The secret meeting with Juana was something Eliodo Don Antonio had not thought of, at least not before.

The West India Company became the springboard for Alexander to make friends with the powerful Portuguese. Whether it is a powerful noble or a wealthy businessman, many people are flocking to this overseas trading company invested in the name of the Da Gama family because they see the opportunity to make a fortune. King Manuel began to have an ambiguous relationship, and then the strong interest they showed made the company even more popular.

Everyone hopes to get a satisfying part in this crazy game of gaining wealth. No one wants to be abandoned outside this feast. They try their best to make themselves part of this crazy game of chasing wealth. Even though they know the future, they cannot curb the greed from the heart that has been triggered.

In fact, at this time, even the king could no longer stop this vortex of wealth that was destined to be entangled in. The unique spirit of adventure since ancient times and the exploration of the outside world that has been fully inspired from the Enrique era, the curiosity and possession of pursuit, and the capture of these greedy natures like pirates made them completely forget the ruling of the famous Pope's Meridian determined by Pope Alexander VI, which made their eyes involuntarily turn to the mysterious sea area in the Atlantic Ocean that has not yet been truly recognized.

Everyone hopes to get rich rewards through adventures, and whoever tries to stop them is their common enemy.

In this way, Queen Maria naturally became an enemy of many people.

Maria still tries to dissuade Manuel from giving up a decision that could cause conflict between Portugal and her home country.

Maria is actually quite fair. She longs to be a bridge and buffer between her husband and parents, and she does not want to see a major conflict between the two sides. So she tries her best to stop Manuel's mistakes and repair the cracks that may cause greater conflicts. However, Manuel has obviously made up her mind, and the queen has also aroused the hostility of many Portuguese due to fierce opposition.

They did not think that Maria's behavior was fair. In many people's eyes, she was always "Maria of Aragon" rather than the Queen of Portugal, which made the nobles who had no good feelings for her because of Maria's actions in the palace from the beginning even believed that she was the "undercover" sent by Queen Isabella to try to completely annex Portugal.

Although Isabella may have such an idea, at least Maria did not do anything to harm Portugal. Even in private, the forces against the queen were still secretly planning various conspiracies, and these in fact were not very secretive conspiracies, even Tiego had heard of them, which allowed Alexander to land in Porto, where these conspirators gathered when he first arrived in Portugal.

Among those "Porto conspirators", Eliodor Don Antonio seemed to be among them.

When Alexander first revealed to Don Antonio that he had some understanding of their conspiracy, Don Antonio stubbornly denied it, but then in the face of numerous evidence, he had to admit that he was indeed dissatisfied with the queen. However, he still firmly denied that this was a conspiracy, but only classified it as a disagreement.

Until Diego's guy in Porto "inadvertently" discovered a large number of weapons that these people had hidden in a manor.

All the defense became pale and powerless, and it was precisely this discovery that Juana and Don Antonio met this time.

In fact, Juana was also cautious and uneasy about this meeting. She knew that her cousin was trying hard to completely eradicate her almost every day. As long as there was a little flaw, it might cause her to be devastating. What's more, Don Antonio was a great nobleman in Portugal. She didn't know how many of those people had the determination to be completely enemies with Maria.

If they think her role is not enough to bring enough benefits to themselves, maybe they will sell her to Maria in a turn.

Juana was actually afraid of death, but her ambition, which was as strong as her fear, made her never want to lose this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

She didn't want to live a day that seemed to be just under house arrest, but was always in danger. She didn't want to be affected by this kind of life even if she was lying down and sleeping. She didn't want to remind herself not to complain about the maids around her because of talking nonsense at night, and then immediately reported to Maria's people, which caused her torture to death.

So when Alexander sent someone to tell her about the meeting, Juana finally decided to take a risk.

"Madam, you know your situation," Don Antonio said, looking at Alexander standing beside him. "I don't know what the Duke of Romanescia promised you, but I want to remind you that your aunt, Queen Isabella, has the legal throne of Castilla, and any charges you have cannot be supported by the Vatican."

"But her throne was taken away from me, the real legal heir. She slandered my father as an incompetent, slandered me as the result of my mother's affair with others, and I want to tell you that I am the legal heir to the throne of Castia, and my name is Juana Donna de Rastamara!"

Juana was excited and roared at Don Antonio in a suppressed voice. Her chest was so violently that she almost touched Don Antonio in front of her. Then she seemed to remember something and gritted her teeth and turned her head to look at Alexander beside her. There was a certain impulse in her eyes, as if she was about to say something.

Aware of Juana's intention, Alexander shook his head gently at her and said to Don Antonio: "In fact, we are not asking you and your companions to support His Highness in restoring as Queen Castilla, but we hope that both of us can cooperate."

"Wait for a moment, Duke, I want to know what good this will do to you. I'm going to be threatened. We all know that any sentence in this room will cause us to be sent to the gallows. So it's not too much for me to know what this has to do with you. At least I need to know what I want to do and who I'm dealing with."

Alexander looked at Don Antonio. He knew that the Portuguese should be very conflicted at this time, but now he was caught and had to stand here. If it were possible, he was probably the one in Lisbon City who wanted to kill him the most.

"Dear Don Antonio, I can only say that many things that happened in Castilla did not satisfy the Vatican. Even if the Pope comes from Valencia, Aragon, this does not make him fully agree with everything that happened in Castilla."

Don Antonio looked at Alexander in surprise. He didn't want to believe these words, but Alexander's special identity made him unable to distinguish the authenticity for a while.

