Miss Witch's Forbidden Book Secret

It wasn't a secret; the main reason the Montelli family could become a major client of the Ansu shipyard and talent market wasn't some shady deal, but rather the Iris people's inferior seaman quality and ship maintenance capabilities, something even Ansu residents would ridicule.

The shipbuilding capabilities of the Iris were even superior to those of Ansu, and their warships of the same tonnage had better performance on paper than those of Ansu.

However, over the centuries, the Iris has won very few naval battles, and the reasons are self-evident.

We're all respectable people, and Miss Bridget is still lying in her coffin, so it would be impolite to say it outright.

All around, whether they were technical officials from the city hall and the Ministry of the Interior, or old nobles and big merchants, they all subconsciously glanced over.

They had previously thought that Miss Fernina Bonaparte might have some unclear relationship with the Ansu royal family, but they never expected that the relationship would be so deep!

Sensing something was amiss, Deputy Minister Scanlan of the Ministry of the Interior quietly got up and called Marn and Chairman Krishkin out.

The three walked into the flower garden of the Montreal family's house. Marn stopped Krish and, sitting in his wheelchair, questioned, "Scanland, what are you up to? Why did you call us out at this time?"

"Don't even think about bribing us now, it's too late! Parliament is about to convene, and our proposals are ready."

Scanlan said with a headache, "Mawn! I didn't mean that. I meant Bonaparte!"

"Where did you find such an important figure? You've been searching for Imperial spies all day long. I'd like to ask if this Bonaparte is an Ansu spy?"

Marn was a little embarrassed.

This is indeed his fault for misjudging people.

But once public opinion is out in the open, it's quite difficult to replace her. Fortunately, Bonaparte doesn't seem particularly interested in Iris's power, at least not in her personally wielding it.

Scanlan said helplessly, "In any case, the affairs of the Iris People should be left to them. If Bonaparte could become a citizen, that would be fine, but her entanglement with Ansu is a bit too deep..."

Marne suddenly said, "She is the teacher's student. Jeremiah should know that too."

Scanlan was speechless for a moment.

“You…I…never mind. Unity, after all, is still necessary. No matter what Bonaparte is like, what she said is still true.”

A single thread is easy to untangle, but how do you untangle a bunch of twisted and intertwined threads?

Nothing.

Unless you punch Marne, Jeremiah, Bonaparte, and even Rexar and the Silver Castle into dust, there's nothing you can do.

As Scanlan finished speaking, he felt as if he had aged ten years.

He shook his head, and just as he was about to go back, he saw in the distance—that troublesome woman, Fernina Bonaparte, whose height was comparable to that of a child, had already walked out of the funeral hall with her cane and left the gate of the Montreal house.

....................

....................

Vera was squatting outside the Montreal family mansion, almost falling asleep.

She didn't know the way when she arrived in the morning and got lost, ending up at Fontaine Palace. By the time she found out where the Montreal family home was, Tia had already gone to pay her respects to Brigitte.

Several newspaper reporters were also squatting on the street with her. They were on their way to cover the Grand Parliament, but since Parliament hadn't opened yet, they stopped by Montreal's house to find some news.

For example, the illustrious life of some young lady, or a genius, a great businesswoman, a freight tycoon, a social activist, a great philanthropist, the flower of Montreal, a blooming rose... and so on.

However, they were stopped by the doorman of the Montreal family.

Standing next to Vera was a bored female reporter, who looked to be under twenty years old. She casually chatted, "Hey, little sister, are you also from a newspaper?"

"Hmm... let's just say that for now."

"Got it, you're hiring a reporter, right? Which company are you working for now? Do you want me to recommend you to a big newspaper?"

“I…” Vera’s brain went blank for a moment, and she blurted out, “I work at 16 Crown Street.”

"Where is that? Are you here to interview Deputy Minister Scanlan?"

The reporter was completely confused and was about to ask more questions when she suddenly saw Vera stand up.

Vera saw "Furnessa Bonaparte" in a solemn black dress in the distance, and almost fell when she stood up.

