Chapter 820

Alistair Montgomery was slightly taken aback.

His mother from before?

Could Chloe's mother have changed over different periods?

How could a person's gaze change so easily...

Alistair firmly believed that eyes never lied.

But he didn't want to disappoint the child, so he gave Chloe a gentle smile. "Alright."

Chloe immediately said, "Then come to my house another day. Mom's photos are all at home... I didn't bring them with me."

"Okay."

Alistair gently ruffled Chloe's hair.

But Chloe tilted her little face up, earnestly pressing further. "So when are you coming?"

Alistair coughed lightly.

Chloe blinked. "I heard those uncles and aunties talking to you just now. I heard Daddy is very busy. Do you not have time to come to my house?"

Alistair immediately said, "Of course I have time."

Chloe pressed, "When?"

Alistair looked at the attendant beside him.

His schedule was always meticulously planned down to the hour.

The attendant whispered a report. "Your Majesty, you have time after eight o'clock the evening after tomorrow."

Alistair smiled and looked at Chloe. "Did you hear that? The evening after tomorrow, at eight o'clock, I'll come to your house to see you."

"Okay!"

Little Chloe nodded vigorously and extended her pinky finger. "Pinky promise! A hundred years, no changing!"

Alistair felt a strange sense of affinity from this child. Even if her words and actions were slightly presumptuous, he couldn't muster any annoyance.

He chuckled softly. "I wonder if that woman from China back then also bore him such a lovely child?"

After making the promise with Alistair, Chloe happily ran back to Mr. Valentine. She hugged her grandfather's leg. "Grandpa, grandpa! Daddy promised to come to our house to play the evening after tomorrow!"

Hearing this, Mr. Valentine raised an eyebrow slightly.

If it were an ordinary businessman, they would likely be filled with trepidation right now. But Mr. Valentine was no ordinary businessman.

He glanced calmly at Alistair and spoke evenly. "Did you send King Montgomery a formal invitation?"

Chloe immediately shook her head.

Mr. Valentine sighed softly, picked her up, and walked towards Alistair.

Though Alistair lived a life of privilege, when Mr. Valentine approached, the invisible aura he carried made Alistair stand up involuntarily.

The man before him, twenty years his senior, commanded respect like a father figure.

He spoke. "Mr. Valentine, I've long heard of your esteemed name."

Mr. Valentine extended his hand for a handshake. "Montgomery, a pleasure."

Alistair respectfully invited him to sit.

Mr. Valentine sat down gracefully and got straight to the point. "I hear Aldoria has been plagued by rampant piracy lately?"

Hearing this, Alistair sighed softly.

Aldoria and China were separated by a strait.

To bypass it, ships had to pass through that pirate-infested sea, effectively severing the maritime route.

Back when Evelyn Ross and Alexander Vance went to Aldoria to escort the doctor back to China, they acted as decoys... Looking back now, it wasn't the Lion causing trouble in Aldoria then, but the Clownfish, as the real Lion was already in China.

Evelyn Ross and Alexander Vance used themselves as bait, luring the Clownfish to mobilize Aldorian forces to blockade the ports leading to China.

Yet the doctor ultimately took a detour, crossing that infamous pirate territory.

At the time, Natalie Castillo had declared the doctor had no chance of survival. Who knew he would return safely...

Alexander Vance had mentioned that sea area had long been under his friend's control.

Now, sitting across from Alistair, Mr. Valentine smiled faintly. "If King Montgomery agrees to a small request from my daughter, that sea route can be opened to Aldorian ships free of charge from now on."

These so-called pirates actually controlled a port, charging exorbitant passage fees.

It was precisely because the fees were astronomical that all ships took detours.

If it could be free for Aldorian ships... that would save a colossal amount of money!

Alistair looked at Mr. Valentine in shock. These words meant... the controller of that sea area was the man before him?!

He had long wanted to negotiate cooperation with the other party, but they had never responded, as if occupying that sea wasn't for profit...

He never imagined the master of that territory would now be sitting right in front of him!

Alistair's attitude grew even more respectful. "Mr. Valentine, are you serious?"

Mr. Valentine nodded calmly. "Absolutely."

Alistair immediately agreed. "Then I have no objections whatsoever! Your daughter, and your daughter's friends, are welcome to come to Aldoria for business anytime!"

Mr. Valentine confirmed again. "And the one they are wary of..."

Alistair smiled. "Actually, that person never explicitly forbade Joanna Sterling from returning."

These words made Mr. Valentine's eyebrow twitch slightly.

When he relayed this to Joanna Sterling, she was completely dumbfounded. "What? Back then, the Clownfish forced me to leave! Said if I didn't go, he'd blow up my company. Now you're telling me he never actually forbade me from returning?"

Natalie Castillo coughed lightly. "The Clownfish has always been capricious. Is it possible that back then, when he drove you away, he was just driving you away, but didn't actually ban you from returning?"

Joanna was speechless.

She stood there frozen.

Natalie pressed further. "Did the Clownfish explicitly say you were not allowed to return?"

"... Well, no."

Joanna was almost in tears. "So what have these years of wandering in China been for?!"