"You’re called Victor Umberto, right!"

Faced with Prince Albert’s sudden inquiry, Victor Umberto swallowed down the opening sentence that was already on the tip of his tongue.

The forced disruption of rhythm inevitably stirred a hint of panic within Victor Umberto.

Moreover, it was Victor Umberto’s first time facing a foreign monarch; prior to this, he had never met any monarch other than Victor Emmanuel II.

Thinking that every word and action of his might influence the relations between the Sardinian Kingdom and the Kingdom of Britain (in reality, Victor Umberto was overthinking), that hint of panic quickly turned into nervousness.

Victor Umberto’s forehead involuntarily broke out in a few drops of sweat, and his hands, which originally fell casually, now didn’t seem to know where to place them appropriately.

"Your Majesty... I am Victor Umberto... very... honored... to have received an invitation from you and Her Majesty Victoria..." Victor Umberto stuttered in response to Prince Albert, resembling a student called upon by the teacher to answer a question.

Upon finishing this sentence, Victor Umberto wished he could slap himself a few times internally, wondering why he would stutter at such a crucial moment!

Mumbling words in front of a monarch is undoubtedly a kind of disrespectful behavior.

Standing opposite Victor Umberto, Albert’s gaze carried a touch of affection; he wasn’t annoyed by Victor Umberto’s "disrespectful" reply but rather felt a bit of sympathy towards Victor Umberto.

This poor child, the same age as his Alfred (Albert’s second son, born in 1844), yet able to shoulder the task of representing his father in a mission to the Kingdom of Britain.

In contrast to his eldest son Albert Edward, although he was nearly of adult age, his behavior showed no sign of adulthood. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

Edward not only could not share state affairs with Prince Albert and Queen Victoria but also required Albert to worry about Edward’s studies.

To ensure Edward has a good learning environment, Prince Albert had to set aside his dignity to "plead" with the University of Oxford to accept Edward.

Had Edward not been a member of the royal family, his grades wouldn’t have even gotten him through the gates of the University of Oxford.

Alas! Hopefully, Edward will be influenced by the atmosphere at the University of Oxford and complete his studies successfully.

Prince Albert, silently comparing Victor Umberto with his own son, had to admit that Victor Umberto at this age was doing better than all of his sons.

To ease Victor Umberto’s nerves, Prince Albert said in a friendly tone, "Victor, may I call you that!"

"Of course!" Hearing that Prince Albert was not blaming him, Victor Umberto silently breathed a sigh of relief.

Subsequently, upon Prince Albert’s invitation, Victor Umberto and Mr. Garibaldi were invited to sit on the sofa.

The Albert couple began casually chatting with Victor Umberto; Albert transitioned from talking about Victor Umberto’s studies to his emotions, and Victor Umberto answered Prince Albert’s questions one by one, gradually relaxing from his initial tension.

The whole meeting felt less like a friendship between monarchs and more like a heart-to-heart between a father and son.

Sitting beside them, Mr. Garibaldi couldn’t help but smile seeing such a harmonious scene, realizing that visiting Windsor Castle under the guise of Victor Umberto Crown Prince was indeed a correct choice.

To ensure the conversation between Prince Albert and Victor Umberto wasn’t merely about domestic trivialities, Mr. Garibaldi interjected a light-hearted remark at an opportune time, and the discussion gradually expanded into political topics.

The atmosphere of the whole meeting started to heat up, and after exchanging pleasantries for a while, Mr. Garibaldi decided to take over the conversation entirely.

"Congratulations, Your Majesty!" Mr. Garibaldi said, offering his congratulations to Prince Albert.

"Mr. Garibaldi, what is there to congratulate?" Prince Albert looked towards Mr. Garibaldi in surprise.

"Your Majesty, upon arriving in London, I heard that your country had already assisted the princely states in India, suppressing the rebellion in the Indian Region to maintain India’s unity and stability; hence, I’m particularly congratulating Your Majesty!" Mr. Garibaldi responded to Prince Albert with an exceptionally respectful attitude.

On April 17, 1859, Britain’s forces eradicated the last large-scale insurgent army in India.

The nearly three-year-long Pan-Indian Uprising concluded under the joint eradication efforts of Britain and India’s princely states.

Currently, although there are still sporadic guerrilla forces in India, they can no longer pose any threat to Britain’s rule.

However, due to the considerable distance between India itself and Britain’s mainland.

