Chapter 591: Night Talk 3
Chapter 591 Night Talk 3
Prince Jasim looked at his eldest son, and there was a certain imperturbability in his gaze that made Gerd involuntarily reply, “Yes, father.”
“If the western bay can be on our side, it will be a very important resource and a great help to us.”
Gelder shook his head and said, “Father, I don’t think it’s the right time to talk about this with the current situation in the kingdom ……”
“Our king’s majesty ……” the prince ignored his son and said to himself, “He unexpectedly fainted during today’s royal council, and his body has… …”
Saying this, the Prince shook his head, after all, he was his own brother.
Gelder was shocked to hear this, “His Majesty he ……”
Prince Jasim continued, “He loved adventure when he was young, once traveled around the continent as an adventurer, this experience brought him a wealth of insights, excessive boldness, and love from a foreign country, but at the same time also brought him a body of dark wounds, exhausted his essence, so that in his current this should be the golden age of engaging in politics a variety of diseases are attacked Fortunately, he gave birth to a daughter who is a fighter. But I don’t know whether it is fortunate or unfortunate that my dear niece, your dear sister, may bring some trouble to the succession of the throne.”
“Father!” Gelder, who realized what the Prince was about to say, breathed a little sharply.
“Recently, there has been a bad cry in the noble circle of Jingyao, certain people want Catherine to inherit the throne.” Saying this, a shadowy color clouded the Prince’s face.
“Simply ridiculous, letting a woman rule the country, what on earth is going on in their heads, even the merciful Heavenly Father would not forgive such behavior, shameful, depraved, deserving of hell.”
Gerd’s facial muscles stiffened a bit as he said, “I don’t think Catherine has that kind of mindset, she simply wants this country to be better. She …… is a woman who follows tradition very closely in the general direction.”
“Oh, of course!” Prince Jasim suddenly changed his face, even his tone became gentle, “I also believe in my lovely niece, she has been delightful since she was a child, hasn’t she? But ……”
The Prince’s tone became slightly sharp again, “What will those around her think? Those who look up to her, those who bind their future to her, will their hearts wish that the object of their allegiance would go further, to touch the power that should not have been touched, and once successful, along with these people can follow even higher, knighthoods, wealth, who would be too little? Yes, Catherine may not have such a mind herself, but she can’t stop her subordinates from having such a mind, the human heart, is hard to guess, if her subordinates really agree in this regard, perhaps Catherine’s own thoughts are the least important.”
“Alas!” Gerd sighed softly.
Prince Jasim moved closer to his eldest son and gave him a gentle pat on the back, “His Majesty’s health is already deteriorating by the day, and we must plan ahead to guard against the desperate actions of certain foolish fellows who have no regard for the greater good. Of course we don’t want to see that kind of extreme situation, but when the extreme situation arises, we also have to face it, don’t forget that there is an entire knight order loyal to Catherine.”
“So, the most important thing right now is to strengthen the deck of cards in our hands, and the western bay is a very important card, you need to hold it well in your hands.”
Gerd said very torn, “Father, if …… if the throne really falls into our hands, I hope you can treat Catherine and Irene kindly, they are after all your nieces, with the blood of the Rodney family in their veins.”
“Oh, that’s of course.” Prince Jasim replied very cheerfully, “No matter what, Catherine and Erin are the noble princesses of the Kingdom of Aldo, and treating them harshly is a disgrace to the entire Rodney family. When everything settles down, we will find them a good husband who is worthy of their status and organize a glorious wedding.”
“I hope it all works out.” Gerd was a little melancholy.
“Everything will go well, my brother.” Urico put his hand on his older brother’s shoulder.
—
Inside the king’s chambers, the candles flickered on and off, fluttering in the breeze, just like the life of the master of this room.
Catherine, Irene, and their mother together guarded the king’s bedchamber, and the faces of mother and daughter were full of worry.
“Father!” Irene let out a cry of alarm as she saw the king’s eyelids move slightly.
The Queen and Catherine immediately moved closer to the King, observing his face.
Sure enough, not long after, the king opened his own eyes with some effort, and the mother and daughter trio cried tears of joy.
“My dear, you and Irene go out for a while, I have something to talk to Catherine alone.” The King spoke his first words after awakening to the Queen.
The Queen said with some concern, “What you need most right now is rest.”
