New World, New Life: I Became A Bigshot In The Ancient World
Chapter 82: WANT TO WATCH ME TAKE A BATH?

Chapter 82: WANT TO WATCH ME TAKE A BATH?

The next day, Aristia had a dream.

In that dream, she was in her restaurant and it was filled up. People held pouches of gold coins in their hands and waved them around, all begging her to take it.

She was sitting on a gold throne placed on a heap of gold, surrounded by pouches filled with money piled up all around her, and people wailing and begging, begging for her to take their money.

"Take my coin! There’s silver and gold!" Wails rang out from every corner.

"Take all my money. Please, I beg of you, please..." A man crawled on his knees next to the gold pile beneath her feet, holding a pouch filled to the brim with gold coins and begging desperately.

"Mwahahahahaha!" Aristia cackled loudly and evilly.

She stretched out her hand to command the man to put the money among the pile, to tell him that she had gracefully and benevolently accepted his money.

However, at that moment, her eyes snapped open.

Aristia took in a deep breath. She hadn’t had such a dream in a long time. The last time she had dreamt of something similar, she had made a lot of money.

That was in her world. It was that dream that fueled her desire to be independent. It increased her passion to open the restaurant. And now, that desire was back in full force.

"Princess, are you alright?" Adeline asked.

"Huh?" Aristia turned to see Adeline standing beside her bed with a startled look on her face, finally noticing the latter.

[How long has she been standing there?]

Adeline had come into the room to wake her little princess.

As soon as she raised the curtains and came to wake Aristia, she saw the princess uttering the words;

"Yes. Give me all your money."

Huh? Why did the princess want her money? Adeline thought in puzzlement.

Then, the princess cackled loudly. She stretched her hand forward in the air and made a grabbing motion with her hands.

"I won’t be evil. I will accept your silver and your gold. Don’t cry. Mwahahahahaha." Then, she cackled again.

All of this happened with the princess’s eyes still closed. Tightly shut.

Adeline shivered. The princess’s smile was a little creepy as she slept.

Then suddenly, the princess opened her eyes.

Adeline walked forward and repeated. "Are you feeling okay, princess Tia?"

"I’m fine, Linny." Aristia replied. Why was Adeline acting this way?

Adeline leaned forward and touched her forehead. "Could you be having a fever? But your temperature seems quite normal," she said worriedly.

She wondered if she should inform the Grand Duke and Grand Duchess.

"I’m really fine. I would like to take a bath now." Aristia said.

"Right away, princess." Adeline picked up the bucket of water she had been carrying and disappeared into the bathroom. Even as she went, her eyes never left Aristia.

"What’s with the odd behavior?" Aristia whispered softly to herself, still oblivious.

"Hehe." A chuckle sounded from the window and Owen jumped in swiftly.

She narrowed her eyes at him. "What are you laughing at? And why did you come in through the window?" Was he really training to be an assassin? She raised her brows in suspicion.

"The Grand Duke ordered the guards to not let me into your chambers. He saw me leaving your room yesterday." Owen explained.

So, that’s what happened. Aristia smiled helplessly. She motioned at him to continue.

"You really don’t know what you were doing?" Owen asked.

Aristia sneered at him. "I wouldn’t have asked if I did."

"Give me all your money. I won’t be evil. I will be very kind and accept your money." Owen even kindly closed his eyes and demonstrated.

Aristia’s face burned as realization dawned on her. Was that why Adeline’s eyes kept following her? Then, she coughed to hide her embarrassment and sneered at Owen.

"Princess, the bath is ready." Adeline exited the bathroom. Then, she turned to Owen. "How did you come in?" She had seen the Grand Duke order the guards to not let him in.

"Through the window." Owen replied simply.

"Oh," Adeline nodded and left to prepare Aristia’s clothes.

"Did you do what I asked you to do?" Aristia inquired, turning to Owen.

Owen turned serious immediately. "Yes. I did," he took out a parchment and handed it to her.

This was something Aristia appreciated about Owen. He knew when to be serious.

She collected it. "Good. Did you also prepare a duplicate?" She unfolded it and skimmed through it.

Owen replied, "I did."

Aristia nodded in satisfaction and rolled up the parchment. "We will leave at noon."

