Even in a time when public education was so scarce that merchants' children began working in guilds as young as ten, a young squire like Petruchia—and a young woman at that—was unheard of. Petruchia defined her success in one word:
“I received the protection of the sea goddess!”
She added triumphantly.
“Of course, I put in some effort too!”
As expected from someone born with a silver spoon in their mouth, there was no mention of the initial capital his father provided. It was so obvious that it was hard to express gratitude without mentioning it in a separate word.
If she had earned the initial capital herself by carrying sacks of wheat on the docks, she would have felt the full extent of her contribution.
But Petruchia, aside from her father's money, had her own talents, luck, and, indeed, countless hardships. She vividly unravels the story of her journey after breaking free from her father's care.
“So we plundered the Moorish galleys and loaded them all onto our ships, and the ships sank about a pieddy more!”
“Ugh, that’s scary!”
Felicite, who had only ever touched salt water when brushing her teeth, trembled beside Sancha, who was contemplating whether to throw the maid away and go to the sea. Petruchia laughed and waved her hand.
“It won’t sink to that extent.”
Petruchia had established a respectable upper house in little more than a year after independence.
Immediately after becoming independent, she engaged in coastal trade following the advice of the men who helped her father's business.
But Petruchia, who had witnessed her father's bold journey across continents from Bocanegro, was bold and discerning. She couldn't shake the instinctive voice that cried out for opportunity.
“This year, no, the second half of last year, the sea was quiet.”
This was the original history, to a certain extent.
Early last year, Pasha Nazir of the Etelkoz tribe, one of the most powerful figures in the Moorish Empire, died in a power struggle. This was the future the "Awakened Ones" had envisioned.
The Moorish Empire briefly halted its expansion as it devoured the corpse of Pasha Nazir's forces internally. However, this was merely a breather for the empire.
This is because it is an incident that becomes the prelude to the 'predestined fate' in which the Magyar tribe, one axis of the empire, subjugates the other tribes one by one and invades the central continent.
“The sudden passing of the previous Pope also allowed several countries, including the Republic of Porto, to send out large fleets on a national basis, taking a break in the second half of the year.”
But the Council of San Carlo and the conclave that followed also played a role. This was the butterfly effect brought about by Ariadne.
According to the original history, Pope Louis I, who should have lived a little longer, died in the second half of 1127. Consequently, the Catholic states of the Central Continent, which had been seeking to elevate their favored Cardinal to the papal throne, took a break from tangles with heretics.
It was in the interest of not creating a situation where they would be caught.
So the Strait of Yante, which should have been bustling with merchant ships of the Moorish Empire, pirates, and merchants from the world of the Presbyterian Church, became empty after several decades.
“My goodness, can you imagine an autumn without a single fleet heading to the Giresin Sea?”
The Giresin Sea, another name for the Ink Sea, was a place where Eastern merchants crossing the desert by land met with Western merchants crossing the sea, buying and selling foreign goods. All valuable items, known as "Moorish Empire products," passed through here and entered the Central Continent.
The Republic of Porto was not originally a great nation that would allow its regular fleet to rest for a conclave or something like that, but its main trading partners were within the sphere of influence of Pasha Nazir.
In peacetime, the Pasha's fleet and the pirates were clearly distinguished, but now it was impossible to know which force would newly claim the position of local leader.
If the pirate sunk yesterday was the son or sworn brother of the new lord controlling the entrance to Giresin, tomorrow would be dangerous. The Republic chose to avoid any naval conflict at all costs.
And Petruchia filled the void left by that.
“I will never forget the moment we crossed the Strait of Yante, empty of anyone but our sailing ship, and entered the Giresin Sea.”
If the solo trader succeeded, she would become a millionaire. The new merchant, who had only experience in coastal trade, overcame the opposition of her subordinates to attempt this risky venture, and she succeeded.
The upper part of the Veloce grew rapidly with the arrival of three sailing ships that had left with a load of glass and returned laden with white porcelain.
“I was really lucky, because after that, there suddenly became a lot of pirates on the sea.”
Alfonso, who had been welcoming his wife's guest with a smile, suddenly froze. Petruchia, oblivious to this, spoke with a large gesture.
“If the second ascent had started at a similar scale, I would have sunk to the bottom of the sea by now!”
Until then, Petruzia Vitelli had been a guest visiting the Prince's consort. At this moment, Petruzia became Alfonso's guest.