The news of India’s rebellion being completely pacified took almost half a year to travel across the ocean and reach the Kingdom of Britain.

[Actually, there is a faster method, which is transmitting India’s news to the Ottoman Empire, and then having the Ottoman Empire relay it to Britain

Just because this is military intelligence of the Kingdom of Britain.

For the sake of confidentiality, Britain did not choose this method, but instead chose warships departing from the Indian Ocean to the Cape of Good Hope, and then from the Cape of Good Hope to Britain.

Back and forth, it took half a year.

Prince Albert naturally understood that Cavour’s purpose was not really to congratulate the Kingdom of Britain; he was certainly aiming to further elaborate on the matter, but Albert was not clear on which direction Cavour would take the topic.

"It all depends on the cooperation of the Princely States’ monarchs and the dedication of Britain’s generals!" Prince Albert said cheerfully to Cavour.

"However, I’ve heard that the revolt in India was pacified on April 26th, is that true?" Cavour asked Albert curiously.

"Of course!" Prince Albert replied.

"I didn’t expect it to take so long to travel from India to the Kingdom of Britain!" Cavour said, visibly moved by Albert’s response.

"To get from India to Britain, one must cross the Indian Ocean and go around the entire continent of Africa, so the journey is indeed quite long!" Prince Albert explained to Cavour.

"I heard that the Suez Canal, led by the French Empire, is already halfway completed!

If the Suez Canal can be fully navigated, then Britain’s fleet won’t have to make the long trek around Africa!" Cavour seemed genuinely pleased, as if he was truly happy for Britain’s future.

Sitting on one end of the sofa, Prince Albert and Queen Victoria remained silent, fully understanding the implications of Cavour’s words.

The opening of the Suez Canal could indeed bring convenience to the Kingdom of Britain, and Britain does have some shares in the Suez Canal (which the French Empire ceded to the Kingdom of Britain).

But the leadership of the Suez Canal has always been firmly in the hands of the French Empire; Britain’s shares were merely a lure from the French Empire to placate the Kingdom of Britain.

Based on intelligence Prince Albert had gathered, the land on both sides of the entire Suez Canal was completely controlled by the France Company.

These companies that own land on both sides of the Suez Canal, the France Company, uniformly invited security companies under the Northern Industrial Group to protect their land from damage.

The security company dispatched about 4,000 security personnel (nearly two regiments) to maintain order on both sides of the Suez Canal; these security forces were mostly retired soldiers from the French Army, and the commanders in charge of the security forces were all "retired" officers from the military.

The weapons in their hands were all the most advanced "Minie Guns" from France.

Anyone with insight knows that this so-called security force is just a group of regular French soldiers dressed as security, and behind the Northern Group is naturally that trouble-loving Emperor of the French Empire.

Despite numerous protests by the Kingdom of Britain’s diplomatic envoy to Governor Said of Egypt against the security forces, and suggestions to Said to expel the security forces from Egypt, Said always found various excuses to avoid doing so.

After all, under the protection of two regiments, no protests or strikes have occurred at the Suez Canal since its inception.

Whenever Egyptian workers attempt to strike, the security forces are always the first to expel the strikers.

With these French security personnel, Said felt much more at ease, while Britain’s attempts to target the Suez Canal also faced growing difficulty.

Given the French Empire’s various actions, Prince Albert concluded that under no circumstances would the French Empire relinquish control over the Suez Canal.

Britain has not felt, for a long time, the sensation of having its lifeline in the hands of another country.

Therefore, the Suez Canal was like a thorn deeply embedded in the throat of the Kingdom of Britain.

Of course, there were those who considered seizing the Suez Canal through war.

However, the entire Kingdom of Britain has no politician who is determined to fight a country like the French Empire.

As the victor of the Napoleonic Wars, the Kingdom of Britain is still repaying interests on bonds issued during the Napoleonic Wars, not to mention the current European situation is unlike the Napoleonic War times; no nation is bent on endless struggles with the French Empire.

This means the Kingdom of Britain cannot find any strong ally willing to take on the risk alongside them.

Trade blockades can damage a country’s economy, but cannot completely eliminate it.

In conclusion, the Kingdom of Britain now has mixed feelings about the Suez Canal.

"The Suez Canal is indeed something to be celebrated!"

Albert stated calmly, aware that he must not let Cavour lead him by the nose, else he might easily fall into Cavour’s rhythm.