Owen nodded.

Aristia stayed silent and glanced at him. Owen looked back at her, not knowing why she was staring at him that way. He tried to remember if he had forgotten anything, but that didn’t seem to be the case.

"Now leave. I have to take my bath. Unless you want to watch me take a bath," Aristia teased with a blank look on her face.

It was only then that Owen noticed that Aristia was only wearing a nightgown.

He turned around immediately and jumped out of the window.

Aristia smiled. She had managed to catch a glimpse of ears tinged a deep red. She had gotten back at him.

"Princess, why did Owen leave in such a hurry?" Adeline asked. She had come out of the closet with Aristia’s clothes and had seen Owen jump out of the window. He looked like he was fleeing.

Aristia shrugged. "Maybe he had something important to do," she turned and entered the bathroom, whistling a tune.

***

In the afternoon, Aristia left the palace with Owen and Adeline. They got into the carriage, ready to head out.

"Are you ready to leave the palace?" Aristia asked Beatrix and Serina.

"Yes, we are." They replied simultaneously.

They had all left the palace two days ago as the royal family had to go to the temple on the day of the kingdom’s founding. The princesses didn’t count that as leaving the palace, since they would only go to the temple and back.

[That was horrible. We didn’t have any food throughout the morning and afternoon as we were supposed to be fasting. The first morsel of food that entered my stomach was eaten just before the banquet, and even then it was just a light snack as we had to hold until the banquet’s feast.] Aristia couldn’t help but complain mentally. She had literally devoured the meat skewers when they snuck out.

She had wanted to eat some food but was stopped by Adeline and Ivan. Only then did she find out why.

It was customary for the royal family not to have any food on the Kingdom’s founding day until after they visited the temple. The temple would serve them plain flat bread that was just flour and water, and maybe a bit of salt. Aristia couldn’t believe it when she found out.

She had resorted to different means to get food— asking, demanding, begging, and even sneaking into the kitchen that morning before they left the palace for the temple. However, either Adeline would stop her, or someone from her family.

That would probably give her a bad reputation among the servants, but she didn’t care.

"Remember, you cannot reveal your identities as members of the Royal family." Aristia reminded them.

She had already explained it to them. They had dyed their hair again, and were using the carriage the servants used to go to the market when they wanted to purchase local food items for the palace. They were not wearing commoner clothes, but their clothes were quite simple.

The princesses kept looking out of the window, their eyes expressing their excitement. The streets had eased up after the festival had ended, and there were few people cleaning the streets. People now resumed their activities normally.

The carriage rode on at a steady pace, then slowed down when it neared a street with not many people in it.

The carriage stopped in front of a small building.

"We’re here." Aristia said to Beatrix and Serina.

The coachman opened the carriage and helped them come down.

"Thank you, Lucas." Aristia thanked and Lucas replied with a bow.

"My pleasure, princess."

There weren’t any guards with them, but even so, they had been allowed to leave the palace, much to Beatrix and Serina’s surprise.

Aristia knew the reason for this. She found out some time ago, after Lucas had taken them to this same restaurant that he was a Shadow Guard.

There were probably other shadow guards following them to ensure their safety.

[That’s probably why papa isn’t usually worried whenever I go out.]

They entered into the restaurant. Aristia observed it looked newly cleaned.

The door opened and Dahlia came out. She was a little surprised to see the little girl, but that surprise soon faded. The girl had said that she would return today. She just didn’t know she was serious.

She looked around, noticing that other than the girl and boy who had come last time, there were two little girls she hadn’t seen before. They looked a little similar to the little girl, so she assumed they were related.

"Hello. Your meal will be ready soon." Dahlia informed and received a nod from Aristia. She returned to the kitchen.

In the kitchen.

"It’s that little girl," Dahlia told her sister.

"She came?" Dorothy’s eyes held surprise.

Dahlia nodded. "She did."

"I knew she would come." Dorothy said, and then she asked. "Then, what are we going to do. Should we agree?"

Dahlia lowered her head. "I am not sure either. There are many risks and uncertainties."

"But the children..." Dorothy sighed and trailed off.

"Let’s just prepare the food for now." Dahlia answered absentmindedly.