As he crossed the North Arno River, Alexander felt a chill.

Just as the Po River is often used as a marker to distinguish north and south in the northern regions, the natives of Tuscany have always been accustomed to seeing the Arno River as the boundary dividing upper and lower Tuscany.

It was only in Alexander's eyes that the North Arnaud River was like the dividing line between Lucrezia and Barendi, and the two of them tacitly regarded it as the boundary between Pisa and Montina, and both sides tried not to touch the affairs of the other's territory.

But Alexander didn't want his women to have such a narrow vision, in his mind, the world is so vast, how can it be possible to let a small Tuscany and Romagna be confined to it?

It's just that the idea of seeing Barendi as his own woman made Alexander secretly stunned.

But if you think about it, you can understand that although there is almost no affection between the two, the marriage contract made from the beginning has tied the two of them together.

Especially as the relationship between the two sides becomes closer and closer, although the two still seem so strange, in fact they are already inseparable.

Perhaps old Rovere really considered getting Barendi engaged to Cargino, but as the situation changed, his idea must no longer exist.

Then as the wedding date of the two approaches, they are finally going to get married.

What would it be like to marry Barendi?

Alexander thought that what they might discuss after their marriage would not be a banquet, a hunt, or a new dress, but a plan for borrowing, shares, and stimulating consumption in the market.

It may be boring, but Alexander is ready for it.

And then there's Sophia.

Nashan's sudden appearance caused Alexander's heart to miss Sophia, he didn't know what happened to Sophia now, but he thought that their father and daughter should be able to take care of each other together.

Bohemians have long been accustomed to a life of wandering, and it would be uncomfortable to let them stay in one place for too long.

But Alexander knew that Sophia had gradually begun to get used to a stable life, and although her so-called stability was always different from others, she had begun to pay attention to dressing up her room, and because of her intimacy with Alexander, she had become less enthusiastic about wandering.

It's just that the sudden change made Sophia have to leave him, so where is Sophia now?

Thinking of the rumors brought by Ashulk, Alexander always had a hunch, it seemed that Sophia's life was not as peaceful as he guessed, although those rumors were actually more absurd to him, and even because of all kinds of confusion with his previous experience, the facts had long been unrecognizable, but if it was really as Ashulk said, then Sophia's life must not be so peaceful, whether in Bohemia or in the Balkans.

Alexander couldn't stop thinking about it, and the closer he got to Montina, the more he thought.

As October approached, the year 1498 was coming to an end, and it had been almost three years since he arrived.

A cheerful neighing emanated from the mouth of Pagasus beneath him, and his pace quickened markedly, and Alexander looked forward, and soon saw a procession approaching him.

The group was small in number, about a dozen people, and even on this cloudy day without the sun, you could see the gleam of their armor from afar.

Busako immediately ordered the hunters to get ready, but he soon waved his hand for the guards to be disarmed.

"This is ......," Busako looked at Alexander, a little uncertain.

Alexander nodded slowly.

The cavalry was soon in front of the hunters, and the man who led the group at the front took off his thick fur hood from his head, revealing his long black hair.

A face that was not pretty, but very plain, appeared in front of Alexander.

"Barondi."

Alexander, who had already recognized the person, whispered, his gaze falling on Barondi's face, and his expression changed slightly from before.

If in the past, the relationship between the two was more driven by interests, then now when they are really going to get married, Alexander's mind towards Barendi is inevitably a little new.

Is this the person who wants to start a family with himself in this era in the future?

This thought has been haunting Alexander's mind, and he himself doesn't know what kind of thoughts he has for Barendi, or if he thinks about it carefully, he can't tell what he thinks about the women around him.

Lucrezia bore him a daughter.

And Sophia has suffered for him, and has shared hardships with him.

As for Tsusha, from the younger sister at the beginning, she has become his most trusted and close ally, and may become a lover who he may not be able to make public for the rest of his life.

As for Barondi, who was to be his wife, they would walk together for many years until one of them went to the grave, if nothing else.

Thinking of this, Alexander couldn't help but clamp his horse's belly slightly, urging Pagasus to walk forward quickly, and after stopping with Barondi's horse, his thighs felt the temperature coming from Barondi's legs, and then he leaned out and kissed Barondi's side face slightly.

Barondi seemed stunned, the words she was about to speak were blocked by this unexpected kiss, and there was a hint of surprise on her face, as if she had not expected Alexander to do this.

However, she quickly calmed down and said in a very calm tone, "Welcome home, sir." ”

Alexander nodded, he was not dissatisfied with Barondi's seemingly cold attitude, he knew that Barondi, like him, was a little confused about the upcoming wedding.

Barondi's seemingly indifferent expression now aroused Alexander's interest somewhat, and he suddenly felt the urge to see the appearance of this herherdally indifferent woman, whether angry, angry, or happy.

"We're going to get married soon, don't you think being affectionate in front of our men is a better indication of how perfect our marriage is?"

Before Barendi understood what Alexander meant, Alexander had reached out and suddenly hugged her, and with a cry of exclamation, Barendi carried her to Pagasus's back.

Suddenly with the weight of a man, Pagasus circled back and forth a few times before he steadied himself, let out a muffled snort, and then began to walk slowly forward with a light touch on the horse's thigh.

The men on both sides had apparently not expected the Count to suddenly become so enthusiastic, and as the Bohemians whistled, Barendi's men looked at each other, and then shrugged their shoulders helplessly.

Barendi was a little frightened, she didn't even struggle, or she listened to Alexander, at least to look close to her fiancé in front of her men.

However, her body remained stiff, and even though she soon felt the heat coming from Alexander's body, her waist remained stiff, so that after a while she felt unspeakably uncomfortable.

