“What the hell is with these shackles?!”
“Who is this?”
As Lynn glanced at the Duke Tilius walking up, he shot a questioning look.
“This is His Highness, Prince Felix.”
The Duke Tilius introduced softly.
“Just call me Felix.” A silver-haired young man smiled slightly, “Lynn Bartleon, it’s finally nice to meet you.”
“I was just…”
Before he could finish, he was interrupted.
“Shh, you’re being too loud.”
Lynn frowned and looked at the white-haired woman leaning against him.
Her gentle breathing tickled his chest, making him feel inexplicably itchy.
It was supposed to be their first meeting, but somehow they felt oddly close.
How strange.
Lynn thought silently.
Felix, however, was frozen on the spot after hearing his words.
It was the first time someone had spoken to him with such impatience in his entire life.
As he looked at Ivyst in Lynn’s arms, Felix suddenly felt something absurd.
That ugly girl they used to bully, the one always playing the evil witch in their childhood games, the princess everyone despised — someone actually holding her so carefully?
This was just…
As he watched the two getting along harmoniously, Felix found himself at a loss for words.
Monster.
The word flashed in his mind.
Ivyst, cursed by the gods, was destined to be unlovable by any creature in this world, like a monster that didn’t fit in anywhere.
Only her kind would not feel hatred or rejection towards her.
Felix suddenly understood why this guy could accomplish things beyond the reach of ordinary people.
Because he was also a monster, just like Ivyst who naturally possessed destructive power.
With that in mind, it didn’t seem so unbelievable that he survived the chaos of a Level 0 Sealed Item.
Felix knew well that as an outsider, he could never grasp all the details.
So even though he was curious, he chose to suppress his confusion.
“Answer me one question, and I’ll leave.”
Felix tried to appear calm, but his fists behind him were tightly clenched.
He wanted to offer Lynn a deal to recruit him.
But seeing the expression on his face, he immediately dismissed that idea.
Because he knew the young man was deeply bound to Ivyst — not something he could just steal away with a bribe.
But how could someone be so interested in such an ugly girl like Ivyst?
Felix truly couldn’t understand.
Hearing this, Lynn slowly lifted his head, “What question?”
“How did you manage those people outside and at the Sacred Oak?”
Felix asked without hesitation.
Clearly, he was still reeling from the shock of earlier.
In response, Lynn, still holding Ivyst like a princess, chuckled, “It’s just your typical rob-the-rich-to-feed-the-poor routine.”
“Those nobles were being so unsightly with their greed that even I couldn’t stand by and watch, so I just took matters into my own hands.”
“Impossible.” Felix shook his head, “Duke Tilius didn’t provide you with a single soldier; there’s no way you could contend with those local nobles who have private armies.”
“Furthermore, as far as I know, the food those nobles had wasn’t much. Even if you took it all, it wouldn’t be nearly enough to feed the twenty thousand starving people in the city.”
This was Felix’s biggest confusion.
Every method was condemned as a dead end.
After all, to rebuild order, they had to stuff the mouths of the starving to keep them from rioting and to keep them fed enough to work.
But with so little food to go around, how could he possibly conjure up more?
Just then, the show-off segment where Lynn was about to say something was interrupted as Ivyst in his arms frowned.
“Good doggie…”
It seemed like she was disturbed by the noise, mumbling something incoherently.
Her delicate fingers tightened their grasp on his shirt again.
Seeing this, Lynn froze for a few seconds, then let out a gentle sigh.
“For the specific details, I’ll let Duke Tilius explain that to you.” He glanced at Duke Tilius, “I’m going to take the princess back to her room to get her settled first.”
As Lynn slowly walked away, everyone stood there, wide-eyed.
Wait, that was it? He just left?
How casual! Truly his style.
Thinking this, Greya and Morris exchanged glances, feeling an immense sense of relief.
Not only were they happy about Lynn’s return, but it also felt like they suddenly had a backbone, no longer flailing around like headless chickens.
This was his unique charm. At the same time, the same confusion as Felix dawned upon them.
