Chapter 33 The sweetest babies are those from Manhattan Port.
The sound of rain pattering down was the sound of raindrops. A cold wind blew in through the slightly open window. Easter followed the source of warmth and made a soft "hmm" sound, seemingly half-awake.
Arip pulled the blanket up, hugged the person in his arms tighter, and tried to continue sleeping.
East suddenly woke up, his mind still fogged up and unable to process the situation. A question popped into his head: why was there another person in his bed?
Easter sat up, pulling the blanket around herself, glanced at Arebo still lying on the bed, let out a sigh of relief, then, as if remembering something, quickly pulled the blanket back over herself. "Sorry."
Aripor sat up, his long hair cascading down his back. "What's wrong?" he asked lazily, yawning, taking a rare moment of peace with Rabbit.
Easter rubbed his temples. "You keep sleeping, I should probably get up." Easter dared not admit that he had forgotten there was someone lying next to him.
Arip pinched Easter's cheek, said nothing, and just gave him a half-smile.
Easter lowered his head in guilt, realizing he was in the wrong, and indeed, in a very wrong position.
"Dudu".
Easter was so grateful to the person knocking on the door that he hurriedly got out of bed.
Arip was both amused and exasperated. He wasn't going to eat people, so why was he so afraid?
Easter slowed his pace, glanced at his clothes from head to toe, finding them to be fairly conservative, and opened the door.
Amina lowered her head. "Your Majesty, the twelve ministers say they have important matters to discuss and hope you can come to the council chamber in an hour."
East thought of what Arip had said last night. Would it really come true? He replied curtly, "I understand." Seeing there was nothing else, he closed the door, a hint of frustration creeping in. Actually, with players and the system sharing most of his work, the effects of yesterday's loosening of the seal were under control. The main problem was that, in this country, he was nominally the king, but in reality, he was just a figurehead. To truly accomplish anything, he couldn't rely solely on players and the system. He disliked dealing with people.
Are you upset?
East said, "It's alright." He had just woken up and was still quite resentful.
Aripelago was sure there was no reluctance in East's words, so he nodded and said, "You go ahead, I'll go out for a walk."
“After breakfast,” Easter said.
The system reluctantly issued a task to the player. The kitchen was taken over by the player the day after returning to the palace. However, this was not a mandatory task, but a daily task. Players could take on the task of cooking that day if they were interested, but they had to make sure their cooking skills were barely passable.
It was quite a coincidence that Cai Cai was the one who received the task today. When she saw that the task was to prepare two breakfasts, Cai Cai silently and quickly cooked two portions, but she divided them very cleverly so that they were not easily noticed.
Not long after Easter and Aripelago finished getting ready, breakfast was brought up by the little fireman.
Cai Cai glanced around discreetly, finding no sign of anyone else, and then looked up at Easter.
East rubbed Cai Cai's little tuft of hair. "Good girl, go down now."
Cai Cai hesitated, then said, "Little King..."
East lowered his eyes, put his index finger to his lips, and made a "shh" gesture.
"We'll clean up after we finish eating." Cai Cai didn't choose to argue any further.
After all the players had left, Arebo casually opened the door and walked in, saying, "Very loyal, with unlimited potential."
East nodded. "They are fine."
Arip patted his head like Easter would pat Cai Cai's head. "You're good too," he said, raising an eyebrow. "You wouldn't want to deny my taste, would you?"
East swallowed the words that rose in his throat and said something else, "Have breakfast."
"Mr. Rabbit, you weren't like this yesterday~"
Easter paused, looked at Areber, met his teasing gaze, and then heard him slowly say, "I was talking about what happened at the coronation. What are you thinking, Rabbit?"
East, “…” If Ariber hadn’t done it on purpose, he could have written his name backwards.
Arip sat down casually. "Be more confident, be more assertive, and don't be too quick to deny yourself."
Easter stared blankly at Areper.
"Are you moved?" Areber pointed to his cheek. "Let's get real."
Under Areber's surprised gaze, Easter leaned forward and pressed her lips to his, saying, "Thank you."
"It was both unexpected and delightful to receive a kiss from the reserved and dignified Mr. Rabbit."
Easter sat down next to Arip. "If you don't eat breakfast soon, it'll get cold."
Arip licked his lips, clicking his tongue inwardly. He didn't want breakfast right now; he wanted to eat Mr. Rabbit, but he could only dream about it. Regretfully, he picked up a piece of bread and stuffed it into his mouth, chewing and chewing. His gaze, which had been fixed on Mr. Rabbit, shifted to the bread. The surface was a light brownish-yellow, while the overall texture was soft and white. It tasted very fragrant, sweet but not cloying.
As someone who has tasted many good things, this is different. I tilt my head. Is it because the preparation process and ingredients are different?
East pushed the small steamed buns in the steamer, "Try this."
Arip quickly finished the bread in his hand, wiped his hands with a handkerchief, and then picked up the small, soft bun. He curiously put it in his mouth, and his calm blue eyes lit up. He cracked the thin outer skin, and a syrupy liquid flowed out. His entire mouth was filled with honey-like sweetness, and the sweetness lingered for a long time, leaving an endless aftertaste.
Seeing Arebo's appearance, Easter felt a momentary surge of inappropriate jealousy. "Eat more if you like it," he said, eating his vegetable porridge with a silver spoon.
