Chapter 281 - Can't Hide A Diamond
As agreed with her brother Raphael, Adeline returned back to her quarter and then began preparing herself to go to the village to meet Agnes and the other members of the Mystic Coven.
"Osanna, prepare my usual disguise cloth for me, please. I have to attend something important in the village," Adeline asked her personal maid as soon as she reached her room.
Her mind was already occupied so the thought of Theodore did not haunt her. She was rather excited to go to the village with her brother. She had been wanting to punish Lillian for her wrongdoings since a long time ago.
And now that she was shown the path by Prince Edwin, she was eager to put Lillian behind the bars as soon as she could. Like Raphael had said, letting such an evil person roam around freely was a crime in itself.
"Letting her roam freely will only allow that witch to go around hurting some more innocent lives. And I might end up bearing the weight of her sin for not stopping her even when I am aware of her each and every crime," Adeline thought to herself as she began unbuckling her battle armors.
"Adeline, here is your gown," Osanna informed the Princess as she placed the gown on the bed. And she asked the Princess, "Adeline, do you want me to inform your guards to change into disguise as well?"
Adeline raised her brows in realization. In her eagerness to capture Lillian, she had completely forgotten to inform the guards that she was going to the village in disguise.
"Yes, please inform them to get ready as quickly as they can." She smiled at Osanna and thanked her for her thoughtfulness, "Thank you for reminding me. Else I would need to wait for them to finish getting ready."
"I will inform them at this instant then," Osanna replied with a smile as well.
"Oh, and please ask a messenger to wait outside. I have to inform the King as well," Adeline added as Osanna walked out of the room.
"I will," Osanna shouted from outside the door.
Adeline then quickly changed into her commoner gown. The gown was soft pink in color that complimented the Princess very well. No matter what she wore, she would turn a few heads because of her beauty.
She had a small collection of the commoner gown by now as she would need to go to visit the villages and markets very often.
She preferred going out there silently rather than with a grand procession. The procession would only attract the public's attention and would hinder her from doing her job, be it investigating some matter or be it checking up on the living condition of her people.
Hawisa helped the Princess with her hair. She tied Adeline's hair into a loose plait to make her blend in with the villagers.
Though sometimes, her silver hair would end up being a dead giveaway that she was the Future Ruler. Some of the villagers seemed to have remembered how she looked by now and traveling in disguise was getting challenging by the day.
"Hawisa, will you help me find a scarf to cover my head? I stand out too much because of my hair." Adeline asked her maid as she took a glance of herself in the mirror.
Hawisa could never understand why the Princess wanted to hide her beauty and disguise herself like this. But she had stopped arguing with the Princess long ago. "Sure, I will find something right away," she replied and quickly went towards the Princess's wardrobe.
Soon, she took out a scarf that was matching in color with the gown that the Princess was wearing right now. Then she helped the Princess to wrap the scarf around her head.
And somehow, the Princess looked even more beautiful. Hawisa smiled at the reflection of the Princess and said, "Like I always say, one can never hide the diamond. You look so pretty, Adeline."
Adeline gave a soft smile and thanked her for the compliment. "Okay, I have to go now. Raphael might already be waiting for me." Adeline then got up from the chair and walked outside of her room.
As she had asked, a messenger was already waiting outside her door. She briefed the messenger and she sent him to her father and Lord Bennett to inform them that she would be going to the village to investigate some important work and that she would be late for the work.
"Okay, I guess I can head out now," she thought to herself and walked outside of her quarter. The guards were also ready in their normal clothes and they followed the Princess.
Adeline met up with Prince Raphael and the two of them led the way.
Agnes was still running her little fortune-telling place. She had managed to make that place not so popular by making her shop look grim and scary. She did not want the minions of Lillian to find out that the Mystic Coven was still in Wyverndale. And she had been successful so far.
Adeline would frequent Agnes's place every once in a while and they had also grown close because of their mutual hatred towards Lillian. So she was trusting of Agnes. Adeline was glad that she got to know their Coven.
If they would be able to create the magic circle to trap Lillian, then Adeline was planning to invite them into her inner circle. She wanted to surround herself with powerful and trusting people. As a Future Queen, she needed to have a tightly knit group of people that could help her in several ways.
The Princess's inner circle consisted of the people whom she trusted the most like Lord Bennett and… well that was it.
From today, maybe Raphael could also be considered as a member of her inner circle.
"Ah! It has been so long since we came to the market together," Raphael said as he inhaled the aroma of varieties of street foods.
Adeline also copied Raphael and replied, "Yes, indeed. I think we should have a serving of hot dumplings before we return to the Palace."
Raphael chuckled and agreed, "Let's try other dishes as well. We haven't had our breakfast yet anyway. I am famished after that fighting and crying session with you."
Adeline smacked her brother on his arm and scolded him, "Hey, don't tease me okay? Else, I will leave you and eat alone."
Raphael rubbed his arm and playfully answered, "Why do you want to eat alone? Are you afraid that there won't be enough food for you if I join you?"
Adeline controlled her laughter and glared at her brother. She shook her head and began walking faster than Raphael.
"Hey, wait for me!" Raphael also quickly ran after her.
As they were busy teasing each other, both of them failed to notice a group of men who passed by their side. The one who was walking ahead of the rest of the men had daunting red eyes paired with red hair.
That man glanced at an equally intimidating man walking beside him and ordered, "Find out who that lady in pink is. And don't dare to lay a finger on her." A sinister smirk crept on his lips as he said, "I am captivated by her beauty.. I want to turn her into my pet."
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