Chapter 196 Undercurrents Beneath the Warmth
Dear Mr. Colin,
Thanks to your thoughtfulness, the relics left by my father are back with me again. I slept very soundly last night, more peacefully than any other night since I came to Thunder City.
I promise you that I will never lose it again, no matter what the reason is. After all, it is not only a gift from my father, but also a token of your love. I will cherish it and keep it with me forever.
In addition, this morning, when I just opened my eyes from a dream, I saw a bird with purple feathers landing on the windowsill.
It reminds me of your eyes. I wonder if you sent it to say hello to me. If so, I would like to write a letter to send my greetings. I hope I don't disturb you.
Have a nice day!
—Erin Campbell
"Is it too strange to write this? How can there be birds in winter... But I did see them, really."
In the study of the manor, Irene, who had written the entire letter by hand, held it in her hands and read it again and again, but the more she read, the more embarrassed she became.
This morning, a bird did land on the windowsill of her bedroom, and she was surprised.
However, she had just woken up at that time and her eyes were not fully open, so she could not see clearly what color the bird's feathers were.
Is this a lie?
I don't think so...
Looking at Irene who was struggling repeatedly, Theresa put on a helpless smile and advised gently.
"Why is it strange? Your Highness, sharing the details of life is a kind of affection... uh, something that friends do. I think Mr. Colin can definitely sense your feelings. If I were him, I would definitely have fallen for you."
"That's good... But I didn't think of letting him fall. It's just that maintaining friendly relations is also beneficial to the Campbell family, isn't it? My brother also told me to make more friends and not always hold that sword."
"Yes." Theresa lowered her head.
She was afraid that if she said one more word, the princess, who had finally convinced her, would fall into another cycle of self-persuasion.
There is actually no need to explain.
It's not something to be ashamed of.
On the contrary, the more she explained, the more... She didn't know how to describe it.
Irene breathed a sigh of relief, read the letter one last time, handed it to Theresa, straightened her expression, and spoke solemnly.
"Theresa, please be sure to hand it over to Mr. Colin."
Theresa took the letter respectfully.
"Do you need me to urge him to finish reading it in front of me?"
Irene coughed lightly.
"That's not necessary...just deliver it."
…
Morning Embrace Hotel.
Theresa handed the letter to Luo Yan, nodded slightly, and left the hotel under Sarah's gaze.
After opening the letter in his hand and taking a look at it, Luo Yan had a strange expression on his face.
Why is the sense of déjà vu so strong?
Before he could complain, Youyou's voice had already floated to his ears.
"Huh? This letter looks familiar. Have I seen it somewhere before?"
"No, you remembered it wrong. The previous ones were beetles and caterpillars."
After reading politely to the end, Luo Yan folded the letter in his hand and kept it, and replied casually.
"At least there were no specimens enclosed in the letter."
Keeping up correspondence with Princess Irene might bring unexpected gains. After all, she is not only a member of the Campbell family, but also a quasi-hero.
Apart from anything else, at least if she suddenly decides to take people down the maze, he will receive the news in advance.
As for replying letters, it doesn’t take too much time.
Besides, he didn't need to reply to more letters than this one.
At the same time as Luo Yan finished speaking, a slender feather pen floated out from the drawer of the desk and gently placed a piece of letter paper on the table.
Under the guidance of mental power, the pen moved as if it was held by an invisible hand, and quickly completed a neatly handwritten article.
After an hour, he would ask the hotel staff to deliver it to Her Royal Highness the Princess, which would surely bring her a good mood for the whole day.
At the same time when Luo Yan handed the letter to the hotel staff, the refugees outside Leiming City finally received the warmth sent by Leiming City.
Last night alone, Irene raised a huge sum of nearly 650,000 gold coins.
This amount of money is more than enough to help the tens of thousands of refugees outside the city, and even to train them into a fully armed army.
Under her personal supervision, the governor of Thunder City quickly organized manpower. On the one hand, he purchased the stored grain from the surrounding nobles in the warehouses, and on the other hand, he sent people to the granary of the Principality of Campbell in the eastern valley plain to buy more grain.
In order to ensure that the funds were not misappropriated or embezzled, Irene even personally led her guards to the granary in Thunder City to check every purchase of grain to ensure that the money and goods matched.
At first, some people did try to take advantage of the money, such as mixing soil and sand into sacks of wheat, or falsifying the amount of grain delivered, or even selling the same batch of goods repeatedly... After all, they had done this many times before.
However, when they saw the guards standing at the door of the granary personally holding grain inspection forks to check each sack, almost all those who had ulterior motives changed their faces and hurriedly replaced the inferior goods with real ones.
Apparently they still underestimated Irene Campbell's determination, thinking that the little girl was just being kind and showing off her influence at the banquet. However, they didn't expect that she was serious and really intended to help those poor people who also believed in Saint Sith.