Although he spoke casually, they couldn’t believe that making six hundred points in ten days was as easy as he made it sound.
Even now, they were still immersed in the thrill and shock of the earlier turnaround, still unable to digest what had happened.
In an instant, all eyes turned towards Duke Tilius standing in the center of the crowd.
“Duke, please enlighten me.”
Felix bowed slightly.
Duke Tilius nodded, a hint of emotion flashing in his eyes, “To be honest, what he did was really simple, so simple it left me a bit baffled, but it was only after the results were announced that the weight lifted off my chest completely.”
“Felix, your confusion can be summed up in two points.”
“People and food.”
“As for the ‘people’ point, it is actually closely related to the latter.”
!.
“As you can see, the tens of thousands of starving souls outside the manor are the ‘people’ who can stand against the local noble forces.”
Felix looked surprised, “These starving refugees not turning on you is already a miracle. How could you possibly command them?”
“Very simple, just need to give them ‘food’, or create a goal and tell them where they can find ‘food’.”
Duke Tilius replied lightly.
“Now the problem returns to the beginning.” Felix frowned deeply, “Where did he conjure up all this food from thin air?”
That volume must be in the millions of pounds!
“That’s why I respect him.” As Duke Tilius said this, his tone suddenly became a bit strange, “In these ten days, he did two things.”
“First, in my name, he pressured the City Council, enacting a temporary measure that raised the market price of grain by several times.”
Is he out of his mind?!
At the moment he heard this, everyone’s eyes, including Felix’s, were filled with shock.
Under the control of those nobles, the uncontrollable grain prices continued to skyrocket, with the refugees starving and begging on the streets, a dire situation.
It was almost turning into a dreadful scenario of humans eating humans.
Yet Lynn, as if going mad, not only didn’t control the grain prices but instead seemed to have teamed up with those damned nobles!
If this continues, rebuilding order in Orlen City is not just impossible; it will absolutely descend into further chaos!
Seeing the stunned expressions of those around him, Duke Tilius smiled, “I was initially just like you, thinking he had lost his mind.”
“But the truth showed that it was actually us who were crazy.”
Felix’s expression grew serious, as if to validate his suspicions, he asked: “So, what was the second thing he did?”
“The second thing he did was spread the rumor that the ‘Tilius family profited immensely from the disaster’, throughout Orlen City and to the nobles and merchant guilds of nearby major cities.”
I should know her.
Or rather, I’ve seen her somewhere before.
It wasn’t Miss Witch, but Ivyst herself.
Staring at the serene sleeping face of the woman lying on the bed, Lynn thought silently.
After settling Ivyst back in the room, he took a chair beside the bed, pondering the chaotic events that just transpired.
It felt chaotic, leaving him thoroughly puzzled.
He had acted on an inexplicable impulse, doing things that didn’t align with his usual character.
Moreover, this woman’s demeanor and the reactions of the others constantly hinted that they had a deep past together.
No wonder Duke Tilius had such an expression when he discovered Lynn’s amnesia.
Miss Witch must have known some inside story but chose not to tell him anything.
Recalling the temple, where Miss Witch had forcibly kept them apart, although it puzzled him, Lynn started to piece things together.
Maybe she disliked his past self enough to omit the truth about his amnesia.
But it felt as if Ivyst was a much more relatable person than Miss Witch.
In simple terms, she felt a lot closer, almost vividly alive before him.
What’s more, she seemed to have a thing for him.
What a nice woman — pretty, with a great figure; although her powers were diminished, she could recover in time.
Additionally, her personality seemed quite lovely.
Fiery and warm, rather than the cold and world-weary Miss Witch.
Even if we set aside the little head wanting to control the big head, he felt he wouldn’t take long to fall for her.
So this is the woman he’d be assisting moving forward?
Staying by her side?
That seemed pretty good.
Lynn thought absentmindedly.
However, lost in thought, he didn’t notice that at a certain moment, the woman beside him slowly awakened, casting a burning gaze.
The next second.
“Snap!”
With a sudden chill, a pair of shackles connected by chains appeared around his neck.