Chapter 313: Pain!

Inside the castle in Eldora.

After reading the report from Brambleford, Emperor Alaric immediately summoned Hughes.

Inside the imperial study, the two men sat in silence for a long while.

"Your Majesty, I also received some news from Preston. Just like Prince Simon said, there was indeed a drought last year around Wondla and Preston. Until now, not a drop of rain has fallen. The people in Prince Augustus’s territory have run out of food. Their suffering is beyond words."

"Wondla, Preston and Brambleford again... Decades ago, the empire almost collapsed because of the chaos in those three places. Now this natural disaster comes. What are we supposed to do?" Alaric’s eyes were full of deep concern.

He still remembered that back then he was only the second prince of the Eldorian Empire, ordered to suppress the rebellion in those three places. The rebel army had enormous momentum, like a wave crashing through everything.

To put down the rebellion, the imperial guards fought desperately. There were countless battles, big and small. It took three years to finally behead the rebel leader. But the cost was high; more than sixty percent of the imperial guards were lost.

But it was that very war that gave him control over the military and secured his path to the throne.

Hughes looked at Alaric. "There’s no other way now. We must distribute food for disaster relief. But the court doesn’t have much left. Your Majesty must issue a decree and ask the other regional lords to provide grain, especially those ruling the wealthier lands, like Prince Vaelric, Prince Gerad, Prince Gal, Prince Lloyd, and Prince Blackthorne."

"That’s the only thing we can do, but I doubt it’ll work." Alaric sighed. These lords were already pushing the limits of loyalty. How could they be willing to provide relief?

He knew them too well. In times of danger, all they ever did was protect themselves.

With another sigh, Alaric said. "Prepare the decree right away and send it out. Also, Prince Simon proposed a way to deal with the locusts. It sounds strange, but it’s still a plan."

Hughes nodded. Prince Simon’s idea was to eat the locusts. It was certainly odd, but better than starving.

Slowly leaving the study, Hughes returned home.

Brambleford had just begun to recover over the past two years, yet now it faced this disaster. ’Reality often goes against our wishes,’ he thought. He was truly worried about Simon’s fate.

’I hope he can survive this.’

Just then, a gentle voice rang out. "Father, why are you sighing?" It was Elin, walking over with Kobe.

Hughes had never liked hiding things from Elin. "The emperor summoned me just now. He said there are signs of drought and a locust plague in Wondla, Preston, and Brambleford. There might be another outbreak of unrest in those areas."

"Brambleford?" Elin covered her mouth in shock. "But wasn’t the weather good in Brambleford just last year?"

"Among the three, Brambleford is suffering the least. But if Preston and Wondla fall into chaos, Brambleford won’t be safe. When rebels rise, they always rob the wealthier places first." Hughes said with worry.

Kobe cried out. "Ah! If Miss marries into Brambleford now, wouldn’t that be dangerous?"

"Don’t talk nonsense." Elin frowned. "Since the marriage has been arranged, Prince Simon and I are already one. If we are united in blessings, we must also face hardship together. It’s not right to enjoy only the good times and avoid the bad."

Hughes glanced at her with approval. That’s the kind of daughter the Baker family should raise.

"Prince Simon doesn’t even fear the reavers. Why would he be scared of some rebels? What the emperor worries about is the reavers using this chance to rise again. Prince Augustus and Prince Lionel are nothing like Prince Simon."

Elin slowly nodded. Prince Augustus was aggressive and foolish, always ignoring others’ advice. This situation could turn messy.

Perhaps not wanting to dwell on troubling matters, Hughes smiled and changed the subject. "Elin, I’ve noticed your complexion has returned. You seem healthy again. Since that’s the case, you and Kobe should go out and walk around more often."

"Thank you, Father!" Elin said excitedly.

Then Hughes told her about Prince Simon’s plan to deal with the locusts. Elin was deeply moved. Simon’s strange ideas continued to surprise her.

---

In Brambleford, after learning about the unrest in Preston, Simon doubled down on drought relief work across his territory. In early May, a sudden light rain finally came, and he let out a long sigh of relief.

So did Baldwin and the many people living in his domain.

At least it meant that a severe drought wouldn’t hit the lands of the six cities.

"Even though it rained, we must not relax. The water storage ponds in the fields need to be built faster. The canals must be dug as soon as possible. We need to minimize the damage." Simon ordered the officials from the six cities.

To prevent major losses, he personally supervised the drought relief. Recently, Percival had been selling large numbers of chickens and ducks to the people for them to raise.

Meanwhile, Baldwin had gone out to the villages to organize production teams across the counties. In the newspapers, Simon also issued a public command for everyone to join the effort against drought.

Now that it had rained, it was clear Brambleford’s disaster wouldn’t be too serious. Though the harvest would be smaller, people should still have enough to survive.

And the food Simon had stockpiled would be enough to feed the army.

Still, trouble elsewhere could spill over. Simon had been instructing the secret guards to monitor the situation in Preston.

The court had already sent food for relief in Preston and asked other regional lords to send grain as well. But just as he had predicted, just like when he himself had gathered supplies during the Dunmere campaign, the court’s decree had little effect.

The lords were just giving token amounts: thirty thousand stones here, fifty thousand stones there, just to brush off the court.

They were secretly hoping the court would fall into disgrace. But that wasn’t even what made Simon the angriest.

According to the secret guards, only one-tenth of the relief food ever reached the people. The rest was stolen by corrupt officials in Eldora and Preston. Percival had even bought some of that relief grain in the local markets.

’The officials of the Eldorian Empire have rotted this far. Collapse is only a matter of time.’

When Baldwin saw that the food sold on the market was disaster relief grain, he sighed bitterly and left Simon behind with a bleak silhouette.

In the days that followed, Baldwin worked like a man possessed, handling government affairs, appearing constantly in the fields.

This situation shocked Simon as well. He never expected the corruption he had only read about in books to unfold right in front of him. Now he understood why the people always rebelled during disasters.

Letting out a bitter sigh, he pinned all his hopes on his own land.

This rotting empire was like an old man on his deathbed, already smelling of decay.

After his last exchange of interests with the Fletcher family, they kept their promise, and Desmond had returned to Ashenford with three Galleon ships.