The temperature in Barcelona becomes extremely strange when winter begins. The day is still bright all year round and sunlight shines. At night, the temperature drops sharply to about seven or eight degrees, which makes people traveling late at night have to add a thick coat.

At Pier 3 of the city harbor, not far from the mooring site of the three-masted merchant ship of the "Seeker" who had just completed the unloading task, Kasapa was impatient and restless.

Anthony directly used his brown sleeves to wipe the sweat from his forehead, and he didn't remember that there was a white hand towel in his pocket.

As the internal affairs officer of Gruna, Professor Say's foreign secretary, Casapa, an Italian bankrupt businessman who once wandered in Barcelona.

Anthony cherished this hard-earned decent job, so he worked diligently to serve his boss and his boss. However, an hour ago, he accidentally failed something.

On behalf of his own boss, Anthony's civilian secretary selected by the Grand Duke of Hruna was forced to be hospitalized for treatment due to sudden appendicitis and was unable to fulfill the contract signed with him. What's more, the Italian secretary was told by the internal officials that the Duke of Desay's return to Paris was 11 o'clock in advance and he could not leave the time for Anthony to re-arrange the secretary.

The matter was urgent, and Anthony immediately asked the staff of the Hruna Business Hall in Barcelona as the second secretary of the Interior Official to participate in the assistance, and asked them to send someone to find the three candidates who had been eliminated by their interviews, and take them directly to Pier 3 where the "Seeker" merchant ship was berthed.

But now, it is less than 10 minutes before the Duke of Desay boards, and none of the three candidates are present. Anthony is almost desperate. If he had known this, he would not have tried his best to instigate his boss two weeks ago to block the Military Intelligence Bureau from selecting full-time secretary for the Duke of Desay on the grounds that he "need to be with the Duke and cultivate a close confidant who tends to be a civilian cabinet."

The conflict between Hruna's temporary cabinet and the Military Intelligence Bureau originated from the latter's huge funding budget that was never made public and constantly rising. This is nothing. What civil servants cannot tolerate is that the Military Intelligence Bureau often interferes in many affairs of the territorial government on the grounds of security. When he learned that the Duke of Desay was recruiting secretary, Professor Say agreed to Anthony's suggestion and believed that a spokesperson for the Grand Duke must be selected for the temporary cabinet. In the end, the full-time secretary's right to choose was obtained by the temporary cabinet as he wished, but Anthony offended the omnipresent and well-informed Military Intelligence Bureau.

At this point, Anthony, who was in trouble, could only pray for the omnipotent merciful God over and over again, hoping that miracles would happen without facing Lieutenant Koror's ridicule and criticism, especially his gloomy and abominable face, which could make him creepy and nightmares come.

The Italians' overly hasty prayers seemed to have failed to trigger God's mercy. A few minutes later, Duke Hruna's carriage drove into Pier III accompanied by a large number of guards.

Desai, who was replaced with the blue major general's uniform, got off the carriage and asked the secretary of the Interior Official who was waiting respectfully. After learning that the other entourage had boarded the ship in advance, he walked straight towards the three-masted merchant ship of the "Seeker".

"Oh, Mr. Anthony, my acting Duke asked again, is the civilian secretary you have carefully selected in place?" Lieutenant Koror, who had been following the Duke of Desay, suddenly stopped his steps. He turned his head and smiled and inserted a sentence, which scared the guilty Italians.

"It's coming soon, it's coming soon!" Anthony lowered his head and explained carefully.

"Hehe, is that?" Lieutenant Koror's smile became even stronger. He stared at the sweat flowing on Anthony's face and his extremely nervous expression, and continued: "That's good, the Duke hates the untrustworthy person the most. By the way, when the secretary comes later, according to the internal security regulations, he must meet me first."

"Sure, certain!" Anthony nodded like a chicken pecking at the rice, and greeted the lieutenant intelligence officer with respect, completely forgot the fact that he offended the Military Intelligence Bureau in the past.

...

In early August, Miss Litisia, who was waiting for her wedding date to approach, left Seville, without saying goodbye to the official residence of Marquis de Urquijo. She left Madrid without going directly to Barcelona to find her uncle Sanluge, but chose to go south. Litisia followed a caravan, crossed Mount Morena, and took Cordoba to Seville, an important town in southern Spain, and was preparing to board a Shanghai boat from there to reach her final destination, Barcelona.

The purpose of detouring thousands of miles is nothing more than worrying about grandpa. Marquis de Urquiho sent someone to find her. Before going out, Litisia made sufficient and comprehensive long-distance trip preparations. She sold the jewelry left to her mother, dressed up as a man, rode a red-brown Andalusian horse, carried two pistols and a long sword, and dressed in a Spanish ranger.