"Duke, what do you mean by not being able to agree? You must know that Queen Isabella's piety is obvious to all. Will the Vatican still be dissatisfied with this?"

Alexander nodded slightly. Don Antonio's doubts did not annoy him, but instead showed a meaningful smile: "What do you think of the path that Queen Mary found outside Lisbon? Of course, this also seems pious, but if somewhere far away from Jerusalem, the place names, villages, and even the miracle of pure virgin childbirth appeared in the Bible, then what do you think this will be seen by people? You must know that one of these phenomena may be regarded as a miracle, but if all of them appear, that is another matter."

Don Antonio opened his mouth and seemed to want to say something, but he couldn't make a sound. He did want to refute Alexander, but after a while his hand clenched his fists finally slowly released.

"Please sit down, sir." Juana said to Don Antonio. Seeing him hesitating and finally sat in the chair opposite, Juana breathed a sigh of relief. She was really afraid that Don Antonio would turn around and leave at all costs. If that were the case, she might really be in a difficult position to lead the way.

"We are not alone, or Isabella is not as powerful as she seems. Of course she is indeed difficult to deal with, but this does not mean that she cannot defeat, or at least her daughter cannot compare with her."

"But Maria is still the queen, right? And behind her is the pair of Castilla and Aragon," Don Antonio said in a frustration. "We do have some conspiracy, or want to do something, but we ourselves know that this is unlikely to succeed. It's just that we can't allow that woman to sit on the queen's throne so unscrupulously and do things that hurt Portugal. This is betrayal!"

Don Antonio suddenly became a little excited, and he looked at Juana and then at Alexander: "So what are your plans, madam?"

"Sir, what do you think would be like if there was a new queen in Portugal?" Alexander glanced at Juana.

Don Antonio had an accident on his face. He had already understood what Alexander meant, but he felt that it was really absurd.

"This is impossible. Even that woman... I mean, something happened to the queen. Queen Isabella would not allow the kind of thing you think of. She would send another daughter to be the queen of Portugal. Even if she had no daughter, she would give her niece or something. But she would never tolerate you as the queen, Madam."

Although Don Antonio's words were not happy, Alexander knew that this was indeed true. Thinking about the fact that after Maria's death, Manuel married Maria's niece, the eldest daughter of the crazy girl Juana, and Eleanor of Austria, who was more than 30 years younger than him, you can know how strong the monarchs of Rastamala had in history had to annex Portugal.

However, Alexander was not discouraged by Don Antonio's words. He knew that Don Antonio was right, but he didn't know that some things had deviated from history.

"Please take a look at this, I think this will make you better make a decision." Alexander took out a thick, unsealed letter bag, sat down not far from Juana after handing several written letters inside to Don Antonio.

Don Antonio took out one of the letters from his leniency in confusion, and it could be seen that the letters were part of a report, and to the surprise, the report was sent to the Pope.

"Your Majesty, please allow me to report to you with a complicated mood what I saw and heard in Portugal. I was surprised and relieved by what happened here. Although I have visited many places, I must admit that the atmosphere here is the most pious. Whether it is a noble, a people, a priest or a nun, it is difficult to find a believer with pure faith like them. This made me even think that I had seen a real miracle.

But this was just the impression at the beginning, and what happened afterwards made me a little confused and uneasy.

People respect the church but rarely mention the Vatican. The priests appreciate the queen's piety but easily ignore the supreme status of the pope as a proxy for God. There are many or too many holy sites here, which makes people wonder whether it is Europe or Jerusalem.

This is still in Portugal rather than Castilla, and as far as I know, this phenomenon is even worse there. It is said that the queen's personal priest, a priest named Thomas Tongomada, even publicly declared that the queen was the incarnation of the rule of this country, and all this made me uneasy, because I cannot help but ask myself whether this is normal, whether the dignity and prestige of the Holy See can still represent God here, or have been replaced by a secular monarch... "

Don Antonio looked at the letter that was not finished, his eyes flashed and his expression was uncertain. He was obviously considering what kind of reaction this report would cause if it was sent to the Vatican. At the same time, he was also considering what consequences the Vatican would have if it made a certain decision.

"If I become a queen, I will follow the Vatican's will, which will allow me to gain recognition from the Holy See," Juana looked at Alexander, and then to Don Antonio. "They will also respect the king's decision and the interests of all nobles, but I don't know if this will be supported by you?"

Don Antonio's breathing was slightly heavier. He knew that his next words might bring unimaginable impacts on the fate of too many people, which made him not know how to make a decision for a while.

Time passed by bit by bit, and the room was extremely quiet. After a long time, Don Antonio seemed to finally make up his mind and stood up and bowed to Juana.

"Your Highness."

Juana's heart suddenly tightened with Don Antonio's name.

"The origin of relationship with Castile has always believed that marriage is the best way to maintain friendship between the two countries. The Chinese king married two Castile princesses as queens, which proves that whether the king will marry a Castile princess for various reasons in the future depends entirely on God's arrangements. However, for Portugal, I believe that our nobles will accept and support this decision."

After saying that, Don Antonio bowed to Juana again.

A layer of blush appeared on Juana's face because she could not control her breathing. Her arms, which were originally placed on both sides of her body, showed how excited she was at this time.

And beside him, Alexander seemed to be silent, but his hand behind him couldn't help but clenched hard, and at the same time, he shouted in his heart: "It's finally started!"
Chapter completed!