Two days later, on April 17th.
The royal convoy, which had traveled a long way from the capital Garnat, finally arrived at the Maritime Authority in Pulton Inner Harbour around noon after a long journey.
Early this morning, a group of officials led by Dorfen were waiting at the Maritime Bureau. When they saw the royal motorcade slowly drive into the Maritime Bureau, the group immediately went to greet them.
As the bright red carriage door slowly opened, Isabella's figure gradually came into view.
She wore a wide-brimmed satin hat with a pure white transparent lace trim around the brim, which perfectly blurred the upper half of her face, but could not hide her pair of bright, jewel-like blue eyes.
Because she was traveling, Isabella's makeup was minimal, and she didn't even seem to be wearing lip gloss. However, this minimalism made it easy for people to overlook her age. If you only looked at her face, she looked like a sixteen or seventeen-year-old girl.
However, her attire was inconsistent with her youthful face. Unlike the brightly colored dresses she always wore at the Champs-Élysées, Isabella today wore a pure white trimmed shirt underneath a short, fitted brown-red leather jacket, and a red and black plaid skirt. Her long, slender legs gleamed with a pearly sheen, and she wore a pair of pure black flat shoes. This made her look dignified and elegant, with a touch of subtle charm amidst her tranquility.
It was mid-April, and the weather was neither too hot nor too cold, so she left her coat open, and the sun brooch on her white shirt shone brightly in the sunlight, even catching the eye of James, who was waiting in the crowd.
In fact, ever since Isabella stepped out of the carriage with the help of her servants, James's eyes had not left her.
She was so dazzling, so incredibly beautiful, with a face like a young girl, but this outfit made her appear much more mature, reminding people that she was not just an ordinary beautiful girl, but a noble queen, possessing not only an outstanding figure but also extraordinary talent.
Just seeing her there made James feel much less of the gloom that had been building up in his heart over the past few days.
So he pushed aside the people around him and rushed to Isabella, who had just alighted from the carriage, and bowed warmly to greet her:
"Your Majesty, welcome." As he greeted him, he eagerly reached out his hand to Isabella.
However, instead of Isabella extending her gloved hand, James instead uttered a sharp rebuke:
“James, have you forgotten your manners?!” Eddington said sternly, standing next to Isabella.
James belatedly realized that his actions were too abrupt, and being reprimanded in public made him blush. He cursed Eddington in his heart. Just as he was at a loss, Isabella's gentle voice rang out beside him.
"General James is still as enthusiastic as ever."
Like a spring breeze, all the unpleasantness in James' heart vanished instantly, and he immediately smiled, saying to Isabella:
"Your Majesty, please forgive my rudeness."
Isabella smiled slightly, briefly returning the smile before turning her face away and speaking gently to the crowd:
"Let's go, everyone, we still have a lot to discuss."
After saying that, she walked straight toward the steps where a red carpet had already been laid out, and the people surrounding her followed closely behind.
"James, aren't you going in?" Anthony, frowning, turned to look at James, who was still standing there in a daze, and called out to him.
James finally came to his senses and hurriedly turned around to follow, ignoring Anthony completely.
Watching James jog up the steps, Anthony scoffed inwardly with disdain.
'This kid has absolutely no self-awareness.'
——
A little closer, inside the Maritime Safety Administration's conference room.
Isabella, who had traveled a long way, did not choose to stay overnight. Instead, she directly convened a meeting with officials. In addition to the senior naval officers who had been stationed in Pulte Harbor, there were also army generals who had been arriving from various places in recent days.
They naturally brought their troops with them, which are now stationed in Pulton Inner Harbor. In addition to Pulton Harbor, the other two major ports have also gathered a number of army troops from various places.
In addition, troops are still en route to these three major ports in the mainland. Moreover, the entire country's military has been urgently mobilized.
The order for the emergency mobilization was issued ten days ago.
The spacious conference room was already full of people. Isabella sat in the main seat, having removed her hat, so her slightly solemn expression was clearly visible to everyone.
Not only Isabella, but all the officials and generals present had extremely solemn expressions. This was because, on the one hand, recent events had left them feeling somewhat overwhelmed, and on the other hand, there was Isabella's arrival.
As the ruler, Isabella's reign marked a visible upward trend in the nation's development after her ascension to the throne. In fact, maintaining internal stability in a country with a large population and vast territory was an extremely challenging task, but she accomplished it methodically. Furthermore, after promulgating a series of reforms covering various aspects, the nation's strength continued to steadily increase.
For this reason, Isabella is the most important person in the entire country.
Her Majesty the Queen, who is of vital importance to the country, has come to Pulton Harbor amidst the current tense situation, which is, strictly speaking, a very dangerous place right now.
As the ruler, her arrival was accompanied by enormous risks; if anything went wrong, the resulting losses would be unacceptable.
Therefore, when Isabella announced her intention to come to Port Pulton a dozen days ago, not only did Eddington strongly oppose it, but all the cabinet members also expressed their opposition.
Despite widespread opposition, Isabella stubbornly proceeded with her itinerary and arrived at Pulton Harbor with a firm stance.
The root cause of all this is the series of events that will be discussed at today's meeting.
"Let's begin," Isabella said, her face expressionless as she surveyed the crowd.
Commander Dorfin, the Royal Fleet Commander, slowly rose from his chair, walked to the tectonic plate map hanging on the wall, picked up a pointer, and spoke to the blue-painted ocean area:
"At the end of last month, a Yan Kingdom fleet sailed from the direction of Salisno Continent toward our territorial waters and then intruded into our territorial waters."
"After that, they sailed back and forth in our territorial waters, but made no further intrusions, um..."
At this point, Dolphin touched his nose and said self-deprecatingly, "This is already a very serious infringement on our country's sovereignty."
"The time that will be over from now on..."
At this point, Isabella interrupted, "Get to the point."
Dorfin cleared his throat and said with a stern face, "Two days ago, the Yan Kingdom's fleet began military exercises in our territorial waters."
"However... perhaps this is not a military exercise."
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