At the beginning, the road to the south was safe and sound. In mid-September, when Litisia came to Cordoba with the caravan, the situation changed. The third French army led by General Xu Xie launched a siege against Cordoba (to explain that in history, Xu Xie stayed in the Aragon area at this time as the local governor, and this book placed General Xu Xie on the battlefield in central and southern Spain in advance).

A team of French patrols stopped the Madrid caravan where Litisia was located, including her war horses and her personal property, and were looted by French soldiers with broken military discipline. During this period, a French officer with a unique sexual orientation felt that Miss Litisia, who was dressed as a man, agreed with her happy request and took her to the dense woods beside the road, intending to "chicken-rape".

The fierce Miss Litissia naturally would not surrender. As soon as the two arrived in the woods, she killed the French officer with a pistol hidden in her cuff. Before the French soldiers who came to hear the news surrounded her, they took back the war horse and ran away. After the thrilling moment, Litisia, who had finally crossed the French defense line, finally arrived in Seville in early October, but suddenly found that she was penniless.

As a last resort, Litisia, who had no skills, obtained a ticket to Barcelona and began to submit articles to the Seville newspaper, selling fairy tales that Desai had written for him. On October 20, Litisia finally made a lot of money in the journey and boarded a smuggling merchant ship sailing to the Mediterranean. 15 days later, Litisia arrived at her destination in Barcelona without any danger, and successfully met her uncle, MP Sanluge.

In Barcelona for more than 20 days, Litisia heard too many rumors about Desai, including the fact that she took office as Grand Duke Hruna and was engaged to the Princess of the Kingdom of Saxony. For everyone, including her uncle, Litisia hid the story that once happened in Madrid. Her longing for Desai was deliberately suppressed by Litisia, and replaced by her devout prayers to the Virgin Mary every night, and her remembrance of family affection in front of the tombstones of her mother and grandfather during the day.

Soon, during a chat with Uncle Sanluge, Litisia learned that Desai had come to Barcelona. At this time, she could no longer suppress her lovesickness and wanted to look at him, just for a glance. Of course, Litisia felt that there should be another reason or excuse to convince herself. For example, she had to apologize to Desai in person, because without his authorization and permission, Litisia used those fairy tales to make profits for herself.

Well, the reasons are sufficiently specific and convincing!

Tonight, after Uncle Sanluge left, Litisia also called a carriage and followed him quietly, and successfully got into the heavily guarded Hruna Chamber of Commerce building.

Crowding among more than a hundred guests, Litisia listened to Grand Duke Hruna's speech. Litisia didn't care about Desai's speech, and she didn't care. All she could think about was how to speak the first sentence after meeting Desai later.

"Your complexion is so good?" It feels too old-fashioned.

"I'm so happy to see you?" I felt so shy.

"Do you still remember me?" It felt too unnatural.

While thinking about it, Desai's speech was over. Littisia, who woke up, pushed away the crowd and rushed forward, but was crowded by many guests with the same purpose. When the music started, Littisia was once again surrounded by the tide of people, and watched her sweetheart, took the mayor's wife's arm, and walked into the dance floor together.

Lyticia, who was crying alone, chose to give up. She eagerly wanted to leave here, find a quiet, unknown place, pray to the Virgin Mary, and tell her story again.

However, when Litisia walked to the door of the hall, she was accidentally discovered by Uncle Sanluge. The latter did not ask why her niece came to the Hruna Chamber of Commerce, but pulled Litisia out without saying a word, hurriedly got on the carriage, and returned home together.

In the carriage, Uncle Sanluge told Litisia that the envoy sent by Marquis de Urquiho might have arrived in Barcelona. In order to prevent being discovered, Litisia had to pack up her personal belongings and board the "Seeker" merchant ship overnight and leave Barcelona for a period of time.

When Litisia went downstairs with her suitcase, Uncle Sanluge handed her another two thousand francs, asking Litisia to arrive in Marseille, find a hidden place, and then write a letter to contact herself so that she can send money regularly.

A strange night, unexpected things, one after another.

When the four-wheeled carriage that picked up Miss Litisia was parked at Pier 3 in the harbor, she found that it had been blocked by a large number of French soldiers carrying live ammunition. A French lieutenant with a yellow ribbon tied with his left arm came forward and explained to Miss Litisia very politely:

"Sorry, beautiful lady! This Seeker has been urgently requisitioned by our army. For military confidentiality, the merchant ship no longer allows other passengers to board the ship. As for the tickets you are about to be invalid, please go to the port center tomorrow morning to complete the ticket refund procedures. Of course, we will compensate you twice the face value."

...
Chapter completed!