Chapter 520

However, it is precisely because of this that Her Royal Highness the Saint will be sad.

Thinking like this, Lin walked into the room with a complicated mood and habitually helped Liya tidy up the room.

The room was messier than expected, with underwear scattered everywhere that had been torn to pieces due to being too impatient. You can imagine the intensity of the "battle" last night.

"Wait, if it's so intense, this bed shouldn't be..."

Lin's eyes fell on the big bed she bought newly.

Based on her last experience, she did not sit down recklessly. Instead, she placed one hand on the bed and shook it slightly.

Crunch——

Sure enough, with a final cry, the big bed that endured the torture all night finally died young.

The corner of Lin's mouth twitched. She didn't know whether to praise that bitch for being so strong and destroying two beds in a row, or whether to praise Her Majesty the Saint for her amazing flexibility and how she could still work normally like nothing happened.

"But if it's broken, it's broken. Anyway, that guy will leave soon. Besides, this time he won't be from under the bed... huh?"

Before Lin finished talking to herself, her delicate body suddenly shook.

Because as a bed board slid down, a slightly numb face appeared in her field of vision with dull eyes staring out somewhere.

There is really someone under the bed!

And that person is...

"Ariel Boogard????"

Why is she also under Her Majesty's bed?

Lin received the order from Her Majesty the Saint to find someone last night, and today she found the person under Her Majesty's bed. Countless question marks appeared in her mind, as if her brainstem was about to be burned due to lack of processing power.

what's the situation?

Is there really a fourth person in this relationship diagram that is as intricate as a magic pattern?

"you……"

Her brain was completely exhausted. Lin looked at Ariel and was about to ask something, but Ariel glanced at Lin with her big, dull eyes. Without saying anything, she stood up from the ruins of the bed and walked out of the door stiffly. outside.

Her face was expressionless, but Lin, who had seen countless people, saw an inexplicable emotion of vicissitudes in her lifeless eyes. This emotion was something she had never seen before when they met last time. It was as if this girl was... I grew up a lot overnight.

Lin: "???"

57. The price of bread

Spring in Belland comes later than in the Holy City.

The last heavy snowfall has just ended, and on the busy streets, the white snow that has not yet melted still covers most of the empty ground.

The hurried carriages passed by, leaving clear tracks on the white snow.

This is a pure black carriage without any family emblems or symbols. Even the horse pulling the carriage is an ugly gray-black color, which is extremely inconspicuous.

But only those with keen eyesight can vaguely see the extraordinary nature of this carriage from the smooth movement of the carriage and the powerful footsteps of the gray horse.

The carriage quickly passed through the busy streets of the upper city, the famous Queen Street, and then passed the Diswinter Bridge connecting the upper and lower blocks and entered the lower city.

The mounted police guarding the bridge did not stop the carriage for questioning, because in every carriage coming from the upper city, there might be an aristocratic gentleman they could not afford to offend.

Their job is to question anyone coming from the other direction.

The carriage moved on.

As we go deeper into the lower city, the streets become narrower, and the buildings on both sides gradually become low and dilapidated. The sewage from the melted snow makes the ground muddy, and there is a vague stench in the air.

Children wearing shabby and thin clothes ran on the streets, using the heat of exercise to dispel the chill. They waved newspapers in their hands and read out today's headlines to every pedestrian passing by.

"Give me one."

In the carriage, a cold voice suddenly sounded, causing the passing newsboy to tremble and stay in place.

He had never heard such a beautiful sound, like the melted snow on the ice sheet flowing on the smooth pebbles, and every word seemed like a crisp note.

Although the tone was a bit cold, it was as cold as the ice sheet itself.

"There are two Emiles in total, thank you."

The newsboy gingerly took out the latest and cleanest newspaper from his arms, stuffed it into the gap of the carriage curtain, and was flattered to take the brand new coin from the slender white hand.

It wasn't until the carriage disappeared at the end of the road that the newsboy came back to his senses with a shiver from the perfect palm he had just seen, and ran away excitedly, bragging to his companions about what kind of noble person he had met.

The carriage continued to drive, and after passing through two more blocks, it finally stopped in front of a building that was already quite impressive for the lower city.

Soon, the middle-aged man who received the news hurriedly trotted away from the building, pushed away the attendant who didn't know why and wanted to question him, stood respectfully beside the carriage, and asked cautiously into the carriage:

"Your Highness?"

"come in."

There was still that cold voice in the carriage.

The middle-aged man did not dare to neglect, glanced around, dismissed the attendants, bent down and got into the carriage.

In an instant, the beautiful figure that caught his eye made the middle-aged man entranced for a moment.

It was a silver-white girl.

