novelraw Chapter 182: Elizabeth's Courtyard
Chapter 182: Elizabeth's Courtyard
In essence, the Golden Palace was actually the palace where the kings of Godolin resided for generations. This meant that according to the usual rules, as princes and princesses, Dexter and Elizabeth could not live in the Golden Palace for a long time. They could only return during festivals or family dinners.
According to the previous rules, after coming of age, princes and princesses would be allocated a piece of land of their own to live on within the royal territory outside the palace. As for underaged princes and princesses, they needed to receive education and supervision within the Golden Palace. For example, Isabel was exactly like this; after returning from Saint-Nazareth University on the weekend, she had to return to the Golden Palace.
But after all, the situation inside the Golden Palace had changed now. With Godolin IX's body worsening day by day, he fundamentally had no energy to worry about national affairs, much less the education issues of the princes and princesses.
Nowadays, numerous national affairs were completely handed over to the eldest prince Dexter to handle. He and Lensis—one handling national affairs and the other taking care of the king's body—frequently needed to enter and exit the Golden Palace.
As for Elizabeth, sometimes she lived in the Golden Palace, and sometimes she resided in her own courtyard in the suburbs. This was related to whether she had official business to attend to. However, in reality, Elizabeth still preferred living in her allocated western-style mansion, as it was much more comfortable and unconstrained.
Elizabeth's western-style mansion was located on the royal private land in the east of Saint-Nazareth. Its area was neither large nor small, but the decoration was extremely exquisite.
The entire body of the building was mainly in milky white pearl paint. It was three stories high overall, but the actual floor area of the house wasn't large. What truly occupied a larger area was the backyard behind her mansion. The wide grounds occupied an entire small hilltop, making it extremely suitable for both sports and taking strolls. In past years, she even brought Isabel here to ride horses.
It was exactly the same today. Elizabeth, who wasn't entangled by official business, stayed in the mansion to rest.
It was just a little past ten in the morning. In the courtyard behind the mansion, a table and chairs were placed under a large sun-shading umbrella. Elizabeth, wearing a form-fitting home dress, sat demurely on a chair. Holding a quill pen and writing something, lines of elegant cursive Naris script neatly appeared on the letter paper.
The mansion was extremely quiet. Aside from a maid standing behind Elizabeth, it seemed only the dogs running everywhere on the hilltop behind the courtyard would issue barking sounds.Looking carefully, there was roughly eight or nine dogs on that hillside, encompassing various breeds and sizes. They ran joyfully in the distance, fighting over and biting the toys on the ground.
Elizabeth loved keeping dogs, and furthermore, various breeds of canines. The eighteenth birthday gift Godolin IX gave her was a purebred Naris Golden Retriever, with a market price of over a hundred thousand Narios. It was precisely that dog among the group that grew to be the tallest and most handsome, which Elizabeth was quite fond of.
Not even two years after Elizabeth had just graduated from the Royal Academy, she took over the command of the Royal Army. Through large and small frictions with Schwari and Kadu, she experienced thirty-three battles, ultimately stabilizing the disputes of Naris's external threats.
Her outstanding military command and combat capability proved her status in the military. Later on, the increasingly weak Godolin IX also dispatched and unified the Royal Navy and the Royal Guard under her command. As a result, Elizabeth became the deputy commander of the Naris Royal military forces, while the position of the main commander was still nominally held by Godolin IX.
And wherever she went these years, sometimes if she heard there was a local specialty dog breed there, she would bring it back to raise. Previously, when the Queen of Schwari received her, she gifted her a puppy, showing she indeed possessed a partiality toward these pet dogs.
Among this group of dogs, there was the Sanctuary Hound of Kadu, the Dragon-Fighting Dog of Schwari, the Kamula Long-haired Dog of the Northern Border, and of course three special dog breeds of Naris. These years, before she even realized it, she had raised eight or nine of them at home.
The little dogs played around everywhere in the distance, while Elizabeth quietly wrote a letter. Beneath the letter she was writing was a letter Fisher previously wrote to her, describing Dexter's meeting with him as well as numerous pieces of intelligence that had appeared recently.
Evidently, Elizabeth was currently writing a reply to Fisher.
"Your Highness, Prince Dexter is here..."
"Okay, I understand."
Right when Elizabeth was writing the letter, another maid walked out of the mansion with her head lowered, reporting a few sentences softly to her. Waiting until Elizabeth nodded her head, she then placed her hands on her lower abdomen and slowly retreated out of the backyard. Meeting her head-on and exactly walking in was that handsome prince wearing a pure white royal formal dress: Dexter.
Elizabeth tossed the quill pen into the ink bottle beside her, and subsequently slowly stood up, performing a courtesy to her own elder brother.
"Elizabeth."
