“I know right! They taste too good.” Claudia mumbled as she stuffed her mouth with some fries. “You should have some more.” She then shifted the plate in the middle of the table and gestured for Adeline to help herself.

Adeline also happily obliged. She was feeling too excited to be sharing food with her sister. Adeline did her little happy dance while she ate some more fries.

Raphael was closely watching every little move of Adeline and he chuckled when he saw Adeline swaying her body side to side as she put the fries in her mouth. “Are you that happy?” He asked Adeline with inquisitive eyes.

Adeline’s attention was shifted from the food in her hand to Raphael. She was looking at Raphael with puppy-dog eyes because she was confused about who the question was directed to.

Raphael also shifted his plate in front of Adeline and then said, “Here, taste some of these too. As Gustin had said before, they will taste good when you dip it in this spicy sauce.”

“Are you sure?” Adeline looked at the chop which looked really appetizing. And she didn’t want to deny it.

“Yes, try it.” Raphael gave the sweetest smile to Adeline.

Adeline picked up one of the chops and then dipped it in the red looking sauce as Raphael had suggested. And she took a bite from it.

Adeline felt the burst of savory taste in her mouth. She squealed with delight while tapping her foot on the ground.

“How does it taste?” Raphael already knew how she found the food based on her expression alone. But he wanted to hear her say it.

“It’s spicy, but at the same time it tastes so wholesome, like full of different kinds of flavors.” Adeline was excitedly explaining the taste that her taste buds were feeling.

And Raphael held his head high as though to boast to Claudia. Adeline had used more words to explain the dish that he had offered, and she had even used more hands and body gestures.

It was as though all of Adeline’s brothers and sisters were in some unspoken competition. They were trying to impress Adeline with their food choice as though they were competing with each other to get Adeline on their good side. She was new to their group and they were treating her like their new doll.

Finally, the food vendor brought the final two dishes. He came to the table carrying a tray full of food. There were 6 pieces of drumsticks on a large plate.

The dumplings were placed on a bowl-shaped container, of course, made out of leaves. There were four bowls of dumplings. And there were four more small bowls. Two of those bowls had the broth that was being cooked with the dumplings, and the two others had a sauce that was prepared by grinding tomatoes and onions.

The vendor placed all the bowls and plates on the table and went back to serve other customers.

Adeline was amazed by the look of the dumplings. They had beautiful pleats on them and the color of the dumplings was slightly creamy as they were steamed. The broth served with dumplings looked very rich in flavors. And the sauce looked similar to the one served with the chops but also different at the same time.

“What are you waiting for? Come one, try it.” Nefriti spoke with a piece of dumpling in her mouth. The size of the dumpling was large to fit inside the mouth at once but Nefriti was making it look so effortless.

Adeline poked a piece of dumpling with her fork and then dipped it in the tomato sauce. She carefully lifted it up to her mouth. Then she managed to shove the whole piece inside her mouth.

“Aww… you look so cute…” Claudia commented as she looked at Adeline’s puffed cheeks.

But Adeline was lost in the food world already to notice anything that others were saying.

Judging from the outer appearance, Adeline was thinking that the dumplings would taste like bread but there was some surprise inside. It didn’t taste anywhere near like bread. It tasted like… tasted like heaven.

She could taste chicken, onion, spring onion, ginger-garlic, and a blend of other herbs and spices. And when dipped with the tomato sauce, it was just perfect. “How can something look so simple from the outside and yet taste so so so good?”

“Do you like it?” Nefriti glanced at Adeline to check her facial expressions.

Adeline nodded her head vigorously and said, “I like how there’s a surprise of ingredients and flavors inside of it. To be honest, I had not expected this to taste so good.” She stuffed another piece of dumpling in her mouth and mumbled, “But I declare it…” she pointed at the bowl full of dumplings and said, “…this is heavenly.”

Nefriti glanced at Raphael, she had a wide grin on her face.