As for those caravans that turned around at the door of the granary, Irene did not pursue their little tricks to the end. She just wanted to make sure that the grain that was finally stored in the warehouse was not adulterated.
It is unlikely that the nobles of the Duchy of Campbell would offend the Campbell family for such a small amount of money from selling grain. It is probably their servants' own idea to be greedy for such a small amount of money.
These nobles may not be unaware of the behavior of their servants, but they have formed a tacit understanding of turning a blind eye over a long period of time.
After all, they were willing to become servants of the nobles, obviously not for glory, but because of profit. The nobles who raised them knew that if they wanted the dog to wag its tail, they had to feed it meat. If they did not give some benefits to the servants, the servants would definitely take more from them in unspoken ways, or wag their tails to outsiders.
Of course, I can catch them on the spot when they are deceiving me, and no one will speak for them even if I send them to the gallows.
But if we go a step further and judge their morality before they deceive themselves, even the masters of the principalities will have to pay the price of disrupting the existing order.
Although Irene didn't say it, her mind was as clear as a mirror, and her right-hand man Theresa was also clear about it.
All they have to do is to rescue the poor people outside the city and make them citizens of the Principality of Campbell, rather than changing Thunder City.
It has to be said that official rescue and spontaneous public action are indeed different.
The little bit of porridge donated by the "Flame King's believers" is enough to warm people's hearts, but it is still a little short of warming their stomachs.
But now all the problems have been solved satisfactorily, and in a way that makes everyone happy.
Faced with the officials of the Governor's Palace, Father Matt and the members of the brotherhood of good deeds gladly gave the donated porridge shop to the Governor's Palace.
Their goal has been achieved, and they have realized excess returns with only a limited budget. It is best to let the officials of Thunder City take over at this time.
If they leave at this time, the local refugees will not blame them for not continuing to do good deeds, but will thank them for generously giving up this "honor".
And if the officials of Thunder City don't do better, those refugees will miss them instead... Anyway, it's a win-win for the Demon King.
With the takeover of the Governor's Office of Thunder City, the changes in the refugee camp outside Thunder City can be described as visible to the naked eye.
In the biting cold wind, a group of young and strong men, led by employees of the Governor's Office, are repairing the dilapidated camp that was ravaged by the wind and snow.
In addition to meals, they also received an additional salary of 10 copper coins per day. Although this amount was not much, not even enough for afternoon tea for the port porters, it was enough to arouse their enthusiasm and attract small vendors from surrounding towns to their side.
Over time, this place will develop into a new satellite city and become a complete part of Thunder City.
Only in this way can we truly solve the difficulties faced by these refugees.
The Honorable Princess Eileen Campbell has even considered their long-term future.
The busy construction site is in full swing. People's rekindled enthusiasm and hope for tomorrow keep the howling wind and snow at bay.
The frozen hearts began to beat again, as if the harsh winter had become less harsh...
In the evening, a bonfire was set up in the center of the camp, and a large iron pot was placed on the bonfire.
The warm orange light was reflected on the weather-beaten faces. Although the light was not as bright as the street lights in the wealthy areas, the number of people illuminated by it was beyond the imagination of the latter.
A young mother took a bowl of hot oatmeal porridge with trembling hands. She blew on it carefully first and fed it to the child in her arms. She coaxed the child, who was too weak to cry, to sleep. Then she took a sip herself and tears rolled down her eyes.
Looking at the flag of the Campbell family not far away, she murmured to herself, expressing her heartfelt thanks and praise.
"Praise Her Royal Highness, she is such a kind and benevolent lady. If it weren't for this bowl of hot porridge, I really don't know how I would have survived this winter..."
There are many people like her.
Not far from her, an elderly man was leaning on a cane, making the sign of the cross on his chest, and his trembling voice was full of piety.
"Praise the great Saint Sith... Thank you for sending this kind messenger to our side to save your people from the cold wind and ice and snow."
The Campbell family's identity as the chosen ones of God is a household legend in the Kingdom of Ryan. Although the Dusk Province is not Campbell's territory, it is not too far away from the Principality of Campbell.
At the same time, at the city gate not far away.
Looking at those people cheering the Campbell family's name and thanking her from the bottom of their hearts, Irene felt as warm as spring in her heart.
Looking at Her Royal Highness the Princess standing in the snow, an official in a fur coat stepped forward through the snow, saluted respectfully, and spoke in a loud and exaggerated voice.
"Your Highness, I have fulfilled the mission you entrusted to me! Every refugee at the north gate, whether old or young, has received adequate nutrition under my careful care. I can guarantee you with my life that from today on, cold and hunger will become history, and no one will die of hunger and cold again."
This man was Governor Wilson's servant and also the clerk of the Governor's Office.
Although he took all the credit, Irene did not argue with him. She just nodded slightly and spoke in a gentle but measured voice.