"Elder brother..."
Dexter waved his hand, naturally sitting on another corner of the table and chairs under the parasol. Following that, he swept a glance at the letter spread flat on the table. Elizabeth did not conceal it, so he easily saw the person's name written on it.
After taking this glance, Dexter smiled, looking up at Elizabeth.
"It looks like your relationship is better than I imagined. Do you guys frequently exchange letters?"
"Not frequently either, just a bit more diligent recently."
"That can also be considered a bit of progress. However, to actually require a princess to be so proactive, that kid is truly somewhat over the line. When I met with him, I opened my mouth to give him a reminder; let's hope he can listen to it."
Hearing her elder brother's words, Elizabeth smiled and shook her head, her golden gaze looking at the domestic dogs fighting with each other in the distance.
On the hilltop, the "woof woof" sounds they made transmitted over from afar. Given that it was background noise, it could be considered overly noisy. Consequently, Elizabeth gently reached out and waved her hand. Those dogs immediately stopped fighting one after another, obediently running back, lifting their heads and panting with their tongues out while squatting beside Elizabeth.
This scene truly surprised Dexter. This was his first time seeing canines trained to be so obedient. He normally conversed with his younger sister very little, much less visiting her mansion as a guest. He had basically only paid a visit once when she was first allocated the private land. If there hadn't been serious business this time, perhaps he might not have had the time to come either.
"You raised them truly well. How did you do it?"
"The minds of little dogs are simple, and their obedience is also strong. Just by raising them they gradually understand my commands. Later on, elder brother can also raise one to try... Putting these aside, is elder brother coming over this time because of Lensis's matter?"
"Aha, since Fisher told you then it makes things easy to handle..."
Dexter looked at the group of small dogs beside her who merely panted with their tongues out carrying a smile. His gaze jumped slightly, and he said.
"During the charity gala on the weekend, I have to mobilize the military. What Lensis has done is too over the line; it's indeed time to teach him a lesson. Moreover, Black is also standing behind him. Even if he is Royal Father's friend, I must still give him a lesson... I want to raid the Healing House."
Elizabeth waved her hand, and the group of dogs beside her obediently ran back to the dog kennel on the side of the mansion. She didn't make Dexter wait too long, basically without any pause, she agreed to it.
"Okay, I will deploy soldiers to head to the Healing House. However, elder brother, regarding Royal Father's side..."
It was mentioned previously that the demi-human Lensis and Black were joining hands to look for was not purely for themselves. Behind Lensis was also Godolin IX, who was bedridden with an illness. His destiny was nearing an end; this was something everyone inside the Golden Palace knew. Then, his purpose for looking for the demi-human was naturally also obvious for all to see.
When humans faced a foregone conclusion, sometimes they would also rise up to resist. It was filled with courage worthy of being sung about exactly like resisting an unfair destiny. It was just that regarding the cycle of life and death, even his biological children couldn't understand, couldn't support it.
Dexter smiled helplessly, and said to Elizabeth.
"Royal Father is already old; facing life and death it's inevitable to be muddled. We cannot be too demanding regarding this point. Consider this matter a single instance of capriciousness from me as this prince. I believe Royal Father will understand."
Elizabeth's golden eyes looked at her elder brother in front of her. One or two seconds later, only then did she nod and echo.
"Understood, I comprehend... It looks like after this matter, all the dust will also settle down. It is also time for me to let go and rest, to pursue the life that belongs to me. These years, being busy with various matters has rather encumbered my emotions and life. After elder brother becomes King, it is also time to put the matter between me and Fisher on the schedule."
Hearing Elizabeth's words, Dexter's eyes lit up slightly. Regarding what Elizabeth meant, how could he not understand?
Elizabeth was granted the power over the Naris military by Royal Father. Although multiple methods were simultaneously applied to supervise and limit her power in order to put the future heir Dexter at ease, as the common saying goes, thousands and tens of thousands of measures are not as reassuring as holding it in one's own palm, isn't that right?
And Elizabeth's tone was relaxed, and she was also unwilling to make things difficult for Dexter on this issue. Of course Dexter understood what Elizabeth meant.
Elizabeth had stayed in this position for six whole years. Now that she briskly handed over power and let go, the contributions she made for Naris and for the royal family naturally couldn't be obliterated. Naturally, it was impossible for the benevolent Dexter to treat this younger sister of his, who considered things for his sake, shabbily.
Thinking of this, Dexter spoke extremely forthrightly to Elizabeth.
"Okay, having you by my side to help me is my good fortune... Let's do this, I will finalize the matter between you and Fisher. Royal Father's matter will also just be these few months. November is a day the royal family can get married. I will order him to marry you in November, how about it?"
