[Music Recommendation: 6.6. Gigue ~ Peter Gregson Richard Harwood
Adelaide stood in a corner with a deep frown on her face. Everyone knew Adric so well; one time, a maid had mistakenly added pineapple to his juice, and it almost killed him if not for the help of the royal physicians.
The maid was thrown out of the palace the next day, and a warning was given to everyone, though Gwen had used this weakness of Adric to torment him until he stopped eating in same table with the royal family. This caused some servants to secretly tag him as the picky eater ’Crown Prince. Watching Adric eat all the food on Oriana’s table with ease came as a surprise to everyone.
Adelaide was furious but tried to maintain a calm expression that wouldn’t ruin the facade she had created.
"What if something bad happens to Brother Adric?" Jasmine whispered to her mother. "It looks like the princess planned all of this to test Brother Adric’s weakness."
Oriana could hear people murmur. She wiped her tears, picked up a clean spoon, and started eating with Adric, stuffing her face with everything she could find. She cleaned her eyes with the back of her hand, scraping the plate while eating everything there.
Adric ate the whole plate of cold pudding, and through it all, his eyes never left Oriana. Neither did she look away from him. His lips tugged when Oriana joined him in eating; the girl was so unpredictable. First, she was crying, now she was eating like her whole life depended on it. Done with eating, he cleared his throat and dropped his plate on the table.
King Fidelis started clapping first, and everyone else joined him. He waved his hand, signaling everyone to stop clapping. "That was wonderful! This feels so refreshing to watch. I don’t know about others, but I had goosebumps watching the Crown Prince and Princess. This shows just how they will rule the kingdom. The Princess will be supportive, and my son will protect her and the kingdom. I can’t wait to see them reign."
The ministers nodded in agreement. It was a very beautiful scene to watch. Even those who were judging Oriana earlier now turned their words to singing her praises.
Adric smiled, tapping Oriana’s table, and called everyone’s attention. "I believe we have our winner already. The cooking event should come to an end since a winner emerged." Everyone cheered, clapping for Oriana, who was now bowing in appreciation.
Adric brought his hand down to his side, and at the same time it touched Kai, who raised his face to look at his uncle. The small boy furrowed his eyebrows and whispered, "Uncle Adric, your body is very cold."
Rowan heard this and quickly stepped forward to stand beside Adric. "You have some papers to sign," he said loudly, ensuring everyone heard.
"We should go now and sign them." Adric nodded, looking at Oriana one more time before leaving the crowd. His steps were steady as he walked because he knew that so many eyes would be on him to see if he was affected by the food.
As they left, King Fidelis winked at Oriana. "You did well," he said with a smile, which Oriana returned with a slight bow. The king left the arena with a relaxed expression; he was very much satisfied with how everything turned out. At first he was scared of what would happen to the princess but then his son handled it very well and the ministers had no choice but to dance to his tune.
Oriana pressed her lips together. She was really grateful to Adric for how he always showed up for her, and right now, she was also worried about him. She watched him enter the palace by himself, and he looked okay. Did her food really cure his allergy?
Someone else asked it loudly, "Did her food really cure Brother Adric’s allergy? He looks fine." Jasmine chimed in, unable to believe it. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺
Gwen scowled, her eyes not leaving Adric as she kept on looking at him to see when he would fall, but nothing happened until he entered the palace. "His mother had the same allergy; it doesn’t just get cured overnight, except he was lying to us all this while." She muttered, looking at the ministers who were now eager to eat Oriana’s food. The queen chuckled. "Today is over." She turned and left the arena.
Sophie pointed at her food. "What about mine? What happens now? Did I not win anything then?" She had prepared her food with the help of the best chef in the palace. She didn’t want to accept defeat easily.
"Did your food cure anyone’s allergy?" Jasmine asked, craning her neck to look at what was on Sophie’s table. Then she scrunched her face and looked away.
Sophie opened her mouth to talk, then closed it. "It didn’t, but Prince Adric clearly smiled at my food."
Jasmine nodded. "He did? He did..." her voice trailed off. "But one thing you should know is that Brother Adric laughs or smiles at people he wants to mock." Jasmine tapped Sophie’s shoulder gently before waving her maids to pack up the food on her table. She saw her two sons eating from Oriana’s table and shook her head.
"Kai! Walter! Come here, quick!" she shouted their names, but the boys didn’t listen to her.
Sophie looked around. Everyone had their attention on Oriana. She started hitting her table. "I made the food myself. Who doesn’t want food made by a very beautiful princess? Hey, you there, come and have a bite," she shouted. "Bessie, go out there and bring people to taste our food."
Oriana saw from her table Sophie calling for people to come over to her table. She turned to Louis. "Thank you so much for today. You can now take over while I have my rest."
"You should. You really deserve your rest. I will handle the rest," Louis bowed, stepping forward to serve people who wanted to eat.
Oriana went to stand in front of Sophie with a smile on her face, the same smile of mockery that Jasmine gave her earlier when the competition started. She crossed her arms over her chest and leaned forward.
"Sister, looks like nobody touched your food."
Sophie cleared her throat, using her body to hide her table. "You think because Prince Adric ate your food, you are something. He smiled at me." She rolled her eyes.
Oriana sucked her teeth, nodding in agreement to Sophie’s words. "If he did smile at you, why do you need to scream like you’re in the town’s market to get people to taste your food? And really, if you ask me, I think you’re doing quite well with that, sister. When you find your true calling, don’t fight it." She tried to touch Sophie’s shoulder, but she moved away.
"Don’t even touch me!" Sophie warned with a deep frown on her face.
Oriana smiled. "Sure, but you should quickly run now and get a taste of my food before it’s finished." Oriana paused, looking at her table. "I think it’s too late. Everything is empty. You will never know what victory tastes like now. So sad." She shook her head before walking away.
Sophie clenched her fists tightly; her face had already turned red like she was about to erupt. She screamed, pushing everything down from her table in anger. Bessie ran to console her, but she pushed the maid away, stomping inside the palace in fury.
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