Boom boom boom~
As Shade turned his gaze towards the door, there was indeed a knock on the door. Leicia frowned in dissatisfaction and looked at the door. The guard outside informed the princess that it was the owner of the manor, Miss Xiwei Aurora, who had arrived.
"That woman, what a jerk... Xia De, find a place to hide first."
Leicia said to Shade apologetically, and then saw that Shade was ready to hide under the desk:
This is the guest room of the manor, which is used as a temporary lounge for the banquet. The most convenient hiding place is actually the bathroom in the room, but Shade always feels that it is not a safe place.
After finding that it was not safe under the desk, his eyes immediately caught sight of the wardrobe in the corner, so he immediately opened it and got in. Except for the fishing rod in the corner, the wardrobe was full of women's clothes.
It was not known whether the clothes were brought by Leicia or prepared by the witch for the princess. After Shad entered, he smelled a pungent smell of spices and soapberries, which almost made him sneeze.
Leicia saw Shadlish close the closet door from the inside, but immediately stuck her head out again:
"Miss Maid, hurry up and stand in front of the cabinet!"
This is to prevent the witch with keen senses from hearing your heavy breathing due to lack of oxygen after staying in a confined space for too long.
The young maid who had brought Shade here just now looked at Leicia hesitantly, and the princess asked with a smile:
"How come you are so skilled?"
But she nodded slightly, and the maid quickly came to the cabinet. With a peaceful smile on her face, she clasped her hands together and placed them on her abdomen.
The cabinet door closed behind her. Shade peeked out through the crack in the door and was relieved to confirm that he could only see the maid's back.
Leicia grabbed the rabbit fur blanket and covered herself with it, then sat back on the sofa:
"Come in."
She stood up sleepily only after the owner of the manor, a descendant of an ancient family wearing a red dress, came in.
The person who walked in was a lady with long curly brown hair. She was wearing a slightly serious dark brown dress with a corset decorated with broken gemstones at the waist. Although she was smiling, her slender beauty and three-dimensional facial features made her look particularly majestic.
But Xia De didn't have time to appreciate the charm of the witch for the time being. He rushed into the closet too hard and was entangled in a pile of clothes. He held his breath and remained still, not even daring to use big movements to untie the ties that were entangled around his body.
The witch came here not because she noticed Shad's presence, but because she wanted to talk to Lecia about the Coldwater Port Shipyard again.
She would certainly not agree to the large number of shares that Lecia requested, but wanted to pay with cash or ten-year dividends from other industries of the Aurora family.
Miss Aurora even handed Lecia a bottle of liquid that was completely invisible from Shade's angle:
"Your Highness, you should also know that there are some secrets in this world that ordinary people like us don't know. Look at this, this is a potion called 'Mermaid Slime', it's not a merman, it's a mermaid."
"What's the use of this?"
Leicia's tone was monotonous, showing that she had no interest in this.
"Add this to your powder puff, one drop at a time, for a year to improve your skin."
“It’s really good stuff, but I don’t think I need it.”
With the Eternal Youth Leaves that Shade had lent her, Leisia really didn't need any weaker potions.
"Ma'am, although I know you don't want to build a warship, it will take more for me to convince my father and make him believe this."
"Those shares are definitely not okay, too many, that's too much."
The witch's tone was very gentle. Although he couldn't see the expressions of either party, Shade, who was tangled with women's clothes in the closet, subconsciously thought that Miss Aurora was talking with a smile:
"Your Highness, what do you want? I think after talking to you for these days, it's time for you to tell me what you really want."
"I can take only one-tenth of the shares, but I want your new shipyard to help me build some ships."
Leicia said.
"What ship?"
“This kind of ship.”
Then there was the sound of pages turning. It seemed that Leicia had some documents with her. After a moment of silence, Miss Aurora said with confusion in her tone:
"If I understand correctly, Your Highness, the kind of ship you want to build is a military... Maybe I understand it wrongly?"
She must have understood it correctly, and was sure that she had not understood it incorrectly. This was a test.
As for Shade in the closet, he had covered his mouth to prevent his breathing from being disordered due to hearing information that he shouldn't have heard. If he was not mistaken, Leicia wanted the shipyard of the Aurora family to help her secretly build some large steam ships that could be used in militarization as the price for her lobbying for Aurora in Tobesk.
