RLQ - Chapter 29
Chapter 29: Heinrich
“Yes.”
Dalton replied, his expression becoming slightly subtle.
Although, in the new age of navigation where sails were gradually replacing oars, it wasn't uncommon for nobles to secretly invest in privateering. The sailors and merchants the Queen wanted could, euphemistically, be called “privateers,” but more directly, they were pirates. But… before being recalled to the capital, Dalton was the Governor of Keximia Port, arguably half a navy man.
It would be quite scandalous for the navy to collude with pirates.
But besides the support of “privateers,” where else could Dalton get sufficient funds to build an army?
Adele had no intention of blaming him for this. On the contrary, she smiled with remarkable leniency: “Some friends with slightly tarnished reputations?”
Dalton spread his hands, tacitly admitting it.
Just as the Queen had guessed, Dalton had indeed reached a secret agreement with a group of “privateers”—to be direct, a group of pirates.
Single or small numbers of pirate ships found it difficult to achieve substantial gains at sea for long periods. Their status as wanted criminals also meant they couldn't dock and rest like ordinary merchant ships. Any pirate aiming for success had to learn to form alliances, expand their scale, and gain access to special channels.
Objectively, the best way was to reach a secret agreement with the official port government. However, before this, most major ports in the Roland Empire were controlled by nobles, who also had their own merchant ships, and pirates, mostly from poor backgrounds, often held grudges against noble lords… making cooperation difficult.
Until Dalton, this commoner anomaly, took charge of Keximia Port's defense.
A relatively large pirate group reached an agreement with Dalton.
Dalton secretly provided them with berthing places and supplies. The pirates could freely enter and leave the taverns and shops in Keximia Port—as long as they maintained a passable disguise on the surface. In return, the pirates would use the wealth they plundered to support the construction of Dalton's musketeer force.
At certain necessary times, the musketeers would even quietly board the pirate ships to help them repel more troublesome enemies.
Adele listened as Dalton briefly recounted his cooperation with the Keximia pirates, while thinking about other matters.
Outstanding pirates were often excellent sailors, and even more courageous and fearless than ordinary sailors. Their perseverance was enough to support them in completing a long voyage across the entire Sea of Heaven. The only problem was that this time Roland didn't need to establish colonies, but to open up new markets.
In other words, they needed not only sailors but also merchants.
Dalton caught the Queen's contemplation. He thought for a moment and said, with a hint of reluctance, “To some extent, they are both pirates and adventurous merchants. If you wish, I can write to them and ask those two fellows to come see you.”
As soon as the words left his mouth, Dalton immediately regretted it.
By the gods, he absolutely did not want those two fellows to appear in the Summer Palace, neither the black-haired lunatic nor the other freak.
But… alas! What could he do? The Queen's gaze was already fixed on him.
Dalton had no choice but to sit down again, pull out paper and a quill pen, and start writing the letter.
As he wrote, he sincerely hoped that a storm would quickly brew at sea, preferably drowning those two fellows. Anyway, getting a new captain wasn't a bad thing for the pirates.
While Dalton was sincerely hoping for a storm at sea, some people, though not at sea, were also in a storm.
After the Privy Council meeting, the Queen's attitude and her intentions were immediately conveyed through various connections and means, dropping heavy stones into the hearts of some people and some families.
The classical-style buildings of the Roland capital were immersed in the resounding church bells. Nobles and lords arrived one after another at a mansion in the Third District. Their faces showed anger or shock as they hurried into the hall.
The owner of the mansion, Heinrich, presided over the meeting.
Almost everyone who came had some connection to the Heinrich family. Some were followers of the Heinrich family, some were lords with long-standing and close cooperation with the Heinrich family, and some had marital ties to the Heinrich family. This was why the Queen had forced Heinrich to bow his head at the Privy Council meeting.
The Heinrich family had now become the leader of a group of nobles. If they yielded, it would be difficult for other families to have other options.
Nevertheless, the meeting was not pleasant.
The peace lasted less than half an hour before the participating families began to argue. Some felt that privateering licenses could bring them greater profits—a successful private raid could potentially be worth tens of thousands of gold Rolands. Others scoffed at this.
“Are you just going to yield to that little girl like this?” the head of the □□no family shouted loudly. His family had a distant relationship with the Heinrich family.
“Do you dare to stand on the street now and shout ‘I oppose the Queen's rule’?”
The families supporting the relinquishment of port control retorted with equal sharpness.
The heavy rain had just passed, and the imperial capital was enveloped in the Queen's majesty brought by the divine miracle. At this time, if any family dared to openly oppose the Queen, tens of thousands of believers would dare to rush into that family's mansion that very day and let them feel the wrath of the mob.
As the argument gradually escalated, Heinrich, who had been silent, finally had to make a statement.
“…The Queen refused the marriage alliance with the Yage Kingdom and chose the Rute Empire. Retaliation from the Yage Kingdom could arrive at any time.” Heinrich's face looked somewhat cold under the light of the crystal chandelier overhead. “Once the Yage Kingdom cuts off Roland's trade route with the Free Commercial Cities, port revenues will quickly plummet. Holding tightly to control of the ports will not bring us more profit; it will only tie our respective families to the royal carriage confronting the Yage Kingdom.”
“Among you, who is willing to drive warships and contend with the Yage fleet to open up the shipping lanes?”
Heinrich's blunt words swayed some who had been hesitant to express their stance. After a long, exhausting negotiation, they chose to support Heinrich.
