51. The Last Greeting (1)

The promised time was drawing near. Sohee, who came out of the drawing-room, walked down the long hallway and Mary followed quickly after her.

“Mary, can I have this delivered to the maidservant now?” She took out the letter she had put in and handed it to Mary, and she disappeared with a lively reply. Sohee stared at Mary’s back as she walked away and then, turned her steps. She wasn’t going to Ariad’s room. Alone, she walked down to the first floor and entered the kitchen. The servants gasped and curtsied at the  Crown Princess’ sudden appearance.

While looking at the neatly organized interior, Sohee asked. “Where is the pantry containing the food supplies?”

A big man appeared and replied vaguely. “The pantry is over here, Your Highness.”

He put his hands together in an attempt to be polite but his fingers continued to wiggle as if embarrassed to have such a high-ranking person come in. Sohee noticed that and smiled. “Are you the chef?”

“Yes, but….”

“Please show me to the pantry.”

Following his anxious back, So-hee reminded herself of her plan again. Her best exit, the bedroom window, got momentarily blocked. Knights also guarded the front and back gates of the Crown Prince’s Palace. The only way to get to the Imperial City’s entrance was to sneak out. To do that, So-hee planned to get inside a wagon that transported food supplies. According to the set time, the wagon carrying the food supplies would come in at 12 o’clock and would depart in thirty minutes. Sohee knew this accurately thanks to the episode she originally planned for Kelly. Once Kelly became the crown princess, she would catch the chef’s corruption and build her own power at the palace. The chef had changed his business into a restaurant run by his relatives rather than a food supplier that the royal family had designated. He was also stealing money little by little from the budget for food ingredients. The method Sohee had chosen to procure a carriage was to threaten.

[Kelly found a falsified ledger in a drawer at the right side of the pantry.]

Recalling the phrase she had written herself, So-hee proceeded there as soon as she arrived at the pantry.The moment she touched the handle——-

“Princess! Princess! Wait a minute!”

The chef hurriedly blocked the drawer from So-hee with his large size.

“What are you hiding there that you’re panicking like this?”

“It’s not that——-”

“Do you think I’m doing this without knowing anything?”

Sohee smiled nonchalantly in front of him.

“There is a whistleblower, so I already knew everything.”

“Whistleblower?”

The man’s face turned white and immediately fell to his knees. They hit the floor so hard that it felt like a giant had shaken the pantry. “Crown Princess, please be lenient. I’ve been caught before and if I get caught once again, I’ll be really fired. I have a family to support. If you could close your eyes just once——” He prayed so desperately that Sohee wouldn’t be surprised if his rubbing palms caught fire. As tears were about to form in the man’s beady eyes, So-hee got embarrassed by the unexpectedly intense reaction.

“No. Get up first.”

Soon after, the man grabbed the hem of Ariad’s gown and clung to it. If she left it just like this, her dress might turn into a mop.

“Okay, let’s talk about this!” She shouted and the man’s stern hand finally dropped.

The man’s vicious touch finally fell at the sound of a loud noise.

“Will you close your eyes for me, Your Highness?”

The man carefully raised himself while wiping away his tears. Sensing Ariad’s glance, So-hee brought up the subject immediately.

“I’ll close my eyes if you do me a favor.”

It was ten minutes to twelve and the food supplies were just about to be delivered to the pantry. Fortunately, they were able to finish the discussion in that ten minutes. After determining the time and location of the carriage, So-hee changed straight into some shabby clothes that didn’t stand out. That was how she became ready to go out.

* * *

She had never seen such a shabby sight before after living in this world for months. Caught between bags of food ingredients, So-hee let out a low sigh. She was only surrounded by vegetables, so they didn’t smell. Every time the carriage rattled, her buttocks would bounce from the impact. However, all So-hee cared about was her stomach. She wrapped her hands around her stomach so that it wouldn’t suffer from any kind of shock——large or small. The carriage came to a halt. The door next to So-hee opened and light slowly fell into the dark space.

“We’ve arrived.”

Of the horseman’s words, Sohee stepped outside. The bright sunlight poured over her purple eyes. Feeling anxious as she reflected on her choice in the shadows, she finally came to her senses. In front of the castle’s entrance at the right side of the passageway, a tall man stood out as he held the horse’s reins in one hand.

Neat black overalls, pomade hair, and even sharp features like that of a fine sculpture glistening under the breaking sunlight. Even from a distance, she could tell that it was Deon.