Grain Trade

"Your Highness," Miria bowed and raised her head. "I'm very sorry that I haven't been visiting you for a few days." She watched as the Princess lifted a cup to drink, and continued. "I heard about nobilities requests through my father... Are you alright?"

The Princess replied to her with a weak smile. "I have to be."

"What did Advisor Damian think about it?"

"He hasn't spoken much about it. I know that it must have been difficult for him too," Amelia said. "But he wanted me to give a thought about the nobles' suggestion. Both the Adviser and the Commander think that I should go along with their proposal. Not because I believed my brother has passed, but because doing so will protect the throne and this Kingdom."

"What are you planning to do about it?"

"I don't know. I haven't decided yet," Amelia turned to stare at the cup in her hand. "But I know that I'm not ready to give up the throne to those nobles just yet. I will have another discussion with both Damian and the Commander after this. I will have to make my decision after that."

"You don't need to rush into making a decision."

"I know," Amelia spoke. "But if I didn't make a decision right now, the nobles would not stop pestering me about it until they get what they wanted. Oh. That reminds me... I am sorry I won't be able to participate in our secret activities for a while. I am going to be busy with a lot of things after this."

Miria nodded. "I know. Your Knight, Laif had mentioned this to me previously. Don't worry, Your Highness. I'll carry on the activities as usual. But the children are going to miss you."

"I'm going to miss them too," Amelia said. "I know how hard it will be to distribute foods with less manpower. Therefore, I am planning to send my maidservant, Rae to help you along with one of my Knights."

"One of your royal guards?" Miria raised a brow. "Laif?"

"No. No. Kain. He's a reliable person. We can trust him. Don't worry." Amelia stood up and walked over to Lady Evans. "I am sure that you were not here to discuss this matter. Aren't you going to tell me what have you been doing recently? Is everything alright with your trade consortium?"

Miria lowered her head and hesitated. "Forgive me, Your Highness. But there is something that I must report to you."

The Princess straightened up. Hearing Lady Evans's tone, she was suddenly worried. "What is it?"

"Have you heard anything about our grain trade with Morstil?" Miria said cautiously.

Amelia shook her head. "Our grain trade? No. I haven't. Is there any problem?"

Miria heaved a sigh. "I received information from my men that we are going having problems with the supply of grains," she paused to study the Princess's expression. "But it isn't just for our group, Your Highness. A few other big merchant groups in the city were facing the same problems."

Amelia sat down on the chair beside Lady Evans and frowned. She knew very little knowledge of commerce and did not know what she should say or how she should react. "I haven't heard anything from the nobles. Will this be a problem?" She leaned back on her chair and fiddled with the hem of her dress. "I did not know much about commerce."

Lady Evans' expression changed and her gaze softened. "I will explain this matter to you. Your Highness, the people in Noa Kingdom consumed grains and such as our daily staples. Although we do have our plantation, the grains produced in Noa Kingdom were not enough to meet the demand. For years, Noa Kingdom has been relying on Morstil to get out supply. A few days ago, my men received word from the merchant in West Port, and they said that the merchants in Morstil had not set their foot on Noa Kingdom for weeks," Miria continued. "After some investigation, we heard rumors that Morstil had declined to do any business transaction with Noa Kingdom."

Amelia's eyes widened at the news. Suddenly, fear crept through her as she thought of the situation."What will happen if Morstil stopped doing any business transaction with us?"

"Morstil has been our largest source to get our grain supply for years. If they decided to stop any business transaction with Noa Kingdom, then, we will have to depend on the grains we have in this Kingdom. But it was as I have mentioned previously. What we produce will not be enough. In the end, the price of grains will escalate and a lot of our people will go hungry."

Amelia's face paled when she understood the situation. "Don't we trade grains with another country as well?"

Miria nodded. "We do. With Roem. But the amount of grain trading we did with Roem would not be enough to support the demand," Miria continued. "I heard that there are rumors that the price of grains in a few provinces in the western part of Noa Kingdom has gone up. But I'm still investigating the news. I can't confirm whether it was accurate."

Amelia took a deep breath. Suddenly, she felt very tired upon hearing the news. There are just too many problems coming to her at this moment. She has not made any decision regarding the nobles' request to announce her brother as dead. And now... this.

All her life, she has been living carefree in the palace. She never knew that ruling a country would be this hard. Amelia wondered for a moment how her late father and brother dealt with this kind of thing. They never shared with her about their problem. They never showed her how tiring their work was.

"I understand," Amelia spoke. "I will speak to Adviser Damian regarding this matter. In the meantime, please continue and do your best to be my eyes and ears outside the palace."

"Yes, Princess Amelia. I will do my best." Miria bowed, briefly. She had already instructed her people to stop spreading rumors to avoid more chaos. "But Your Highness, I'm still worried about you."

Amelia smiled to ease her friend. "I will be alright. I know that I will have to face a lot of things to keep the throne. Damian had previously warned that I will have to face various things if I were to accept Asher's order to step in as a substitute. I understand that they will do anything they can to bring me down."

Miria lowered her gaze to the floor. Suddenly, her tongue was tied.

She could not tell the Princess what she was really worried about. She was afraid that if the rumors were indeed true, the people of Noa Kingdom would get upset. When the people were upset, it wouldn't be impossible if an uprising to depose the Princess from the throne began.

Standing against the nobles was one thing, but how will the Princess face her people?