"I have seen your efforts. It is not easy to arrange the lives and production of tens of thousands of people in an orderly manner. I will mention your name to Governor Wilson. He will be proud of you."
Looking at the official whose smile grew brighter, she turned her gaze to the servants around her who were also standing in the snow, and continued in a clear and majestic voice.
"And you, too, the same goes for those who have stood firm at their posts in the cold wind, and those who have persevered in the face of adversity... If this is a test from Saint Sith, your noble souls must have left a deep impression on Him. Without your efforts, there would not be the miracle that we all witness today."
This honor should not be enjoyed by one person alone.
Both she and the bureaucrats in the Governor's Office.
After looking around at the faces filled with emotion and pride, Irene walked to an iron pot not far away and said to the cook in charge of serving porridge.
"Please give me one bowl too."
The cook was stunned, not expecting Her Royal Highness the Princess to talk to a servant like him. He looked at the official next to him at a loss.
The clerk of the Governor's Office was also stunned and spoke hurriedly.
"Your Highness, how can you eat such food..."
Not only did the officer dissuade her, Theresa, who was standing behind Irene, couldn't help but step forward and speak.
"Your Highness, we can feel your intentions. You don't have to do this."
Looking at the wheat that had been cooked into a paste, Theresa couldn't help swallowing her saliva. She couldn't even imagine how bad this thing would taste.
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Her horses eat better food than this! However, in the face of the two people's dissuasion, Irene remained unmoved and looked at her calmly and said.
"Theresa, I once said that I hope to let them eat cake one day. Although I know that this is just an unrealistic wish or a direction to strive for, if we don't even know what they usually eat, how can we really make their lives better?"
"Your Highness..." Looking at those emerald green eyes full of determination, Theresa's eyes were slightly moved, and finally she remained silent and stopped stopping him.
Being stared at by the officials of the Governor's Palace, the cook dared not move, and sweat broke out on his forehead due to anxiety.
Seeing his embarrassment, Irene gave Theresa a look.
The latter understood what he meant, stepped forward and took the wooden spoon from the cook's hand, and after hesitating for a moment, scooped a small half bowl of food from the little left in the pot.
Looking at the hot porridge she received from Theresa, Irene blew on it gently, and then, under the nervous gaze of everyone, she brought it to her mouth and took a sip.
The taste is indescribable.
Although it's not so bad that it's hard to swallow, it's definitely not that good.
But what comforted her was that at least there was no sand in it, nor anything else that would upset one's stomach.
This way her efforts were worthwhile.
Looking at the sweaty officials of the Governor's Palace, Irene smiled and returned the bowl to Theresa, then nodded to everyone and said.
"Thanks for your hard work."
…
The bowl of oatmeal porridge at the city gate was more filling than expected. When Irene returned to the manor, she didn't feel hungry at all.
However, in order not to waste food, she still ate a little symbolically, and gave the remaining untouched dinner to the servants in the manor.
By chance, at this moment, she met the Earl of Southdale, Winkton Dench, and his family, who had stayed at the villa the previous night, so she greeted them.
The valley plain divided into north and south by the stream pass is the most fertile land on the northeast coast of the Whirlpool Sea and is also the granary of the Principality of Campbell.
And this Count Dench was the ruler of the southern part of the plain.
The reason why the grain merchants of the Kingdom of Ryan came up empty-handed in Thunder City this time and did not suffer the expected famine was at least half due to the Valley Plain.
The other half comes from the sea.
At the same time, the food used by the Governor's Office of Thunder City to provide relief to refugees was also purchased from the Earldom of South Creek Valley.
And what’s interesting is that the caravan transporting the grain arrived at Thunder City almost at the same time as Count Dench’s carriage that came to attend the banquet.
He seemed to have calculated that he could definitely raise the money, so he simply did this favor.
To be honest, Irene herself was nervous before the banquet began, until Mr. Colin spent 10,000 gold coins to buy her pocket watch.
"Thank you for your help, Mr. Dench."
"You're welcome, Your Highness."
Count Dench nodded slightly and continued in a respectful yet humorous tone.
"It's my honor to serve you. Besides, this is a profitable business for us, isn't it?"
Irene smiled slightly and continued politely.
"But if a famine occurs, it will be more profitable for the Earldom of South Valley, right? So I am still very grateful for your timely help."
Danqi looked at Her Royal Highness the Princess in surprise, with a hint of admiration in his eyes.
The reason why he admired her was not that she saw the obvious, but that she honestly acknowledged her own feelings.
As expected of the old duke's beloved daughter, he could see a little bit of the old duke's shadow in her, even if it was still very abstract.
He actually didn't dislike businessmen, nor did he reject cooperating with them, and he even had a lot of them. What he really disliked was that those who had neither honor nor motherland in their hearts were promoted to positions that did not belong to them.
