Chapter 121 - Interlude

|3rd POV|

Raina Lazuli, the princess to Lazuli kingdom. The eldest child of the king. She has long light blue hair and deep blue eyes. Currently, she is wearing thick clothes and a coat made of bear fur.

Currently, Riana and her father, Johannes Lazuli, are sailing to the Duchy of Lionheart. The reason? To buy enough food to feed their people.

"Father, do you think the Duke will agree to sell us their food at such a lower price?"

Raina knows that they cannot buy grain at a high price because their kingdom is not rich. While they already get used to eating a small portion of food, they still need to eat, and with the famine across the world, the price of food increased at a high speed.

The only one that is still selling the food at a rather low price is the territory of Duchy of Lionheart.

Usually, people will declare war against the Lionheart Duchy and try to take their fertile land. However, after seeing the 'fight' between Isaac 'Silver Lion' Lionheart and the S-class monster, they hesitate to attack the Duchy.

However, it did not stop a 'pirate' decide to try their luck against the Duchy naval might.

Because of this famine, there are too many fake pirates. They are not a pirate but rather a marine from another kingdom and empire. They decide to hang a pirate flag above their head and plunder all the merchants they can find before sending it back to their kingdom.

"I don't know, dear. I don't really know. I just got a report that the Duchy has already been increasing their price on the food."

"Why? The last time I heard they had so many foods, they did not know where to store them all."

"It was the flow of the world, dear. If the goods are abundant, the price will be low, but if the goods are rare, the price will fly high."

"I know, father, but why now of all time?"

"I don't know, daughter. I don't know."

Johannes really did not know about it. Is this their way of saying that they did not want to sell their food to the Lazuli kingdom? He doesn't know the answer. His only hope is that this is not true.

When Johannes receives the letter from Isaac Lionheart himself, he is really hopeful that this alliance will become a reality. However, after hearing this price increase, he did not know what to do. The only thing he can do right now is hope that the Silver Lion is true to his word and accepts this alliance.

He knew that the Lazuli kingdom did not have anything that the Lionheart Duchy didn't have. The only one the Lazuli kingdom has is their unique trees that only grow in a freezing place. It was called the Blue Trees because it was colored blue.

The woods coming from this tree are good for ships. These woods have natural fire resistance and are durable enough to block a few spells coming at them. However, many other trees have the same effect as the Blue Trees, making these trees not very valuable.

"Let's just hope they understand our situation and are willing to make some losses."

"And if they did not want it?"

"Then we can only watch our people die from hunger. However, if they are willing to give us enough food to feed our people, I hope you and your brother willing to give your life to them because we will have a life debt."

"Of course, father…."

Raina knows about this. She is even willing to give her body and cast away her status as a princess to make her subjects survive this tragedy.

~Three days later~

Raina looked at the city in front of her with awe. This is the city of Black Sea Watch. A port city owned by Lord Ekdal, the Viscount of the Vulux Kingdom, and the vassal to Duke Lionheart.

Even with the place still snowing, many people are walking around the port busy doing their work.

As they walk down from their ship, Raina and Johannes are greeted by a man wearing elegant-looking clothes. Raina did not know how that man can stand in this cold environment. While this city is not as cold as the Lazuli kingdom, it was still cold.

"Welcome to Black Sea Watch, your highness. Right now, Lord Ekdal is busy dealing with… an arrogant merchant."

"Oh? Then can we walk around this port for a few moments?"

"Of course. Let me be your guide."

"Then I will be in your care."

"Let me introduce myself first. Jacob, son of Lianos, will be your guide today."

Raina and Johannes begin to follow Jacob around the port. They continue to walk around the port for a few minutes and see many people have a pleasant day chatting with each other even though the snow keeps falling from the sky.

It was really different from the Lazuli kingdom. Raina wants her kingdom like the Lionheart Duchy. She wants to see her people have a pleasant day without worrying about not eating tomorrow.

After walking for about ten minutes, Jacob stops at one of the stalls and talks to the stall owner.

"Hello there, Can I get three of the skewers, please?"

"Of course, sir Jacob!"

After paying for the food, Jacob gave Raina and Johannes the chicken skewer. Raina hesitated to eat the food, but Raina decided to take a bite after seeing Jacob eat it. As the food touches her tongue, she can feel the flavor explode. She continued to chew the food for a few seconds before swallowing it.

"Sir Jacob, can I ask you what this is?"

"This is a chicken skewer. Lord Lionheart introduced it to the people of Sea Dragon City. As its name suggests, this is a slice of chicken meat grilled with a stick. However, what makes this chicken delicious is the seasoning. We used salt and black pepper to enchant its flavor."

"Black pepper?!?"

Black pepper. There was a time where pepper can be considered equal to gold. Even today, pepper is still a valuable commodity, and even the richest empire in the north cannot buy too much pepper.

'And here, the black pepper is used by a street vendor.' Raina thinks. She did not know how Lionheart Duchy could grow the pepper because she thought that pepper could not grow in a cold environment.

"Of course. We can grow our own pepper after all, but please don't tell anyone. We want to monopoly the price after all."

Johannes and Raina can only gap at what Jacob said. They did not know what Jacob said was true or not. If they want to monopoly, the pepper market, then why tell them about it? Do they not fear their method of growing the pepper into the wrong hand?

"I-I see"

"Anyway, I think Lord Ekdal is almost finished with his business. Shall we go to the castle? Or do your highness want to walk around some more?"

"No, let us go to the caste."

"Of course, then please follow me."

"This will be your carriage. I can be your personal driver if you want, or do you want to let your servant do it?"

"We will let our personal driver do it."

"Of course. Your ten guards can use the horse inside. Don't worry. They are already tamed."

"Thank you."

"It is my pŀėȧsurė."

It took ten minutes to arrive in front of the castle on top of a small hill. On their journey to the castle, both of them can see inside farmland. The farm itself is not big but big enough to feed the people inside the city.

Johannes can see many types of plants grow on the land that continues snowing. From wheat to tomatoes, he can see many vegetables that should not grow in this environment. He really wants to ask Jacob about this, but he knows that the man will not answer his question.

When Raina and Johannes get off the carriage, they can see a castle standing tall in front of them. However, what catches Johannes's attention is the building that stood near the stable near the castle wall.

It was a see-through building, and he can see a plant growing inside that building.

"Welcome to Black Sea Castle, your highness."

He snaps from his thought when he sees a man in his forty wearing elegant leather clothes and a gray fur coat on top of its leather clothes.

"My name is Tobias Ekdal, my wife Viktoria Ekdal, and my son Larius Ekdal.. We welcome you to our home."