"And for other nobles in high positions, such rhetoric is sheer nonsense; everyone understands that Elizabeth is the victor of the struggle. Since the chess game is set, there is no talking of taking back moves; all they can do is consider how to protect their current share of the cake, or how to get a larger piece of it."
Pahetz nodded in agreement upon hearing this but felt a twinge of pity as she looked at Alagina sitting in her seat.
Because had that Feudal King treated her and her father a bit better back then, Alagina would certainly have been a suitable heir...
Well, but that’s not necessarily the case.
After all, as Alagina’s teacher, Pahetz understood best that Alagina did not harbor any lofty ambitions in her heart; even now, things were quite alright as they were.
Beneath that letter was a long list of new policies "agreed upon" by Elizabeth and the New Party, mostly aimed at rectifying various old maladies, including redrawing the administrative divisions of Saint Nali and protecting domestic agricultural products and so on, but these were not for Alagina to worry about.
She put down the newspaper in her hand; below it was another message, but this one was not from the pirate port. The intricate gold pattern stamped upon it signified that this document was issued directly from the Nali Golden Palace.
"Hmm, let’s see what this one says. A bounty... a bounty on Fisher Benavides! The reward... ten million Narliou?!! Are they kidding me? That’s two and a half million more euros than us, is this guy some kind of treasure in Elizabeth’s hands, worth so much?"
Alagina did not respond; her gaze lingered on the portrait of Fisher Benavides below the bounty notice, and underneath the portrait it was written:
Fisher Benavides has kidnapped the noble Princess Isabella Gedelin. Anyone who can bring both of them back to Nali alive will not only receive the full reward, but the Golden Palace will also make an exception and grant him a noble title.
As Alagina finished reading this bounty order, her hand began to emanate a bone-chilling cold. The cold enveloped the bounty order completely, and when the ice block solidified and then shattered the next second, the paper wrapped inside had already disappeared without a trace.
"Ah, this is quite the predicament..."
Pahetz quickly realized something, and she walked to the door of the Captain’s Room again, standing in the outside corridor and looking down at the deck below.
Starting from this morning, Isabella had joined the crew in training, but that girl was so frail, barely running a few rounds before she started to vomit.
Now she was leaning over the railing, vomiting into the sea, while the other crew members watched the commotion from behind, counting one, two, three as though to encourage her, making quite a scene.
"If that girl really is Princess Isabella, then having her on board is like having a bomb, one that might go off at any moment..."
"Fisher never thought about dragging us into this. He just wanted us to take them to a place to dock... But don’t worry too much, ever since she boarded the ship, she is no longer a princess of Nali, and no one knows she’s on our ship."
Alagina also walked next to Pahetz, looking towards the blonde girl; evidently, she and Pahetz were both aware of the girl’s true identity now.
Pahetz’s words were merely teasing and showed no fear of Nali, after all, they are not like other people; they are pirates who come and go freely without supervision, having been chased for so many years by their old homeland, the Sardinia Female Country, without even a hair caught.
As long as they enter the Eastern Ocean, it wouldn’t matter whether it’s Nali or if several countries came together.
"Just to be safe, I’ll go check if she’s carrying any Magic Items, to avoid being tracked by the Nali people."
Alagina nodded in agreement, then suddenly remembered something, scanned the deck, but couldn’t find the person she was looking for,
Pahetz, who was rubbing the back of her head and preparing to leave, also looked around puzzled,
"Hmm? Wasn’t he just over there? Where did he run off to now?"
Upon hearing this, Alagina instinctively looked up and realized that at this very moment Ossie had also disappeared from the mast.
And ten minutes earlier on the deck, Fisher was cooling himself in the shade provided by the mast, alone.
Emhardt had been snatched away by Karma and the others, probably now busy feeding rats in one of the cabins below deck.
But to be accurate, Fisher wasn’t there just for rest; first and foremost, he was there to watch over Isabella during the crew’s training.
Today’s sun was somewhat harsh, and Isabella’s delicate skin was directly exposed to the sun. Coupled with the heavy training, it didn’t take long for her to sweat profusely and keep panting.
At this moment, she was no longer wearing that long white dress but had changed into an extra short-sleeved shirt and long pants provided by the crew, lining up early in the morning and joining them in running laps and exercising on deck.
However, her physical strength was too weak; she fell half a lap behind just by running one lap, and it didn’t take long before the main group had passed her from behind several times.