“Captain Vitelli.”
A deep man's voice overlapped the girl's high-pitched voice. The girl was taken aback. The man even called her name.
"Yes yes!"
Although she was a self-proclaimed self-made tycoon at the top of a large business empire, Petruchia was still a rookie, only two years into her career. She had never met a head of state, much less a local lord. When Alfonso called her name, Petruchia was visibly nervous.
Alfonso smiled to ease the tension in his opponent.
When the young Prince, with his well-trained body, smiled at her with his characteristically large, affectionate smile, Petruchia thought for a moment that the clouds in the sky had dispersed.
She looked at Alfonso's face, then out the window, then back at Alfonso.
'It's not a cloud, it's a Prince.'
The other person was about ten years older than her and was even her teacher's husband, but Petruchia decided on her ideal type at that moment.
“I’m sorry for ruining the good mood.”
“No, Your Highness!”
Petruchia waved her hand. The mood is perfect right now. "Sister, I'm sorry. But I don't mean to do anything. Unrequited love isn't a crime, after all."
Alfonso, completely unaware of the girl's dark intentions, got straight to the point.
"Tell me about the state of the sea. When did you first encounter the pirates of the Moorish Empire?"
“You want to know about the current state of the ocean, not my personal anecdotes, right?”
The rising star of the upper realm was quick to notice. Alfonso smiled awkwardly. No one would blame him for casually revealing his lack of interest in others, given his position. Yet, Alfonso remained faithful to each and every person he met.
Petruchia smiled and asked Alfonso.
“You know that Unaisola has established themself properly, right?”
Alfonso tilted his head slightly at Petruchia's question.
He had heard stories of the prosperous Free City of Unaisola. But he wasn't sure what she meant by "getting established."
Young Vitelli laughed.
"I used slang. What I meant was that Unaisola is currently sending out a regular top ship. With an escort."
The upstream route was by sailing ship. The large caravans were ideal for carrying cargo, and with the right wind, their heavy bulk could glide across the vast expanse of the sea.
However, soldiers and pirates boarded galleys. These long, slender galleys, with their numerous oarsmen, left no room for cargo.
Instead, the long galleys lurked quietly along the unguarded coast and pounced on the plump, round sailing ships, the upper decks of which were visible.
The galleys, capable of maneuvering regardless of the wind, were a terrifying threat in battle. They would quickly sprint over short distances, tie down the ships with grappling hooks, and then the combatants would swarm onto the decks of the sailing ships. The next step was to capture and plunder.
"In reality, the average sailor has no choice but to hope they don't encounter pirates. Or, if they're half as lucky, a terrible wind will blow the moment they do."
Petruchia added with sparkling eyes.
“Either way, you’d be captured by pirates and end up envious of the Porto Republic guys.”
Sancha, intoxicated by the story of the sea, asked cheerfully.
“Why the Republic of Porto?”
"The Republic guys send out a fleet of galley escorts, a fleet of sailing ships, forming an 'escort caravan.' Once a year, once every quarter."
Sancha, unable to understand what was being said, looked around. It seemed she was the only one who didn't understand.
“There would have been no room for outsiders to interfere.”
The Prince let out a sigh.
The Republic of Porto attaches an escort of warships to its regular fleet.
This was something Alfonso studied in his imperial studies class when he was young.
Queen Marguerite devoted her heart and soul to teaching Alfonso the best teachers, but this part remained to him only as meaningless pieces of common sense.
Dead knowledge meets the field and is reborn as living information.
“As expected, you are our Prince!”
Petruchia clapped her hands. But Prince Alfonso's expression was not favorable. The young but seasoned merchant read a sense of self-reproach in his reaction.
"Don't blame yourself too much. This is an achievement that, no matter how hard you try, Your Highness, cannot be achieved in a short period of time."
“Thank you for saying that.”
The girl was both witty and quick-witted.
"It's a chicken-or-egg problem. As merchants, we need to generate sufficient cargo volume first to justify sending out regular fleets."
Sancha, who had been on edge from the constant back-and-forth without her, let out a loud scream. "Petruchia, huh? You? When you were a rat, when you were taken hostage at the de Mare mansion, I even took care of your chemise!"
“What on earth does the Republic’s advantage have to do with the chicken and the egg!”
“I received the protection of the sea goddess!”
She added triumphantly.
