Chapter 154: The Great North Ansu Famine

The Great North Ansu Famine

“Is Avena inside? Help me call her for a moment.”

A thin middle-aged man in a double-breasted gray coat stood at Avena’s door, looking at the armored knight standing at the entrance. He raised his hand to press his hat and said, “I won’t attend the banquet. I’ll leave after finishing my business.”

“Sorry, Your Excellency, please wait a moment. Young Mistress is currently entertaining a friend.”

Nia, standing at the door, blocked the man like a statue. After replying, she didn’t move, seemingly unconcerned about the man’s high status.

Hearing this, the man reached into the inner pocket of his coat, took out an exquisite stopwatch, opened it, glanced at the time, then paced around anxiously before Nia for a moment and sighed.

He seemed to be in a great hurry.

“Which friend is it? Maybe I know them.”

The man continued asking.

In the man’s impression, Avena’s friends could be counted on two fingers, and her social circle was very small. Perhaps he really knew them.

“Sorry, you probably don’t know them.”

Nia shook her head and said, “It will probably take... 30 minutes?”

“Phew...”

The man let out a long sigh, just regretting why he didn’t say things earlier... But Avena using the excuse of entertaining guests was actually just giving him the cold shoulder out of pique.

Soon, he took out a shorthand notebook from his coat pocket, took out his dip pen and portable ink, dipped the pen in water, and wrote a short sentence on the paper.

Rip—

He tore off the note, folded it, and handed it to Nia before him. He knew Nia was absolutely trustworthy.

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“Please help me give this to Avena. Also, help me tell her, if she wants to go back, she can anytime. Sister... her mother, will definitely not ask her to do anything she’s unwilling to do anymore.”

“I will hand the note to Lady Avena.”

After taking the note, Nia didn’t speak again, not even answering whether she would relay the man’s latter sentence.

“Sigh...”

The man sighed again. This feeling of being caught in the middle made him very uncomfortable, making the wrinkles on his face seem much deeper.

“Thank you, I’ll take my leave first. Just passing by this time, giving some information incidentally. The train is still waiting for me.”

The man pressed the gray bowler hat on his head, turned, and left, walking downstairs.

He wasn’t leaving so quickly yet. His arrival needed to be known by more people, letting others know Avena still had backing, so they wouldn’t have designs on her.

The man didn’t take the back door, but followed the third-floor stairs directly towards the first floor.

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When reaching the second floor, he coughed slightly, cleared his throat. The original weary feeling slowly faded. His sharp eyes under the aquiline nose narrowed slightly, his aura imposing.

Arriving at the main hall, scattered nobles and wealthy merchants were already gathered in twos and threes, smoking cigars and chatting. More people were still in the garden outside—tables and desserts were already set up there, jazz musicians performed energetically, a scene of peace and friendliness.

“Hey... look, isn’t that...”

A noble holding a champagne glass and cigar, seeing the tall, thin man walking straight towards the door, gently pointed in his direction and said to the person before him.

“Who?”

When the fat man holding a cigar in front looked over, he only saw a back figure. But the noble standing opposite him had already quickly followed. He couldn’t care less who that back figure was and hurriedly followed too.

Many nobles chatting idly in the main hall noticed the commotion here, curiously followed along. By the time the tall, thin man reached the entrance, seven or eight people were already following behind him.

This procession caught the eyes of many noble ladies and noble merchants still chatting in the garden, and one noble lady exclaimed with a laugh, thoroughly attracting everyone’s attention.

“Minister of the Interior William?!”

This figure was not unfamiliar to the noble ladies. Although they were in a small city, they never missed an issue of Ansu’s major newspapers like the Morning Post, Canal Post, and Anchester Guardian. The contents were their daily gossip topics.

And among them, William, who frequently appeared on the front page headlines, naturally became the object of everyone’s attention. Even those who didn’t know him had seen his engravings and hand-drawn photos published in the newspapers.

“Minister of the Interior, do you still remember me? During the immigration management issue before, my mine helped receive some...”

“Your Excellency William, allow me to introduce myself, I am...”

“Heard you’re going to be transferred to serve as Minister of the Navy? Our Royal Fleet, under your leadership, will surely become an invincible fleet defending our overseas interests...”

