People in Terra, governing a weird little country

[From Ernst Shivaash, Prime Minister of Kjerag:]

[The first train from Kjerag Pass to Tukarim Railway Station has been completed. We sincerely invite the Prime Minister to come and watch the ceremony. For this event, Kalan Trade also invited the representative of the Duke of Windermere Victoria and her daughter. 】

【My dear brother, you are too slow. 】

[Chairman of Kalan Trading, your brother: Enxioudis Shivaash. ]

"What a provocative letter."

Holhaiya lifted her hair, revealing her small, white ears. When she leaned forward to read the letter, she accidentally or intentionally bumped Ernst's ears lightly, and whispered teasingly:

"Is this the boss's competitor in China?"

There are pictures here, which can be viewed after the updated version

Ernst pursed his lips and nodded in annoyance.

The purpose of Boss Yin sending himself such a letter is extremely obvious.

Provocation! Kalan Trade was able to invite a Grand Duke of Victoria to send a representative in the name of Kalan Trade instead of the Kjerag government, while Ernst was still recruiting people to build the initial government framework. He was showing their influence in this way!

Just like he said, he was too fast and he was too slow!

Ernst couldn't help but feel a little helpless. To be honest, if Boss Yin could work together with him, then with the support of Kalan Trading's connections and financial resources, his series of plans would undoubtedly be much easier.

But his brother's stubborn character was a bit like the domineering president in women's novels. Even if Ernst talked to him about life many times, he would never give up his own ideas and direction and cooperate with Ernst's approach, unless he was really defeated by Ernst.

Otherwise, he would rather enjoy the state of cooperation with Ernst while competing with him.

"But in a way, that's a good thing, isn't it?"

Holhaiya reminded,

"This at least helps us formally rule out one option."

Ernst nodded in affirmation.

The Victoria Empire is the most powerful country on paper on the land of Terra today, and the Grand Dukes within it are all strong in military power. At the moment when the king was hanged, there was a feeling that "the emperor is the one who has the strongest military power."

Being able to get such a duke to attend a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the opening of a train, even if it was just a representative, was already a remarkable achievement.

You know, in another world line, the invitation of Lateran Pope Evangelista XI to convene a universal conference was rejected by Duke Godottin!

Boss Yin has such a network of contacts. At least, unless something unexpected happens, Ernst should not have to consider the possibility of contacting Victoria.

Ernst sighed. He had no idea whether this piece of information was important or not. This was a small compensation for this provocation.

He looked at Vina and encouraged her:

"Come on, Vina. This is the first time for both you and me to receive an official diplomatic envoy."

Vina seemed to be lost in thought. She suddenly came back to her senses when she heard Ernst's voice, and replied with some hesitation:

"Ah... OK."

Just after she finished speaking, she pursed her lips and said again,

"Um, Prime Minister, can I not attend this time?"

Ernst turned around in confusion: "Huh? Why?"

"Because..." Vina hesitated for a long time but couldn't come up with a reason.

You can't say that the Duke of Windermere was also suspected of being involved in hanging his own father, right?

The riot of the Aslan family seemed to be planned and launched by the Londinium City Council and the nobles, but everyone knew that without the acquiescence and observation of the other grand dukes, how could they have the courage to launch a rebellion alone?

When Vina was young, she had seen a portrait of the Duke of Windermere in the palace and had a vague impression of her. She only remembered that she was a tall woman with a stern face, one eye was injured and blind, and she exuded a military atmosphere.

She was not sure whether the Duke of Windermere would recognize her.

If he recognizes me, it will be troublesome. It might even implicate Kjerag!

She hesitated again and again, trying to find an excuse to avoid the reception, but she didn't have any suitable reason at the moment.

Ernst was confused. What? The Duke of Windermere knows you. Is he an old acquaintance?

Or is it that the home that you, the runaway daughter of Londinium, left behind was the Windermere family?

No, this is not the Duke of Windermere, but her representative. Why is it that the Duke of Windermere keeps a mistress outside without hiding from his family?

Or is it that the daughter of the Windermere family is actually your marriage partner? You ran away from the marriage because you feel guilty?

This is not right. Ernst is not discriminating against Orange, but she is the Duke's daughter...

What kind of prime-time soap opera at eight o'clock in the evening?

