A night at Windsor Castle is not at all dreamy as outsiders imagine, let alone at home. www.biquge.info On this night, Natsuki tossed and turned, unable to sleep for a long time, and her mind was full of Charlotte-Hill's pitiful face and her thin body. Then he fell asleep, but he was in and out of all kinds of dreams, and when he opened his eyes, it was slightly bright, and he got up and poured himself a glass of water, and sat by the window looking at the verdant meadow, thinking that perhaps Charlotte had stayed in this castle too, and had been sleepless at night, as he had been, and was sitting behind another window and staring blankly at the meadow. So, he got dressed and walked alone through the complicated corridors and stairs, pacing up and down the carpet-soft grass, hoping to meet Charlotte again without anyone knowing.

If there was such an opportunity, there was no doubt that he would have hugged her tightly in his arms.

Ten minutes passed, and except for the guards on duty, the whole castle still remained soundly asleep in the cool of the early morning.

Half an hour passed, the sky was white, and the servants began to be seen in the corridor. Natsuki was a little disappointed, it seemed that Charlotte didn't stay here, originally with her identity, she was not enough to be a guest at Windsor Castle, and the reason why she appeared here was just to be used as a pawn to deal with herself.

Thinking of this, Natsuki couldn't help but smile bitterly.

Just as he was about to return to the castle, there was a crisp sound of horses' hooves behind him, and he turned his head curiously to see a rider in a beige riding suit walking towards him on a tall brown Arabian horse. Despite the androgynous outfit, Natsuki could tell at a glance that it was a young lady with a well-proportioned physique and a strong complexion, without the slightest hint of weakness that most aristocratic ladies would give them.

Looking at that confident face, Natsuki felt a sense of déjà vu, and after a moment, he reacted like an electric shock: she was the granddaughter of the former King Edward VII of England, the niece of George V, and His Royal Highness the Lord of Fiflmeade.

At last night's banquet, the two also met officially, but she was far less heroic and impressive in her gorgeous skirt than today's riding costume.

Before Natsuki could speak, the other party took the initiative to say, "His Royal Highness Joachim wakes up so early, and he has the habit of taking a walk every morning?" ”

Natsuki didn't think much of it, and replied with the same sentence: "Ho, Your Highness the County Lord, you seem to have gotten up earlier than me!" Have a habit of riding a horse every morning? ”

His Royal Highness the Lord of Fafmod rode his horse to a halt in front of Natsuki, but he still spoke to him in a lofty manner.

"I heard that His Highness is a master of horsemanship, and once knocked Duke Hill's eldest son off his horse in a wonderful equestrian competition, is it true?"

Natsuki shrugged: "Unfortunately, this is an exaggerated rumor, General Hill accidentally fell from his horse, and the reason why I was able to win the race at that time was actually a little trick. ”

"Ten years ago, His Highness won the heir of the Hill family with a small trick, and ten years later, His Highness won the whole of England with a big trick...... I have to admit that His Highness is a person who is good at using tricks. ”

is also His Royal Highness, Natsuki is also a candidate for the throne of a country, and the Lord of Fifmod is just an ordinary member of the British royal family without any real power, and the latter is so disrespectful, either because of the unstoppable mentality of the heyday of the empire, or because he has a great national hatred with the other party - in Natsuki's view, maybe both.

Seeing that Natsuki neither refuted nor became angry, the Lord of Fafmod raised his chin and said arrogantly and provocatively: "What, not convinced? ”

This pungent energy didn't look like a serious member of the British royal family at all, Natsuki looked at her seriously from head to toe, and snorted softly: "Good men don't fight women." ”

Not understanding the Chinese spoken by Natsuki, the Lord of Fifmod raised his eyebrows: "What do you mean?" ”

"An old Oriental saying." Natsuki replied without hesitation, "A true gentleman doesn't care about a lady. ”

The county lord said indomitively: "Everyone says that His Royal Highness is a genius who leads the trend of the times, but I didn't expect to have such old-fashioned ideas in terms of equality between men and women, tsk, it's really disappointing!" ”

"Or else?" Natsuki raised his head and squinted, "This early in the morning for a horse race?" ”

The county lord continued to provoke: "What's not to do? ”

At this moment, there was a bloody voice in Xia Shu's heart shouting, "Come on, who is afraid of whom", but this voice did not affect Xia Shu's words and deeds, he smiled faintly and turned to leave.

Lord Fifmod, who had just celebrated his 22nd birthday half a month ago, looked at Natsuki's back in surprise, muttering "coward" and "coward" in his mouth, but there was no contempt in his eyes.