William was surrounded in the center of the crowd, smilingly greeting others, took off his gloves, and shook hands with several nobles he had met once before.

And beside a cake table in the distance, Amy held a cake, took a bite with a fork, then asked somewhat curiously, “Father, who is he? Why are so many people surrounding him...”

“That’s Minister of the Interior William Winston, from the Winston family. His sister Margaret Winston is Avena’s mother. Their family was originally a declining noble family. Later, William rose through the ranks to become a government minister in Bliss through his personal ability.”

Baron Hastings recalled slightly, then continued, “Later, after his sister married into the Roswell family, William relied on his personal ability and the Roswell family’s help to rise all the way to Minister of the Interior. Both his connections and abilities are outstanding.”

“So capable?”

Amy’s mouth opened slightly, seeming somewhat surprised by the man’s resume. But after just sighing briefly, she quickly put the matter behind her, her eyes starting to search around.

Why haven’t Avena and Ciel come out yet, where did they go?

-

In the dressing room of Avena’s room.

Avena stood before the full-length mirror, her face flushed red, combing her somewhat messy long hair.

And Ciel behind her reached out speechlessly, pulling at the lace on her collar—this section of lace was completely torn, and the white shirt had a tear ripped open at the chest part.

Almost exactly as Ciel thought, this dress was indeed too thin, and unsuitable for combat. Easily torn with casual pulls. However, the silk slip inside was of relatively good quality.

Ciel reached out, touched her tongue. Sharp pain came from the tip; it had been bitten open.

Avena’s reaction was also a bit too intense... seemed very unwilling to be underneath.

But her strength couldn’t resist Ciel at all, could only make some futile resistance and struggle.

And when struggling, her small hands weren’t very clean either, pinching Ciel painfully.

Looks like next time hands need to be tied.

At this moment, Avena also saw through the mirror Ciel sticking out her tongue checking the wound. This made her face feel as if burned by fire.

She really wanted to turn around and apologize to Ciel, but if she really apologized, Avena felt she might never be able to turn things around for her entire life.

This is legitimate self-defense... This is legitimate self-defense...

Avena kept reminding herself in her heart, convincing herself.

Who asked her to stick her tongue out...

Just now, Ciel’s actions and the soft touch made Avena’s brain go blank, so much so that she couldn’t quite remember what she did to Ciel afterwards...

But looking at Ciel’s clothes and wound, her resistance seemed a bit too fierce...

Will this make Ciel think she was unwilling, leading Ciel not to do this next time...

Avena wanted to apologize on one hand, yet wanted to maintain her “dignity” that was almost gone before Ciel on the other. Under such apprehension, she didn’t notice Ciel had already walked behind her.

“If you want to be on top... you can tell me, I’ll let you.”

Ciel’s gentle voice came from behind, making Avena stunned for a moment. Then, an indescribable sense of humiliation rose from the bottom of her heart.

Who wants you to let me!!!

Ciel’s words seemed comforting, but were quite insulting to Avena. But while anxious, she couldn’t show she cared. Could only take a deep breath, then said, “Sorry, I’ll be careful next time.”

Saying this, as if she won the confrontation just now.

After speaking, Avena didn’t turn back, directly walked out of the dressing room, slowly suppressing the agitation in her heart.

Just wait! Ciel! Don’t think you’ve won! Next time I’ll definitely press you onto the sofa and make you meow like a cat!

Avena silently swore in her heart.

Just now I was just letting her have her way, yes that’s right. Ciel is a patient now; the previous two times I let her have her way.

Just as the blush on Avena’s face almost completely faded, her facial expression nearing calm, Ciel’s voice came again from the dressing room behind.

“Avena, what if the clothes are broken? The necklace is still hanging on your collar...”

Avena looked down, indeed saw the ruby necklace from before, currently hanging on her collar, seemingly slid down and got caught when Ciel was on her just now.

Ciel’s reminder made Avena recall the events just now again. The mental victory method just established instantly collapsed. Blushing, she grabbed the necklace in her hand, turned around, threw it back: “Pick yourself!”

After speaking, Avena quickly stepped forward, click, helped Ciel close the dressing room door.

