Palermo, Sicily.

The Royal Palace of Palermo, which has officially become the residence of the Kingdom of Sicily, has arrived with a long-lost guest.

Looking at the familiar surroundings, Grogenin felt a little like a world away.

He had been away for a long time, almost a year and a half, and he was neither in the Mediterranean nor in Europe.

His originally fair skin looked swarthy, and the rough marks on his hands proved the vicissitudes he had experienced during this time.

But compared with the legendary encounters he had experienced on this long journey, the situation in the whole Mediterranean was no less viral.

"Queen of Sicily?"

Grogenin whispered to himself in a tone that seemed incredulous, but not very surprised.

Josa Kosenza was one of the most special women he had ever met.

It's not that Grogenin hasn't seen women with huge ambitions for power, it's just that the women's abilities often don't match their ambitions.

So as a result, those women often fail miserably because of their stupidity.

But the Queen of Naples was clearly not one of those women he was familiar with.

Of course he knew that the queen was smart, but he now realized that he still underestimated her.

The unification of Sicily was the dream of generations since the kingdom was divided in two.

And it's obviously not just the dream of the members of the Astamara family, at least Grogenen knows that the Count of Naples, Modiglo, also has such ambitions.

But it was the young queen who achieved unification.

Grogenen would not believe the myth that it was pure luck that the queen would have such an achievement.

It's like never believing that her brother has the status and power he has now, it's really because of good luck.

Although Grogenin did not know that luck was also a very uninteresting statement, he at least knew that before Zhosa Kosenza Astamara, although the Kingdom of Sicily had experienced several divisions and unifications, there was not a single time when the unifiers had achieved this move in such a risky and successful way.

This was undoubtedly a very crazy move in Grogenen's eyes, especially when he heard that the new Queen of Sicily had invaded Iberia without even waiting for the crown on her head to be hot, and Grognin felt that he had probably been away from the Mediterranean for too long, so that everything felt so strange.

Grognin was a very rational man, and he was actually very dismissive of the masters of art who preached passion, and he believed that their work was based entirely on the so-called whim.

In his opinion, this kind of artistic spark that suddenly bursts out of pure expectation is very unreliable, and there is no basis for reference at all.

And the success of any action depends on the careful planning and cool judgment of the executor.

So he resented those ventures from the bottom of his heart, just as he had willingly supported Alexandria with almost all his strength to blockade and finally almost abolish the port of Amsterdam, because it was a well-planned and achievable action, even if it was bold and even crazy.

So when he heard about the Sicilian Queen's expedition to Iberia, Groganin's first thought was what would happen to the newly established Kingdom of Sicily if the expedition failed.

He had invested too much in Sicily, or in the trade league, and although he had already recouped 10, 20, or even more of what he had invested, anyone knew that his relationship with both was inextricably linked to the rise and fall of the Kingdom of Sicily.

No one doubted that if Sicily or the Duchy of Rome-Thessia were in danger of annihilation, he or his family would not be involved.

Anyone who is even slightly familiar with the history of the Free Trade Union will know how closely the surname Grogenin is closely related to the Trade Union.

And even before he returned to Sicily, the news he heard on the way was enough to make Grognin feel that he had been completely kidnapped by the crazy brother and sister.

As for the more detailed circumstances after arriving in Sicily, while he was stunned by the change in the situation, he couldn't help but wonder if there was something wrong with his previous way of looking at people.

In the past, he always felt that Alexander was a rational person, and it was because of this that he was willing to invest in Alexander before he could make a fortune, because he felt that this young little lord belonged to the same kind of rational person as himself.

But now he wondered if he had been dazzled, and there was probably no crazier in this world than that brother and sister.

"The throne of Castile?"

Grognin felt that Alexander really didn't know how many loaves of bread he ate for a meal, and although he had long been eager to free the Lowlands from Habsburg rule, he did not expect Alexander to simply compete for the Castilian throne.

As for the present tension between Rome Thesia and the Austrians in Lombardy, he is not so surprising when compared with Alexander's toughness.

And after hearing about the situation in Lombardy, Groganin wrote the following letter to his family and his business associates in the far lowlands: "Please make appropriate adjustments to the tariffs of your trade with the Hanseatic League, especially with Hamburg, Szcera, and Copenhagen or Malmö, which may be with the princely states of the north, and I need you to increase the tariffs by 2~3 percent, and I will try to compensate you for the losses this may cause." ”

Such a letter naturally caused a great shock, and even those close to him objected when they learned the contents of the letters.

Grognin's answer to those people was clear.

"Of course I know what this will bring, and I know how much such a compensation is, but I also know that if the Duke of Rome Thesia fails, we will receive nothing."

Grognin was tempted to pry open the heads of his men who still seemed to be unhappy with his answer, but in the end he could only explain patiently:

"I don't think anyone is naïve enough to think that we and the Duke of Rome Thesia are just ordinary and pure business partners, in this case, we should know what awaits us all in the event of a defeat on the battlefield of Rome Thesia, our property will be confiscated, and everyone will be ruthlessly liquidated, because we are too deeply involved with the Duke and the trade alliance."

"This is the war of Rome and Thesia, but it is also our war, and now we have to win this war, otherwise we will not only have nothing, but even a big disaster."