Raphael glanced at Kaela and gestured for her to offer the chicken drumsticks to Adeline. And Kaela immediately offered the drumstick to her, “Adeline, here, taste this as well.”

Adeline swallowed the dumpling in her mouth and then grabbed a piece of a chicken drumstick. And she shifted the untouched bowl of dumpling towards the other side of the table, “Why don’t you taste mine as well?”

Everyone except Gustin and Nefriti took a piece of dumpling each. Nefriti had her own servings of dumplings while Gustin just didn’t care.

Adeline then tasted another new dish, chicken drumstick. She gave a smile after eating it.

“Does it taste good?” Kaela asked to Adeline.

Adeline happily nodded her head and agreed, “Yes, it tastes different than the chicken that I’ve had till now. It’s really crispy on the outside but moist on the inside. And it is flavorful.”

After finishing the drumstick, she tried eating the dumpling with the broth. And she was surprised once again. The broth was lamb soup and somehow, coupling it with a dumpling made it taste even better.

“Oh! It tastes good with this broth as well!” Adeline said in a surprised and satisfied tone.

Nefriti finally clapped her hands and then pumped her fists in the air. Then she shouted, “And that’s final, dumpling wins. Woo-hoo!”

“What? No, it didn’t win. She liked potato chops better.” Raphael protested at that declaration from Nefriti.

“No! She liked dumplings better. She even used the word ‘heavenly’ to describe it.” Nefriti claimed again while staring down at Raphael.

Gustin finally cleared his throat and spoke in an agitated tone, “Why don’t you two confirm it with Adeline? She is sitting right there, just ask her what she liked the most.”

Nefriti swiftly turned her head to look at Adeline and asked, “You liked dumplings the most, didn’t you?”

“Don’t lead her like that! That’s not fair.” Raphael shouted at Nefriti.

Adeline was super confused about what was going on. “What is going on? Am I missing something?”

“No, it’s nothing. We just want to know what you liked the most out of the foods that you tasted today.” Nefriti grinned at Adeline.

However, Gustin revealed what was really going on. He took a bite of his chop and spoke in a monotone, “They have placed a bet with each other that you will like the food that they had chosen. So they want to know who the winner is.”

“Hey!” Nefriti narrowed her eyes at Gustin and gave a threatening look to him for revealing their secret bet to Adeline. She was worried that Adeline might feel bad to learn that.

But Adeline covered her mouth with both of her hands and then started to laugh. She laughed so much that tears started to roll down her cheeks.

Claudia was a little concerned because she was finding it difficult to assess if Adeline was laughing or crying. “Adeline, are you alright?”

Adeline finally controlled her laughter and wiped her tears. “Yes, I’m alright. It’s just that I am really happy that I decided to come here with every one of you… And no one had ever bet on what kind of food I would like. I found it very funny how Nefriti and Raphael were taking the bet so seriously.”

Nefriti let out a small sigh of relief that Adeline was not crying. For a moment, even she felt like Adeline was crying. “Hmm… so tell me, Adeline, what did you like the most?” Nefriti asked again as if she really wanted to win the bet.

Adeline was feeling the pressure in the air. Everyone, except Gustin, was looking at her as though her answer really mattered to them. She didn’t want to hurt anyone’s expectations but she also could not choose all the foods.

She hummed for a while and finally answered, “I liked every food that I tasted today, and each dish had its own unique taste. But I like dumplings the most.”

Nefriti pumped her fists in the air while shouting victoriously. She was acting like she had won a huge contest. And she was celebrating as if Adeline had liked the food that she had cooked herself and she was shouting as if she had passed an important examination.

Raphael, Kaela, and Claudia accepted their defeat and then handed over one gold coin each to Nefriti. Nefriti happily collected her wins.

After all of them finished their dishes, they paid the vendor and thanked him for the delicious food.

“Now it’s time to go back to the boring home..” Nefriti puckered her lips at the thought of returning back to the same old Palace, to the same old routine.