Alexander looked at the queen's personal entourage standing in front of him in surprise.

When he heard that the queen had sent someone to see him, he was a little strange, although it might have won the queen's favor to give her money at such a time as this, but it seemed a little too unreserved to send someone to contact him so eagerly.

This made Alexander even think that the other party had eaten the sweetness and was ready to move forward.

However, when he heard what the attendant had said, Alexander's surprise did not decrease, but intensified.

And there was also anger in the surprise.

It was because the attendant had brought him a message from someone he had never known, and that message actually mentioned Sophia!

Although the entourage did not say it explicitly, Alexander already knew that this person was the one who had put Joanna in a rather embarrassing situation, and Ferdinand owed a large debt during his lifetime.

When Joanna sent someone to pay off the debt with the bill that Alexander had given her, the other party was surprised to refuse the money, and very generously declared it as a small gift of honor to the queen, and then burned a large number of IOUs signed by Ferdinand in front of the attendant.

This act of generosity impressed the attendant at the time, so that after a good conversation, the creditor easily inquired about the queen having an equally generous patron at her side.

Then the other party suddenly made a strange request, that is, he hoped to be introduced by the queen to meet Master Gombray of Agri.

Although Joanna was more surprised by the person's actions and purposes, the other party's act of burning the IOU really touched her deeply, or because she was happy to save so much money, so after hearing the request brought back by the entourage, she only agreed slightly, and then sent the retinue to Alexander, she hoped that the matter could be resolved as soon as possible, and then she could make her plan for the future wholeheartedly.

It's just that Joanna is a little strange that, according to the retinue, while the creditor wants to see Alexander, he also puts forward a somewhat absurd or obviously very rude reason, that is, he hopes that when the two meet, Alexander will bring a woman named Sophia with him.

Joanna immediately smelled something unusual, but at this time she didn't care about anything, and although doing so made her feel somewhat detrimental to her identity, she told her retinue to bring the news to Alexander.

And Alexander, after hearing the message brought by his entourage, was really angry!

His attitude towards the retinue instantly became cold, and the undisguised anger made the retinue both angry and helpless, so that when he took his leave in embarrassment, he did not hear Alexander spit out another word.

This made the retinue feel a little disappointed that perhaps the queen would never get any more benefit from the patron.

Alexander did regret that he had paid so much money for Joanna, and his original intention was naturally to become the queen's benefactor when she was down, which would be a pawn for him in the future conflict with Frederick, and perhaps this pawn could exert unexpected power at a critical moment.

But now it seems that this Joanna was a short-sighted woman like her husband, as can be seen from the fact that she had condescended to become a messenger for others as soon as she heard that the other party had burned the IOU, and it was clear that this woman's excessive value for money made Alexander feel that it was destined to be of little use.

And what really aroused his anger was the request made by that person.

Let him take Sophia, what is this for!

For Alexander, Sophia was his comfort in his time, and the companion with whom he had spent those difficult days.

Alexander felt guilty every time he thought about the days when the two were separated, and although Sophia seemed happy now, he could imagine her hesitation when he wasn't by her side, which was evident in the small gestures that even now she would often unconsciously clutch the corners of his clothes, as if she was afraid that he would disappear into thin air.

Alexander never asked her what had happened to her during her separation, for fear of touching the scars that might have caused her to break down.

Sophia was a taboo that Alexander couldn't touch, but now an inexplicable stranger suddenly touched this taboo without any scruples, and even made the kind of request that made him angry.

Alexander could not remember the expression on the face of the queen's retinue as he departed, for he had already made up his mind about it, and it seemed to Joanna that he would have to make another calculation.

The door opened slightly, and Sophia quietly walked behind Alexander like a tanuki, but she didn't notice that her figure was completely exposed to a large mirror next to her, so when she was about to reach out and blindfold Alexander, Alexander suddenly turned around, and when Sophia screamed in fright, he dragged her up with both hands!

Sophia's feet immediately kicked in the air, and the tips of the soft cloth shoes on her feet kept kicking Alexander's lower abdomen, and she pressed her hands tightly on Alexander's shoulders, and her mouth let out a slightly hoarse laugh.

Alexander gently lifted Sophia, looked up at her grinning, and then slowly lowered her, letting her feet on the instep of his own feet, and then slightly pushed her to tiptoe up almost as tall as himself.

