RLQ - Chapter 26
Chapter 26: A New Era
Heinrich was right about at least one thing.
When Kelly saw the Queen return, wrapped in the chill of the rain, she was practically furious.
As she quickly helped the Queen change out of her rain-soaked outer robe, she quietly, with a hint of complaint, pleaded with her: "My dear Majesty, if you still have any consideration for me, please don't do this again. Is there anything that can't be said on a clear day, or inside a room?"
"Alright, I promise..."
Adele's promise faltered under Kelly's reproachful gaze.
"You promised me before you wouldn't go to the seaside before a storm!" Kelly blurted out.
That was back when they were at Reef Castle.
Adele preferred walking on the high reefs to staying in the castle. The black rocks stood ruggedly by the deep blue coast, washed by the tide. When she walked barefoot on them, she saw petrels breaking through the waves. Those free and brave birds flew past her, making her feel free too. However, Kelly worried terribly about this, fearing she might fall off the reef at any moment...
"I'll try my best," Adele recalled those times, her tone lighter. "Perhaps, we should find time to go back and see."
Admittedly, the days of exile weren't easy, but in that seaside castle, not everything was bleak. There, the difference in status was diminished, and they truly became family—of course, they still are now.
Kelly looked at the Queen gently, taking her words as a rare moment of willfulness.
As rulers, monarchs needed to tour their territories periodically to maintain the loyalty and affection of their people. During these tours, monarchs could meet their people face-to-face, better winning their hearts. Furthermore, royal visits to towns and villages could stimulate local trade and industry.
A typical example was the city of Menachi in Roland—now more often called "Rose City."
During his sixth tour, Adele's father, Edmon III, arrived at this small town. The vibrant roses there caught his attention, and he placed a rose in the Queen's crown in front of the people, starting a fashion... Even now, nobles and officials still use Menachi roses as elegant decorations.
However, to ensure the safety of the monarchs, the tour routes were carefully selected.
And Reef Castle... the most remote, desolate, and dangerous Reef Castle, would never appear on a tour route.
Kelly also didn't want the Queen to return to Reef Castle; it was simply too dangerous.
However, the Queen was indeed seriously considering the matter of a tour.
—After the Port and Navigation Acts were finalized.
From her coronation until now, strictly speaking, she had not had a formal national tour.
In the first year of her reign, there were still many people in the country unwilling to accept a woman as the ruler of the Empire, and the National Assembly constantly sought opportunities to correct this "mistake." In the second year, the second conflict between the New God Sect and the Old God Sect erupted. Touring at such a time would have been unwise.
But now it was different.
It was not good for a monarch to be too distant from the people they ruled, especially for a Queen. She needed the support of the people more than kings did. And now the drought had subsided under the heavy rain, and the St. Lorrain monasteries across the land were facing a purge—according to the Queen's command, the property of the purged monasteries, besides the portion submitted to the royal treasury, would also be directly used for local relief.
This was a unique opportunity.
The awe brought by the sudden rain would not last long in the hearts of the nobles, who prioritized profit—given enough profit, it was not impossible for them to kneel and kiss the devil's feet. Miracles could make them fearful, but this fear would diminish over time. With the common people, however, it was different.
At the necessary moment, she would not hesitate to portray herself as a symbol of divine mandate.
She had inherited an Empire that was merely a shell. The ancient reverence and loyalty of the nobility towards the royal family were crumbling, and years of religious conflict had caused people to hate each other, turning swords that should have been directed outwards towards the Empire's own heart. Various disasters had nearly caused it to fall apart—in fact, in the original historical trajectory, it did fall apart.
The Queen needed to unite this ancient Empire once more. Only by doing so could it welcome an era that was about to arrive.
—An era of navigation, adventure, and change.
"A new era is coming."
A falcon soared into the sky, casting a small shadow on the ground.
The weather was good today. Orsis released his rare white falcon in the royal forest.
For hunting, Orsis wore a dark red riding outfit today, with a white and gold quiver strap on his shoulder fastened with a diamond pin. His silver-grey eyes had the brilliance of a sword blade under the tree shadows. Not long ago, the news of the Roland Queen undergoing the Divine Judgment and the sudden heavy rain also reached the Rute Empire.
The fact that the Roland Queen had received divine favor caused some people within the Empire to change their attitude.
Regarding the marriage alliance between the Rute Empire and the Roland Empire, there was not without opposition within the Empire. There was a certain group... well, Orsis privately called them "old fossils," who stubbornly believed that the Roland Queen's eyes were a complete symbol of a witch, and how could the Rute Emperor marry an evil witch like the former Roland King Edmon III?
Now, this group had shut their mouths, but another group began to worry.
Some of those who had previously supported this marriage alliance were anxious about how the Rute Empire could control Roland through her, now that the Roland Queen's position was stable. They would rather Orsis marry a notorious Roland Queen than marry such a Queen who... surprised the world.
Orsis knew exactly what these people were thinking.
Perhaps some people believed that Orsis became the Emperor of the Rute Empire simply because he was lucky enough to be born two years earlier than his brother. But a young Emperor who could gradually consolidate power in just a few years, despite the long-standing control of the Empress Dowager and the Prime Minister, would not be a fool in any respect.
And now, regarding the thoughts of those people...
Frankly, Orsis found it amusing.