“Of course, I put in some effort too!”
As expected from someone born with a silver spoon in their mouth, there was no mention of the initial capital his father provided. It was so obvious that it was hard to express gratitude without mentioning it in a separate word.
If she had earned the initial capital herself by carrying sacks of wheat on the docks, she would have felt the full extent of her contribution.
But Petruchia, aside from her father's money, had her own talents, luck, and, indeed, countless hardships. She vividly unravels the story of her journey after breaking free from her father's care.
“So we plundered the Moorish galleys and loaded them all onto our ships, and the ships sank about a pieddy more!”
“Ugh, that’s scary!”
Felicite, who had only ever touched salt water when brushing her teeth, trembled beside Sancha, who was contemplating whether to throw the maid away and go to the sea. Petruchia laughed and waved her hand.
“It won’t sink to that extent.”
Petruchia had established a respectable upper house in little more than a year after independence.
Immediately after becoming independent, she engaged in coastal trade following the advice of the men who helped her father's business.
But Petruchia, who had witnessed her father's bold journey across continents from Bocanegro, was bold and discerning. She couldn't shake the instinctive voice that cried out for opportunity.
“This year, no, the second half of last year, the sea was quiet.”
This was the original history, to a certain extent.
Early last year, Pasha Nazir of the Etelkoz tribe, one of the most powerful figures in the Moorish Empire, died in a power struggle. This was the future the "Awakened Ones" had envisioned.
The Moorish Empire briefly halted its expansion as it devoured the corpse of Pasha Nazir's forces internally. However, this was merely a breather for the empire.
This is because it is an incident that becomes the prelude to the 'predestined fate' in which the Magyar tribe, one axis of the empire, subjugates the other tribes one by one and invades the central continent.
“The sudden passing of the previous Pope also allowed several countries, including the Republic of Porto, to send out large fleets on a national basis, taking a break in the second half of the year.”
But the Council of San Carlo and the conclave that followed also played a role. This was the butterfly effect brought about by Ariadne.
According to the original history, Pope Louis I, who should have lived a little longer, died in the second half of 1127. Consequently, the Catholic states of the Central Continent, which had been seeking to elevate their favored Cardinal to the papal throne, took a break from tangles with heretics.
It was in the interest of not creating a situation where they would be caught.
So the Strait of Yante, which should have been bustling with merchant ships of the Moorish Empire, pirates, and merchants from the world of the Presbyterian Church, became empty after several decades.
“My goodness, can you imagine an autumn without a single fleet heading to the Giresin Sea?”
The Giresin Sea, another name for the Ink Sea, was a place where Eastern merchants crossing the desert by land met with Western merchants crossing the sea, buying and selling foreign goods. All valuable items, known as "Moorish Empire products," passed through here and entered the Central Continent.
The Republic of Porto was not originally a great nation that would allow its regular fleet to rest for a conclave or something like that, but its main trading partners were within the sphere of influence of Pasha Nazir.
In peacetime, the Pasha's fleet and the pirates were clearly distinguished, but now it was impossible to know which force would newly claim the position of local leader.
If the pirate sunk yesterday was the son or sworn brother of the new lord controlling the entrance to Giresin, tomorrow would be dangerous. The Republic chose to avoid any naval conflict at all costs.
And Petruchia filled the void left by that.
“I will never forget the moment we crossed the Strait of Yante, empty of anyone but our sailing ship, and entered the Giresin Sea.”
If the solo trader succeeded, she would become a millionaire. The new merchant, who had only experience in coastal trade, overcame the opposition of her subordinates to attempt this risky venture, and she succeeded.
The upper part of the Veloce grew rapidly with the arrival of three sailing ships that had left with a load of glass and returned laden with white porcelain.
“I was really lucky, because after that, there suddenly became a lot of pirates on the sea.”
Alfonso, who had been welcoming his wife's guest with a smile, suddenly froze. Petruchia, oblivious to this, spoke with a large gesture.
“If the second ascent had started at a similar scale, I would have sunk to the bottom of the sea by now!”
Until then, Petruzia Vitelli had been a guest visiting the Prince's consort. At this moment, Petruzia became Alfonso's guest.
“Captain Vitelli.”
A deep man's voice overlapped the girl's high-pitched voice. The girl was taken aback. The man even called her name.
"Yes yes!"
