Chapter Seven: That Matter

"Your Highness, I swear to the great Sun and the God of Justice, this fruit is one of the finest I have harvested in my twenty years of tending these trees!"

Simp said with solemnity, his sun-darkened, ruddy face etched with earnestness.

This allowed Xia Mingyu to learn the name of this fruit: Red Fruit. It was quite a fitting name, resembling the red apples of his home world, though smaller and more rounded.

"Thank you for the treat."

Xia Mingyu took the red fruit from the man's palm and took a bite.

In an instant, sweet juices burst forth in his mouth, carrying a hint of coolness and a perfectly balanced sweetness—neither cloying nor lacking in natural, crisp flavor. The flesh was crunchy and tender, neither mushy nor dry; its texture was so delightful that he couldn't help but keep chewing.

"This is the best fruit I have ever eaten!" Xia Mingyu exclaimed sincerely.

Hearing this, Simp’s face turned as red as if it had been painted with pigment, so flushed that one might fear his veins would burst at any moment.

"To have a noble Highness praise the fruit I cultivate—this is the happiest day of my life, even happier than the day Boi married me!"

The middle-aged villager danced with excitement, acting just like a child.

"Gods above, Your Highness, I must offer you a basket of the highest-quality red fruits!"

...

After bidding farewell to Simp, Xia Mingyu and Anliya continued to walk side by side through the dense fruit grove.

The afternoon sun filtered gently through the thick branches, casting dappled, shifting shadows upon them.

One was a handsome, refined young man with black hair; the other was a beautiful young girl in the prime of her youth, with golden hair and sapphire eyes. Under the golden light, they truly looked like a pair of fated lovers, captivating to behold.

"Little Anliya looks so well-matched with that Highness. If only she could marry such a noble lord!"

Not far away, on a fruit tree, a middle-aged couple picking fruit watched the scene from afar. The wife sighed in admiration.

The sight reminded her of fairy tales her mother had told her in childhood: stories of a fallen prince meeting a kind village girl, eventually marrying her and living a life blessed by the gods.

"Gods above, you're an old woman now, stop with the wild fantasies!" her husband said, rolling his eyes.

"That Highness’s status is so noble that even Lord Hughes would have to kiss the tips of his boots. Little Anliya is a serf, just like us; let alone a wife, she couldn't even be a concubine."

"I think it’s a blessing from the gods that Little Anliya even gets to serve as that Highness's maid!" the husband concluded firmly.

*Old woman...*

The wife fell silent, her eyes gradually turning fierce, as if hiding a lion.

A moment later.

"Wrong, I'm wrong! Stop pinching, I'll fall!" The husband’s wails echoed far through the grove, startling countless birds.

...

Twilight.

The setting sun poured down like molten gold, staining the horizon orange-red, weaving a dreamlike landscape with the pale green fruit groves in the distance.

"What a beautiful village! I hope such scenery can last forever," Xia Mingyu remarked.

After touring the vast surrounding orchards, he and Anliya had returned to the wooden cabin.

Hearing this, the girl who had been smiling all day suddenly froze, a flicker of obvious anxiety crossing her sapphire eyes.

Perhaps, it was time to bring up "that matter." The girl made a silent decision.

"Your Highness, such beauty may not last much longer," Anliya whispered. She was very nervous, but she tried her best to keep her voice clear and sweet.

"Is it because autumn is coming? It doesn't matter; the yellowing leaves are beautiful too," Xia Mingyu smiled slightly.

"No, it is not because of that."

Anliya shook her head, a trace of bitterness appearing on her fair face.

"In a few days, it will be time for the Lord's men to come and collect the agricultural tax. But the coins saved by the village are far from enough to pay..."

Hearing this, the smile on Xia Mingyu's face gradually faded.

"Is the agricultural tax too heavy?" he asked in a deep voice.

"No, the tax set by the Lord for Fruit Basket Village is quite merciful within the Kingdom of Socia. We have always been able to pay it in past years; he is a kind Lord," Anliya said softly.

"It is just that an accident occurred this year..."

"Some time ago, a Clay merchant came to our village. He loudly boasted that the red fruits produced in our grove were rare in this world and that he could make a fortune selling them to the freemen in the capital."

"He promised that when the red fruits were ready for harvest, he would buy them at a high price, provided that the village refused to sell to any other merchants until he arrived."

"Because he was so eloquent, many in the village were persuaded. Although my foster father had doubts, the merchant paid a generous deposit, and most villagers agreed, so my foster father had no choice but to go along with it."

"Just as he said, we refused other merchants. But when he finally arrived, two days late, he did not honor the agreed price. Instead, he proposed a price far lower than the market rate—one that would have meant a loss for us..."

At this point, the girl pressed her lips together and frowned, her sapphire eyes seeming to flicker with faint flames, like a provoked young deer.

It was the first time Xia Mingyu had seen Anliya look so angry; he had assumed that such a beautiful and pleasant girl would never lose her temper.

"The villagers angrily drove the Clay merchant away, but it was already too late to find other buyers. The red fruits were fully ripe, and with every passing day, the fruits fall to the ground and rot, becoming worthless."

"In a few days, the Lord’s men will come to collect the tax. If we cannot pay, some of the villagers will be reduced to slavery, taken away and sold in the Slave Capital. The only end awaiting them is endless humiliation and being worked to death..."

The girl’s expression turned sorrowful, and her beautiful sapphire eyes lost their usual luster, becoming deep and unfocused.

"So I thought, if only someone with a noble enough status could persuade the tax collector to wait a little longer for us to gather the funds..."

Those pleading eyes slowly shifted, finally settling on the expressionless black-haired young man before her, and the long string of white text hovering above his head.

Feeling that burning gaze filled with expectation, Xia Mingyu fell silent.

He didn't know what to do.

If he could, he would certainly be willing to help this beautiful girl who had taught him the language, as well as the kind-hearted villagers—it was only a matter of speaking a few words of persuasion.

But the premise of all this was that he actually had the power to help.