"And I've been trying to give the Lowlands our rights all my life, and now it's a good opportunity, isn't it, both for ourselves and for our country, the Swiss are independent, and I think they're a good example for us, aren't they?"

Grogenin's words calmed down the men who had been opposed, and although they still felt that it was not worth it to rush into this war, they did alert them.

As Grognin said, many of them had joined the Trade League since it was first established, and if the Duke of Rome Thesia failed, disaster awaited them.

Their wealth will undoubtedly become fat in the eyes of the victors, and no one will be able to prevent them from sharing in the spoils of war when the time comes.

The thought of it was enough to silence the lowland merchants, whose only hope was that the Duke of Rome Thessia would not lose a war that might involve almost all of Europe.

At least don't lose so badly.

But what the merchants didn't know was that as they went from trying to stay out of the situation to eager to finance the Roman Thescian army, Grognin visited the tailor Osborne's house.

Although Osborne became a real sought-after figure in Sicily thanks to Alexander and Sophia, he still lived in his family's tailor's shop in his early years.

Only now he rarely does his own work anymore, but hands over the business to one of his favorite students.

What many people didn't expect was that this student was just the second son of an ordinary family who lived not far from this street, and Osborne took a fancy to him only because the young man seemed to be quite smart.

When Grognin visited, Osborne was sitting on his second-floor terrace in the shade.

The tailor who had seen Grogenin from upstairs immediately greeted him and asked him to go upstairs, and at the same time loudly told the remaining apprentices that if anyone wanted to see him, they would block him back.

"Dear Osborne, you are now of great fame."

"And you, you are proud of your life."

"It's okay," Grognin took a sip of the glass Osborne handed over, and nodded after a little taste, "It's a very good Cypriot wine, it's not easy to drink it now." ”

"It's not easy for others, but it's just a little for you," Osborne didn't pay much attention to Groganin's compliments, "and I'm sure you can drink the wine of the Sultan's palace as long as you want." ”

Grogenin smiled and didn't go any further, he wasn't here to chat.

"Can you tell me what is going on with the Grand Duchess of Wallachia?" Grognin asked Osborne cautiously, "I've heard too much about her. ”

Speaking of this, Grogenin looked a little strange.

He never imagined that the Bohemian girl, who he had only used to get along with the then Lord of Agri, would eventually become a monarch.

This surprised and shocked him even more than the unification of Sicily by Jisha.

After all, he had seen the girl at her most destitute and helpless, and if someone told him that the girl would one day become the Grand Duchess, he would only think it was a joke.

But it all happened right before his eyes.

"O Archduchess of Wallachia," Osborne's companion sighed with emotion, and after a moment's thought, he only said one sentence, "everything they do has to do with the Duke of Rome Thesia, isn't it?" ”

Grognin paused, he wanted to say something more, but after thinking about it, he only nodded in agreement.

It may sound ridiculous that everything changed because of that young man, but imagine what it would be like without that young man?

At least it is impossible for him to accumulate such a huge wealth now, and more importantly, even if he has money, he will always be just a businessman.

But now, Grognin believes his influence is big enough to make waves in Europe.

But because of this, he was also more concerned about his relationship with Alexander.

This is the real reason why he came to visit Osborne.

Osborne had obviously guessed that Grogenin's visit was not easy, and after he raised his glass again, he stopped silently looking at the merchant opposite, waiting for him to take the initiative to speak.

Sensing Osborne's gaze, Grogenen smiled helplessly.

The tailor was always unhurried, and all his attention seemed to be on the little world of his tailor's shop, but the man seemed to see everything clearly.

"So, can you tell me what's going on with the Fugol family?" Grogenen asked cautiously, "I mean, Alexander seems to be doing business with the family again." ”

Noticing Groganin's slightly strange tone when talking about the family, the tailor smiled slightly at him.

"Alexander needs someone to do things for him, I mean he needs other companions," Osborne said, pausing, looking at Groganin's face, and then said disapprovingly, "Do you think he's going to give up your friendship with him because of this?" ”

"I don't know," Groganin's reply stunned Osborne, "he's not the same now, in fact everything is different, and I think I may not be able to keep up with him, and even suspect that one day it will be a stumbling block for him." ”

Grogenin shook his head helplessly as he spoke, he used to be so conceited, always looking down on others.

Even for Alexander, he felt that he was a most competent partner.

But now he began to wonder if there was still a place for him at Alexander's side.

He knew well the Foggers, a formidable family of wealth, who, in addition to their extraordinary means of getting rich, possessed more importantly a vast network of connections almost all over Europe.

Grogenen speculated that Alexander might have re-teamed with the family because of the family's enormous potential.

Or maybe he did it purely to check and balance himself.

This thought made Grognin very uncomfortable, but he couldn't help but think about it.

After all, his influence in the trade league is just as huge, and from the hard-line attitude that Alexander has shown so far, it is clear that this is not what he wants to see.

"Maybe it's time for you to reconsider your relationship with Alexander," Osborne shrugged, "I mean, do you want to be just a collaborator in his business, or a part of his kingdom in the future, but whatever you choose, I think it's in your best interest to make a decision sooner rather than later." ”

Looking at the tailor sitting leisurely in the chaise longue opposite, Grogenen suddenly felt that maybe he should make a few more clothes.