Chapter 91 The Portrait of a Lover She looked up and saw the captain... (And another thing...)

The sea breeze blows, and pieces of debris are washed ashore by the tide, piling up like graves along the beach's edge.

More than half a month has passed since the Battle of Fei Li, and since it is backed by the sea, the nearby waves have turned back to a deep blue. Only occasionally does one or two corpses float to the shore, where they are picked up and taken back for identification.

The Black Lotus was docked at the shore.

Its size and model were not particularly conspicuous, but the sight of that flag caused a great swarm of unrelated ships to scatter.

The sailors disembarked on planks, and Andra once again stepped onto the sandy shores of Feli.

This wasn't the first time, nor the second, but the flame in her eyes suddenly went out when her feet touched the sand... or perhaps it wasn't extinguished, but rather transformed into something deeper, like firewood turning into charcoal or even tar.

*Pasha, pasha*

Her heavy footsteps crushed the remnants of shells and planks, making a sickeningly loud noise.

The first mate beside her immediately sensed the oppressive atmosphere surrounding the captain. She glanced at Andra again and again, but in the end, she didn't dare to say anything and just kept walking forward with her head down.

"Hey." It was Andra who spoke first. The captain raised his hand and waved a line along the beach, coldly asking, "What did you see?"

Uh... The first mate was speechless. She quickly looked up and glanced left and right, racking her brains to recall everything that had happened recently.

She took a breath, her eyes gleaming as she stared at the captain and said, "I can see—Captain, you are truly exceptional!"

Andra disliked fools, and her young first mate was naturally quite clever.

While flattering the captain, she tried to broaden the scope of her reply, saying, "There are shipwrecks everywhere here, which shows how powerful your fleet is! You towed several warships back, and now King Belial doesn't dare to utter a sound."

She added, "Besides the ships, there's just a clean beach. This shows your decapitation operation was successful and the capital city wasn't badly affected."

Princess Belle has successfully seized the throne, and Feli suffered little looting. This means you will receive a much larger and more abundant dowry when you marry the princess!

The first mate rattled off a long string of words, her face calm, but her heart was wavering.

The captain's gaze remained cold and unwavering, indicating that none of the questions had addressed his concerns.

Her answer wasn't stupid, at least.

So the captain calmly followed up with, "If you came here on a calm, uneventful day, what would you see when you look at the shore?"

They continued walking forward as they talked, and by then they had arrived at the main entrance of the Emerald Pearl Hotel.

This most luxurious hotel in all of Belair is an investment by Princess Nolana.

Located on the most bustling seaside street in Emmanuel, it covers a large area and serves both banquet and accommodation functions. Directly opposite is the opera house, and there is a series of shops selling all kinds of souvenirs and fashionable products from Enlin.

It is said that Princess Eleanor originally had to pay extremely high rent to the Bale royal family, but now that the new Bale king has ascended the throne, the hotel and its facilities have been directly transferred to Eleanor's name.

The first mate finally breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the hotel entrance.

Great, now we can use a meal to gloss over the problem from before, so the captain won't suddenly have a meltdown - she could sense the captain's bad mood as soon as she stepped onto the island.

The first mate was thinking of giving a perfunctory answer, but he answered the captain's question very seriously, while raising his hand to push open the glass-encrusted door before the waiter could.

"If I came to Felli on an ordinary day and saw that coastline..."

The image of the beach flashed through her mind, erasing the fragments and ruins caused by the war, and she suddenly realized: Oh~ there used to be many pearl divers on the beach, so—Scarface was asking about Fei Li's specialty.

“I might buy some pearl-diving slaves from the local merchants and take them to our place to harvest pearls.”

Andra paused for a moment, then walked into the hotel with a normal expression.

This was certainly not the answer Eleanor wanted to hear, but pearls... she had heard a rumor that Princess Eleanor disliked pearls.

Perhaps it was because Enlin could produce extremely beautiful glass, and these transparent ornaments slightly overshadowed Hertuya's gems, while also making Belle's easily fading pearls quite awkward.