At breakfast, Natsuki chatted with Beauna-Law, who sat next to him, about the Lord of Fifmod, who was told by the new British Prime Minister that unlike her tender and married sister, she was fond of literature, keen on sports, independent and unruly, and had not yet been married.

"Your Highness, as a candidate for the throne of Ireland, will sooner or later become the king of a country, both for the country and for the people, the marriage issue should be considered as soon as possible, and with an heir, the royal power can be consolidated, which is a profound revelation left to us by history." Bona Law's words sound well-intentioned, but the implications are intriguing.

Natsuki responded generously: "I promised my father that I would get married before I was thirty years old. ”

Joachim, who was born in the winter of 1890, was not yet 25 years old, and there was still plenty of time to go before he was 30. Natsuki's remarks are a merciless reminder to an old man like Bona Law, who is nearly sixty years old, and even to King George V, who has just turned 50: Although Britain is many times stronger than Ireland today, Ireland is like a thriving young man under his leadership, but Britain is already a twilight old man, and if the two countries maintain a confrontational posture with a grudge, it will inevitably suffer in the long run.

There was a hint of embarrassment on Bona-Law's face, but he was a political veteran after all, so he immediately adjusted his tone: "With His Highness's prestige and conditions, there will definitely be no second one in the world, and I am curious what kind of girl will become the luckiest person in the world." As far as I know...... His Royal Highness the Lord of Fafmod seems to admire His Highness's talent. ”

"Oh?" Natsuki casually glanced at Lord Fiflmeade, who was also sitting at the table, and she changed out of her morning rider's outfit and put on her dignified and elegant lady's dress again, but instead of wearing a wig, she had a neat short hair that covered her ears.

Lord Fafmod didn't notice Natsuki's gaze, but spoke quietly to the people next to him, occasionally smiling mischievously. Such a noble lady full of youthful vitality and masculine temperament should still make many men obsessed with taste.

But this certainly doesn't include Natsuki.

Bona Law's character is not a matchmaker after all, he doesn't talk about Natsuki's marriage issues non-stop, and he turns the conversation back to business in moderation. According to the arrangement of the British side, Natsuki came to Windsor Castle at the invitation of the British royal family, and it was not an unofficial state visit, so the scope of activities was limited to the British royal territory, and he would not visit British towns or public places, and the whole trip was basically entertainment-oriented. Over the next two days, Natsuki will be riding a hunt with members of the British royal family and watching a polo match featuring members of the royal family. Of course, the purpose of entertainment is not only entertainment, but also various political and diplomatic activities. On the occasion of breakfast, Beauna-Law raised the issue of the complementary resources of Ireland and Great Britain - Britain has abundant coal and iron ore reserves, has the most developed industrial system in the world, and has relatively developed agriculture and animal husbandry, while grain and dairy meat products cannot fully meet domestic demand, Ireland lacks coal and iron, and grain can also not meet domestic demand, but most dairy meat products can be exported, and lead and zinc mineral reserves are abundant. Before the independence of Britain, Ireland's livestock, minerals and even fishery resources had been supplied to the British island, but Britain's coal, iron, machinery and equipment were rarely supplied to Ireland, resulting in a long-term backward situation in Ireland's industrial economy.

From an emotional point of view, Natsuki felt that the British were the most shameless realists in the world, but from a rational point of view, he knew that Ireland's development could not rely on German aid and support, because after occupying large territories in France and Poland, Germany had been able to achieve self-sufficiency in industrial and agricultural resources, and then became a pure industrial exporter, and complementary and reciprocal trade like Britain and Ireland was the real catalyst for Ireland's economic development.

Through their conversations, Beauer-Law, the new Canadian-born British prime minister, gradually discovered that the Irish candidate for the throne was more concerned with economy and trade than with military politics and diplomacy, and that the Hohenzollern royal family had a history of running a business that was no less talented than military technology and tactical strategy, as evidenced by the fact that he ran the huge Hubart Industries.

Beauna-Law was both pleased and worried, glad that it was a sane man who was in charge of the Irish crown, and not a reckless and impulsive, dangerous element like William II, who was prone to contradictions and frictions, which was a powerful factor in the long-term stability of the British Isles. His fears also stemmed from the terrible city of the other side's rationality and demeanor, and the reluctance of Ireland to discuss substantive military and diplomatic issues with Britain at this time was not the real meaning of preparing for the forcible recapture of Belfast?

Natsuki saw Bona Law's ambivalence, but he didn't bother to give a word of comfort, leaving the British statesman who had only left a faint mark on history to think and worry about it, and as long as Britain continued to maintain firm confidence in the existing size of the Belfast Line, it was only a matter of time before the Irish army completed its offensive preparations.

(End of chapter)