Elizabeth's brows raised slightly. Evidently, she hadn't expected this elder brother of hers would actually play this kind of tough arranged marriage. This kind of forced buying and selling action favoring his own younger sister caused Elizabeth to smile and shake her head, but after thinking for a second, she still rejected it.
"Forget it, elder brother. I'll do it myself..."
Dexter furrowed his brows, extremely puzzled as to why Elizabeth would hesitate on this kind of matter.
How long had she and Fisher dragged things out? He, himself, was thirty-four years old and already had three children. Although all three were daughters, he could still have more ah!
Look at this younger sister of his again. She was almost twenty-nine years old, yet she was still tangling back and forth with that Fisher. Those who didn't know would think they were acting in a melodrama...
"Elizabeth, don't blame me for speaking too directly, it's all for your own good. You are already almost twenty-nine years old. That Fisher... I'll just say it straight. One look and it's obvious he is the most top-tier gentleman in Saint-Nazareth. Setting aside that all his various conditions are extremely excellent, in my view, he is also not an honest, good man..."
Resting her chin on her hands, Elizabeth looked at Dexter, signaling for him to continue speaking.
"You see he has always been maintaining his integrity and knowing his place for so many years, isn't it because you have been staying in Saint-Nazareth? Without you watching him, I'm afraid in a single night there would be a lady by his pillow, and he would also be a regular customer of the Pink Pavilion... Or rather, I, as well as the majority of men in Naris, are all like this. They require the restraint of family and responsibility."
"You have always indulge him too much in the past. You are a female. Displaying your soft, feminine side is of course not a mistake, but you are equally the princess of Godolin; your dignity and status need to be displayed even more... I evaluated him before I met him. If I guessed correctly, that female demi-human who escaped from Saint-Nazareth University has a very high probability of being right by his side... Elizabeth, do you still not understand? A female demi-human, right by his side!"
Speaking till the very end, Dexter's voice became quite a bit louder, reminding Elizabeth of the severity of the state of affairs.
But Elizabeth smiled, continuing to rest her chin in her hands and explaining for Fisher.
"He is a scholar. Even if that female demi-human is by his side, it's only for the sake of research. Have you forgotten? He published many articles regarding Southern Continent demi-humans in academic weekly magazines. I heard the source of inspiration for that 'Southern Continent Demi-Human Protection Association' of the New Party is exactly from Fisher's articles."
"'Southern Continent Demi-Human Protection Association', what is that thing?"
Dexter became confused, indicating that he had completely never heard of this name before. Elizabeth insouciantly shook her head, skipping over this topic.
"It's just a tool for the New Party to solicit votes..."
"Like this... What I mean is, you have oppressed him for too long. A gentleman, male, twenty-eight years old, exactly in his prime years, and he hasn't had a lady by his side. What if under your coercion, he has no way to associate with normal ladies, and thereafter gives in to animalistic urges and gets together with a female demi-human?"
Hearing her elder brother's words, Elizabeth opened her mouth. For a moment, she was surprisingly also shocked by her elder brother's shocking words.
Being silent for a long, long time, she finally quite stiffly shook her head and said.
"Fisher... he definitely wouldn't be this kind of person, elder brother has no need to worry... I will properly handle my relationship with him. I... can no longer wait any longer either."
Obtaining his younger sister's declaration of her stance, Dexter smiled and nodded, standing up and bidding farewell to Elizabeth.
"Okay, since you know what's what in your heart, that's good. Then I'll head back to the Golden Palace first; I still have matters to handle. Have a good rest. I'll rely on you for the matter on the weekend."
"No problem."
Elizabeth stood up to see Dexter off, but he waved his hand to indicate there was no need.
One could tell that Dexter's moot right now was quite good. His harvest from coming to the western-style mansion today was quite bountiful. Not only did the matter of capturing Lensis back on the weekend gain Elizabeth's help, but he also obtained Elizabeth's promise to cede power. As for the future Godolin X, of course he was satisfied to his heart's content.
Watching Dexter walk into the western-style mansion and leave, Elizabeth's expression remained calm. She slowly sat back in the position from just now. Behind her, the group of little dogs gleefully ran out and squatted beside her. That Naris Golden Retriever even continuously extended its head to bump into her hand, as if asking Elizabeth to pet it.
Elizabeth smiled and turned her head. Her hollow golden eyes looked at the group of small dogs in front of her, and she reached out to pet the head of that Golden Retriever.
"Go play..."
"Awooo!"
"Woof~"
The dogs frantically dashed out, running to the hilltop to play again.
Elizabeth watched that group of dogs run far away, and subsequently reached out to fold the written letter. She took out the messenger Fisher previously gave her, clamped the letter paper inside that paper airplane, and instantly hurled it out. The direction was exactly the direction of the Klein Mountains in the suburbs.