Could it be that...

Andra considered a possibility, but it was so ridiculous and meaningless that she immediately forced herself to put that fleeting thought out of her mind.

She sat down in the chair in the middle of the hall and tapped the table to wait for the food to be served.

The first mate eagerly picked up the menu.

She asked the captain a couple of questions in a low voice, and when Andra didn't answer, she pretended nothing had happened and quickly ordered seven or eight popular seafood dishes, and even asked the owner to recommend two of his signature dishes.

The bright red lobster and the sizzling pearl crab were served together on the table, and two glasses of coconut wine filled with fruit clinked and swayed on the table.

Andra never concealed her elegant movements. She picked up her knife and fork and quickly deboned the fish in her hand, cutting it into small pieces and putting them into her mouth.

The first mate secretly breathed a sigh of relief: the captain has started eating the fish, so the question from before should be considered skipped.

......

The arrival of the two young men attracted some attention, but the first mate wasn't too nervous.

Although the captain's true identity is the Pirate King, there are at least a thousand to ten thousand people with red hair in the port of Feli.

That iconic scar is rather troublesome, after all, there are rumors that the Pirate King has one half of his face like a god and the other half like a demon.

"Big news, big news—"

Just then, a young newspaper vendor rushed to the door carrying a large roll of newspapers. She stood outside the hall, loudly calling out to the customers inside while waving her weekly newspaper.

Princess Eleanor has inherited Norlana!!!

The boy's shrill voice startled everyone, causing a series of tinkling sounds.

"Oh ho, you little liar."

Immediately, someone sneered and scolded, "You'll tell any lie just to sell newspapers!"

Princess Eleanor has an excellent reputation, and this hotel is invested in by Her Highness, so the people here are outwardly quite supportive of her.

Even this group of people understood that Her Highness could never inherit a country, especially a large country like Norlanna.

Sure enough, the child's cheeks flushed red, and he stammered, "It wasn't all lies..."

"Ha ha ha ha."

"Give me one."

Everyone laughed and chuckled, each taking a copy of the weekly report from her hand.

When I opened it, wow, it really did talk about the succession to the throne of Norlana.

The recent weekly reports have been quite explosive.

Nolana, Hetuya, and Bele... three countries appeared in succession.

Forget about Princess Eleanor's scandalous affairs; Attila's self-destruction of her entire family and her suicide with the neighboring King Norlana—such things are truly bizarre and rare occurrences.

Today's news is quite novel.

"Oh dear, how could the nobles of Norlana agree to this?"

Belleville has a strong commercial atmosphere, and the only barrier between nobles and commoners is the insurmountable chasm of noble blood. The businessmen who can frequent luxury hotels are all well-educated and can all read newspapers.

It clearly states: After a vote by the various families and ministers of Norlanda, they have decided to recognize that Princess Eleanor's future child has the first in line to the throne!

"I remember Princess Eleanor married someone... Oh, that lucky King Hetuya! You know, that one!"

As soon as he finished speaking, everyone couldn't help but laugh twice.

"Hahaha, her... Princess Eleanor is really willing to have her child?"

"Pfft, he should be willing, after all, he's King Hetuya, pfft pfft."

"Hey, look, the newspaper only says Princess Eleanor's child, it doesn't say it has to be a legitimate child!"

"Oh, no wonder! No wonder those noble families were willing; they themselves now have a chance!"

"Ha ha ha ha."

......

The hotel was filled with a cheerful yet ambiguous atmosphere.

The pirate king and her first mate ate and drank while reading the newspaper.

The shop manager walked past their table and took a velvet cloth to wipe a painting hanging on the wall.

The painting hung in the very center of the hall, a prominent position, and the techniques used in it made it impossible to look away.

Princess Eleanor improved the paper.

How to paint on paper, what kind of paint to use, and what special techniques to employ? While everyone else was still exploring, Her Highness the Princess skipped a long distance and directly presented a beautiful answer.

"Yang" or "Andra"?