“Hm?”

Ciel, catching the necklace, seeing the door closed, stood in place blinking.

Why did she get angry?

Did I do something wrong?

But looking at Avena’s previous actions, didn’t seem like rejecting her, rather seemed somewhat overly excited, and inexperienced, hence the joke.

Although she herself had no experience either.

Perhaps next time I should be gentler, coax her a bit?

Ciel thought, while combing her hair smooth with a comb.

Finding a similar pleated shirt from Avena’s wardrobe and changing into it, Ciel followed Avena’s previous matching advice, put on a black short cloak, finally picked a hat of the same style as the cloak and put it on, lastly, put on the ruby necklace.

Much warmer this way, and looks more complete too.

When Ciel opened the door, she saw a pair of new white silk stockings and black short boots placed before the door. Avena sat on the sofa, arms crossed, turning her head slowly to the other side after hearing Ciel come out, seemingly not wanting to see Ciel.

“Are these prepared for me?” Ciel asked while changing into the new shoes and socks. After completing the final matching, she walked towards Avena, asking, “Is it weird? Wearing like this?”

Honestly, from a tailor’s and designer’s perspective, Ciel felt there was nothing wrong with this combination. But if the model was herself, she found it somewhat hard to judge.

Just like a painter finding it hard to observe the disharmony in their own painting on the same day, Ciel, using herself as a model, also found it hard to see anything wrong in a short time. To be safe, still asked Avena.

Initially, Avena seemed still sulking on her own, not planning to pay attention to Ciel. But after a while, couldn’t help turning her head, scanned Ciel, her gaze lingering slightly on her face, then finally moved her sight away with difficulty, saying:

“It’s okay.”

“That’s good.” Ciel replied with a smile, then sat on the sofa beside her. She knew Avena was having a little temper now, so deliberately sat further away.

However, this small detail was still caught by Avena, her heart skipped a beat.

Ciel... does she dislike me now?

-

Although very unwilling to recall, Avena still forced herself, replaying all her actions just now in her mind, lightly pursing her lips.

What’s wrong with me... how could I act so immaturely and irrationally...

In the eyes of Ciel, who seemed always calm, what’s the difference between this and a sulking child?

Clearly, I was never like this before... But before Ciel, Avena seemed to have shed the disguise she wore before others, like an ordinary young girl, sulking when supposed to, shy when supposed to, happy when supposed to...

“Ciel...” After hesitating for a moment, Avena extended her right hand, patted the sofa beside her, saying, “Sit here.”

Ciel obediently sat beside Avena, their shoulders touching. After a moment of silence, Avena said, “Sorry, Ciel, I was being a bit unreasonable just now.”

Ciel didn’t speak, just extended her left hand, the back of her hand resting on Avena’s right leg, fingers spread, palm facing up.

Initially, Avena didn’t understand what this meant, but after hesitating for a moment, Avena gently placed her right hand on Ciel’s left hand, fingers tightly intertwined.

The strength in Ciel’s hand made Avena’s heart feel slightly warm, as if everything was understood without words.

But Ciel’s next sentence made the warmth in Avena’s heart rise directly along her neck to her cheeks.

“Then is there any compensation tonight?” Ciel asked.

The moment she heard this sentence, Avena’s hand was about to withdraw from Ciel’s palm, but Ciel’s strength was too great, making Avena unable to move almost at all even with full force.

Big trouble!

“No.” Avena said expressionlessly.

“What a pity.” Ciel didn’t push too far, directly released her hand.

This made Avena, who was secretly struggling, directly withdraw her hand. But after withdrawing her hand, Avena seemed slightly regretful. Her right hand paused slightly in mid-air, before crossing again before her chest.

“Wasted too much time, the banquet has almost started.” Avena stood up, didn’t look back at Ciel, quickly walked towards the room door.

She urgently needed the cold wind outside to cool her cheeks.

At this moment, Ciel, having enjoyed enough of the shy Avena, also stood up contentedly. She slightly adjusted her clothes before the mirror, only feeling very happy now.

Seeing the usually cold-faced Avena showing so many different expressions before her, Ciel felt extremely happy. She seemed to have found a source of joy, a new way to restore Sanity—teasing Avena.

