The Grand Duke's Soulmate
Chapter 36: A Gloomy City

Several carts carrying goods rolled down the streets as the drivers moved them carefully in and out of the market and business areas.

A few shops were opened, but most of them were shut down. Even the market was not as bustling as it used to be.

Apart from the sound of dogs barking and horses neighing, the passersby were extremely quiet. He did not see anyone freely chatting along the roadside.

No children were seen playing or loitering on the streets, either. Pedestrians hurried and lowered their heads most of the time, not bothering to greet each other.

As he observed the city, Noah found the situation somewhat awkward. He had been to the City of Constance a few years ago, but it was far livelier than this.

Even when he served as a mercenary, the city was already famous, with many merchants, tourists, students, and so on. Noises became muffled and smells became less potent in the busy developing city.

It was totally the opposite of the current situation.

Noah investigated the area and noticed other peculiar situations. Based on his findings, many soldiers were assigned to guard the main site and the different parts of the city.

When he arrived a few days ago, he even had to go through several checkpoints before entering Constance as the city’s security had been significantly tightened.

The knight went to see the mercenaries’ guilds he used to work with, but they were no longer in operation.

They had either been disbanded or moved to other places. The lack of resources delayed him from obtaining further information for his task.

One thing that further piqued his attention was the Bargesians, who roamed the city freely, acting like the superiors of Ardel’s soldiers. Not only were they pretending to be masters of the place, but their presence in the area also caused the public to be uneasy and worried.

The soldiers reacted as if they had no say when the Bargesians bullied the civilians on the streets. They turned their faces away and pretended nothing had happened when the barbarians started to hit the people and extort money from them.

Noah pulled down his hood, covering his face, when a commotion broke out between several Bargesians and a few men in the open area.

As he was currently on a mission, it was best for him to lie low and not be noticed. He quickly went into a small café, avoiding the scene.

The knight sat down, ordered his breakfast, and waited patiently. When he was served the food, he calmly ate it while observing the surroundings.

This café was once frequented by the mercenary guild owners who ran their offices around the area. However, there were not as many customers as there used to be.

The door was opened when the front doorbell was rung. The group of Bargesians went into the building with grinning faces. It seemed like they had got what they wanted from the commotion.

"Where’s the owner?" One of the Bargesians shouted as his eyes stared around, looking for him.

A man in his forties who sat at the bar counter quickly came out with a clouded face and greeted them.

"Hey, you haven’t paid the tax for this week!" the Bargesian yelled at him.

"We’ve just recently operated and have yet to earn any income. Please give us some time," the man pleaded to the barbarian groups.

"Then, why didn’t you open your café earlier, huh?" Another Bargesian retorted.

"That... That...," the café owner stammered when the group approached him nearer.

The difference in their physical build was significant, making him feel intimidated by them.

"We’ve been checking, and you last ran your business two weeks ago! His Majesty wants all shops and outlets to open as usual! Are you defying the king’s order?"

The Bargesian scowled at the man, making him shrink away his shoulders.

"No, no! Definitely not! It’s just that we ran out of supplies. As you can see, most merchants and suppliers have left the city. We can’t operate without it. So, we had to get the goods from another town," he explained.

"Give us the remaining you have, and we’ll let it slide for now," the Bargesian ordered him.

Hurriedly, the café owner ran to the drawer behind the counter. He took out all the money inside and handed it over to them.

"Only thirty Doras? This is not even enough to buy a barrel of liquor, you id*ot!" the Bargesian cursed at him.

"That’s all I got! I swear!" The man’s face was as white as a corpse. His hands were shaking out of fear.

"Fine! Make sure you give us more than this on the next visit. If you fail, there will be consequences. Do you understand?" threatened the Bargesian as his men sneered at the café owner.

"Yes, Sir! I understand!" The man nodded fervently and looked down.

Satisfied, the group of Bargesians then left the place.

"St*pid Bargesians! If they keep harassing us like this, we’d better close the business soon!" the man muttered angrily to himself.

The other customers who watched the scene quickly packed up, leaving only Noah in the café. They, too, were scared of being extorted by the Bargesians.

"Had they left?" Another man suddenly emerged from hiding under the bar counter, asking his partner who attended to the barbarians.

"Yes. But they will be back again soon. Trust me!" said the man regrettably.

The other man shook his head in dismay. He threw the small towel draped on his shoulder onto the bar counter. He had a rounder face and a chubbier appearance compared to his partner.

"We can’t go on like this! It’s been over a month since Lord Ronan took over the throne. If he didn’t bring in the Bargesians, none of this would happen!" he commented.

His partner, the older and slimmer man, nodded in agreement.

The conversation between the two piqued Noah’s interest. The knight stood up and approached the two men.

"Are you the owner of this place?" he asked them.

"We both are. Why?" answered the round-faced man.

"I saw what happened. Why were you hiding?" Noah asked him.

The chubby café owner sighed.

"I accidentally spilt coffee on one of them during their last visit. They nearly chopped off my hand," he said with a worried face, rubbing his wrist as he recalled the scene.