He shook his head, threw away all the random guesses, reached out his hand, patted Vina's shoulder, and said seriously:

"Don't be afraid. No matter what happened between you and the Duke of Windermere, you are now Kjerag's foreign minister. No one can do anything to you in Kjerag's territory!"

As if to dispel Vina's concerns, Ernst patted his chest and promised:

"I will go back and ask the great god Yelagunde for a Taoist talisman for you. If you are in danger, just shout: Help me, great god Yelagunde. Yelagunde will protect you!"

Vina couldn't help but burst out laughing, and the panic that had just risen and accumulated in her chest was immediately half dissipated:

"Does this work?"

"Of course, the great goddess Yelagunde is very helpful. She is the god who can become my mother!"

Vina covered her mouth, smiled and nodded.

Although she knew that Ernst was probably using some local feudal superstition of Kjerag to comfort herself, she still felt very warm and happy.

He was right, whatever Alexandrina had been through, it could not be changed.

Running away will not solve the problem, the past will catch up with you one day. Now that she has accepted the appointment of Foreign Minister and assumed this responsibility, there will definitely be many opportunities to deal with Victoria in the future!

Instead of worrying about the day that will eventually come, it is better to take advantage of it now, at least Ernst is with me!

Thinking this, she imitated Ernst in front of her, clasped her hands together, lowered her head slightly, and prayed, her heart and mouth in perfect harmony:

"Praise Yelagund, Gunmon."

Chapter 46: Windermere Family Affairs

June 1093 of the Terra calendar, Victoria, Duchy of Windermere, Liencarden.

The Duke of Windermere is a sturdy woman, which not only describes her tall and strong figure, but also is the most concise summary of her character and qualities.

There are pictures here, which can be viewed after the updated version

As the Grand Duke of the border region between Victoria and Leitania, the capital of the Duke of Windermere is very different from other duchies. It is built on the border, facing the military fortress of Leitania, and the whole area is fortified, with a sense of "the emperor guarding the country's gate". The Duke of Windermere of this generation, Amferlis Windermere, spends more time in the command room of the front-line headquarters than in her bedroom in the duke's mansion, which can be regarded as a model of full martial virtue.

But even a grand duke like her, who guarded the border and rarely participated in Victoria's political struggles, could not help but smell the increasingly strong bloody atmosphere in Victoria.

That was when the dukes roughly tore open the scar on the king's pus-filled wound, and he finally lost control of the rotting flesh and blood. The sweet smell emitted was enough to drive any vulture crazy.

“Big things are going to happen in Victoria.”

Ampherice Windermere concluded so, and this conjecture was officially confirmed today.

She received a secret letter from another Duke's messenger.

This letter, which traveled thousands of miles from the center of Victoria's political whirlpool to the hands of the border grand duke, said nothing but informed Ampherice Windermere of one thing - the grand dukes of Victoria had decided to hold a secret ducal meeting in the capital, Londinium, from the end of 1093 to the beginning of 1094.

How ridiculous! As the Duke of Windermere, she didn't even know when the meeting was decided, nor what it was going to discuss. If nothing unexpected happened, she, the border duke who defended the country, should be the last person to receive the letter.

It was even possible that the grand dukes who had gathered in Londinium following the scent had already made the decision before notifying her, and they just needed her to go through the process.

But could she not go?

No.

"There is no reason to give up resistance immediately after being attacked by surprise in war. Since we have already missed the opportunity, we should at least find out what the enemy's attack plan is."

Amphillis Windermere said slowly to her husband,

"Kent, this is the task I must give you. As the supreme commander of the Windermere border defense line, I cannot leave the command post without permission, but you have proved your ability to me. I will appoint you as my plenipotentiary representative to attend the Duke's secret meeting in Londinium, and Victoria will hear the voice of Lord Kent."

Kent Windermere nodded. "Of course, it's my pleasure, my Duke. But what about Delphine?"

Hearing this name, Amphillis Windermere's serious and rigid expression melted into a pool of warm water like ice in spring. She pursed her lips, and touched her hair at the temples with some embarrassment and shyness:

"I...I can't take care of children."

"In that case, why not send her away temporarily?" Kent Windermere smiled and suggested, "The situation in Victoria is changing rapidly now. No one knows which will come first, war or tomorrow. It is best to let Daphne leave this vortex temporarily before I come back."

There is another meaning in his words.

If the Duke's secret meeting was a trap, and if he did not come back in the end, it would mean that the dukes in Victoria who were now restraining each other had gone completely crazy and could not even tolerate the existence of a neutral Duke of Windermere.