At least he didn't bother to make a fortune from famine.
Those guys only worshipped gold coins, and he had no doubt that they would sell their souls to the devil for gold coins without hesitation for a second.
In this regard, Irene actually did better than Edward. At least she could take advantage of those businessmen while taking into account the honor of the nobility. She could feed the dog without letting it sit on the table for dinner.
As for her second brother, His Royal Highness Jelock, he attached too much importance to the honor of the nobility and the martial tradition, which was also not a good thing.
Perhaps it was because of this that the late old Duke handed the "Light of Legend" to her.
Unfortunately, people who have passed away cannot speak, so no one knows what Grand Duke Aaron Campbell was thinking, and we can only leave it to future generations to guess.
After sending his family away, Count Dench led the princess aside and continued in a very low voice.
"I have a question that I would like to ask, Your Highness, I wonder if it would be convenient for you to answer it."
"Since you have helped me so much, it's okay to ask." Irene nodded with a smile and said calmly, "But I have to make it clear that if it is about my two brothers, please refuse."
Count Dench said with a smile.
"Why would I ask such an unromantic question? Please rest assured that our conversation today has nothing to do with your two brothers. It is mainly about Mr. Colin."
"Mr. Colin?" Irene was slightly stunned, as if she didn't expect him to mention this name, so that her originally calm expression showed a little relaxation.
"That's right," Count Dench nodded slightly and continued, "Mr. Colin had a very pleasant conversation with you last night. I am very curious about your evaluation of that gentleman."
Irene coughed lightly, quickly regained her normal demeanor, and spoke gracefully.
"What do you want to know?"
Count Dench smiled and said.
"Any aspect is fine, such as what kind of person he is. After all, I am also curious about the mysterious and powerful Colin family."
Irene hesitated for a moment and told the truth.
"I don't know much about the Colin family. I only heard that they opened up a new colony in the west of the New World, and the emperor granted them the authority to expand the territory in that land. But to be honest, I have a good impression of him. His conversation and etiquette are indeed in line with his status. In short... he is a gentle and polite gentleman. The time I spent with him was short but very pleasant."
After hearing this, Danqi showed a relieved smile on his face and nodded slightly.
"It seems that you think highly of him. At this precarious time, it is an honor for us, his subjects, to have such an ally."
This sentence sounds like a pun.
Irene said gently with a smile on her face.
"Stormy weather? May I ask what you mean, Mr. Dench?"
"Of course, I am referring to the threat of Chaos outside the Brass Pass. After all, our relationship with the Dusk Province is like lips and teeth. It is difficult for me to regard it as a distant threat."
Count Dench kept smiling as he continued to test calmly.
"Please don't misunderstand me, Your Highness. I have no other intentions. It's just that my little daughter has just reached the age of marriage. Since Your Highness recognizes Mr. Colin's character, he must be a good man. May I ask Your Highness to introduce him to her?"
The moment she heard these words, Irene's brows twitched slightly unconsciously, and the elegant smile on her face gradually stiffened.
"Mr. Dench, I think you should ask your daughter's opinion instead of making a decision for her without authorization. My evaluation does not represent her evaluation."
Count Dench smiled and said.
"That is exactly what she thinks. She fell in love with the gentleman at first sight at the banquet last night. As a father, I naturally have to consider her happiness."
"Mr. Winkton Dench," Theresa, who had been silent, coughed lightly and interrupted him, "Her Royal Highness is very busy and has no time to worry about such things."
"I am sorry for being so presumptuous. Please pretend that I didn't say that." Danqi made a surprised expression and then nodded slightly to express his apology. "Wheat ripened by magic will not produce ears of wheat. Since Mr. Colin already has someone in his heart, I will persuade my daughter to give up."
Princess Irene said nothing.
Whether it was jealousy or the fact that she had accepted the fact that she had someone in her heart, her selfishness eventually led her to take back the words "I made the decision for your daughter without your permission".
Mr. Colin probably didn't want to be troubled for no reason, and it was enough for him to have only one person writing to him.
At this moment, Irene did not fully realize that those words were just a test from Count Dench.
Her reaction also confirmed the other party's guess that something really happened between Her Royal Highness the Princess and Mr. Colin last night.
After all, the gentleman stayed in her room throughout the entire banquet, and he didn't even have the chance to chat with her.
In fact, he didn't bother to worry about his daughter's happiness. His real purpose was just to figure out this matter, and now his purpose has been achieved.
Holding the light of orthodoxy, and backed by a mysterious family from the empire...
Regardless of whether Her Royal Highness the Princess has the intention to fight for the Principality, she has in fact become a political force that cannot be ignored.
His family was not the kind of followers that Theresa Peg and her father were, who only needed to wag their tails and bite people.
For the prosperity of the Earldom of South Valley and the Dench family, he needs to make careful bets.
(End of this chapter)