***

"What is the name of this town?" Emmelyn asked Maxim as their wine wagon entered the gate of the next town. This was where they would sell their wine to reduce the load. 

She was impressed by the beauty of this town. It was not as big as Belem, but not too small either. There were many big and beautiful buildings here.

The town had several canals with calm water. They could see small boats connecting the people from one place to another.

It was such a beautiful place. Emmelyn thought the white flowers on the side of the road reminded her of Wintermere flowers in wintertime.

"Well, this city is called Red Bean," Maxim explained.

"Huh?" Emmelyn furrowed her brows. "Such funny name."

"I have no idea why they gave it such a funny name," Maxim responded. "But it works. People remember it easily and it's not a bad name either. I mean, it's not like it's called Red Shit or something."

"Tsk..." Emmelyn hit Maxim on the shoulder. "Don't let the people hear you, or we'll be in trouble."

"What will they do to the king?" Maxim replied smugly.

Emmelyn clicked her tongue and hit the man again. "We are currently undercover. How can we sell the wine and get rid of it if they know who you are?"

Maxim smiled and nodded. "I was joking. Come on, let's set up our 'shop' and start getting rid of the wine."

Kira jumped down from her horse and crossed her arms on her chest. "Why don't you two get married?"

"Huh?" Emmelyn and Maxim exchanged glances. They didn't expect Kira to suddenly say such words. "Why did you say that?"

"Uh, I don't know. Wasn't he looking for you because he was in love with you? You both look so good together." Kira shrugged. She added nonchalantly, "If you don't want him, I'll take him."

"Like hell, you won't," Maxim pursed his lips. "Do you think I am a horse that you can just claim?"

Emmelyn tugged Maxim's sleeve and shook her head. She whispered, "She just has a weird sense of humor. Don't take it too heart."

Maxim didn't like Kira if he could be honest. She was too rash and had no manners. Plus, she was the reason Emmelyn chose to continue their journey on horseback, instead of taking Aslain.

However, he still tolerated the pirate princess for Emmelyn's sake. He cleared his throat and said, "Fine. I will not take it to heart."

He waved his hand and called Lysander to come and help them set up their wine for sale. Lysander and the other undercover knight immediately got busy and set up a small stall for the king to play merchant with his friend.

"You guys have fun. I want to see around," said Kira after she took a cup of wine and downed it. She put the cup back on the wagon and wiped her lips with her sleeves. "This city is very beautiful."

"Okay, just be careful," said Emmelyn to warn Kira. The girl raised an eyebrow and nodded nonchalantly.

After Kira left and Lysander finished setting up their small stall in the middle of the market, Maxim and Emmelyn started to work.

"Hello, everyone, we are winemakers from Bradford and we come here to look for a new market. Please have a try of our wine and buy our products," said Maxim. 

"Do you want to sell it cheap?" Emmelyn asked the man. "We don't spend money on it."

"That's true. We also need to get rid of it as soon as possible," Maxim replied. "Let's sell one barrel for ten copper coins."

"Also, let's give people one cup each to taste if they bring their own cup." Emmelyn added, "Like in the old days."

"Just like in old days," Maxim winked, "All right."

He raised his hands to get people's attention. "Our wine is free if you bring your own cup. And it's ten copper coins for one barrel. We just want to introduce our products. Come on everyone, there will be  no offer better than what we give you here!"

As soon as Maxim mentioned their super cheap price, people were all flocking their stall. Free wine, he said?

Even if the wine sucked so badly, free wine was free wine. That's what they thought.

"Hey, is that true? We can get free wine?" One burly man came with a huge bowl and pointed at the barrels on the wagon behind Maxim and Emmelyn. 

"Yes, if you bring your own cu—" Emmelyn raised an eyebrow. She saw the man raised his bowl and she immediately understood that the burly man wanted to get the free wine in his bowl. She said, "That's not a cup."

Maxim laughed at the man's cleverness and waved at him. "Sure. Since you are our first customer, we will  give you free wine in your bowl."

The burly man was so happy. He walked quickly and reached out his bowl to Maxim. The king tilted his head toward Lysander and ordered him to pour wine into the burly man's bowl. Lysander nodded and did as he was told.

The burly man left with his bowl, looking very happy, that he forgot to say thank you. Other people who stood behind him slowly moved forward and gave their cups too. Fortunately, not many were as shameless as the first man.

They brought cups and smaller bowls to get the free wine. Maxim, Lysander, and Emmelyn patiently gave them free wine and the people all looked happy.

Some of them looked very poor and seemed like they never had the chance to buy wine in their life. These people said thank you incessantly after they received their free wine and left.

"Thank you so much for your generosity," said one old man. He was wearing very shabby clothes and he didn't have any footwear, not even straw shoes. "I haven't drunk decent wine for years."

The man's pitiful condition and words made Emmelyn feel touched. She asked the man, "What do you do, Uncle?"

The man shrugged, "This and that. As long as I could bring some food for my sick wife. I do whatever work people ask me to do."

"Don't you have children?" Emmelyn asked again.

"No, they died when they were little. There is only my wife and I," the old man replied. He raised his small bowl to his chest to show respect and bowed his head again. "Thank you."

Emmelyn touched the man's arm and spoke gently to the man, "Please come back later after this crowd dispersed. We want to give you something."

Emmelyn remembered they had many loaves of bread on their wagon, gifted to them by Lady Marius. She wanted to give the poor man some bread too, and perhaps more wine for his wife.

However, she didn't want to give it now, in front of many people because they might think the free wine comes with bread.

"Oh...  you are so generous. Thank you so much, my lady," said the old man with gleaming eyes. "I will wait over there until you call me."

He wiped his eyes and smiled. Then, he walked away, to give way to people who were standing behind him to get wine too. He patiently sat at the end of the canal behind the wagon and waited until Maxim and Emmelyn called him.

Maxim watched the interaction between Emmelyn and the old man and smiled. He remembered Emmelyn was truly kind-hearted. This was one of the reasons why he loved her.

"Do you plan to give him bread too?" the king whispered to Emmelyn's ear. The girl nodded. Maxim chuckled. "Ah... I thought so too."

They did think alike.

"Young man, can I get the free wine, please?" A man came forward with his cup, and distracted Emmelyn and Maxim.

The king immediately nodded and replied. "Sure."

"If the wine is good, I will buy one barrel," the man said again.

"The wine is good. Maybe it's the best you have ever tasted," Maxim said. He poured wine into the man's cup and let him have a taste. Once the man was happy, he nodded with a big smile on his face.

"You are right! This wine is good." He took out ten coppers from his pocket. "I will take one barrel please."

Ten copper coins were too cheap for a barrel of wine that good, so the man didn't even think about haggling. He knew it was a steal.

Emmelyn and Maxim smiled and laughed so much when they gave free wine to people and sold the remaining of their wine at a cheap price. Seeing the happy faces around them who enjoyed their gifts made them feel happy too.

In less than one hour, all the barrels of wine except for one had been sold and their wagon was now empty. 

"It's always so easy to sell other people's goods," Maxim commented. "Now, let's call the old man and give him some bread. 

.

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From the author:

Long chapter today. I will write another one in a few hours. Also, I would like to say thank you to Maude Fluckiger.

Oh my god... Maude, I don't know how you can collect 104 golden tickets.  Did you rob Willy Wonka? lol...

I am speechless and in awe. Thank you so much for voting your tickets to this book.

I will keep working hard and still aim to end this book by October. Crossing fingers. xx

PS: Btw, you can follow my Instagram, Facebook Page, or Tiktok account @missrealitybites  to see many visuals, videos, and memes for this book. I posted some in the comment section. XD

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