Although all the white hair was coiled up and hidden in the lace mesh of the black wide-brimmed hat, it would be strange if she didn't recognize the body that she had personally sculpted and touched hundreds of times, as well as the facial features that she had painstakingly carved out!

She asked where Tia and the doll were.

So this is the guy who ran into the iris!

Damn it! They dare to come to the Iris Flower Garden on their own now. Are they going to secretly throw silver parties later?

Fortunately, though.

If Tia were at the Iris, Eleanor probably wouldn't have been fooled by the wicked woman, since she herself is a complete scoundrel.

Vera had not yet realized the seriousness of the problem.

The reporter stood up in surprise and said, "So you're here to interview Miss Bonaparte?"

Vera swallowed hard, her voice trembling slightly, and asked, "Sister, what do you call her?"

"Furnessa Bonaparte! She's quite famous lately."

Vera's heart, which had been hanging in suspense, was completely dead.

Chapter 263 Eleanor the Big Shot

After leaving her home in Montreal, Tia gave a performance-style opening speech at the Palace of Fontainebleau in the afternoon, and then returned to the River Styx Hotel in the evening, humming a little tune.

According to President Ulrich and her deal, Tia's promotion ceremony from Sequence 7 to Sequence 5 was entirely related to his legacy.

Now that the coordinates of the Sanctuary are known, as long as she can inherit the second round of the Sanctuary's legacy, she can directly complete the advancement to Sequence 6.

Therefore, Tia plans to return to Ansu today or tomorrow to plan the promotion ceremony.

Eleanor, on the other hand, will need more than a month to complete all the rituals to remove the curse.

This also conveniently provided Ms. Bernice with an excuse to stay here and further investigate the situation of the irises.

As soon as Tia arrived at the Broken Gold River Hotel, she saw a red, furry ball squatting in front of the hotel's marble statue, looking like a humanoid robot. The guy was squatting by the roadside, and her exact height was uncertain.

But her slightly messy hair, bright red hair reaching her waist, and her seemingly easy-to-bully aura made Tia recognize her immediately.

Elvira Salvia!

Vera, seeing Tia crash into her, exclaimed in bewilderment and shock, "Holy crap! Su-su-su—waa ...

Before she could even utter those three syllables, Tia took a few steps to her side, wrapped her arms tightly around Vera's neck, and nimbly covered her mouth with her fingers.

In her excitement, Vera instinctively tried to bite someone.

But it's a pity.

Before she could bite down hard on Tia's finger, Tia's right hand, which was covering her mouth, moved. Her nimble middle and ring fingers were the first to enter her mouth, one pressing against the roof of her mouth and the other pressing against her tongue, mercilessly pushing against Vera's upper palate and cheeks until she was in pain and wanted to cry.

Although the fingers are made of sacred wood, after the ritual, they became indistinguishable from human hands. The reason Vera was subdued so quickly can be summed up in four words: practice makes perfect.

Seeing that no one was around, Tia immediately took Vera up to the third floor, locked the red-haired ball in a hand lock with one hand, and knocked on the door with the other.

Boom boom boom!

After a knock on the door, Eleanor came to open it.

Seeing the two people fighting outside the door, Eleanor nodded and said, "Oh, Vera is a prisoner!"

.............

In the living room.

Vera drank chilled orange juice every few bites, still shaken.

Eleanor was curious about what was going on.

As Tia took a parchment scroll from a pocket inside her cloak, she explained, "Vera almost blurted out my real name just now. This would be fine in Ansu, but here we are in Iris City."

"I did not do it on purpose!"

"Of course I know you didn't do it on purpose, Vera," Tia said with a smile. "If you had, your finger wouldn't just be in your mouth now. Ignorance is no excuse, but remember this next time."

Vera squeezed her legs together and gave a dry laugh for a moment, "I'll definitely do it next time."

Tia didn't intend to do anything to Vera; she was just giving her a reminder.

Hakira may react to stress at times, but she's not brainless; on the contrary, she's quite clever in crucial moments. She just doesn't like to think things through normally; life is too tiring, so she prefers to be a little oblivious.

