Chapter 37: The Stars on The Road
“Where on earth did you bring her from?!”
Adeline had expected Ringo to dislike her decision, but she hadn’t anticipated this level of anger. Less than a day after Nabi the Starkeeper entered the palace, Ringo stormed into Adeline’s bedroom, his body shook irritably like a wet dog. Read the translation on itsladygrey.com.
“Get a long with her.”
“She took over my kitchen! Spices here, hot seasoning there, recipes under the shelf… I spent days organizing all that, and she messed it all up!”
“So that’s why your cooking was such a disaster.”
“What? Princess…. That’s just too much. Who’s good at something right from the start? If I keep cooking, I’ll get better!”
“It’s not about skill. The salad smelled like fish, and soup smelled like cosmetics.” Adeline was more than willing to side with Nabi, especially since it meant not having to eat Ringo’s terrible food anymore. When she heard about had taken over the kitchen from Ringo, she honestly felt like dancing. Read the translation on itsladygrey.com.
“Who said she can cook well?!” Ringo asked.
Adeline could understand his desire to defend his territory, but she wondered if this was really worth getting so upset about. She propped her chin up and stared at his face. “Why are you so obsessed with cooking?”
“Because I want to make delicious food for you, Princess.”
“But why?”
“Princess, you know I like you. Why do you keep teasing me like this?” Ringo squirmed in frustration.
Adeline laughed and pointed to the door with her finger. “Get out.”
“That’s too harsh. Really.”
“I said get out.”
“Instead of that, let’s go down stair with me Princess. Something terrible is happening right now.” Dropping his pitiful act, Ringo reached out his hand towards Adeline.
So this was his real intention. What could be happening downstairs?
Reluctantly, Adeline got up, putting down the noble’s newspaper that Collin had brought her earlier this morning, and followed Ringo.
“Don’t be surprised,” Ringo said with a mischievous smile.
Adeline tightened her robe and scoffed.
A guard waiting outside the drawing-room straightened up in surprise when he saw Adeline. At first, he felt embarrassed working in her palace, but now, the fear that an assassin might strike at any moment had him more alert than ever. Read the translation on itsladygrey.com.
“This way,” Ringo guide Adeline with a surprisingly polite demeanor.
Her palace was a very quiet place, surrounded by a vast forest and located far from the main castle. The fact that it had been abandoned for a long time also contributed to its serenity.
‘When was it?’ it was said that a concubine of an unknown king had once lived here. Because of that, the building itself was very spacious and beautiful.
“To think that only less than twenty people live in this huge palace,” Ringo clicked his tongue. “Princess, do you know?”
“What?”
“Since the assassin incident, the maids haven’t been sleeping here.”
“I know.”
Except for Collin, the maids continued a routine of coming in the morning an leaving in the evening. However, Adeline didn’t blame them. While an assassin wouldn’t be foolish enough to mistake a princess for a maid and kill indiscriminately, it was still terrifying.
Ringo whispered as if revealing a big secret. “Princess… you know, Nabi, that woman….”
“What about Nabi?”
“She doesn’t get along with the maids. At all. Not even a little.”
The two of them entered the inner room where the kitchen was and stood in front of the door. Read the translation on itsladygrey.com.
When Adeline looked Ringo with her eyes questioning him ‘she’s in there?’, he smirked and nodded.
SMACK!
At that moment, a loud noise came from inside.
While Adeline froze with her hand on the doorknob, Ringo quickly opened the door.
“What in the world…”
On the side of the large kitchen, Nabi and the maids were huddled together, pulling each other’s hair/
“Let go! You lowly cook!”
“How dare a mere maid be so insolent!”
“Argh!!”
Adeline couldn’t believe the scene unfolding before her eyes. She rubbed her eyes with her palms and looked again, but nothing had changed. The legendary Starkeeper and the elegant maids, who usually carried themselves like graceful swans, were now shrieking and yanking each other’s hair. Read the translation on itsladygrey.com.
Ringo was shaking with laughter, his shoulders bouncing.
Adeline stood with one hand on her forehead, “Stop them immediately.”
“What? Why? This is fun.”
“Right now!”
“Watching a fight is the best entertainment in the world… Ah, fine! I’ll do it.” After muttering to himself, Ringo ran over, waving his hands. “Oh my! What is going on here? Stop fighting, please! The princess is here!”
It was useless.
“Can’t you hear me? The princess is here!”
After Ringo shouted so loudly that the kitchen seemed to shake, only then did all eyes turn towards him. Read the translation on itsladygrey.com.
Adeline thought it was just hair-pulling, but on closer inspection, one of the maids had a big bruise around her eye. Adeline looked at Nabi with renewed curiosity, wondering where such strength came from those slender arms.
”I apologize.” Nabi, with an utterly calm expression, straightened her attire and knelt before Adeline while the maids were still huffing with rage. Her posture was impeccable and without any superfluous movements. Nabi’s polite demeanor made the maids look at each other awkwardly.
“Why did you fight? Can you at least explain that?”
With a sigh, Adeline’s words prompted the maids to quickly start accusing Nabi of her misdeeds.
“This insolent cook!”
“Your Highness, who is this woman? This is the royal palace. How could someone so vulgar…?”
The reason was simple. It was the cook’s authority to manage the expensive fruits and ingredients brought in daily by the workers, but the maids had been wandering in and out of the kitchen without permission. Read the translation on itsladygrey.com.
The maids wanted to monopolize the fruits and desserts for the Lion King who visited daily. However, Nabi believed that all of that was prepared solely for Adeline, the owner of the palace. So in her attempt to stop them firmly, she had unfortunately mocked the maids, treating them as if they were dogs wagging their tails for the Lion King.
“She hit me!” A young maid held out her swollen, red hand for Adeline to see.
At this point, it was impossible to tell who was the attacker and who was the victim. That was because there were three maids against only one Nabi. Yet, Nabi shockingly hadn’t been completely overpowered. Nabi’s hair was pulled, and her face had scratch marks, but the three maids had swollen hands and cheeks. Read the translation on itsladygrey.com.
Adeline looked at Nabi in a new light. Even the legendary Starkeeper wasn’t particularly dignified either, was she?
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