"Yes, you misunderstood. You just need to build the ship. I will not install any weapons on it."
Leicia said, followed by a long silence.
"Once I agree to this request, it means that I have tied my family to you. Your Highness, I cannot make this decision lightly."
Miss Aurora said.
"It's okay, you can take your time to think about it."
"Yes, let's think about it slowly... My family only does shipping business, but we have never thought of getting involved in the politics of Delarion."
The witch's voice was neither hurried nor slow. Although the conversation seemed to be dominated by Lecia, Xiwei Aurora was never at a disadvantage from beginning to end.
"The opening of the New World has given those of you who are engaged in the shipping business a different kind of capital than before. Miss Aurora, your family will not be able to escape the impact of the change in power in the kingdom. Even if it's not me, it will be someone else."
Leicia said, her tone was monotonous and boring, and no real emotion could be heard at all.
"That makes sense, but I'd rather do legal business."
"legitimate?"
There was some mockery in Leisia's tone:
"Madam, I think even the beggars in Coldwater Harbor have heard about what your fleet did in the sea. How many of the fleets of the Seven Pirate Kings in the outer seas have nothing to do with you?"
"Only two of them concern me."
The witch said calmly, and Leicia smiled:
"Miss Aurora, this is an era of change. Everything is changing. Even an ancient family like Aurora cannot avoid making changes if it wants to continue to occupy a leading position in the surging tide of the times."
Shade only told Leicia that Xiwei Aurora was a sorceress from an ancient ring sorceress family, and did not tell her that she was a twelfth ring sorceress. Otherwise, Leicia might not be able to speak in this tone. But if he told her, the princess's unusual behavior would be noticed by her, so it was actually right not to tell her.
"Yes, what you said makes sense, but I think I need to think about it. After all, the family does not belong to me alone. We also have other partners in our business."
The witch replied slowly.
From Shade's point of view, Resia didn't offer a price at all. The princess wanted to build a bridge through this cooperation, and then gradually deepen the mark of Resia Cavendish on the Aurora family.
But it was obvious that Xiwei Aurora was not an ordinary woman. Even if she wanted to try her luck with a royal family member in the tide of change, she would definitely have to seek the hint and permission of Carina Cavendish, who was also a member of the Witch Council.
This ancient family of ring sorcerers has survived to this day, so they must have their own unique methods. In Shade's opinion, Leicia's idea is unlikely to succeed unless she can come up with more chips to attract the witch.
The stranger in the closet breathed in the smell of the clothes that entangled him, and listened quietly to the confrontation between the princess and the witch in the dark. He had a better understanding of the political means of this era and the current situation in Delarion.
To be honest, these things are very strange to Xia De. He has already integrated into his current life, but when he hears about these political situations, he feels a sense of detachment.
The Yodel Palace where the Delarion royal family lived was only one street away from Saint Teresa Square, but he always believed that the things that happened in that palace, the conspiracies and plans that took place in that building that could almost be regarded as the center of the entire kingdom, were actually far away from him.
But it was not until this moment, when he heard the princess's conversation in this slightly funny posture, that he suddenly felt that he had participated in the process of history.
"But Lecia's method is still not smart enough. If it were me, I would at least invite her to dinner at Sophia's mansion, arrange a play during the meal, warn her of the consequences of rejecting the proposal, and then, while the witch is thinking, use my own chips and advantages. But I would not ask her to give an answer immediately, but let her go back to think about it, and mobilize the navy of Coldwater Port to conduct exercises the next day... Invite, behead, accept the pawn..."
Thinking of this, he couldn't help but laugh at himself. These were all opinions of an outsider, and they were subjective and arbitrary. The reality was more complicated, and perhaps his ideas were more ridiculous.
Outsider, are you good at this kind of thing
"She" was whispering softly in his ear, and every time Xia De heard her voice in the dark, he always imagined that she was right behind him.
"Of course not. This is not what I learned in my hometown. This is just hearsay."
Xia De answered in his heart, and then suddenly heard Leixia raising her voice outside. Their topic just now had turned to this unfortunate banquet.
"Ma'am, you are so rude!"
Xia De's eyes widened suddenly. He still remembered what Miss Carina had said about Xivi Aurora's hobbies.
"Is it a tradition of the Aurora family to touch a lady's hand casually?"
Leisia's voice showed that she was a little angry, while Shad in the closet breathed a sigh of relief.