"Yes. Those men said they would surely cut off his hand if they ever saw him again. That’s why he hid himself," his partner intervened.

"I see. Can you tell me what exactly happened around here? I noticed the situation seemed tense," requested Noah.

"Are you an outsider? Why do you want to know?" the chubby man asked him.

"I’m working for my lord, a merchant from Galicia. He wants to open some businesses here. So, he sent me to do the survey," the knight lied to them.

"I wouldn’t recommend it. The truth is, we are also thinking of leaving this place," the slimmer man responded.

"Hey, you shouldn’t talk recklessly! Who knows if anyone is listening? The soldiers could be eavesdropping!" the chubby man warned his partner.

Noah smirked at them.

"If you could provide me with reliable information, I’ll make sure the price for the breakfast you served me today will be profitable," said Noah, taking a pouch containing money out of his cloak and shaking it before them.

The chubby café owner’s eyes beamed as he looked at the dangling pouch. Quickly, he gestured to his partner.

The slimmer man led Noah to a room behind the counter after asking a worker to take charge of the front desk. The three of them entered the room and locked it from the inside.

"Sorry, but things are pretty dangerous lately. So, we have to take some measures," said the chubby man.

"It’s fine. Let’s get to the business, shall we?" said Noah confidently.

"Tell us what you want to know."

A grin escaped the knight’s lips.

The two café owners were brothers and also worked as informants. However, since the closure of the mercenary guilds, they could no longer make extra income.

Based on their information, Noah found out that Lord Kaizer Ronan, previously the Prime Minister of Ardel, had taken over the throne and declared himself King Ronan more than a month ago.

Since the new king rose to power, the other lords who supported the Ardel dynasty were gone. Not only them but their families, armies, servants and anyone related to them had perished.

The soldiers quickly caught anybody who questioned the disappearance, and they were never seen again. The mercenary guilds, which had close connections with the lords, quickly ceased operation and left to ensure their safety.

The groups of Bargesians were regarded as the principal contributors to the enthronement of the new king and were elevated to the rank of royal knights. Their leader received a noble title and was granted a fief near Constance, along with several lands.

Since then, the new ’knights’ roamed freely in the city. Under the pretence of collecting tax, they extorted money from the city’s business owners like thugs. The Ardel soldiers who served His Majesty could not stop the Bargesians as they were of a higher rank in the new army.

Noah asked the café owners about the existence of a princess in Ardel. Both of them shook their heads since they had never heard of her. However, he got a positive reply when he asked about the knightess.

"There was a knightess in the royal knighthood. If I’m not mistaken, her name was Dame Clara Verns. But we’ve only heard about her. She was one of the escorts for the previous royal family," the chubby man told him.

"Yes. The knights who came here spoke about her sometimes. They didn’t like her because she was a tribeswoman. They said she was a bit crazy," the slimmer man added.

"Crazy? Why?" The statement made Noah wonder. A crazy person would not become a knight, let alone be appointed as an escort for the royal family.

"They were just jealous of her because she was strong and always defeated them in joust and tournament," the chubby café owner countered his brother.

"No! Not because of that! She was aloof, and they said she only talked to birds," stated the slim man.

"Ah.. yes, yes! I forgot about that. But, even if you tried searching for her, I don’t think you’ll ever find her. All the previous royal knights have disappeared. We think they might have been killed," the chubby man guessed.

"Do you hypothesise that the massacre of lords, knights and the rest of them was a conspiracy by the new king?" asked Noah.

The two men exchanged glances before looking back at the knight.

"We believe so. After the demise of the royal family in a shipwreck two years ago, we heard there was a hidden heir to the throne. But no one has ever seen this person," said the slim café owner.

"That’s right. Once, all the knights were summoned to meet the heir in a closed ceremony. But, none of them could see their true face as the person was covered in a veil and wore a long cloak. The heir stood far away on the balcony. That was the first and the last time they saw the person," added his brother.

"Was there a fire somewhere around here not too long ago?" asked Noah again.

When he was assigned to be Anna’s escort, the commander told him that his wife had mentioned fire and escaping from bad people.

"How do you know about that?" The chubby man widened his eyes.

Noah replied, "As I said, I’m currently surveying this city. So, I’m gaining as much information as possible for my Lord."

"There was. More than a month ago, at the edge of the city, near the Huntbel Forest. People heard loud explosions at night, and the barracks of the Bargesians were burned to the ground. It seemed like somebody had launched an attack on them. That’s why the new king restricted the city’s security," one of the brothers explained.

Most of the people of Ardel were unhappy with the new king. They favoured the previous dynasty and the lords who supported it, which brought years of prosperity throughout the kingdom.

The sudden change of succession also resulted in the Bargesians, the barbarians of the South, who were viewed as outsiders, interfering in the new government.

They imposed a high tax rate, compelling most small merchants and traders to withdraw their businesses from the city.

Constance, also the capital of Ardel, had become a gloomy city and no longer shone like before.

The knight was satisfied with the new information given. As promised, he rewarded the café owners handsomely for their specific details. The two men grinned from ear to ear, receiving their remuneration.

Noah then left the café and headed for the charred site, searching for a new clue.