By the time Ciel finished tidying her appearance and walked out of the room, Nia had already been waiting at the door for a short while.

Upon seeing Ciel, Nia lowered her head slightly, saying, “Miss Ciel, Young Mistress has already gone down first. She said you prefer to be low-key, asked you to come down with me later.”

“Okay, thank you.” Ciel smiled and nodded at Nia.

At this moment, Nia seemed to notice a slight damage on Ciel’s lips. After hesitating for a moment, she asked, “Miss Ciel, do you need some recovery potion? Your lips have some external injury.”

“Okay... Is there external medicine? The kind for bruises?” Ciel thought for a moment, then asked.

“Yes, I’ll go get it for you.” Nia nodded, simultaneously feeling slightly sorry for the harmless-looking Ciel in her heart.

Don’t be fooled by Lady Avena’s usual coldness. In fact, her personality is extremely strong, decisive, and brooks no argument.

Poor Miss Ciel... must have been bullied fiercely by Young Mistress just now. Perhaps even has bruised injuries in unseen places. In contrast, Young Mistress, besides looking somewhat flushed, seemed completely fine.

After all, one is an ordinary person, the other a second-tier transcendent. One is a commoner with no power, the other a great noble almost destined to stand at the core of power... The relationship between the two, no matter what, is unlikely to be equal. Poor Ciel has almost no room to fight back or resist.

However, the matter between these two is their private affair. Nia couldn’t say much, just quickly went to get potions and wound medicine.

Can only find an opportunity to remind Lady Avena to be gentler, after all, Miss Ciel’s body is weak and she’s ill.

After bringing the items to Ciel, Ciel spent about ten minutes in the room treating the bruises on her body herself, then put on her clothes again, following Nia downstairs.

At this time, there were no nobles in the main hall, only a few unfamiliar nobles and merchants smoking cigars and sniffing snuff in the drawing room.

Ciel walked straight out the main door, looked towards the garden, happened to see Avena surrounded by nobles in the center.

At this moment, Avena held a champagne glass, elegantly and calmly answering questions from those around her, chatting with others, as if nothing happened just now.

If not for the silk slip rubbing against her chest causing slight pain when walking, Ciel would also think nothing happened just now.

What surprised Ciel slightly was that she saw Baron Hastings and Amy. Baron Hastings seemed surrounded by many people talking eloquently, occasionally clinking glasses and drinking, while Amy sat at a dining table not far away, silently nibbling dessert.

If she remembered correctly, this was the first time Baron Hastings received an invitation, right? But now it seemed, his side was the most crowded place besides Avena? And judging from the attire, mostly wealthy merchants.

Ciel walked carefully, minimizing upper body movements to avoid the slip continuing to rub her chest. She didn’t disturb Avena, but slowly walked towards Amy.

At this moment, the corner of Avena’s eye also noticed Ciel slipping past quietly. Seeing her walking slightly bent over, recalled what she did, guilt surged in her heart.

Tonight... still have to give some “compensation” to Ciel... Avena thought silently.

-

At this time, Ciel had already moved beside Amy and sat down. Not many people on the scene noticed Ciel’s arrival, which made Ciel slightly less constrained.

Amy was somewhat pleasantly surprised by Ciel’s arrival, prepared to get up and help Ciel get a portion of dessert too, but Ciel stopped her, simply asking her to bring a glass of juice over instead.

Today Ciel ate almost from morning till now, couldn’t eat anything more at all, even dessert.

With a friend accompanying her, the originally somewhat constrained Amy gradually loosened up, starting to chatter with Ciel.

When Ciel asked why so many people were looking for her father, Amy also shook her head, not understanding why.

But according to Amy’s impression, whenever someone came looking for her father, it was mostly related to court matters. After all, her father was a magistrate; most cases in Berren City passed through his hands.

However, usually, her father interacted more with those factory owners. This time it was direct contact with the real power holders behind those factory owners, the level clearly much higher.

Many people came from out of town to attend the banquet. Several even came specifically from Ansu for business here.

Looks like Avena’s “business exchange meeting” still held some influence.

