Adeline’s four hour long personal training was finally over. She greeted goodbye to her teacher and then quickly ran towards her own quarter. She was hopping with excitement. She was finally going to the market to explore it.

She reached to her room in no time. She was about to change to the gown that she had chosen earlier, but she suddenly remembered about Rion. She didn’t know how long she was going to roam around the market and village. So she thought of feeding Rion before leaving.

It was already 5 in the evening by the time her class was over. And Nefriti had asked her to meet at the Palace gate at 5. She was already late so she ran to the stable to feed her horse.

The stableman brought food for Rion and passed it to the Princess. The Princess took the basket of hay and grass and put it in front of Rion.

Then she scratched the horse’s neck and whispered in his ear, “Rion, be a good boy and finish this okay? I am going to some place today and I am already late. I am sorry I can’t stay with you for any longer today.”

Rion had become less violent towards the stablemen. He was slowly starting to trust them and would not jump at them if they tried to clean his stable. But he still wouldn’t eat unless the Princess came to him and gave him food.

Adeline pointed at the stableman and then whispered to Rion again, “Let him clean up this basket and he will give water to you after some time, be a good boy and drink it. Don’t stay dehydrated because I won’t be back to feed you in time.”

Rion was already chewing on some grass. When the Princess whispered in his ear, he gently neighed and nodded his head.

“Good boy”, Adeline smiled and then patted him on the neck. Then she planted a kiss on his forehead and left for her quarter to change her dress.

After reaching inside the quarter, she quickly went to her bath house and then rinsed her face. Then she went back to her private chamber, grabbed the gown and put it on. The gown that she had chosen was a simple slip on gown made out of cotton. That was why she did not need help from her maids.

She slipped some coins inside the pocket of her gown. And then she also grabbed a matching pink hood and started to run again.

Adeline had to cross the King’s Court in order to get to the main gate of the Palace. Though she was already late, she had promised to Hawisa that she would personally inform the King before she would go out of the Palace.

She crossed the beautiful garden that was in front of her quarter and was approaching the King’s Court. She was about to enter the Court but she heard a familiar voice calling her.

“Sister!” Nefriti came running towards Adeline. “I was coming to pick you up.” She was panting by the time she reached by the side of Adeline.

“Hey, sorry I ran a little late. My training ended at 5 and I had to change so…” Adeline was trying to apologize to Nefriti and was giving reasons as to why she was late.

However, Nefriti seemed like she was in a hurry so she grabbed Adeline’s hand and said, “It’s okay. The others have already gathered so let’s hurry up.” Then she began to walk while pulling Adeline with her.

But Adeline resisted and said, “I haven’t informed father that I am going outside to explore the market. I will inform him and be right back.”

“No need to worry about that dear sister. I have already taken permission from the King. It will be dark soon so we have to hurry up now.” Nefriti did not listen to Adeline and kept on pulling her towards the gate.

Adeline thought that she had already made her brothers and sisters wait for her. And if Nefriti had already informed the King then there was no reason to make them wait for her for longer.

Then Adeline and Nefriti ran towards the main gate. Nefriti was still not leaving Adeline’s hand. She was guiding her as if Adeline was a little baby who would get lost if she left her on her own.

Raphael, Claudia, Kaela, and Gustin were already standing by the side of the gate and were chatting with each other. They were all dressed in a dim and old clothes. And from the looks of their clothes, Adeline felt as if they did this kind of visit more often.

Raphael was the first one to greet Adeline. He gave a smile to her and spoke in a gentle tone, “Adeline… so you finally made it huh.”

Adeline was a little embarrassed for making all of her brothers and sisters wait for her. She smiled and asked for their forgiveness, “I’m sorry to keep you all waiting for me.”

“It’s okay, we also gathered here not a long while ago.” Kaela smiled at Adeline while accepting her apology.

Claudia nodded to agree to what Kaela was saying and then gave a welcoming smile to Adeline.

Gustin was the only one who had not even spared a look at Adeline. He was folding his hand and looked a little grumpy. He turned towards the gate and said in a monotone, “If all of us have arrived then let’s leave, shall we?” And without even waiting for anyone’s reply, he was already walking towards the gate.

Nefriti whispered in Adeline’s ear, “Don’t mind him, he is always like that with all of us.”

Raphael glanced at the two of them and pointed his brows towards the gate and said, “Let’s go!”

All six of the Princes and Princesses started to make their way out of the Palace boundary and into the village outside.

Adeline wore the hood which she was still holding in her hand. She put on the hood and that was when she realized that she had forgotten to open her braids after returning back from the practice.

She always braided her hair into two plaits when she would do the physical trainings so that it would not distract her. And at other times, she would let it loose. So she began unbraiding her hair while walking behind her half-siblings.

Nefriti noticed that Adeline was not walking by her side. She turned back and saw Adeline untying her hair. And she waited for Adeline to catch up to her and then asked, “Do you need any help with your hair?”

But before Adeline could respond to that question, Nefriti was already untying her other plait.

Adeline smiled and said, “Thank you!”

After unbraiding both of her plaits, Adeline ran her fingers through her silver hair and brushed it out. Nefriti wrapped her hand around Adeline’s hand and they happily started to walk again.

Adeline was feeling nostalgic as she remembered the very first time that she had ever seen the village. She was being carried by General Osmond in the scorching heat. She even remembered eating her favorite chocolate and watching the village kids playing around happily.

It was not that Adeline had never set her foot outside the Palace after being ‘kidnapped’. She would go out on some occasions like when she would visit her maternal side’s grandparents during festivals. Her grandparents lived in a peaceful village which was far from the Palace so she would be sent out in carriage accompanied by guards.

But she wouldn’t be allowed to open the curtain of her carriage and peek outside citing security reasons. So she didn’t know how this village looked like.

After walking for about five minutes, they all entered the village area. And Adeline was surprised to see how much things had changed. The village seemed nothing like what she had expected. She understood why her brothers and sisters were referring to the village as ‘market’.

She remembered the village being quiet, except the sound of the kids running around and laughing. The houses were sparsely built. People had livestock like chicken, cows, goats, hens, etc. The shops were located at a great distance.

But now, the village was busier than ever. Instead of thinly populated village, it had become a busy marketplace. The houses were built very close to each other. Instead of farms filled with domestic animals, almost every houses had a shop set out in front of them. And the roads were filled with not just kids, but people of all age group.

The people were busy buying foods, clothes, shoes, flowers and gifts, and many more. As this particular village called the ‘Golden Street’ was right in front of the Palace, people who came to visit the capital of the Kingdom would often buy several souvenirs to take to their village.

The six of them passed through a gift shop that was displaying different types of items that were carved from wood. And Adeline noticed that there was a small figurine of the Devil that was amongst the displayed items.

The Devil figurine had a pair of horns and wings, but its other features were like that of an innocent human. And it was also painted very beautifully. The clothes were painted black and golden, the horns were golden while the wings were black.

The figurine reminded Adeline of Theodore. She wanted to stop and buy that figurine but she was too shy to say that to Nefriti who was clinging on to her.. So she thought that she would buy that while returning or maybe some other time.