The rest of the carriage ride was quiet until they got to the tavern where Louis would be selling. Oriana and Freya helped to set the place while Louis got the fire started to start cooking. The few girls who were there to assist went around calling for more customers.

Soon they had people coming around to buy their food, and everywhere got busy. Oriana tried to wash the plates faster so they wouldn’t be short on those. By late afternoon, they had almost finished selling the food they brought. And before evening, they were finally done, gathering up their goods back inside the carriage to get ready to leave.

Louis first decided to pay his workers, "We were able to sell almost everything. Thank you to all of you," he started handing out the coins to the giirl. When he was done, he was going to leave the place when one of the girls threw her money harshly on the ground.

"Really? This is all we get after doing our best to make sure you sell? So ungrateful!" It was the girl Ada who had spoken with anger.

Louis turned to look at her, "Ada, what is the problem?"

Oriana, who was by the side, now turned to know what the real problem was. She heard the girl say,

"Spare me that innocent look, you greedy man. I clearly heard and also saw the Crown Prince pay you. But you were too greedy so you decided to take everything to yourself and also sell here making more gains." The girl hissed, this time her words had the other girls whispering among themselves.

"Really? Did the crown prince really pay him?" The girls asked, whispering in hushed tones.

Louis raised his hand, trying to calm the girls down, "Please, relax. I don’t know where you heard this from, but I swear on my life. I didn’t accept the payment, though the Crown Prince had suggested it."

"Look at that, who gets a sugar and asks for salt. This man is clearly lying, saying he rejected the money given to him by the Crown Prince. He just pretends in front of us when he is clearly a big liar," Ada continued, riling up the other girls to support her.

Oriana, who was standing by the side, didn’t like how the girls spoke to Louis, but she also didn’t want to get herself involved to avoid causing more trouble. She just watched from the side.

"Ada, if you want a raise then ask for it, but calling an old man capable of being your father a liar is not appreciated," Louis said, his words still calm.

The girl scowled, "A crook like you can never be my father! My father wouldn’t exploit his own children!"

"Did you just call my Pa a crook?" Freya asked, now going to stand beside her father with her face looking crossed.

Louis turned to look at his daughter, "Quick, Freya, go and stand somewhere else. How many times have I warned you to not get yourself involved when I’m talking to people?"

"But Pa," Freya started, but her father sucked his teeth, indicating that she should step aside. The girl obeyed her father and went to stand beside Oriana.

Ada folded her arms across her chest, "Listen, old man, if you really want to have this issue settled, pay us our complete money and stop using us!"

Louis sighed, "I would have, if I really had the money. But right now, all I have is what I’m going to use to get more goods and that’s all,"

"Then I guess you’re asking for it," The girl took a step forward to attack the man, but Oriana stepped in.

"Enough of all of that," Oriana said. She was already fed up, and any more of the girl’s insult she was sure things would get messy. Untying the pouch on her waist, she handed it over to the girl, "This is my own share; you can have it."

Ada turned her face to the side and smiled, "If it isn’t the princess turned pauper. Are you trying to give us the good girl act?"

"You’ve got your money; you can leave now," Oriana pointed her finger to the side, indicating that the girl should leave.

Looking at the pouch filled with coins then at Oriana, "I’m going to let this go, but it’s not over. You all will regret trying to use someone like me, and this is the last time I’ll be serving under you," she said this to Louis, the girl kicked a pot, and it broke into pieces. Her underlings did the same thing breaking things, before they left.

Oriana watched the girls as they left; she inhaled softly before getting down on her knees as she started picking up the things they had crashed.

Louis joined her, "You shouldn’t have given them anything; you also worked hard for it."

Oriana shook her head, "Those girls clearly wanted trouble; it’s better to avoid them." She said with a low voice. "How will you cope now that they all left?"

Louis hummed, "I’ll be fine. I mean, they haven’t been bringing any good reputation to my service. It’s okay if they don’t work with me anymore," he replied.

After they were done packing things up, Louis decided for them to spend the night in the village since it was now late, and the roads were unsafe.

Freya, who had not said anything since the fight ended, now walked up to her father. "Pa! I don’t like it when you let people talk down on you! We are poor, not stupid. Why did you not let me talk to those girls but they could talk to you the way they wanted?" The girl had tears in her eyes. Without waiting for her father to say anything, she ran to the corner.

Louis tried to follow her, but Oriana stopped him. "I’ll talk to her; it really hurt her pride seeing her father being spoken to that way, and she wasn’t allowed to say anything."

Oriana went to where Freya was sitting with her head bowed as she sobbed silently. Without touching the girl, Oriana just sat beside her.

"Do you know I just remembered what my Nana used to call me as a child? Little pup," Oriana said with a dry smile. "And I think that’s because I was full of energy, but anytime I see you, I also want to call you that. Freya, you’re your father’s little pup, but I’m sure he doesn’t want you to waste that energy on things that are irrelevant."

Freya raised her eyes, which were now filled with tears. "Are you saying it’s good for me to sit and watch him get insulted?"

Oriana shook her head, "No, all I’m saying is sometimes it’s okay to let adults handle things. Soon you’ll come to realize that, but trust me, your father knows how much you want to protect him so badly, and he is proud of you."

"Really?" Freya dried her tears with the back of her hand.

"Of course, but it will hurt him to see that you’re angry with him. Now go on and hug it out with him." Oriana encouraged the girl, who took her time to think about it before she finally ran to her father and hugged him tightly.

"I love you, Pa; I hate to see you suffer," Freya said, burying her head in her father’s chest.

Louis hugged his daughter, with so many emotions. He raised his face to look at Oriana, then he mouthed a ’Thank you,’ which the princess acknowledged with a smile.

That night, they rested in the tavern, to continue their journey the next morning. But just at dawn, Oriana woke up because of a loud noise outside the tavern. When she stepped outside, Louis was there already trying to calm the crowd down, but their voices raised even louder when they saw Oriana.

"Look at her!! Let’s burn the homewrecker!" The crowd chanted.