“You don’t know why they’re looking for Baron Hastings?” A gentle voice suddenly interjected, interrupting Ciel and Amy’s conversation. They looked towards the speaker, saw a young girl with a golden ponytail and emerald green eyes.

“Hello, allow me to introduce myself, my name is Isabella Stuart, my father is the owner of the Stuart Art Exchange.” Isabella smiled slightly, introducing herself to the two.

“My name is Ciel.” Ciel nodded, stating her name. As for what art exchange, she had never heard of it at all.

“Just call me Amy.” Amy didn’t know this girl either, but facing the other party’s goodwill, still gave her name.

“Just now I heard you discussing Baron Hastings... Are you curious why so many people are looking for him?” Isabella very naturally sat opposite Amy and Ciel.

Her familiarity didn’t make people feel repulsed, mainly because her attitude was very friendly, and the topic she discussed was also something Ciel was interested in.

“Yes.” Ciel nodded slightly, following the other party’s words, “What do you know?”

“Maybe you forgot to read the newspaper, there have actually been quite a few things recently.” Isabella smiled, then explained, “Actually, it’s still somewhat related to the previous ‘dehydration syndrome’.”

“‘Dehydration syndrome’?” Ciel blinked somewhat curiously.

“Hasn’t this matter already ended?” This matter could be said to be ended by her own hand. Moreover, the antidote was developed by Adele and distributed by the Church of the Savior Goddess. Hasn’t this matter passed already? And Adele also completed the Reconstitution Ritual because of this, advancing to second-tier “Plague Doctor.”

“‘Dehydration syndrome’ is cured, but the subsequent impact hasn’t ended yet.” Isabella shook her head, saying, “Mostly related to the deaths from ‘dehydration syndrome’ and those who lost their jobs because of it.”

“Initially because of some rumors, saying ‘dehydration syndrome’ was a virus created by factory owners to kill disobedient people. Of course, this rumor couldn’t stand, later, various other rumors spread, basically every one pointing fingers at various factories.”

“This deepened the hatred of families of workers injured or killed by ‘dehydration syndrome’ towards factory owners. Moreover, most factory owners don’t recognize death from ‘dehydration syndrome’ as work-related injury, giving no compensation—which it originally wasn’t.”

“Plus some factories themselves have heavy workloads, some people recovered from ‘dehydration syndrome’ haven’t fully recovered their bodies, collapsed again during work. Too many such examples further fueled the conflict...”

Speaking here, Isabella shook her head, saying, “The situation is like this now. The truth about ‘dehydration syndrome’ is unclear, and the conflict between workers and factory owners is intensifying.”

Ciel nodded slightly.

This is indeed difficult to handle...

The truth about “dehydration syndrome” involves transcendents, cults, and the Redemption Society. Any party, especially the Redemption Society, absolutely wouldn’t want the matter exposed. The news could only remain suppressed.

But Ciel also noticed a somewhat unusual point.

That is, the rumors.

Generally speaking, with the existence of the Church of the Savior Goddess, these ridiculous rumors wouldn’t spread on such a large scale among the working class. The Church of the Savior Goddess also needed to maintain a delicate balance with nobles and wealthy merchants, wouldn’t tear faces apart.

Yet rumors emerged endlessly, clearly indicating the presence of a behind-the-scenes pusher.

“And... something major happened recently too. Things will likely be difficult to remain peaceful during this period...” Isabella lowered her voice, leaned forward slightly. Ciel and Amy’s bodies also leaned forward slightly, listening carefully.

Among them, Ciel’s heartbeat also slightly accelerated. Speaking of recent major events... that would be Ciel obtaining a portion of “Uniqueness.” If the matter was exposed, it would cause huge waves throughout the entire transcendent world.

Is it about “Uniqueness”?

“Something happened in North Ansu, newspapers are forbidden to report it.” Isabella saw Ciel was interested, slightly relieved. She looked at Ciel, slowly saying, “Minister of the Interior William came here just now, actually just passing by... He is heading to North Ansu to quell the situation...”

“What happened?” Ciel couldn’t help asking.

“Great famine...” Isabella shook her head, saying, “News suppressed for a long time, but recently can’t be suppressed anymore.”