fortunately, the longtime fans still gave Amelie some face. Although they all thought Judy could be eliminated based on her looks alone, they were still willing to give Judy a chance and let her join the competition for Mrs. Popper.

"Speaking of which... little Pias, why does your son like this kind of woman? Does he have some kind of special hobby?"

When discussing Judy's image, one of the longtime fans, Mao, asked rather curiously.

"...Sigh, it's all because Bobo has a great older sister!"

Pias wanted to cover his face and glared at Amelie with annoyance before using magic to create a projection. The projection showed two little girls wearing matching dresses and holding hands, both of whom looked very cute.

"This is……"

The curious old pink-haired man's eyes widened instantly:

"Why are there two little girls? I remember you had twins and one son, right? Could it be that he... uh, I think I understand."

"Hmm, is it the one you're thinking of?"

Pias pointed to one of the little pink-haired pups, looking quite embarrassed:

"This is my son, Bobo. Because Catherine and I were both quite busy when he was little, he was basically raised by his older sister... Little Ellie! Shouldn't you explain how you raised such a perfectly good younger brother into this?"

"I'm innocent, Dad... I've said it so many times, I'm truly innocent!"

Emery quickly adopted a pitiful and innocent demeanor, explaining to the elders' curious and amused gazes:

"Because of her twin sister Lulu, Bobo is naturally more delicate-looking, with fair and tender skin like a girl, and a petite figure like a girl. That's quite normal, isn't it?"

"That's why, when Bobo was a child, he was ridiculed by other boys from other families for being effeminate and lacking masculinity."

"So when Bobo got home, he came to me crying and complaining, asking me what he could do to prove he was a real man... tsk."

"You know, I wasn't even as old as Bobo is now back then. I was still a girl. How would I know what a real man is? But I am Bobo's older sister after all. I used to help him solve any problems he had. I couldn't just tell him I didn't know, could I? That would damage my image."

"So after thinking about it for a while, I told Bobo—a real man is one who dares to do things that most ordinary men wouldn't dare to do."

"My intention was to encourage Bobo to be braver, is that alright?"

"But Bobo misunderstood. After some thought, he chose to do something that most men wouldn't dare to do: wear skirts and women's clothing. He was also exceptionally well-suited in this regard; he didn't need to secretly buy them, he could just wear revealing clothes, and the sizes would fit perfectly."

"When Bobo put on Lulu's dress and dressed up like Lulu, the little boys in the family who had previously mocked him actually stopped mocking him and even rushed to flatter him... This made Bobo mistakenly believe that everyone admired his courage and masculinity."

"Anyway, that's pretty much it. Anyway, ever since then, Bobo has really liked wearing Lulu's clothes and dressing up as a girl."

"Plus, having grown up around beautiful girls like me, Bobo has developed a high immunity to women with mainstream appeal... After all, no matter how pretty those women are, they're not as pretty as his sister."

"On the contrary, a tough girl like Judy is a novelty for Bobo and has given him a different experience in their relationship, which is why they have developed into a rather ambiguous relationship."

After recounting everything in one breath, Emerald once again feigned a pitiful expression:

"So, Bobo turning out this way isn't my fault at all; it's all just a coincidence~~"

It turns out that a woman's coquettishness and pitifulness are effective at any time.

At least after hearing Emerald's account, the old fans didn't blame her. Instead, they all pointed fingers at Pias, saying that Pias had neglected to educate Popo.

Pias was speechless inside, but on the surface he could only humbly accept it and maintain his composure.

Unfortunately, even knowing about Popeye's upbringing couldn't change the decision that the longtime fans had already made—they still believed that Judy's image was unsuitable for being the head of the household and wanted to introduce Popeye to a new girlfriend.

Perfect timing! The New Year is just around the corner, and the Melson Sky Manor will be hosting a grand celebration. Top dignitaries from all over the Federation will be visiting, which would be perfect for Popo to meet some outstanding young ladies of similar age from other families, and then choose one that everyone is satisfied with as his fiancée.

When it comes to arranging marriages for young people, older people in every country and around the world are always very interested. The longtime fans of Mao immediately became enthusiastic, rattling off several names as potential fiancées for Popovich.

I wasn’t very familiar with many of the girls’ names, but I was very familiar with their surnames; they all came from the top tier of the Federation.

It wasn't until this point that Emerald finally realized that these old pink-haired guys, who claimed to be introducing Bobo to his fiancée, actually had ulterior motives.

The girls recommended by those old Mao fans are basically closely connected to them. They are the daughters or granddaughters of their close friends. In terms of interests, they belong to the same side as them, just like Emerald and Judy.

Clearly, these cunning old-timers are trying to increase their influence over the future head of the family by having a future wife who is closely related to their interests.

The reason why longtime fans of Jodie Foster previously opposed her was not only because of her image, but more importantly because Jodie and Emerald were too close.

...Little Ellie, you are already the future head of the family's trusted older sister. If even the future head of the family's wife is your person, wouldn't you be able to sideline the head of the family at any time?

The longtime fans of the Furious family need to balance Emerald's influence on the future head of the family.

They weren't deliberately targeting Emerald. If Emerald wanted to be the head of the family herself, they would support her, since she was fully capable of doing so.

However, if Emery doesn't become the head of the family and instead remains behind the scenes while completely controlling the head of the family, it's easy for some problems to arise.