It was already starting to get dark when the Princes and Princesses walked outside of the fortune-teller’s place. The shops of the market were already lighting the candles, lanterns, or torches inside their shops. Some were even generous enough to hang the lanterns outside on the pillars of their shops to provide lights for the passerby.

Nefriti was again clinging to Adeline while the others were walking in front of them. “How much did the fortune-teller lady charge you? Did you bargain with her as I had taught you?” Nefriti asked curiously.

Adeline was caught off guard by the question and she blabbered, “Er… she didn’t charge me at all.”

“Really? She charged me 2 coins, that also after bargaining to get a good deal.” Nefriti puckered her lips as she thought that Adeline was lucky to get a free reading. For some reason, she was obsessed with getting good deals while in the market, and the fact that she was unable to, hurt her a little.

And Adeline was trying hard to control her laughter while thinking that she must have looked like a fool to Agnes because she already knew that Nefriti was also a Princess.

Adeline’s attention was soon drawn by the beautiful night view of the Golden Street. The whole market looked even more beautiful due to all the twinkling lights in the shops and streets. The people were still out in the market. In fact, the market looked even livelier than before.

The people who had to go to different kinds of works in the afternoon had already completed their work and were strolling in the market. The villagers were also roaming around the market with their children now that the weather was cool outside.

“Look! There are so many vendors serving the food now that it is almost dinner time.” Nefriti smiled at Adeline proudly. She was happy to see that Adeline was looking at the market with awe.

Adeline replied while looking at the stalls with keen eyes, “Yes, there are so many varieties of dishes being served. Where are we eating by the way?”

“Wait, let me ask the others first.” Nefriti finally left Adeline’s hand and ran forward to catch up with the others.

And to be honest, Adeline felt a little relieved that Nefriti was not clinging to her anymore.

Adeline noticed that there were more people around the food stalls than before. People were laughing, chatting, and enjoying the food while sitting in front of the vendors. Some people were buying food and were taking it to their home to enjoy it with their family. While some had brought the family to the food stalls and were munching on hot delicacies.

The whole Golden Street was filled with the aroma of several varieties of dishes. Adeline was glancing at the families that were sitting down on the small stools and narrow benches. They were eating foods from plates that were made out of leaves. And they all seemed happy, they looked as though they were having the best meal of their lives and as though they were living the best day of their lives.

At first, Adeline was happy to see all those happy faces. But when she realized that they did not have all the luxury that she had and yet, they were happier than her, she felt a pinch in her heart. “When was the last time I had dinner with my family?” she thought to herself as she kept on walking past all the happy families.

Her eyes fell on a mother who was blowing on the hot dish and was feeding it to her daughter with her own hands. Adeline felt a lump in her throat because she never got to experience how it would feel to eat food from her mother’s hand.

“I bet the food tastes a lot better when fed by mother.” She enviously looked back at the kid and thought, “She doesn’t know how lucky she is.”

Adeline did not realize that all the others had already stopped in front of a stall to finally try some food. She was busy looking at all the people.

Nefriti turned behind to check where Adeline was. Adeline was standing a little far away from them. So she cupped her hands around her mouth and then shouted, “Adeline… come faster.”

Adeline was startled when Nefriti called her. Adeline sniffed and then rubbed her nose before turning around to face her sister. She saw all of them sitting in front of a food vendor and then made her way towards them.

When Adeline reached near Nefriti, she said, “We will eat here today. It is already getting late so we will try other places when we come back the next time.”

The place where they had stopped had a long table laid out in front of the stall. There were long benches on both sides of the table. Raphael, Gustin, and Claudia were sitting on one side, and Nefriti and Kaela were sitting on the opposite side of the table.

Adeline put on a smile and then asked while taking a seat beside Nefriti, “Sure. So what are we eating?”

Nefriti happily replied, “I have already ordered four servings of dumplings for us, two for you and two for me. And as I had promised, it’s my treat. Gustin and Raphael are eating their favorite potato chops. And…”

“And I have ordered a serving of chicken drumsticks,” Kaela interjected in between and happily said the name of her dish. But she immediately pouted her lips and kept her act up, “But it is really expensive though.”

Claudia also said what she had ordered, “I’m eating two servings of potato fries. Can’t wait to stuff them inside my mouth.”

Adeline didn’t know what they were all saying but with the enthusiasm that they were saying the names, she was sure that all of those dishes tasted good.

The vendor had kept several food items on display. Adeline curiously looked at the vendor’s stall to see all the food items. The vendor was cooking several dishes right in front of them. Adeline’s eyes began to follow everything that the vendor was doing.

The vendor laid out some strange looking white things in an equally strange looking container. That container had several holes in them and made Adeline wonder how he was going to cook that white thing.

After putting the white thing in that container he kept that container on top of another container, inside which some kind of broth was being cooked.

Nefriti chuckled when she noticed how cute Adeline looked when she was staring so innocently at the stall. She leaned in towards Adeline’s ear and whispered, “Those were dumplings that he just placed inside that container.”

Adeline nodded her head in amusement and whispered back, “Ah! I see…”

Nefriti then pointed at the large container filled with hot oil and said, “See, he is heating oil in that container. Now he is going to fry the potato fries and potato chops.”

The vendor had chopped the potatoes into what looked like long sticks and had pre-boiled them for about two minutes. He put those sticks in a bowl and added some flour, chili powder, and salt. And he mixed everything. After the oil was hot enough, he dropped all those potatoes in the boiling oil.

And while the fries were being cooked, the vendor grabbed 8 potato chops from the display and dropped them in the oil to be reheated.

Potato chops were prepared by mashing the boiled potatoes and mixing them with peas, chickpeas, and other seasonings. Then they would be turned into an oval shape, dipped into a mix of gram flour, and fried in boiling oil.

And after both the dishes turned light brown, the vendor took them out, and put them on a serving plate made out of leaves. They were made out of leaves so that they wouldn’t have to keep on cleaning the dishes, they could just throw them.

The vendor brought the potato fries and chops to the table and went back to preparing other dishes.

“It’s ready to be served this fast?” Adeline asked, very surprised at how fast those dishes were served.

“Yes, the food arrives very fast at the table.” Claudia pulled the potato fries towards her. She instantly picked a stick and began to blow on it to cool it down.

Nefriti was looking towards the stall to see if their dumplings were ready yet. But they were still being cooked. The vendor was now focusing himself to reheat the chicken drumsticks.

“If these foods had legs then they would be called fast foods,” Raphael said while taking a bite of his potato chop.

“Fast food? What a lame name. They would be called the happy food.” Kaela smiled as she was staring at the chicken drumsticks that were being fried.

Claudia moaned as she chewed on her mouthwatering fries. “I don’t know how they can make potatoes taste this good.” She glanced at Adeline and offered the fries to her, “You should also try it.”

But Adeline politely denied, “No, you should have it. I will have my food when it is served.”

“But you have not ordered the potato fries. You will miss out on such a heavenly taste if you deny it.” Claudia lifted a fry and held it in front of Adeline’s mouth, “And you won’t know how good they are unless you try it yourself.”

Adeline glanced at the fry in front of her and glanced at Claudia. Claudia gave a smile accompanied by a little nod. Claudia didn’t know how this simple gesture from her was warming Adeline’s heart.

Adeline smiled from ear to ear and ate the food from Claudia’s hand. She closed her eyes as she was pleased to have food together with her family.. “Mmm… they taste so delicious.”