Chapter 254

Chapter 254

“Your monthly wage.”

“Wage? No, keep it,” Alexcent refused.

“What do you mean? You worked hard. You need to get paid accordingly,” Amethyst insisted.

“But you sold your expensive wedding ring because of me.” Alexcent had heard the story of how he came to be here from Pauline. For a time, he thought of killing Veolense for scamming Amethyst out of the ring. He also wondered if he should hate Amethyst for giving up her only connection to the past, for a man that she hardly knew.

“It’s all right. There’s nothing more precious than a person’s life. This has nothing to do with that! Take it already!” Amethyst forced the pouch into his hand. “I’m sorry I couldn’t give you more.”

“There aren’t many people who would give a slave anything. Even this is too much,” Alexcent insisted.

“I told you not to call yourself a slave in front of me. Anyways, we have to go to the market tomorrow, so use this to buy whatever you want.”

“Whatever I want?”

“Yeah. I’m sure there’s something you would like to have.”

“Yes, there is,” Alexcent said, staring at her.

Amethyst did not catch the double meaning. “Really? Good. We can buy it tomorrow.”

“What I want isn’t something you can buy,” Alexcent said, trying to be clearer.

“Why? Is it too expensive?” Amethyst asked.

“No. This is enough,” Alexcent sighed.

“If you need more, just tell me. I can give you your payment in advance. Well, good night.” Amethyst quickly went to her bedroom. She didn’t hear Alexcent whisper softly behind that what he wanted was her.

Amethyst was unable to get to sleep and just kept rolling around in her bed. She couldn’t wipe Gray’s half-naked body from her mind. Had she gone too long without the touch of a man. She thought of Alexcent. She could feel him now. His embrace, his skin against hers. The warmth where he touched her. Then the image of Alexcent and the image of Gray merged into one. Her heart pounded. If only she could be with Alexcent once more. She didn’t even have his ring any longer to comfort her. Tears followed and they soaked the pillow her head lay on.

She had vowed never to think of him anymore, but that was easier said than done. Embarrassed at herself, she wiped the tears away with the back of her hand. She forced herself to go to sleep. This was the first time that she had struggled since Gray had come. The thought of Gray stayed in her mind as her eyes closed and she drifted off into a deep slumber.

***

The rain had blown away and the day was sunny and bright. The market was full of people who couldn’t get out the day before to shop. Amethyst and Alexcent wandered through the market to view the fresh produce.

“Gray, let’s go look at that stall.” Amethyst went to check out the piles of fruit.

“Welcome!” The merchant smiled from behind the counter.

“I would like to purchase some cherries,” Amethyst said.

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“Cherries? Right now, the imported cherries are a better option than the Empire’s.”

“Why is that?” Alexecent asked.

“Well, right now the distributors in the Empire are manipulating their product. Many of them are selling poor quality stock they buy cheap from failing farms and selling it as their own high-quality product. They even change the packaging so you can’t tell, or mix the poor product in with some good product so you never know. We’ve had a lot of issues so we feel more comfortable selling imported product. The fruit is much cheaper and not bad quality, and the vendors don’t try to con us because they need the market exposure.”

Alexcent raised his eyebrows. Empire distributors manipulating product quality? It had been the Skad family who was in charge of marketing regulations for the Empire. They made sure the Empire’s agricultural economy thrived. If this type of manipulation continued, there would be serious consequences for the Empire’s agricultural sector. The economy would struggle if people turned to importing to get their goods. Something needed to be done to quell this. It would be up to Belice to fix it. Alexcent shut his eyes momentarily as he remembered his sister.

“How do the imported cherries taste? What is the quality like?” Amethyst asked.

“It’s comparable to the Empire’s product. Would you like to sample some?” The merchant opened up a crate and took out several cherries, which he handed to Amethyst to try.

Amethyst put one delicately into her mouth. She handed one to Alexcent to taste as well. The juice was quite sweet and the cherries were plump. She nodded in satisfaction to the merchant.

“Where are these cherries from?” Alexcent asked.

“They are from Gemulani. The country borders the Empire, so they are importing a fair bit of product.”

Alexcent verified the origin the merchant claimed with the shipping label on the side of the crate. He couldn’t help it. Even though he was no longer a duke, he always felt he had to verify the claims of people around him. It wasn’t as if he could do anything about it, but that didn’t make him stop trying.

“What do you think?” Amethyst asked Alexcent. “I think they are quite good.”

“They’re not bad,” Alexcent agreed.

“I’m glad you like them,” the merchant said, smiling. “The price is about half of the Empire’s usual price.”

“All right. I’ll take them. Do you deliver?” Amethyst asked.

“Of course. We deliver anywhere. How much would you like?”

“I’ll take three boxes,” Amethyst said.

“Oh my, thank you. Do you need anything else?”

“I do need lemons.”

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“Is that so? I’ll show you the lemons we have.” The merchant went inside the store to get a box of lemons. Amethyst perused some of the other products as she waited for him to return. After she completed the transaction with the merchant and instructed him where to deliver her order, she turned to Alexcent.

“Shall we look around a little? It feels like a waste to go back so early after coming all the way here.”

“Don’t your legs hurt?” Alexcent asked, hoping for some excuse to end the trip.

“I’m fine, for now.”

“Then let’s look around a little.”