Asean in Love

The queen dowager of Bali, on her return to the island, decided to return by ship with Rina, and father Subadar remained with his ship to continue the restoration of the canal near the city of Alexandria."Don't worry daughter, I have staff around me to take care, you go back and take care of your son and the kingdom of Bali until your next trip to Venice."He whispered a few words in her ear:"You must go back, so that the Emperor will be convinced that we have discovered the fastest route for trade, if you stay, Rina will deceive him that her route is faster to Venice via the Euphrates. Even other routes have a lot of dangers and storm cyclones that destroy ships and goods for overseas trade, we experienced seafarers in overseas trade, have heard about them but also that they are dangerous to life because of reefs that are not visible in storms, and traveling in the North is even more dangerous because of the huge icebergs that are more dangerous from the rocks if the ship hits them.You think Alexander the Great and the Ptolemaic dynasty didn't know that, if we do, they discovered those routes and many before, but they knew that it was best to create artificial canals, and even rebuild and strengthen them again is an easier method than traveling with heavy cargo for trade through icebergs in the ocean."Queen Bali reluctantly said goodbye to her father, she was used to her special cabin on the ship and maximum freedom, and now on Rina's ship she felt like a hostage of Emperor Majapahit, so she did not often go out on deck to avoid meeting Rina.That's why Rina came to her often, suspecting that the queen was avoiding her on purpose."You seem to be ignoring me," Rina told her bluntly."No, that's not the point, I'm suffering from seasickness", answered the queen, who used all her free moments to read Marco Polo's book again because it had been translated, escaping further conversation.This time she agreed much more than when she first read his travel novel.She had also found many other history books about Egypt, romantic stories about Cleopatra, especially choosing books about the Ptolemaic dynasty to study their construction of the Pharaoh's Canal.Already at the beginning of the 13th century, many cities around the Nile Delta had been destroyed and disappeared, so she was curious to study those locations in order to learn lessons about better and safer construction of canals and bridges. She thought that even the high Roman viaduct would be a better solution for the wetlands than the canals themselves.She was so engrossed in her thoughts that she didn't notice that Rina had re-entered the cabin."We will arrive in Java soon, it would be proper to first report together to the Majapahit emperor, then we will send a ship to bring you back to the kingdom of Bali.Actually, I have something important to tell you.Ever since the Emperor officially married Dara, he started behaving strangely and was sick almost all day, that's why he sent me to get you in Venice.""Well, they seemed very close at the wedding," said the queen of Bali."No, the two were not close before, princess Dara was sent with another princess from the island of Sumatra, I'm afraid his life is in danger.""As is mine, " the queen of Bali said coldly."So If he chose Dara as his wife, it's not my job to mess around, " the queen continued."Of course it is, all of our lives will be unsafe if something happens to Emperor Majapahit.I ask nothing of you except that you trust him as he trusts you. Dara controls his every step, playing a good wife.He had to marry Dara as a sign that Sumatra is now part of Majapahit, and you were already married into the Rajas dynasty to which the king of Majapahit belongs, so he cannot officially marry you out of respect for his cousin, your deceased husband Yayapangus.""And what it all means, I don't understand?""Just accept that the king of Majapahit respects you more than Dara, and that is good for the Bali kingdom, otherwise if Dara takes over, the Bali kingdom will lose its freedom.So the two of us will focus on overseas trade, but we should give each report personally to the emperor of Majapahit, and never to Dara because she will want to control overseas trade as well, which would not be economical for Bali, who anyway as a vassal pays Majapahit a sum of money in silver and gold.""And why should I trust you?""I am not your enemy! My mother is from the island of Bali, have you forgotten?""Of course, but you are the admiral of the emperor of Majapahit, not the admiral of the Bali kingdom, " said the queen.