novelraw Chapter 21
Chapter 21
21~ Sesame Cake~
The first time entering Scarlet Phoenix Nation's ordinary urban district, she was like a curious little baby, looking here and there.
This place gave her a very familiar feeling. The architectural style leaned more toward her previous life's ancient China, unlike Glaze Nation which leaned more toward Western style. Her curiosity was immediately piqued.
Could it be that geographical location factors influenced architectural style?
The answer was yes. Different geographical locations meant the local climate, temperature, and prevailing winds would also change accordingly. All these combined became factors influencing architectural style.
She knew geographical location factors had a large influence on architectural style, but she hadn't expected it could be this large, directly a replica of her previous life.
Walking around on the street, people's eyes would occasionally glance her way. Sure enough, it was because her appearance was too conspicuous? Looks like she still needed to find something to conceal her appearance. Otherwise, she'd easily be targeted by some ill-intentioned people.
And so, she walked into a shop and pulled out a gold coin to place on the table:
"Do you have a bigger hat here? Preferably the kind that can cover my face."
The shop clerk was puzzled. Why would such a pretty little sister want to hide her appearance? But when she saw that gold coin on the table, she was so frightened she could barely speak.
What kind of wealthy family would directly pull out a gold coin and toss it on the table when paying!? Even some nobles didn't spend money like this! This sister must be at least a great noble!
When she locked her gaze on the little Princess's face again, she suddenly felt a sense of familiarity, feeling like she'd seen this face somewhere before.
Thinking about it, she really had seen it, at the first great general's funeral! At that time, this sister was sitting on Her Majesty the Empress's lap!
Now she was truly so excited she couldn't speak, almost shouting out in urgency. Fortunately, the little Princess hurriedly made a shushing gesture so she didn't shout out.
"Your Highness, you don't need to pay. Just take whatever you like."
The shop clerk respectfully bowed and said.
"This..."
She'd probably been mistaken for a royal family member. After all, that day at the funeral, she'd sat on the Empress's lap in front of the entire nation, looking so intimate with the Empress. Naturally, some people would think in that direction. Her royal family identity was thus confirmed.
"Then can you tell me where I can exchange this gold coin for smaller denominations?"
...
Following the address provided by the shop clerk young lady, she came here and exchanged for ten silver coins and one hundred copper coins. There was no need to exchange for currency with even smaller denominations than this.
An extra pouch appeared in her hand for holding the exchanged copper and silver coins, but it was too heavy. She could only first put a portion into the magic space ring.
Mm... the Empress had specially given it to her, afraid her small frame couldn't carry that bag of gold coins. And in fact, she really couldn't lift that bag of gold coins. Even using all her strength, it wouldn't budge.
She didn't know the specific value of this ring because this body had absolutely no magic power, but she knew it must be priceless.
You should know, items with space storage capabilities were generally hyped to astronomical prices. Even if it could only hold one bag of gold coins, it was worth at least several hundred gold coins, the total amount two or three generations of a normal family would earn!
"Sigh..."
She returned to that shop and bought a large hat to conceal her appearance. Although the shop clerk young lady and boss repeatedly stated that as Your Highness she didn't need to pay, under her firm attitude, they ultimately accepted it.
Sure enough, wearing this large hat, tilting it slightly forward, fewer people could see her appearance. Naturally, far fewer gazes were cast her way. This way, she should be able to browse normally, right?
...
"What? You say a royal family member came to our shop and bought a hat? The one sitting on Her Majesty's lap at General Mu's funeral that day?"
When he received the news, he was also very confused, completely hadn't expected the little Princess would come out alone. He'd thought she'd always stay inside the Imperial City. Looks like Her Majesty the Empress's control wasn't particularly strict either.
That was a royal family member personally acknowledged by Her Majesty the Empress. Single-character names could only be possessed by direct royal family members. Even if she hadn't directly told them that Your Highness was a royal family member, the name was already enough to explain everything.
As for whether she might be a direct royal family member from another country? He felt this was very unlikely. Right now, Scarlet Phoenix Nation was an invader to other countries. Who would send direct royal family members into the invader's hands?
In short, no matter how he thought about it, he couldn't think of a reason why other countries would send direct royal family members. So this Lady Mo could only possibly be one of the only two surviving orthodox direct royal family members of Scarlet Phoenix Nation that Her Majesty the Empress had hidden away.
"Which shop?"
He really had to go see. If he could take the opportunity to extract some information, that would be wonderful. As one of only two royal family members, she should know a lot. Recently, this "Favor Promotion Decree" had given him such a headache. If this Lady Mo would inherit the throne in the future, he could take advantage to...
In short, first find that Lady Mo.
"I remember that Your Highness walked in this direction..."
The shop clerk young lady pointed in a direction.
Wearing a large hat from their shop, dressed in a white dress, legs covered in white stockings, feet wearing a pair of small leather boots. This outfit was still quite distinctive. Even someone who knew nothing about fashion could tell she was a young lady from a wealthy family.
At this moment, the little Princess was standing in front of a sesame cake stall, drooling.
Such fragrant sesame cakes...
When she was still in Glaze Nation, she couldn't eat these folk snacks. Always protected, going out of the imperial city also required someone following. Wanting to eat something outside the imperial city, she'd still be stopped, afraid she'd get an upset stomach.
Should she buy? Should she buy?
"Boss, give me a serving of sesame cake. Make it however it tastes best."
The little Princess pulled out a copper coin from her pocket and placed it on the table.
The boss across seemed to breathe a sigh of relief:
"Phew... I'll give you your change, miss."
One serving of sesame cake only needed three wen. This copper coin with already quite small denomination was broken down again.
The taste was quite good, a flavor she'd never tasted in this life.
Seeing the little Princess's satisfied appearance, the boss also breathed a long sigh of relief.
A noble young lady coming to his stall to eat sesame cakes and eating quite contentedly. If he told people about this, probably no one would believe it. At first, he thought this noble young lady standing in front of his stall for so long was thinking about how to cause him trouble. Now it seemed not all noble young masters and ladies were like that...
"Mm..."
Sitting on the side eating contentedly, completely unaware that at some point, someone had appeared behind her...
"Your Highness?"
Mo: "?!"
Wasn't she wearing a hat covering half her face? How could someone still recognize her?
Turning around to look, she discovered it was a middle-aged gentleman, well-dressed. At a glance, one could tell this outfit was expensive. By appearances, a noble.
The sesame cake stall boss froze. He hadn't heard wrong, right? This noble gentleman who just arrived called this young lady Your Highness???