A strand of hair hangs down like a galaxy, her slender willow eyebrows are as sharp as swords, and even her straight eyelashes are silvery white, like hanging beautiful frost flowers.

The perfect face is even more amazing, as if it was carved by the God of Ice and Snow himself, but unfortunately, the eyes and eyebrows that were flipping through the newspaper were filled with indifference that could not be melted, and people dared not look at it too much.

"Your Highness."

The middle-aged man bowed again:

"It's been a long time since I greeted you. I didn't expect you to come in person."

"Baron Sean, sit down."

"Thank you, Your Highness."

Sean sat across from Cecilia anxiously, his eyes inadvertently swept across the newspaper she was flipping through. After seeing the headline written in bold black font "The Duke's son became an honorary Templar Knight of the Church. Is he really capable, or is there another private affair?", he became even more panicked and quickly looked away.

"Do you know why I'm looking for you? Baron Sean."

Cecilia's eyes finally moved away from the mountain of newspapers and fell on the baron in front of her who had stirred up many storms just over a month after taking office as the governor of the Lower City.

"This... I really don't know."

Under Cecilia's scrutinizing gaze, Sean forced a smile:

"To be honest, with my humble status, I never thought that I would have any contact with Your Highness, so I am flattered that Your Highness came to me in person."

"You are now the governor of the lower city, and your words and deeds affect hundreds of thousands of people. Don't say such things about your humble status."

Cecilia said expressionlessly:

"I came to you because several nobles recently jointly petitioned my father. The emperor accused you, saying that as the governor of the lower city, you embezzled the food that was distributed to the poor for free, and sold it openly to make a profit. "

"This matter has caused a lot of trouble. Even if the emperor personally appointed you as the governor, you still need an explanation. So..."

Cecilia paused and asked:

"Is this true?"

"... His Majesty also thinks that I have embezzled the food of the poor?"

"He doesn't think so, so I am the one who came."

In any case, as a princess, Cecilia should not get involved in such "small matters".

And the reason why she came here means that no one else is suitable for this job except her.

Combined with the faction that Baron Sean belongs to and Cecilia's other identity besides the princess, the emperor's arrangement itself represents a bias.

But precisely because of this, Cecilia must get a reasonable explanation.

"Yes, Your Highness, I did sell the grain."

After thinking it through, Sean said directly without hesitation:

"What the nobles accused me of is true."

Cecilia's cold eyes condensed:

"Watch your words, Baron Sean, this is a serious crime."

"No, I admit that I did those things, but I don't think I'm guilty."

Sean loosened his tie and said in a deep voice:

"I did this for the people."

"For the people?"

Cecilia tapped the small table in front of her, waiting for the follow-up.

"Your Highness should know that the price of grain will rise every winter."

"It's normal to have a shortage of food in winter."

"It does look normal, but it is precisely because of this that many poor people starve to death in the lower city every winter."

Sean paused, looked into Cecilia's eyes, and said softly:

"This is Belrand, Your Highness, not anywhere else, it's Belrand."

The most prosperous city on the continent, Belrand.

There are a huge population of millions here, but no one will farm in this city.

Therefore, the price of a small piece of black bread is related to the most basic livelihood of countless people at the bottom of society.

"The price of food should indeed rise in winter, but it should not rise so much. I think Your Highness should be very clear about the dirtiness of this."

"Artificial... malicious price increase?" Cecilia murmured in a low voice.

"Yes, this is exactly why I did that. The food that Your Majesty squeezed from the nobles, even if it was distributed for free, would not last long. It would even create an illusion of food shortage, causing the price of food to rise further.

So, instead of distributing it for free, it is better to put the food on the market..."

"Suppress the price of food."

Cecilia's cold eyes flashed slightly, and she added the last few words.

"Yes."

Sean praised: "Your Highness is indeed very smart."

"Forget the flattery."

Cecilia lowered her head and flipped through the newspaper in her hand again.

As the most circulated civilian newspaper in Belland, the last page of this newspaper intimately published some basic prices in recent times.

Cecilia glanced over and quickly found the information she was looking for.

Black bread, price, five Emiles a pound.

So, what was the price last year?

With her excellent memory, Cecilia quickly recalled.

Ten Emiles.

Half the price.

It may not seem like much, but for some lower-class people in the lower city, this small difference of five Emiles is the distance between life and death.

"When the carriage passed through the block just now, I saw many famous family crests."

Cecilia looked out the window:

"Some kind nobles will come to the lower city specifically to distribute bread to the poor people for free."

"Yes, how kind."

Sean sneered:

"The great masters, in such a cold day, specially distribute food for free to us lowly people. If it were me, I would have been moved to tears!

The premise is that I don't know that they are the largest food dealers in Belland!"

"You did a good job, Baron Sean."