Chapter 1722


    At that moment, two men came in carrying two baskets of fruit, cing them in front of Chloe. “Red


    bananas and oranges, a basket of each"


    Chloe nced at the fruit, a small frown creasing her brow. They were not particrly impressive in


    size or appearance. Could the quality of fruit in The Y Country really be this mediocre, even for the


    royal family?


    However, in these past few days, whether it was the fruit from the pce or the fruit Damon


    specially prepared for her, even the most random one seemed more appealing than these two


    baskets of fruit before her.


    Spotting Chloe''s slight change in expression, L snapped at the two men, "You''re delivering to the


    pce. Is this the best you can do?"b2 "We sure know they''re for the pce,’ the men replied stiffly.


    "This is the best fruit we have right now."


    L, without a word, turned and retreated into the kitchen. She returned holding a banana and an


    orange.


    “These were picked from the orchard too, right?"


    Everyone nced at the fruit in L''s hand, which were indeed superior to any in the baskets.


    Chloe''s gaze darkened slightly, then a hint of mockery flickered across her face.


    L continued, "We could''ve sent better fruit to the pce, yet these are what we''re delivering. You


    two sure got guts."


    The men shook their heads. "We don''t know anything about it. Caden usually takes care of the


    orchard. You can ask him."


    L''s expression soured slightly, but she called for Caden nheless. The person was a rugged


    man with blonde hair, blue eyes, and a hooked nose. He was tall, and his chin and sideburns were


    covered with a beard of the same color as his hair.


    He greeted Chloe respectfully. She nodded, making a slight gesture in the air. Everyone looked


    puzzled. Chloe picked up her thermal mug and leaned back into the sofa, turning to look at the


    confused L. “Why stop now?


    Weren''t you going to get to the bottom of this?"


    L stiffened slightly at Chloe''s words. She turned to Caden and asked in a much softer tone than


    before, “Are these really the best fruits the orchard has to offer?"


    “Of course. We always send the best to the pce.” Caden''s English had a strange ent, but he


    was understandable.


    L showed him the fruits in her hand. “What about these?"


    Caden nced at the fruit, his beard twitching. After a while, he finally spoke, “Those are for the


    Lady, aren''t they? She lives here in the manor, so naturally, she gets the best fruit."


    "So, the fruit delivered to the pce is what''s left after the Lady has had her pick?" L frowned,


    her gaze drifting to Chloe. She looked somewhat embarrassed. "Well. Princess Chloe, I don''t think


    the Lady means any disrespect. She probably didn''t think much of it. She certainly didn''t mean for


    the pce to have her leftovers."


    Chloe sipped her water, her face disying a smirk that was hard to read. “How big is the orchard


    for this manor?"


    Caden replied, "Including the back hill, more than fifty hectares."


    “You manage such arge orchard all by yourself. That must be tough.” Chloe praised Caden.


    “That''s my duty. I''m grateful to the royal family for giving me this job. It has solved my family''s


    financial problems."


    Chloe pointed at the two baskets of fruit. "These fruits are indeed quite unimpressive. But I''m


    curious, what kind of creature is this Lady of yours? With an orchard of more than fifty hectares, she


    can finish off the best and biggest fruits in just a few days."


    Caden''s beard twitched noticeably again, and he looked at L. L was a bit flustered. "The


    Queen has always refused to let our Lady into the pce for many years. It''s natural for her to hold


    some resentment."


    Chloe put the lid back on her thermal mug. As she screwed it tightly, she looked at L with a smile.


    "So, are you implying that yourdy is deliberately opposing the royal family, secretly challenging


    the Queen?"


    Chloe''s words were straightforward. "By saying this, aren''t you trying to sow discord? Want me to


    go back and convey it to my grandmother, and then what?"


    “And then what? What are you talking about?" Before L could respond, a soft, gentle voice came


    from the direction of the staircase.


    Chloe looked up. This was a woman in her thirties, not very tall, with neat hair resting on one


    shoulder, wearing a fleece shawl, with a faint smile on her face. She was quite attractive even


    without makeup. Her gazended lightly on Chloe.


    L''s expression changed subtly, but she managed to hide it well. She turned her head upwards


    andughed.


    "The fruits that were just picked are being presented for Princess Chloe''s inspection."


    Brisa shifted her gaze to Chloe. Chloe nonchntly said, “That''s right. But the quality of these fruits


    is quite disappointing. At first, I thought all the fruits from the orchard were like this. But then Mrs.


    L here brought out the same types of fruit from the kitchen, and they were much bigger and


    nicer."


    Brisa, who was descending the stairs, suddenly paused. She nced at the fruit in L''s hand and


    immediately knew what was going on. She continued into the living room, ncing at the two out-of-


    ce baskets in the center, then sat across from Chloe with an indifferent expression.


    “The quality of these two baskets of fruit is indeed not impressive. I asionally heard Caden


    saying this year''s weather would guarantee a year of abundance. The fruit brought in not long ago


    did look quite pleasing. How is it that in just a few days, it''s all turned out like this?"


    Chloe raised an eyebrow, finding Brisa''s words quite intriguing. After a few seconds of silence, she


    smiled and said, "Crops depend on Mother Nature''s whim. It seems Caden can make mistakes too.


    Since these are the best, I''ll take them back to the pce."


    Brisa gave a slight smile. “I''m not feeling well and haven''t been to the orchard. If this is this year''s


    yield, then so be it"


    Chloe nced at L, stood up, and took the two pieces of fruit from her hand, cing them in the


    basket.


    "There are still some decent ones. Let me take them back. With aparison, I believe my


    grandmother will


    most likely want to investigate what''s really going on here.”


    Upon hearing this, both L and Caden''s expressions changed.ConTEent bel0ngs to N?v(e)lD/rama(.)Org .


    Brisa chuckled, "With this year''s harvest like this, what''s there to investigate. How about this, to


    save the Queen the trouble of sending someone for inquiry, when you leaveter, take Caden and


    L with you. Let them exin to the Queen properly. This will also serve as a vacation for them -


    after all, they are a married couple who, due to work, hardly get to spend time together.”


    Chloe raised an eyebrow, her yful gaze sizing up both L and Caden. ‘Really? You two are


    married?”


    L tugged at her lip, failing to muster a smile.


    Chloe nodded, "Well, let''s handle it this way. Both of you cane back with meter. Exin


    properly whether yourdy is bearing a grudge against the Queen and specifically reserving the


    leftovers for her, or if this year''s harvest is genuinely poor, with over fifty hectares of orchards and


    yet not even two baskets of presentable fruits.”


    Then, she changed the subject abruptly, not giving anyone else a chance to speak, and looked


    directly at Brisa, saying, “What did you mean when you mentioned earlier that you weren''t feeling


    well?"