"You have to relax, or if you let me carry it back like this, you will be in pain and unable to sleep at night." Alexander whispered in Barondi's ear, seeing Barendi's neck still stiff and slowly nodding, he couldn't help but gently force Barondi's hand, and his fingers poked lightly on her rather slender waist.

"Poof~" first laughed, and then Barondi's body softened, and she looked at Alexander a little awkwardly, as if she didn't know how to deal with his unexpected behavior.

"Tell me what you've been doing these days?" Alexander asked casually.

"I've audited all the farms," Barondy said, ruining the rare warmth of the atmosphere, "I see that you are too merciful to the peasants, they are stealing. Yes, it's stealing, they're stealing from us, they won't pay the full amount of rent, and they dare to reclaim a piece of woodland that originally belonged to us. ”

"Oh, what woodland is it?"

"It's northeast of Montina, in the place called Gansinte, that I found some farmers who had mined our woodland, cut down a lot of trees, and planted crops, but they deliberately concealed it when they reported to us the amount of land."

"You went to Ganshint?" Alexander asked, a little strangely.

He was strange because the place was almost at the border with the farthest village in Bologna, and if you turned due east from there, you would not have to go more than a day before you would encounter the itinerant cavalry posts sent by the Venetians to the edge of Romagna.

According to the agreement with the Venetians after the previous Battle of Oral-Chimone, Venice had the right to keep a certain number of defenders on their side of their northeastern border with Romagna, and their roving cavalry posts were constantly haunting both sides of the border.

"Of course I'm going to that place, I have to know how many of those people are in our land," Barondy looked up at Alexander with a somewhat reproachful look, "you have indulged them so much, that they have completely forgotten their duty, they have planted our land, and this is our land, and in addition to the tax rent on the land, they have to pay us additional things as an obligation, including a whole goat, one or two castrated sheep, at least 20 pinter pints of rye, 20 pimps of oats, 10 Hang complete honey skewers, and no less than 1 dried wild flower of all kinds brewed and dried, and ......"

"There's also a little housekeeper who likes to be more serious." Alexander's arm strained slightly, and he felt Barondi's body in his arms stiffen again, and he poked her waist lightly.

Barendi chuckled again, and then she looked up at Alexander with some strange looks.

Alexander's attitude had never been like this before, which made Barendi a little alarmed.

She would rather see Alexander, who was a little distant and estranged before, and now she felt a little at a loss for what to do.

The sound of the horse's hooves was crisp, but it was like a knock on Barendi's heart.

She moved a little annoyed, a little as she felt the urge to break out of Alexander's arms.

Sensing Barondi's seemingly annoyed feelings, Alexander finally relaxed his arms around her slightly, but then the slightly bumpy horseback immediately became unsafe, and Barendi had to stop writhing at will.

"Let me go." Barondi whispered that she was not used to this kind of intimacy, and that she remembered that her father had never been too affectionate with her mother, even though they had four children.

Alexander smiled, he knew that these actions were probably a bit crazy for Barondi, but thinking that he had always seen a serious look since he met her, Alexander was a little curious if this was how she spent her childhood.

If that's the case, she's really not cute at all.

Montina's short and inconclusive war with Genoa led many to take an interest in Montina, a power that suddenly rose to prominence in Romagna.

Although the previous war with the Venetians had already revealed Montina's hideousness, this brief conflict with the Genoese attracted even more attention.

After all, Montina was only an unnoticeable supporting role in the coalition in the last war, and in terms of strength and the impact of the battle, people paid more attention to the direct defeat of Genoese and Calgino of the Venetians.

This time, however, Alexander defeated Calgino's army by his own army, first on the banks of a small river called Goat Creek, which he later learned, and then fought with Cargino for several days.

But that's not all.

The point is, in the end, he did not suffer a crushing defeat because he was weak in a conflict that seemed to be unequal.

A lot of people focus not so much on what Alexander achieved on the battlefield as on what was outside the battlefield.

"Someone wanted to see you, but instead of Pisa, they came to Montina."

Sensing a hint of strangeness in Barondi's tone, Alexander glanced at her with a little amusement, he would have liked to see Barondi's jealousy, but he thought it might be a bit of a misery, because Barendi would not care about Lucrezia or any other woman because of jealousy unless she felt a threat to her family.

"Who is it?"

Alexander was a little curious, he knew that Montina might attract a lot of attention as the conflict with the Genoese ended, but he didn't know who would be the first to come into contact with him.

Alexander thought of Venice, Milan and even Bologna.

But when he heard Barendi say "Ferrara", Alexander couldn't help but be stunned.

"Ferrara?"

"Yes, the Ticon family in Ferrara has sent someone, and they seem to have something to discuss with you."

Barendi did not seem to be upset that Ferrara's visitor would not tell her the truth about her visit, and perhaps in her opinion, the news that would be easily revealed would not be of much value.

Alexander gave Barondy a strange look, and then made sure that there was really nothing special in her expression.

There's nothing particularly noteworthy about this place in Ferrara, the only thing that catches the eye is that it's so close to Venice.

Or that Ferrara is the place where the Venetians entered Romagna, after all, it is not unavoidable.

As for the Ticon family of Ferrara, they are not much different from the nobles of other city-states.

But there were two reasons why Alexander cared so much about this visitor.

One is that the Ticon family is one of the oldest families of the Italian aristocracy, whose ancestors can even be traced back to the time of the Lombard Kingdom.

Another reason is that in a few years, there will be a war for the crown of the Duke of Ferrara.

The one who started this war was to seize the title of Duke of Ferrara for his son.

At that time, he was already the famous God of War Pope Julius II.