Although she was a self-proclaimed self-made tycoon at the top of a large business empire, Petruchia was still a rookie, only two years into her career. She had never met a head of state, much less a local lord. When Alfonso called her name, Petruchia was visibly nervous.
Alfonso smiled to ease the tension in his opponent.
When the young Prince, with his well-trained body, smiled at her with his characteristically large, affectionate smile, Petruchia thought for a moment that the clouds in the sky had dispersed.
She looked at Alfonso's face, then out the window, then back at Alfonso.
'It's not a cloud, it's a Prince.'
The other person was about ten years older than her and was even her teacher's husband, but Petruchia decided on her ideal type at that moment.
“I’m sorry for ruining the good mood.”
“No, Your Highness!”
Petruchia waved her hand. The mood is perfect right now. "Sister, I'm sorry. But I don't mean to do anything. Unrequited love isn't a crime, after all."
Alfonso, completely unaware of the girl's dark intentions, got straight to the point.
"Tell me about the state of the sea. When did you first encounter the pirates of the Moorish Empire?"
“You want to know about the current state of the ocean, not my personal anecdotes, right?”
The rising star of the upper realm was quick to notice. Alfonso smiled awkwardly. No one would blame him for casually revealing his lack of interest in others, given his position. Yet, Alfonso remained faithful to each and every person he met.
Petruchia smiled and asked Alfonso.
“You know that Unaisola has established themself properly, right?”
Alfonso tilted his head slightly at Petruchia's question.
He had heard stories of the prosperous Free City of Unaisola. But he wasn't sure what she meant by "getting established."
Young Vitelli laughed.
"I used slang. What I meant was that Unaisola is currently sending out a regular top ship. With an escort."
The upstream route was by sailing ship. The large caravans were ideal for carrying cargo, and with the right wind, their heavy bulk could glide across the vast expanse of the sea.
However, soldiers and pirates boarded galleys. These long, slender galleys, with their numerous oarsmen, left no room for cargo.
Instead, the long galleys lurked quietly along the unguarded coast and pounced on the plump, round sailing ships, the upper decks of which were visible.
The galleys, capable of maneuvering regardless of the wind, were a terrifying threat in battle. They would quickly sprint over short distances, tie down the ships with grappling hooks, and then the combatants would swarm onto the decks of the sailing ships. The next step was to capture and plunder.
"In reality, the average sailor has no choice but to hope they don't encounter pirates. Or, if they're half as lucky, a terrible wind will blow the moment they do."
Petruchia added with sparkling eyes.
“Either way, you’d be captured by pirates and end up envious of the Porto Republic guys.”
Sancha, intoxicated by the story of the sea, asked cheerfully.
“Why the Republic of Porto?”
"The Republic guys send out a fleet of galley escorts, a fleet of sailing ships, forming an 'escort caravan.' Once a year, once every quarter."
Sancha, unable to understand what was being said, looked around. It seemed she was the only one who didn't understand.
“There would have been no room for outsiders to interfere.”
The Prince let out a sigh.
The Republic of Porto attaches an escort of warships to its regular fleet.
This was something Alfonso studied in his imperial studies class when he was young.
Queen Marguerite devoted her heart and soul to teaching Alfonso the best teachers, but this part remained to him only as meaningless pieces of common sense.
Dead knowledge meets the field and is reborn as living information.
“As expected, you are our Prince!”
Petruchia clapped her hands. But Prince Alfonso's expression was not favorable. The young but seasoned merchant read a sense of self-reproach in his reaction.
"Don't blame yourself too much. This is an achievement that, no matter how hard you try, Your Highness, cannot be achieved in a short period of time."
“Thank you for saying that.”
The girl was both witty and quick-witted.
"It's a chicken-or-egg problem. As merchants, we need to generate sufficient cargo volume first to justify sending out regular fleets."
Sancha, who had been on edge from the constant back-and-forth without her, let out a loud scream. "Petruchia, huh? You? When you were a rat, when you were taken hostage at the de Mare mansion, I even took care of your chemise!"
“What on earth does the Republic’s advantage have to do with the chicken and the egg!”
I know you must be busy, but I'm suffering because it's been a long time since you last updated.
ReplyDeleteHello. The previous raw novel source only goes up to episode 539. Since I can't buy cookies to buy episodes on Naver Series, I have no choice but to wait for updates on Naver Webnovel, which currently only has 504 episodes. Sorry, but it seems we have to be patient.
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