Arip wiped his hands clean, put his arm around East, and kissed his lips as East turned his head. "Baby's jealousy is greater than I thought~" he said in a very flirtatious tone. "Nothing can compare to baby, baby is the sweetest."
East reached out and gathered Aripor's hair, tucking it behind his ear. "I have something to do later." The implication was that he hoped Aripor would stop causing trouble.
Arip was unusually embarrassed, but it was all because Mr. Rabbit was too funny to tease and had an extremely high tolerance for him, almost to the point of having no limits, which made it hard for him to resist.
After a quiet and harmonious breakfast, Easter changed into appropriate clothes and looked at Arip. "I'm going out now." That might not be what he really wanted to say, but he couldn't bring himself to say what he truly wanted to say.
“I’m going to wander around, don’t forget my dinner.” Arippo waved and jumped off the balcony.
East watched the dashing figure disappear into the distance, pursed his lips, let out a slight sigh of relief, picked up the system that had appeared out of nowhere, and stroked its soft fur. What was wrong with him? He stood silently for two minutes, pondering and analyzing his emotions: anxiety, reluctance to part, worry and unease... a jumble of feelings, as chaotic as a ball of yarn torn up by a cat.
East forced down all the emotions he shouldn't have, opened the door and went out. He shouldn't think about things he shouldn't think about, and he should treat this as a dream. It was already a blessing to have a moment of pleasure. If he wanted too much, he might end up with nothing. In this era and in his situation, he should know how to cherish what he had, since he had a kite string that wouldn't make him lose his way.
The system rubbed its head against East's hand. The existence of that stinky man was both good and bad. It just hoped that the stinky man would not let down the host's favoritism towards him, otherwise... the bright blue eyes of the sapphire turned into inorganic black. Hehe, the system was not someone to be trifled with.
East tapped the system's little head. "System, tone it down." He was quite exasperated. It was clearly a system, yet it had so many worries.
The system shook its head, its two fluffy long ears swaying back and forth, looking incredibly cute. [Host, when will the player count increase again?] With the conclusion of Ister's first coronation, he had gained quite a few benefits. Mimicry was, in a sense, the most insignificant. He didn't mention the public beta, for a simple reason: the number of players joining the public beta was unpredictable, and it wasn't yet time for them to let loose.
As East walked along the corridor leading to the council chamber, the fine autumn rain wove into a misty haze. A gust of wind brought a dampness that swept away the vibrant flowers of a few days ago, most of which had fallen to the ground and turned to mud with the arrival of this storm.
"Wait a little longer." From the moment the first player arrived, the seal on the monster loosened, which shows that there must be some connection between them. At present, when the strength of the players is still far inferior to that of the monsters, it is difficult to predict the consequences of letting too many players arrive too early.
They entered the council chamber in silence, the people there neatly arranged, their eyes following Ister.
Good morning, Your Majesty! Praise be to your glory.
Under the watchful eyes of everyone, Easter calmly took his seat in the main seat. "Good morning, please sit down."
Four chairs had been prepared in advance behind Easter for the four players who followed.
This meeting was different from the first. Easter was no longer just a mascot; he was involved in the proceedings. Perhaps there was a difference between being crowned and not being crowned, but it was more likely that they wanted to give Easter a warning after his coronation.
East sat less upright than before, leaning back in his chair, legs crossed, and tapping his knuckles lightly on the table. "We can't travel along this route," he said, scanning each court official one by one. "What's the reason? What's the solution? What are the contingency plans in case we can't travel? You're not going to tell me you haven't considered these issues, are you?"
The shipping route mentioned here is the reason why Ramon Kingdom ostensibly attacked Felix Kingdom, as I had previously told the players. There are shipping routes from Manhattan Port to ports of various countries. On the first day of the coronation, they sent such a message, which is hard to say was not intentional.
"Your Majesty, please allow me to explain the reason for this." The speaker was a man sitting slightly behind, whose kind face gave him a very good impression.
Easter nodded. "Thank you." This was the Chief Foreign Minister, Kras Riveren. Easter had a guess as soon as he stood up.
After listening to Claas's report, it was indeed almost exactly as East had predicted.
First, let's talk about a prerequisite for navigation, the most important prerequisite being the existence of the sea. This world is different from the world of the past; there are creatures in the sea, that's right, the legendary mermaid race. So the ocean is their territory, and if you want to pass through it, you naturally need to establish good relations with them. Not to mention escorting them, just ask that they don't stir up storms or sing mermaid songs to bewitch the people on board during the voyage.
The relationship between mermaids and humans is neither good nor bad; there are no major grudges or feuds. Sometimes, there are even mutually beneficial transactions. However, this can be divided into two situations: for powerful and influential nations, it's definitely a harmonious exchange where everyone benefits.
However, for small countries like the Kingdom of Felix, it's really not enough to satisfy them. They usually sign contracts to provide enough money or goods that the powerful countries need. Of course, they provide more than the powerful countries. This is because the Campbell Empire (a special country that focuses on commerce) takes the lead in this. Even the special contracts signed each time are provided by the Campbell Empire, which is why there haven't been any major problems over the years.
Contracts are usually signed for three, five, or ten years. If any unforeseen circumstances occur, such as a change of king or a reorganization of territory, the contract must be renegotiated. This is something that should have been considered and discussed in advance, but now that the matter has come to fruition, these people are bringing it up, leaving East speechless.
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