"Sophia, we will go far, far in the future, go to places we have never been to, you will see more things and people," Alexander held Sovia's cheek and looked carefully into her big eyes, "You remember, I will always be there for you at all times, I have lost you once, but I will not let myself lose you a second time." ”

Sophia, who was originally smiling, slowly put away her smile, she nodded very seriously, and then made a series of monotones in a way that only two people could understand, watching Alexander nod from time to time, hold her eyebrows, or shake her head as if she disagreed, and then nodded in agreement after she kissed him gently, Sophia let out a cheerful laugh.

It wasn't until Sophia got tired of playing that she curled up and leaned into Alexander's arms and fell asleep.

Alexander, on the other hand, sat on the bench facing the bay with the girl's soft body in his arms, and asked her to lie as comfortably as possible, while looking at the pale blue bay outside the railing.

This is the villa on the top of the hill in the bay of Santa Lucia, because it was used to escape the heat, so the whole villa is built very transparently, for example, in this room, the entire wall is only a completely empty design supported by a few Roman columns, between which a thin white veil separates the room from the terrace outside, and the terrace as wide as the room peeks out directly from the second floor, supported by several thicker marble Roman columns below.

The villa that Mordillo had given him was not very large, but Alexander liked it very much, because it was a place where he could spend his days with Sophia undisturbed, because he knew that something would soon be going to be done for him.

Gonzalo's coalition had already crossed the city of Rome, once threatened by the French, into the far reaches of Upper Italy, and the situation of the French was getting worse and worse, and Modillo's plan did not seem to have had any effect, as can be seen from the count's increasingly ugly face.

Modillo had already proposed to him the idea of preparing another batch of grain to be transported to the north, and vaguely revealed in his words that he hoped that he would personally lead the escort this time.

Obviously, that James Columbus disappointed Modillo, according to the news brought back by the people who sent out, James's grain transport team had a bad journey all the way, most of the grain was lost for various reasons, and the part that finally fell into the hands of the French because of "unlucky robbery" was not enough to help the troubled French army through the difficulties.

This annoyed Modiglo, but there was no way he could send his own people to help that Columbus, let alone leave Naples easily, and as Frederick got closer and closer to being crowned, Modillo had to think about his situation.

In this way, it seems that only Alexander can accomplish this.

Not only did Alexander have food, but he also had a small but small Bohemian army that could cope with all kinds of dangers, and Modilo knew that he was spending a lot of money to recruit men, and more importantly, Alexander would not attract much attention even if he left Naples, after all, he was still a small lord in a small place.

Alexander was not going to take Sophia to the north, but the news brought by Joanna made him change his mind.

Looking at the girl sleeping soundly in his arms, Alexander lowered his head and kissed her smooth silky sideburns gently, Sophia immediately arched her head like a kitten, and then her legs were slightly retracted, and she squeezed twice into Alexander's arms and continued to sleep.

Alexander smiled and gently placed Sophia on the bench, and then a layer of coldness slowly hung on his face.

He walked through the hallway, pushing open a wooden door at the end and into the room.

The room has its back to the harbor, and it is slightly dark even during the day because the sun does not shine.

Alexander walked over to a row of wooden shelves against the wall and picked up a musket from the shelf.

With a flick, the crisp sound of the hammer striking resounded in the room.

The musket was made very specially, the slightly curved handle looked like a roasted rabbit's leg, and a prototype copper counterweight mounted at the end of the handle for balance shone yellow, and the barrel, half-buried in a groove of just the right depth, seemed to be integrated with the supporting wood underneath without being so obtrusive.

What really mattered, however, was that the rudimentary hammer at the end of the gun, which had been simply bent and ejected with an iron hook, had been transformed into a rather complex looking mechanism.

The tongue-shaped bite of the tail hammer replaces the rudimentary iron hook, and a small piece of flint is tightly clamped between the tongue of the tail hammer.

A piece of iron in the front of the ram is ground flat like a small cutting board to ensure that when the flint hits it, it can strike a spark large enough to ignite the herb in the trough.

This is a modified firearm, something of the kind that has not yet appeared in this era.

A more complex and dangerous tool to kill!

Alexander thought that no one would protest if he called it a "flintlock pistol".

Pulling the bolt again, feeling the slight force of the tongue-shaped striking iron as it was tightened, Alexander suddenly pointed his musket straight ahead.

Since deciding to bring the flintlock pistol into this era, he has used it several times, but not once has he wanted to kill a person like he does now!