By then, Daphne and Amphillis will certainly be in danger.

His Lord Duke knew very well that a woman with the name of Amphillis Windermere was never so weak as to need the protection of her husband. The only thing he needed to consider was the safety of their child, Delphine Windermere.

Anfeilis frowned slightly. "You want to send her away? Where can be safer than the Dukedom of Windermere, and my headquarters?"

"A safe place is not necessarily a hidden place." Kent shook his head. "Because there is no place safer than your headquarters, everyone will guess that you and Daphne will stay in the headquarters."

"And the place I'm sending Daphne to is hidden enough."

Kent took out an invitation letter from his arms and handed it to Amphillis. On it was the wax seal of the Kalan Trading logo that looked like the claw marks of an animal.

"Our friends in Kjerag sent us an invitation to attend the opening ceremony of the first train in Kjerag."

"Shelag?" Ampheris picked up the envelope, opened it and read it. After confirming that the content was the same as Kent said, she asked with a little doubt, "Is it hidden enough?"

Kent nodded. "Kjerag is surrounded by mountains, with a very high altitude. The roads inside are winding and rugged. There is no intercity network, no modern communications, and no modern transportation. People know each other and travel basically on foot and with pack animals. They believe in the Yelagund religion, and the people have a highly unified consciousness."

Amphillis immediately understood the deep meaning of Kent's words.

Surrounded by mountains, with extremely high altitudes and rugged roads, this means that the area is inevitably isolated from the outside world, closed, with little external communication and scarce intelligence. There is no intercity network, no modern communication and transportation, and people don't know each other, which means that espionage activities within the area are extremely difficult. Even if intelligence is obtained, it is difficult to send it out from the mountains. The belief in the Yelagund religion and the high degree of unity of public consciousness mean that the residents of the area are extremely difficult to be turned against.

Having fought against Leitania for a lifetime, Amphillis knew very well that fanatics were more difficult to deal with than soldiers. She could repel wave after wave of attacks from the Leitanian Elector's army, but it was difficult to pry open the mouths of one or two fanatics of the Witch King and find out what they were doing.

After a brief hesitation, she nodded and chose to trust Kent's judgment: "In that case, I'll leave this matter to you."

"Accept the invitation and take Daphne with you to attend the opening ceremony. Then, discuss with Kjerag's leader. We can pay a certain price in exchange for Kjerag's concealment and protection of Daphne."

Kent placed his left hand on his right chest, bowed slightly, performed a standard etiquette to his wife, and replied in a very romantic way:

"As you command, my lord."

At the end of June 1093, in the Duke of Windermere's territory, a car drove out of the headquarters and headed towards Kjerag.

There are pictures here, which can be viewed after the updated version

There are pictures here, which can be viewed after the updated version

Chapter 47: Our Kjerag National Defense is based on the principle of voluntariness!

Kjerag, Tukarim, government office building.

Ernst took out the rusty key from his pocket and opened the door of the office. He turned around, opened his arms, and solemnly introduced Holhayya behind him:

"Welcome to the Kjerag Government Office!"

Hol Haiya smiled politely and waved his hand: "Thank you, boss, but boss, can you take me to the office first? I need to get familiar with the working environment first..."

Ernst was stunned: "This is it."

Hol Haiya laughed, as if he was really good at joking: "Boss, stop joking. Isn't this your home? Even if you want to do something you love with me, you have to wait until after get off work, right?"

Ernst was silent for a moment, then answered very technically, "I have always been dedicated to my work. There is no difference between my office and my home."

Holhaiya then realized that Ernst was not joking, and the smile on his face froze, and he asked:

“Is this the Prime Minister’s office?”

"No air conditioning, no computer, no communicator, no tea or coffee maker, not even a small stove for heating?"

Every time she said something, Ernst lowered his head a little more, until it reached the lowest point and could not go any lower. Then Ernst suddenly realized.

That's not right, what am I afraid of?

This is Kjerag's territory. Now that the people of Holhaiya have come in, you have boarded a pirate ship and entered a den of thieves. No matter how dissatisfied you are, can you still run away?

In? I am now a representative of feudal theocracy who is even worse than the evil capitalists. If you round it up, I would be a voodoo priest in Sargon's time. I can't even buy a small stove by myself. You are still here to find fault with me. Do you have too much surplus value and need to be exploited?