Tia was cautious throughout her life, while Vera was never confused about important matters.

Vera relaxed for a moment, then belatedly realized something and suddenly said angrily, "Wait a minute, Tia, why are you at the Iris Garden too! I was wondering why I hadn't seen you and the doll in so long, and you were eating all by yourself!"

"This is a long story, we'll talk about it later. But for now, I need to prepare to return to Ansu. Is Annie back in Newport News by now?"

Tia did not delve into this topic.

People are different from one another. For example, Anne needs to be explained in detail, but Vera and Eleanor don't need to.

Eleanor had bright, large eyes; she didn't need an explanation to know whether it was true or false.

Vera, on the other hand, was completely different—she didn't care about any reason at all, and her main approach was to accept things as they came.

Vera scratched her head and said, "They have indeed gone back."

Just as Tia had expected, she nodded and said, "Then it's time for me to go back to Ansu."

Vera and Tia exchanged a glance and said in unison:

"A promotion ceremony?"

“That’s right, I need to prepare for my promotion to Sequence 6. However, the ritual is a bit special. I need Uncle Mercury’s warship to take me to the southern waters of the Ansu Sea. Anne should be promoting at the same time as me.”

"Southern seas?"

Is there a problem?

Vera frowned and reminded her, "If it's the southern seas, there could be a real problem. There are severe thunderstorms in the South China Sea. Are you sure you want to go there at this time?"

Tia said, "It's at the end of this month. The location of that sea area is related to the nightmare of the advancement ceremony. Moreover, that nightmare is very special, and I'm not the only one coveting it."

“Then I don’t recommend that Annie go. The thunderstorm is too big. It’s said that even the major merchant guilds of the Seven Seas have chosen to take the route through the Southern Continent.”

"Makes sense."

"What kind of nightmare is so captivating, Tia? You absolutely must go there."

"It is a sanctuary."

Vera's breathing quickened; she really wanted it.

But considering her own mediocre fighting ability, Vera had the desire but not the courage, so she could only say with longing, "Could you sell me some supernatural knowledge? I'll pay you."

On the sofa, the red fluffy ball rubbed against Tia's arm.

"You?" Tia said disdainfully, "Didn't I already take all the gold you had on you?"

"I can even repay you with my body! I'll do anything, like being a slave or a beast of burden. I'm very strong!"

"Pure Flight".

Tia ruthlessly pushed Vera away, and then fell into deep thought.

Vera is right.

If the thunderstorm at sea is too strong, it will seriously affect her advancement ceremony. Not to mention deep diving, even the meditation step will probably be difficult.

Amidst turbulent waves and thunder and lightning, the only ones capable of deep meditation in such an environment are probably the monks of the Far East who are dedicated to spiritual cultivation.

Moreover, in this kind of severe thunderstorm, it's uncertain whether she'll even be able to hitch a ride on a boat going out to sea.

Just then, Eleanor suddenly said, "Oh! We can ride on a Royal Navy warship."

“My brother said that warships patrol the Ansu Sea and have chapels on board to protect against abnormal weather. If Tia takes the dreadnought, she can go to the southern seas, right?”

Tia was slightly taken aback when she heard this option.

warship......

It was feasible, but Tia hadn't even considered this option. Small warships, like those stationed in Nuremberg, generally didn't have onboard churches. Even if they did, they were small chapels staffed by a few priests—perfect for blessing cannonballs, but influencing celestial phenomena would be far too difficult.

To influence celestial phenomena, a large shipboard church must be established, staffed by at least two Sequence 5 bishops and assisted by eight Sequence 6 high-ranking priests.

These shipboard churches were typically found on heavy dreadnoughts, the flagships of the Royal Navy.

These dreadnoughts spend most of their time on the ocean, and Tia never even considered the possibility of hitching a ride on one...

But Eleanor is a master.

If she really wanted to, it wouldn't be impossible for her to slightly alter the Royal Navy's patrol routes. After all, the Admiralty, to which the Royal Navy belongs, isn't accountable to Parliament or the Cabinet.