It was not known what the man who claimed to be from the Netherlands was doing, but he was undoubtedly completely enraged.

Alexander took out several small packets from the cloth bag next to the shelf, which were the ammunition prepared for the flintlock pistol.

It was still in Agri's time that he began to use his modest resources to make this flintlock pistol for the Bohemians, and although the amount produced was pitiful, Alexander was not discouraged.

Packing up his gun and ammunition, Alexander put on a dark cloak, but fortunately, because it was during the state funeral, the whole city was covered with mourning clothes, and the streets were full of black, so his dress did not attract attention at all, and he could hide it well.

Back in the previous room, looking at Sophia, who was still asleep, Alexander walked over and kissed her lightly on the cheek.

From the very beginning, he had already decided to settle the matter on his own and not let Sophia get involved.

Alexander quietly left the house through the back door, a long way from the hilltop villa to where the man had agreed with him.

He didn't care that Joanna knew he was going to the man, because neither his contribution nor the Dutch debt was a disgraceful thing for Joanna.

In her current situation, if she wasn't too stupid, she wouldn't have been able to let others find out that she had something to do with the impending murder.

That's right, Alexander decided to kill that guy!

"The guest from the Netherlands," was what Joanna's entourage told him about the man, "was a rich man with a large sum of money and a large fleet. ”

Alexander didn't care if the man was rich or not, he was angry that the news that the man had brought him clearly implied that it was related to Sophia's previous experience, which made Alexander go to kill.

It was not surprising that the meeting place was the house of the Lady of Olgara, and what Alexander had done in the house of the lady had already spread throughout Naples, which also made the reputation of the Lady of Oljara even greater.

Alexander wore a custom-made holster in his cloak, with the opening of the holster slanted downwards to prevent the projectile from falling out of the chamber or loosening the fire if it was not rammed enough.

He had not tried to hide his whereabouts, and he knew that since the place had been set at Lady Olgara's house, there would be people who would know about the meeting.

Alexander just wanted to create an opportunity that would allow him to shoot as a matter of course, without letting anyone else grab the handle.

As for why the man wanted to see him, he didn't intend to delve into it.

Lady Olgara's home is still full of guests, but it is no longer the affair that people talk about the most, but the upcoming coronation.

I don't know when it began, but a rumor spread among the crowd that Frederick seemed to suspect that his wife was unfaithful to him, and because of this, the future king seemed to be looking for another happy marriage.

This rumor came quite suddenly, which made many people unexpected.

And when Alexander first heard this rumor, the first person who could have thought of spreading this rumor was that Elliot of Taranto.

After all, only a few people knew about Frederick's idea of trying to marry Josa, and Elliott was one of them.

Coincidentally, he was also one of the naysayers.

Now it seems that Elliott's method of sabotaging Frederick's plan is quite novel, at least if this rumor were heard by Frederick's wife, the Prince's wife, who is now quelling the rebellion in her own territory, it is worth guessing.

But this was not the concern of Alexander now, and he was led by the servant up the side staircase to the second floor, and when he reached the door of the bedroom of Lady Olgara, where he had been before, he saw the famous lady who had been all kinds of amorous standing at the door waiting for him in a proper manner.

"Your Excellency, please come in," said Lady Olgara, moving to the side, in a low voice, "my master is waiting for you inside. ”

Orgara's words made Alexander's heart twitch, and he felt that he was right not to bring Sophia.

He didn't want to imagine what it was like for Sophia to be around that person, and he didn't want Sophia to see him and think of things that might be unbearable.

Alexander secretly stroked the musket under his cloak as his other hand touched the hilt of his sword.

In this chaotic era, many people will wear fine inner armor under their clothes in order to defend themselves, and muskets may not be completely effective against this inner armor, so it is necessary to rely on sharp swords to solve the problem.

The room was quiet, and the distinctive smell of the Ottoman shisha he had once smelled still wafted through it.

Alexander tried to calm his mind as much as possible, he hadn't killed anyone before, but this time it might have been more important.

A figure appeared behind the curtain, and as the curtain lifted, a man stepped out of it.

It was a middle-aged man who looked very energetic, or more or less handsome, and what caught Alexander's attention was his fairer, skinned slightly different from most of the locals.

"It's a pleasure to see you, Master Gombray," the man's voice was slightly peculiar in tone, and when he stood in front of him, Alexander noticed that his shoulders seemed to slump slightly, "I hope you're not here to kill me." ”