They were extremely anxious about how he would control Roland after marrying the Roland Queen, but why hadn't they considered this one thing—did the Roland Queen truly want to enter into a marriage with him, with the Rute Empire?
Before the rebellion in the Roland Empire ended, or before that heavy rain fell, Orsis had some confidence in this marriage. But now, he no longer thought so.
Through the reports of his spies, he sensed the presence of a kindred spirit.
An ambitious and resolute monarch would never allow her Empire to become a dependency of another, nor would she share her crown with anyone else. His officials only saw her personal interests, but overlooked the fact that she was vastly different from ordinary women—she was a dangerous ruler.
Do not assume a viper is harmless just because it lies dormant during its weak period.
Anyone who thought she would be a docile and obedient wife was an absolute fool.
Now, she had already given the Rute Empire a warning.
Prince Arthur.
Even with Orsis's composure, thinking about this made his head ache. He truly regretted sending Arthur to negotiate the marriage with Roland just to reduce Arthur's control over the Empire's shadows.
Damn it, he really didn't want the future history books of the Rute Empire to describe it like this:
"—Prince Arthur, enraged by missing the opportunity to paint the scene of the Roland Queen receiving divine favor, harbored deep hatred for his brother Orsis, leading to rebellion..."
That would make the Rute royal family a laughingstock for eternity!
Orsis pushed aside this headache-inducing but temporarily unresolvable matter and continued to ponder the Roland issue.
"I'd bet that the Roland Queen, who is said to have received divine favor, never intended to marry me from the start."
"There are no signs of Roland backing out; they are equally enthusiastic about the marriage negotiations," Baron James—his confidant and friend—evidently didn't quite believe it. "She is a woman after all. A woman needs a husband to help her handle state affairs and share her burdens. Moreover, the Roland Empire wouldn't approve if she didn't marry."
"My dear Mr. James," Orsis replied, "Negotiation is merely a means to maintain the alliance. They currently need Rute to fight against Yage with them. But if we successfully gain control of the Tuva Duchy, do you think they will still be our allies?"
"But besides Rute, who else can Roland ally with?"
James countered.
Besides the Rute Empire, there was no other country where the New God Sect held dominance.
"In the face of profit, faith is insignificant. Just wait and see, Roland is about to draft new Port and Navigation Acts. We will get a signal from that."
The Port Act and the Navigation Act.
These two were crucial to the Roland Empire.
This was related to the Empire's geographical location. It bordered the Rute Empire and the Papal State to the north, the Sea of Heaven to the west, and the Red Sea to the east. Its territory was relatively long and narrow, with north-south mountain ranges and a long, winding coastline, giving it countless excellent harbors, like stars in the sky.
Regulations concerning ports and navigation had to be discussed by the National Assembly, but before that, the Queen and the Privy Council could not do nothing.
"It's quite rare to see the Archbishop here."
When Dalton met Archbishop Rhodri in the corridor, he mocked him with a half-smile.
It was well known that Archbishop Rhodri never stayed in his room at the Summer Palace. Likewise, he never appeared at the Queen's Privy Council meetings.
But today, he was here.
In just half a month, Archbishop Rhodri had become thinner, the lines of his cheekbones looking sharper than before. When he walked from the other end of the long corridor in his black cassock, the maids would instinctively suppress their smiles and become reserved.
Facing Dalton's mockery, Archbishop Rhodri remained unmoved.
The handling of the Old God Sect had concluded; the St. Lorrain monasteries had their legal status revoked. But on the other hand, the Queen also showed her tolerant side—she did not punish ordinary Old God followers or force them to convert to the New God Sect. She personally wrote a very moving speech.
Archbishop Rhodri remembered that speech clearly.
"...My dear people, if any of you shed blood because of this, how heartbroken it would make me, and the Roland Empire—your greatest and most merciful mother."
After breaking through the fog before his eyes, Archbishop Rhodri was finally able to view these speeches from a different perspective—not from his previous prejudiced religious viewpoint.
They were truly exquisite masterpieces. In her speeches, Adele simultaneously displayed the majesty of a ruler and the tenderness of a woman. She compared the protracted conflict between the New God followers and the Old God followers to "flesh and blood tearing each other apart." She deliberately downplayed the differences in their faith and emphasized their common ground: "Roland."
—She was, in her own way, working hard to mend this battered Empire.
Archbishop Rhodri understood this.
She was saving this country.
Where protection and justice reside, there is the kingdom of God.
Under the scrutinizing and surprised gazes of everyone, the Archbishop walked into the study where the Privy Council meeting was being held. The Queen sat in the chair in the center of the room, nodding slightly towards him.
He silently bowed deeply.
"I believe you have all heard," Adele began, using a phrase common among Rolanders to get straight to the point, "The Rose Strait is to Roland like a net spread between the Sea of Heaven and the Red Sea, from which gold coins flow endlessly into the pockets of the Rolanders."
The Rose Strait, the jewel of the Roland Empire's pride.
It connected the Sea of Heaven and the Red Sea. All merchant ships trading between the two seas had to pass through here.
"At the same time, countless swords will come for it. The Roland of the past was strong enough, like a lion intimidating the land, keeping jackals and hyenas at bay. But now, we are reduced to needing an alliance with the Rute Empire to repel the covetous. Why is this?"
"Answer me, gentlemen."
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