Her Highness did not name the painting; she painted it only to commemorate her lost lover or to remind the lucky ones by the sea to remember to bring "her" home for a thousand gold coins.

The figure in the painting wears a marigold crown and a robe representing yang in the legends of the Age of Gods. She stands smiling on a treetop, extending her right hand and spreading her soft palm towards those outside the painting.

Her beautiful face exuded a sense of aggression, and the way she reached out her hand further fueled the imagination.

This painting is most likely not depicting the serious and dignified Yang from mythology, but rather the young Andra.

Why would she climb to the treetop at night? Was she inviting her lover, who was not in the painting, to dance with her in the garden?

Everyone believes that if she hadn't passed away, Princess Eleanor wouldn't have painted this private image, which should have remained forever in her heart.

The person in the painting is somewhere between youth and adolescence; the smile softens the oppressive feeling of a robust physique, leaving only the purest innocence and beauty of youth.

Anyone who sees this painting will be instantly captivated by its timeless technique and the overwhelming, intense, and soul-stirring emotion it conveys.

"Oh dear, I almost forgot."

A businesswoman happened to see the owner wiping the glass. She pointed and laughed, "Isn't Princess Eleanor's beloved here?"

Her finger pointed to the painting in the very center of the hall, the dotted line passing right through Andra.

The pirate king didn't even look up, his hand holding the wine glass remained motionless.

Another person slapped their forehead in agreement, "Yes, yes, I remember that person's name was... Andra, yes, Andra!"

Many guests simultaneously looked at the painting.

The beautiful young man above has dazzling long golden-red hair and eyes that burn like fireworks. She is clearly looking at her beloved lover, and her lips are like blooming roses.

While admiring the handsome young man, they also saw another completely different person.

The profile pierced by a scar suddenly came into view, and it had nothing to do with the word "handsome" in any way. However, those beautiful golden-red eyes inexplicably overlapped with the beauty in the painting, making one's heart skip a beat.

Unfortunately, the person in front of them was quite different from the person in the painting in terms of hair color, build, and austere demeanor, so no one made any connection to the painting.

Everyone was discussing the story of Princess Eleanor and the thousand gold coins in great detail, and they all felt sorry for the princess named Andra.

If she were alive today, she could easily inherit Hetuya as the little princess.

Princess Eleanor was willing to spend a thousand gold coins for the corpse! If this person could be brought back to life, wouldn't he be able to have as many children as Princess Eleanor and inherit the two strongest nations on this continent without any pain?

"Haha, thank goodness she's dead." A Norlana merchant slapped the table, assuming only his companions could hear him. "If she were still alive, Her Highness might have impulsively annexed Norlana to Hetuya."

"You rascal... your princess is a queen now, why are you still calling her princess?"

"I'll shout it! I'll shout it!"

"Let's go." Andra wiped his mouth, called to the first mate who was listening intently, and the two walked out one after the other.

"Yes, yes..."

The waiter opened the glass door for them.

Once outside, the view opened up dramatically. The first mate looked around and, seeing that everyone was relatively far apart, asked in a low voice, "Captain, shouldn't we take more men today?"

They wouldn't just go ashore casually; they were there to discuss important matters—to demand payment from the new King of Bayre for their victory in the naval battle.

It's not something two people can do alone to demand their unpaid wages. When they arrived at the palace gate, there were at least several hundred crew members waiting there.

A few hundred people is only the size of a large diplomatic team. Given King Belai's cautious nature and their "relationship," it would be good if they could let in a hundred or so people, and they might even have to lay down their weapons.

The people coming are all pirates. What if they get hacked to death as soon as they enter?

"No need." The captain was as concise as ever, without even pausing his steps.

The first mate gritted her teeth, wanting to try and persuade the captain under pressure, but when she looked up, she saw the other half of the captain's face contorted in a distorted...smile.

Guh.

Her heart skipped a beat, and she quickly lowered her head and hurried after him.

If any of the former crew members of the Black Lotus were still alive, she would surely tell the current first mate what she saw—

"Hey, the captain's expression is exactly the same as that day!"