Not everyone in the Consulate had the right to sell Grain, all the Grain Moguls of the Consulate had to share the profits they made off of grain.
For example, if a Count with a small territory had grown and put 10 kilograms of Wheat into the Consulate, while a Duke with a large territory put in 100 kilograms of Wheat, by the end of the year, after the profits were calculated to be, for example, 110 gold, the Count would receive 10 while the Duke received 100.
It was a fair enough trade-off for the Nobles, and so this custom continued for a long time, and since the Nobles couldn't force each other to give up their share without declaring open war, the Nobles decided to just make the price of Grain go up... They did have a monopoly on it.
This made the Southern Nobles extremely wealthy as Grain was the staple food for the Empire and they mostly monopolized most of it. Hence, Philipe's act of agreeing to the Grain's depreciation was seen as a personal attack by most of the Nobles within the room...
"Sir Philipe, you don't mean to tell me you actually believe the excuses of those lazy peasants now do you?" One Noble laughed.
"Drought my ass, another one of their pathetic lazy excuses if you ask me!" Another Noble pretended it was the peasant's fault despite the undeniable evidence placed in front of them.
*Tsk* "Yeah, I bet hunger and suffering was also made up by those damned lazy peasants aren't they, heck maybe even you and me are just made up by Peasants..." Philipe sarcastically remarked as some of the Nobles in the room couldn't help but let out a chuckle...
Sadly, despite Philipe's chic rhetoric and the 9 other Nobles' approval, the proposal to lower grain prices was denied by the majority and critique against Philipe who led those 10 families began to circulate.
In truth, the only reason Philipe still wasn't kicked out of the Consulate was thanks to his witty and fearless tongue. Though most of the Nobles here openly deny it, the secretly enjoyed and even somewhat admired Philipe's speeches and comments.
"With that, this Month's meeting has concluded!" After every one of their businesses concluded, Bermont ended the meeting. Funny enough was his sudden change of personality as he suddenly looked quite enthusiastic now as if a heavy burden was removed from him.
"Well, safe journeys home everyone!" Bermont happily ended the meeting as he merrily skipped out of the Consulate's meeting room...
"..." [What?] Vivian had been silent throughout the whole meeting and only passively participated, but one thing that couldn't be removed from her was how idiotically chaotic the people inside the Consulate were.
A stout and savvy humanitarian Noble, nobly fighting the forces of corruption...
A lethargic and almost dead Head Councilman that initially showed great dignity suddenly leaves like another idiot on the street with a large and idiotic grin when the meeting ended, showing his obvious dislike for his position and duties as Head Councilman...
Thee over-privileged young men who were ignorant to the point of stupidity...
And finally, the blatantly corrupt Nobles that stabbed each other in the front with no pretext of secrecy in their acts of betrayal and their comedic displays of shock when they were the ones who were suddenly in the position of the victim of betrayal...
*pu-puwahaha!* Vivian couldn't help bursting out in laughter, luckily for her, nobody noticed her... or cared.
Vivian had always heard about the Consulate many times during her studies in the Royal Palace, much like the Medici who monopolized much of the East's massive trade, the Consulate contained a lot of respect in Vivian's mind as she had always heard of them as the "Grain Moguls of the South", the people who "Controlled Southern Trade", etc.
Vivian even came here prepared to fight sly old foxes and ancient snakes who had decades to sharpen their fangs and claws...
But what met Vivian instead were: [These bunch of incompetent nincompoops that make Duke look like a genius in comparison... I miss Duke...] Vivian thought.
[This is the Consulate?...] Vivian disappointedly laughed in her mind as she remembered what her teachers always told her during her lessons...
["We are the greatest minds within the Empire! You're lucky to have us as your mentors!"] Her snobbish teachers would often say... which greatly rubbed Vivian the wrong way as she often saw flaws and misconceptions within her their teachings.
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that sometimes, Vivian had a better understanding of the textbooks her teachers taught from.
[Sometimes they even completely miss the point of what was written!] Vivian remembered.
[Maybe my past teachers weren't joking when they said they were indeed great minds... Compared to what I see from the outside world, they're indeed genius level] Vivian sighed.
[No... maybe... maybe I'm actually smarter than I think I am!... Neh hahaha] Vivian shrugged in her mind as she didn't let her ego get too big... not because she wanted to be humble, but because she was too afraid to call herself a "genius" only for her already fragile ego to get brutally get hurt when she learns she's actually not... In a word, Vivian was too afraid to fail...
But then she suddenly remembered Duke's words:
["Damn, you're really smart aren't you Vivian!"]
"Haha... how can something so harmless like a few words shake my feelings so much?" Vivian laughed inside the carriage as she looked at the beautifully lit city night as her carriage traveled towards Bermont's mansion in the city center.
Lyons had a busy and mercantile atmosphere during the day, but during the night it's atmosphere became slow and beautiful.
Vivian watched the beautifully lit City that was also considered as Brune's romantic capital due to the number of couples that visited its romantic streets. And her heart slowly healed thanks to a few words Duke said a week prior...
And Vivian thought: [Maybe I should visit here with Duke next time... N-Not as a c-couple or anything!] Vivian blushed from her own thoughts...
"Milady are you alright? You've turned red all of a sudden..." Dan one of the older Knights guarding Vivian asked.
"Hmm, what are ya asking the lady all of a sudden? She looks fine to me!" Bardis, another old Knight laughed.
"Looks fine?! Bah! This is why you're still not married despite your age! You just don't understand the intricacies of a maiden's heart!" Dan shook his head.
"Yeah, like you know any better... The way yer wife complains to us, you'd think otherwise" Bardis smirked.
"What?! What did she say?!" Dan panicked as he tried to squeeze the truth from Bardis.
"Ha-hahaha..." Vivian suddenly laughed as she thanked Duke in her heart:
[Thankyou Duke, without you I would've never had such fun experiences like this...]
Vivian enthusiastically grinned at the two old men that were fighting like young boys in front of her and said:
"Of course I'm ok... I'm a genius after all!" Vivian victoriously smiled as her past insecurities slowly faded away...