Adele did not meet the two pirates in the audience room.
After all, their portraits are still hanging high in various wanted columns. The queen may not care how they are notorious, but she doesn't want to add trouble when the parliament is about to open.
For this reason, the meeting place was arranged on a small terrace in the northwest corner of the Summer Palace.
The open-air balcony has a curved fence that resembles a birdcage, and the rose vines carefully cultivated by the gardeners are spread along the curved fence, and clusters of small pearl-like light pink roses are dotted in the deep and shallow green leaves. The fragrance of flowers is not so strong because of the flow of air, it is light. And from the other half of the open-air balcony, you can see the Shirakawa sparkling in the sun in the distance.
Under the leadership of Mrs. Kelly, Saran and the magician saw the queen sitting under the rose bush.
Because it wasn't on a formal occasion, Adele didn't choose those heavy and complicated dresses, and only wore a relatively simple dark silver long dress. She sat on a high chair, her skirt fell to the ground like a mermaid's tail.
They held out their hands.
Saran stepped forward first, and under Mrs. Kelly's slightly displeased gaze, she took the queen's hand and kissed it. The magician was much more decent. After saluting lightly, he quickly let go of the queen's hand, and the lake green eyes were strangely quiet.
Mrs. Kelly served afternoon tea and desserts for them.
The queen rested her white fingertips on the rim of the silver cup, smiling at the two maverick Mr. Pirates.
It's rude not to take off your hat when you meet the Queen, so the magician didn't wear his black wide-brimmed hat today, and he seemed a little uncomfortable with his face exposed to the sun. However, the clown puppet on his shoulder was licensed to bring along after careful inspection to confirm that there was no hidden weapon.
"Are all pirates the same as you two?"
Adele nodded slightly, signaling them to sit down on the chair not far from her.
Unlike when he broke into the summer palace that day, Saran was much more cautious when answering this question.
It is one thing to be unscrupulous in the face of Dalton, and another thing to face the Queen's first official meeting.
He's an unscrupulous psychopath, but that doesn't mean he's an idiot.
On the contrary, when the need arises, Saran is also keenly aware that in this era, those who can survive and make a difference will not be fools.
The Queen's first words were gentle and casual. A dull person would take the Queen's words as idle chatter, but a perceptive person should grasp the examination behind the Queen's words—whether all pirate groups have the same strength as the Raven Pirates? What will the Raven Pirates do to prove that they are competent for the upcoming assignment from the royal family
Saran had to correct her impression of the queen. Not only did she have the courage to send the nobles to the guillotine, but she was also as cunning as a snake and a fox.
This question is really tricky.
If the queen is really, as they speculate, the naval team that intends to cage the pirates into the shadow of the empire. Then, as one of the pirates, they can't belittle other pirates too much, otherwise the empire's evaluation of them will also be lowered accordingly. But if all pirates have the same strength as them, then why do they get the commission to open up new markets
Seeing this scene, the reason is that the royal family needs the power of pirates, but between the two, pirates need the protection and support from the empire more.
Otherwise, the Raven Pirates would not need to cooperate with Dalton.
The Queen had obviously already judged this point.
Today's meeting with a personal meaning, on the one hand, reflects her own friendliness to pirates, but on the other hand, it emphasizes who is the leader between the empire and the pirates.
In accordance with the view from ancient times, no matter what the person wearing the crown looks like, one thing is always the same.
—They were born for politics, and they are equal to politics.
"There are always similarities between people who make a living at sea," Saran said. "However, I am sure that not all pirates have the honor to meet His Majesty like us."
Adele smiled slightly: "I've heard about your bravery and legends from Dalton, maybe you would like to talk about what happened at sea?"
Saran sighed with regret in his heart.
If the question was simply asked by a beauty he found very charming, then he could tell some light-hearted, warrior-like free and easy stories. However, the person who made this request was first a shrewd king, and then the beauty he admired.
Therefore, although the roses bloomed luxuriantly and filled the air with fragrance, the faces of the beauties became more and more charming under the sun, and the afternoon tea and desserts were also exquisite, the content of the conversation had nothing to do with romance and elegance.
From the Sea of Heaven to the Red Sea, from the Red Sea to the Sea of Mercury, light and agile pirate ships sailed through the dangerous reefs known only to them, and appeared like ghosts from places that were difficult for merchant ships to defend. Then came the battle between the merchant ship's armed forces and the pirate ship, artillery fire and blood.
Pirates have their way of identifying where ships come from.
