Reborn as a Mind-Reading Empress
Chapter 65: Exorbitant Prices [Bonus - ]

Chapter 65: Exorbitant Prices [Bonus Chapter]

Arabella was impressed.

Ferdinand may not have memories of the past, but Alwin was already taking action with the assumption that the current Ferdinand would also be like the one in the past who would not let her go of her even in death.

Alwin was indeed so loyal to his lord, probably too much. But he must also not want to waste their efforts for this second chance to have come to pass.

From what Arabella could figure from her dream about the past last time, Alwin and Ferdinand had to take risks and offer something of importance for greater chances of the revival ritual succeeding.

She didn’t know if Ferdinand truly had to offer his heart in a literal sense or something else but it must have meant he gave up something of great value. Especially if it meant reducing his lifespan or even limiting him to his human form and never being able to fly as a dragon again.

’Right, I have to work hard too. They already sacrificed so much for this second chance at life.’

Thus, she had to achieve her goals in coming here in Prudencia. The Gulliver problem would be taken care of by Raymond and Alwin. But she felt like there was something else.

The palace and the plaza were too far from the mountain for her to hear anything. She needed to get closer to be able to hear the people’s thoughts and understand further what was happening in Prudencia.

Aside from slavery, what else was Gulliver doing to Prudencia? She needed to know in order to help Odette and the people further.

Arabella pretended to feel better from her supposed dizziness after a few minutes and asked to be brought to the plaza for a bit to forget about what she witnessed in the Marquess’ room.

They agreed since they didn’t want her to keep remembering Gulliver’s actions when she thought of Prudencia or the Empire.

Alwin used magic to change the appearance of their clothes to what most of the people in the Prudencia capital were wearing before he teleported them to the plaza.

Arabella and Alwin still wore cloaks though.

They tried to blend in with the people and walked near the shops.

The quality of fabric sold in shops was good but there was not much on display. There were beautiful dresses and accessories too but there were few people in the shops due to the obvious financial crisis.

There were more people flocking to where food, fruits, and vegetables were sold so they walked to the market with Alwin and Raymond walking on either side of her and Rendell right behind them closely guarding her.

Raymond, Alwin, and Rendell all thought the price of goods in the market was too much.

[It was no wonder everyone was working hard. The price of food is this high. This is five times higher compared to Riva.]

’Five times?!’ Arabella glanced at the fruits and vegetables sold at the stalls. It doesn’t even compare in quality to the produce in Lobelius.

’Hmm, wait. Do Raymond and Alwin visit the market in Riva?’

It was hard to believe they would go and buy something themselves in the market. The servants usually do that for them. Moreover, nobles usually have their own farms tended by their people.

The Reginald Household surely had their own farm in their wide estate in Riva. And they surely had a lot of servants if they ever need to buy something. Raymond wouldn’t need to visit the market at all. They could also just summon the merchants.

In Alwin’s case, his food comes from the palace. He doesn’t need to buy anything at the market at all.

Or they knew because it was part of their job to see how things were? Were they closely monitoring the prices in the capital?

Arabella meanwhile, was only able to visit the market in Lobelius several times when she was younger and she snuck out. She usually only knew the prices of agricultural produce that they export. And prices of exported goods were much higher than the ones sold locally.

Moreover, the marketplace was usually crowded so her maids and guards avoided it. Especially since it would be dangerous if she got lost or they were caught to have sneaked out.

In her previous life, she did get her chance to explore Riva a bit and the prices in Prudencia were indeed higher than the prices she had seen before. It did soar high too when she caused internal strife in the Empire.

’Right. I also once caused this kind of trouble. I should know how to solve it.’

She didn’t even think of the suffering of the people before. But looking at Prudencia now, she realized she had committed greater sins than she formerly thought.

She didn’t simply cause chaos, she caused the people to go hungry and suffer too. And yet, she even brought in the army of another kingdom.

’I truly should do my best to help the people here,’ Arabella internally sighed in guilt.

The current prices of food in Prudencia might be fine to wealthy nobles and commoners but to the less affluent, it was too much.

There weren’t even that many varieties of fruits and vegetables sold when compared to Riva or Lobelius.

Even a small fief in Lobelius had better quality and quantity of agricultural produce sold at their market than this.

It meant the harvest was that bad. Prudencia had harvested a meager quantity so the prices soared too much.

And this was Prudencia’s capital. How much more would the people’s burden be in the farther areas?

No wonder the people had to work so hard that even children had no time to play.

It was simply saddening.

When Fermin was little, he wanted to play all the time so she had a hard time managing his schedule. He wanted to be as cool and strong as his father one day though so Fermin agreed to have his studies early on. But he still played a lot.

And yet, the children here were helping with work instead of playing around or studying.