Sister, I'm the Queen This Life (330 Chapters Left to Complete) - Chapter 397

Pope Ludovico summoned the ambassador of the Republic of Porto. It was to hold him accountable for failing to properly deliver documents from the royal family and nobles of the Kingdom of Etruria, despite having been entrusted with logistics for the Fourth Crusade.

The ambassador kept bowing deeply, repeatedly promising to immediately dispatch a rider to his homeland to thoroughly investigate how such a thing could have happened and report back without delay.

“They’ll probably just arrest some middle manager and pin it all on his personal embezzlement or breach of duty.”

Despite the ambassador’s earnest and exaggerated bows, the Pope showed no sign of being moved.

“If they were going to show a bit more sincerity, they’d arrest someone one rank higher than a mere middle manager.”

Strictly speaking, it wasn’t really about sincerity—it depended entirely on whether or not there happened to be a politically expendable figure inside the Republic ripe for elimination amid internal power struggles.

Either way, it wasn’t particularly important. From the start, this wasn’t about expecting a specific outcome—it was merely the Holy See publicly declaring its justification for what was clearly an impending move against the Republic of Porto.

Whatever they brought back wouldn’t satisfy the Pope. He had already decided to revoke the Republic’s authorization to trade with heretics.

“If you want this to blow over without incident, you’d better bring something truly substantial—something nearly on par with a trade charter.”

The Republic deployed its official galley fleet to escort its own merchants across the Midsummer Sea all the way to Mukhae, ensuring their participation in international trade.

Thanks to this, Porto’s merchants enjoyed a massive advantage over foreign traders: far greater stability and lower costs, as they didn’t need to waste money on insurance.

This was also why traders from the Kingdom of Etruria, led by Representative Caruso, had initially dealt in goods—like tobacco—that their government couldn’t openly endorse.

However, if the Holy See banned the Republic from trading with heretics, Porto would no longer be able to protect its merchants with official fleets unless its head of state was prepared to face excommunication.

Pirates, who had previously avoided attacking Porto vessels out of custom, would now rampage freely, and the Republic would lose its trading dominance entirely.

“A trade charter, Your Holiness?”

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