Adeline’s class had ended at 10 in the morning and her personal training with the General would start from 1 in the afternoon. She still had three hours left before her personal training session, so she decided that she would look for the clothes that would be fit for today’s visit to the market.

Initially, Adeline had felt that Nefriti was being a little too pushy when she was demanding Adeline to come with them. But later she thought that it was a good chance for her to get along with her half-siblings, and at the same time get to know more about the villagers.

Adeline was aiming to be the next future Queen but she didn’t even know how the village looked like, the village which was right outside of the Palace. She was taught many times that the good ruler were those who were close to their people, who knew how their people’s living condition were, and who knew their problems and tried to solve it for them.

Up until now, Adeline had just limited those knowledge to theories only. She never really went outside of her Palace, nor did she tried to get to know the villagers. But now she already knew that it was important to watch the subjects closely and also build a good relationship with them.

And because of these reasons, Adeline was already excited for the evening to arrive so that she could go out and have some fun, while also learning about the world outside the Palace.

She called Hawisa and Osanna in her room and asked them to help her choose the outfit. “Hey, will you two help me to choose a dress that would not stand out too much when I go to the market?”

Hawisa and Osanna glanced at each other in bewilderment. They had never heard the Princess saying that she was going to the market. And when she was suddenly asking them to help her look for a dress for the market visit, they were stunned.

“You are going to the market? Why? When?” Hawisa asked in a very surprised tone.

Adeline tugged her earlobe and replied, “Umm… I am going to explore the market today. Princess Nefriti invited me to come along with her. And I thought it would be a good chance to get to know her better.”

Osanna was already excited. She was excited because it had been a long time since she saw the world outside of the Palace. And if the Princess was going to the market today, she was already planning to make her describe what she saw in detail.

Osanna clapped her hand and then stormed towards the direction of the wardrobe. “Of course, you should enjoy with your half-siblings more often. What kind of dress do you want to wear Princess?”

“Something decent?” Adeline replied in a questioning tone because even she had no idea what kind of dress would be less conspicuous. “…which won’t stand out that much.”

Osanna rummaged through the wardrobe and then pulled out a gown. “Will this one do?” Osanna asked the Princess while holding a grand looking gown in her hands.

Adeline shook her head and replied, “No, that looks too expensive. I want something that would make me look like a villager. We are going there in disguise.”

“In disguise? That means you are not going to take any Royal Guards with you?” Hawisa asked in a very worried tone.

Adeline had already presumed that Hawisa would react like this if she revealed her plan. “Yeah, we are going in disguise. I don’t think we will be taking any guards with us but we will be fine.”

“You are the Princess of this Kingdom, how will you be fine when you go outside of the Palace without any guards?” Hawisa protested to the mad idea that Adeline got from Princess Nefriti, “I didn’t know Princess Nefriti was like this. How can she fill our innocent Princess’s head with such unlawful ideas?”

Adeline chuckled at the way Hawisa was over-reacting to this small issue. “Calm down Hawisa. I am not going out there just to run around and have fun. I decided to go because that would give me the opportunity to closely watch this Kingdom’s subjects. If I am to become the future ruler, I need to know my subjects, don’t I?”

Osanna ran towards the Princess and backed her up, “Yes, it is the duty of the future ruler to see what is outside of the Palace.”

Osanna cheerfully looked at the Princess and said, “I think it is best if you go there in disguise. You won’t gather any unnecessary attention and you can peacefully study your people that way. And people will also not pretend to be nice when they don’t know that you are a Princess. You can know the real them.”

But Hawisa was still against the idea of going out in disguise and asked, “Shouldn’t you at least be taking some guards with you? They can walk a little further away from you if you don’t want to gather attention. But why do you need to look like a villager and sneak around? What if something happens to you? The King will be really mad at us for letting you go.”

“Do I look like something will happen to me? Why do you always think of me like I am a fragile Princess?” Adeline threw some punches and kicks in the air and boasted, “I am a warrior Princess.”

Osanna was jumping and clapping her hands when the Princess showed few of her moves to them. But Hawisa was frowning; she did not like the idea at all.

Adeline placed her hands on Hawisa’s shoulders and then tried to convince her that she was not going to get into any kinds of troubles. “Hawisa, I promise you that I will be careful. I will not do anything that will put me or you two in danger. And besides, I am not going there alone. I am going with five other Princes and Princesses. So I will be fine.”

When Hawisa heard that Adeline and Nefriti were not the only ones who were going to sneak out, she was in a little ease. But she was still not fully trusting of those Princes and Princesses who were experts in breaking the rules.

Princes and Princesses were allowed to go outside the Palace but they were supposed to take the permission from the King first. And they were supposed to take at least 6 guards with each of them if they were to step their foot outside of the Palace.

“Why don’t you try asking the King first and see what he says? You should let him know that you are going out of the Palace.” Hawisa was not going to let Adeline fall into bad influence of the other Royal children and start breaking the law.

But Adeline had not thought of the possibility that those Princes and Princesses would be breaking the law of the Palace. Nefriti had said to her that they were allowed to go out in disguise and she believed her.

And when Hawisa reminded her to ask the King, she assumed that Nefriti would have already done that. “I am sure that Nefriti will take permission from father. She was the one to invite all of us so I think she has already asked father about it.”

“Even if she has, it doesn’t hurt if you inform the King yourself.” Hawisa was really acting just like a mother would. She still thought of Adeline as a kid and she was worried about her safety even when the Princess was very much capable of defending herself.

Adeline smiled at Hawisa and was happy that she had these two loving persons in her life. Though they were not related by blood, the relationship between them was no less than that. Hawisa acted like a caring mother while Osanna acted like an elder sister. “Alright Hawisa, if it gives you the peace of mind then I will inform father before I go.”

Adeline then turned towards Osanna who was busy rummaging through the wardrobe and then asked, “Did you find anything suitable Osanna?”

Osanna had separated around 4-5 gowns that were not too extravagant. “You can choose from this pile. All the others are sure to garner some attention.”

Along with Adeline, Hawisa also walked towards the pile of clothes. Then Adeline examined all of those gowns by placing it on top of her and looking at the mirror. She placed a light pink gown on her and asked to her maids, “How does this one look on me?”

Hawisa smiled and praised the Princess, “It really suits you.”

“Can anything look bad on you? You can even make a curtain look good on you.” Osanna was staring at Adeline as if she was completely spellbound by the Princess.

Adeline giggled at the remark from Osanna. And then she asked again, “No, I did not mean how good I look, I meant does this gown make me look like the commoners?”

Osanna hummed for some time and replied, “Oh about that, umm… I don’t know…”

Then Hawisa spoke in an appreciative voice, “They say that one cannot hide a diamond no matter how much they try to cover it with coal.”