Despite this, the agreement still didn't proceed smoothly.
A small portion of people—like the head of the □□no family—angrily felt that the Heinrich family must have betrayed the lords and secretly re-allied with the Queen.
As he left, the head of the □□no family spat on the ground resentfully, sneering acidly, “Fine! Some people prostrate themselves at the feet of a woman, and they want to drag everyone else along to be her lackeys.”
His words made everyone present change color.
Before Heinrich could get angry, representatives from other families immediately came over and forcibly escorted the head of the □□no family out.
The hall became empty again.
Only Heinrich and one person on the left side of the long table remained. That person was Sir Anbaro. He was also a member of the Heinrich family, Heinrich's uncle, and the lord of Moon Port and Moon River Valley.
Sir Anbaro picked up the wine glass on the table, took a sip, and then looked at Heinrich: “The Queen is no longer willing to trust our family as she did in the past. My dear nephew, I hope you will be honest and tell me what exactly she is planning? Does she want to put a noose around the neck of the two-headed snake? Don't tell me you don't know how important the ports are to us.”
“The strength retained by Archbishop Rhodri's Temple Knights is no less than the family's assassins.” Heinrich felt a vague sense of fatigue. “Unless you want the family to be expelled from the imperial capital once again, you had best do nothing.”
“What an ungrateful fellow! She's forgotten who put her on the throne.”
And you've forgotten whose trust allowed the family to return to the imperial capital.
Heinrich didn't want to say anything. He just felt as ridiculous as his uncle. So he picked up the agreement signed by the family heads just now, preparing to review them one by one.
However, Sir Anbaro continued to complain incessantly: “…Look at what you've wasted over a decade doing? With so many opportunities, you actually couldn't get her to willingly come to your bed! If your cousin had been the one to become her tutor back then, the Heinrich family might already be the King of Roland by now…”
“Shut up.”
Heinrich roared angrily. Before he realized what he had done, he had already drawn the sleeve dagger and thrown it towards Sir Anbaro.
The sleeve dagger grazed the knight's shoulder, and blood gushed out almost instantly.
“Fine!” Sir Anbaro's anger flared up. “No wonder you were so slow to do what your father told you back then! You—a Heinrich—you actually fell in love with her? You love her, don't you?!”
“If you want the Moon Port trade route cut off, then keep talking.”
Heinrich's voice was icy cold.
This threat quickly had an effect on Sir Anbaro—his expression was wonderfully complex, as if someone had beaten him severely for three days and three nights. He wanted to draw his sword and stab Heinrich, to curse him and send him and that woman born of a witch to hell.
But he didn't have the courage to do so.
Heinrich's expression under the candlelight was terrifying, more so than ever before.
Sir Anbaro pointed at him, his lips trembling for a long time, his face alternating between pale and flushed.
Finally, he kicked over a chair and stormed out angrily.
The hall was completely empty again, leaving only Heinrich. He slumped back into the chair, gripping the armrest tightly.
Anbaro's words touched upon some memories he didn't want to think about, memories that made him nauseous… His father had written to him countless times, urging him to establish a more intimate relationship with the princess as soon as possible… They hoped he would be the princess's first, and preferably last, lover.
Such nauseating things often happened in the court.
If the heirs of some families, or even crown princes, were placed under the guardianship of nobles for unavoidable reasons in their childhood, they were very likely to suffer abuse in their early years—especially sexual assault. The perpetrators were not entirely driven by lust; more often, they wanted to dominate the victims through such means in their childhood.
This kind of shadow often accompanied the victims throughout their lives.
Sir, Sir…
Heinrich's breathing became rapid.
He closed his eyes tightly, and in his ears, he seemed to hear the voice of sixteen-year-old Adele again… She sat on a silver horse, smiling at him with her face turned. She jumped off the horse, her red dress blooming in the air. Her cheeks were the color of roses under the sunset glow, and at that time, she still trusted him completely…
Those letters, those strict or gentle commands, were ultimately burned by Heinrich one by one. Watching those urgings burn fiercely in the fire, he felt only uncontrollable hatred and disgust.
…Do you think doing this will make her grateful to you? What do you think you can gain by doing this?
His father's gray eyes held pupils as cold as the two-headed snake on the family crest, and his voice seemed steeped in venom, filled with cruelty.
…No, you will gain nothing, only miss the opportunity.
…Don't forget.
“You are a Heinrich.”
He murmured.
…You are a Heinrich. You enjoy everything this surname and family bring you—money, status, glory. You must dedicate yourself to this family; everything about you is deeply branded with this family's mark.
Everything has a price.
It wasn't until he caught the young princess amidst the flying dandelions that he suddenly realized how chilling the simple motto of the family was. However, it was all too late.
In the past twenty years, he had become inextricably linked with this family.
What could a viper change, even if it once had a trace of conscience? What was a viper qualified to get? What could it do?
Nothing, nothing at all, it could do nothing.
Heinrich raised his head.
The last church bell had faded away. The deep night enveloped the land. The slender columns of the classical era rose vertically, the vaulted ceiling was unattainable, and the intersecting ribs cast diagonal shadows. His childhood and youth were spent here, accompanied by the two-headed snake reliefs on the columns and walls.
In the candlelight, he seemed to see the two-headed snake from ancient legends slowly coming to life, slithering towards him. He heard their merciless hissing, heard the ridiculous and sorrowful mockery.
A…
Heinrich.
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