The forecastle of ships from the Kingdom of Jager was tall and heavy, and the merchants of Jager mainly traded in olive oil and spices. Ships from the Free Merchant Cities, often laden with the heaviest metals and precious stones due to their thriving banking industries, however these ships are often well stocked, are careful to avoid areas conducive to pirate fighting, the dye industries of the Root Empire are thriving...
As the conversation progressed, Adele quickly drew a sea chart full of routes through Saran's narration, and saw the adaptability and shortcomings of various ships from another angle.
"The Elmia continent has their own beliefs. They believe that the soul of a person will return to the sun after death. They believe that the sunbird dies nine times and lives nine times. The world falls into darkness nine times, and then recovers light from darkness nine times. . ” When turning to the continent of Ermia, the narrator changed from Saran to a magician.
Although the magician is a freak who likes to have a clown doll speak for him, there's nothing wrong with Dalton's introduction.
He is also an outstanding adventurous businessman.
He seems to have traveled to many places, and even the pagan land of Ermia is well known. She has a frighteningly keen intuition for the subtle changes in properties and markets in various places. Adele listened for a while and interrupted him.
"Are you from Hermia?"
she asked softly.
The magician's voice stopped abruptly, and his body tensed up suddenly. At that moment, Adele felt that he was like a sword almost drawn out of its sheath.
At the same time, the smile on Saran's face also disappeared.
"Don't be nervous, sir." The queen reassured, "You have concealed your accent very well, but the syllables of the Elmian language are shorter, and there will still be a little trace of habit. However, I believe that after today, this little one will The flaws will never appear again."
The magician's dark green eyes looked at the queen for a long time, and the queen had a smile on her lips, and her attitude was friendly.
He brought himself back to normal little by little, but the following narration obviously restrained a lot.
"Now, I don't doubt that we will be able to open up new markets."
After the meeting, Adele said to Mrs. Kelly.
During the conversation just now, Mrs. Kelly seemed to be reading a book. However, the queen knew that she must be paying attention to the movement on her side wholeheartedly. If there was any change in the two Mr. Pirates just now, she would definitely call in the guards outside immediately.
"How do you know?"
Mrs. Kelly asked gently as she helped the Queen roll up her hair that had been blown down to her shoulders by the wind.
"If a prominent person who used to be from the continent of Elmia can't open the door to a new market for us, who else in the world can do it?"
the Queen said meaningfully.
At the same time, the two Mr. Pirates who had just left the summer palace also had their own ideas.
"What a dangerous beauty."
Captain Saran sighed, he tore off two buttons that were neatly buttoned when he met the queen, and he tossed the torn buttons up and down for fun.
"Man, she suspects you."
"trouble… "
Without saying a word, the magician strode Captain Saran behind him. The smiling clown doll on the shoulder turned its head, opened and closed its jaw, and answered slowly.
Sarah laughed gloatingly and without sympathy.
... ... ...
The meeting with the two pirate gentlemen had confirmed many things for the queen, and she had a clearer view of others-mainly what to do with the port.
So, soon, in the following time, the imperial meeting was held more frequently.
Clerks, lawyers, tax collectors, and judges had to accompany their mistress, spinning like tops. After that, Saran and Mr. Magician were summoned several times by the queen. More often, important officials such as Dalton, Rodriguez, Heinrich, and the Minister of Finance... often accept her consultation and talk until late at night. And after they left, the queen had to continue to deal with other things by herself. For this, Mrs. Carey's lips were always pursed tightly.
When it was Heinrich who stayed for consultation, Mrs. Kelly's lips were the tightest.
There are only two days left before the convening of the Congress. The Queen and Heinrich finally checked the draft draft. Most of the ports involved in this part are familiar to the Heinrich family.
Occasionally, Heinrich could feel Mrs. Kelly's gaze, which was vigilant and dissatisfied.
They all knew where the dissatisfaction came from, but no one mentioned it.
Mrs. Kelly didn't want to touch the Queen's scar, and Heinrich carefully avoided it. The Queen... No one knows what the Queen thinks.
Sometimes, Heinrich would have an illusion...
It feels like nothing has changed.
After Adele was crowned king, facing many complicated state affairs, she would talk with the ministers until late at night just like now. And he was the one who was asked most often—as she had said when she appointed him Secretary of State, she expected him to give him the best advice he could.
"I heard Sir Avaro returned to Moon River Valley."
After the discussion on the fishery bill to be proposed in Congress came to an end, Adele said casually.
Heinrich looked away hastily, and the knuckles of the hand holding the pen turned white.
"Yes."
He answered curtly and said nothing else.