“Don’t worry, just a few words, it won’t tire me out yet.”
“Alright, Erin, let’s go first.” The Queen led Erin, who was still a bit puzzled, out of the bedchamber.
“Father.” After her mother and sister had left, Catherine approached the face of the king, who was still so weak that his words were somewhat slurred.
“Catherine, my daughter, tell father, do you want to be king?” “I ……” Catherine never expected the king to ask him that.
“The ruler of the kingdom of Aldo is you, father.”
“Haha.” The king let out a somewhat labored laugh, “Look at me now, it would be a disaster if the country let a body so weak rule.”
Catherine stifled a sob.
“Don’t cry, my daughter.” The king tried to raise his hand to wipe the tears from his daughter’s face, but failed and eventually gave up.
“Tell me, do you want to be king? If you want to, I can still do it now …… I assure you, I have no scruples now, I will use any means ……”
“No, my father ……” Catherine knew that at such a moment it was not words of comfort that her own father wished to hear, and she suppressed the grief she felt within her, and said through clenched teeth.
“I never had this idea, I have always been active and hard to assist you to govern this country, but I am sorry that I have not been able to bring the country …… after all.”
As she spoke, she suddenly couldn’t restrain herself from bursting into tears, which gushed out and had to be covered with her hands.
“It’s not your fault, my daughter, the kingdom’s accumulated ills have been going on for over a century now, and will never be changed in a generation or two. You will always be my pride, and of course, your sister. You are the most precious treasures my Heavenly Father has bestowed upon me, far beyond the crown on my head.”
The king recalled the bits and pieces of his daughter’s growing up, after he himself stepped into middle age, that is, when Catherine began to understand, his own physical state began to decline, his energy is even far less than before, originally wanted to great ambition but he was dragged down by his body, the well-behaved and understanding eldest daughter then began to learn all sorts of knowledge to help him, and gradually grew up to be able to take charge of her own life.
But the king has no doubts about Catherine’s claim that she doesn’t want to be king. On the one hand, he trusts his daughter’s honesty when she confronts him, and on the other hand, he knows that she’s an old-fashioned woman in some ways – of course, it would be hard to say if there had been a female king in the history of Aldo.
“Father.” Catherine said with tears in her eyes and an unshakable determination, “No matter who you designate as your successor, I will assist him as I have assisted you, and guard this country you have left behind.”
“Well, my daughter, in that case, what do you think of your cousin Gerd?”
“Gerd, he …… would be a good candidate to inherit the throne, only, would it …… be better to just bypass Uncle Jasim?”
“Can’t wait …… Ahem.”
“Can’t wait?” Catherine was very puzzled.
“Yes.” The king confirmed, “Ever since Gerd took a trip to the western bay and brought back those things, combined with some of the things I’ve known off and on over the past few years, I’ve had a vague sense that certain changes seem to be quietly taking place in that part of the kingdom to the northwest.”
“However, the new things brought about by the changes are often contradictory to the old things, and with my talent I am not yet able to deduce the way it will develop next, if the changes can happen in the way of a fine rain that nourishes everything, so that the contradictions between the old and the new don’t intensify, then it can be a good medicine for solving the current predicament of the kingdom, but if the changes develop in the direction of a violent wind and rain, so that the contradictions between the old and the new explode out, then it could be the poison that sends the kingdom on its last journey.”
The king’s words made Catherine frown, was father talking about the Northwest Gulf?
“The kingdom needs the leadership of an enlightened person who has a broad vision and easily accepts or at least doesn’t reject new things, this kind of trait is exactly what a young man like Gelder possesses, after he went to the western bay, he brought back to us gratifying results, his attitude towards new things is especially pleasing to me, and it makes me even more certain that he possesses the traits I desire. Your uncle, …… on the other hand, is old enough to have his mind set and full of stereotyped ideas, and he will naturally side with the old, with predictable results.”
“Catherine ……”
The daughter grasped her father’s meaning and took his hand.
“I hope that you will join your brother in a concerted effort to channel and utilize the impending changes well, to mitigate the upheavals they will bring, to move them in a direction that will benefit the kingdom, to reconcile the contradictions between the old and the new, and to bring about a smooth transition in the country of Aldo.”
“I will, Father, I swear it.”
Catherine assured the king with immense solemnity.
(End of chapter)