chapter 14

Tu Nan struggled to open her eyes. Everything before her seemed to spin, and outside, the Maid grew increasingly anxious at her lack of response, knocking louder on the door: “Miss Ariel, can you hear me?”

Tu Nan took a deep breath, feeling that if things went on like this, she would die of sleep deprivation before the Instance could claim her.

She pushed herself up from the bed with both hands and glanced at Emma, who was already awake and looked terrified. Tu Nan pointed to the washroom, signaling her to hide there first.

Taking advantage of Emma’s hiding, she grabbed pen and paper and went to open the door.

“Miss Ariel, you finally opened the door,” the Maid smiled outside. “The Prince and Princess are waiting for you.”

Tu Nan forced a shy smile and wrote in her notebook: [Sorry, I slept a bit too soundly. Please tell the Prince and Princess I’ll come after I freshen up.]

The Maid left.

Tu Nan closed the door and returned to the room. Emma came out of the washroom, asking anxiously, “What do we do now? They’ll find out sooner or later, and then none of us will survive.”

They were supposed to disembark today. Since the things in the Storeroom were prepared for the Wedding, the two corpses would probably be discovered even sooner than she had imagined.

Tu Nan thought for a moment. Maybe it was time to tell Lily that she had found Emma. Lily might be able to help.

She took out the Hairpin Lily had given her and held it in her palm.

*

At breakfast, Grace told Tu Nan that they would be disembarking in the evening to prepare to return to the Palace. With the Wedding approaching, everything had to be arranged in perfect order.

Eric elegantly dabbed at the corner of his mouth and looked at Tu Nan with an inscrutable expression: “The Wedding is almost here. I’m sure Ariel must be looking forward to it.”

Tu Nan was utterly disgusted by this pervert, but she still had to force a smile and nod in agreement.

Eric’s smile deepened. In a good mood, he sighed, “Lily’s cooking is still as wonderful as ever. I simply can’t go a day without her.”

Grace covered her mouth and laughed, “You always say that. I’m starting to get jealous.”

“Sorry, darling, you know my heart belongs only to you.” Eric took Grace’s hand and kissed it. “But you love Lily’s cooking too, don’t you?”

“Indeed.” Grace looked at Tu Nan and sincerely lamented, “Ariel, it’s such a pity you can’t taste it.”

Tu Nan took a sip of her red tea and smiled noncommittally.

After breakfast, Tu Nan went to the Kitchen and found Lily.

[I found your sister.] She pulled Lily into a secluded corner and wrote straightforwardly.

Lily’s expression went blank for a moment, as if she couldn’t believe it. She stared at the words in Tu Nan’s notebook, “You found her?”

Tu Nan nodded vigorously.

Suddenly, Lily broke into an excited grin, showing her neat teeth. “Where did you find her? Where is she now? Tell me quickly, I want to see her right away.”

Tu Nan showed a sorrowful expression, frowning in distress.

“What’s wrong?” Lily asked anxiously, just as expected. “Did something happen?”

[You have to help us.]

*

At dinner.

Tu Nan’s bowl, as usual, contained only some potatoes and vegetables. She was focused on cutting the potatoes when suddenly a commotion erupted outside.
A group of people ran back and forth, as if searching for something.

“What’s going on?” Grace asked in surprise.

“It’s nothing, I just lost something and they’re helping me look for it.” The Prince elegantly brought a piece of fish to his mouth with his fork. Brown sauce stained the corner of his lips, which he gently licked away, his eyes narrowing in enjoyment. “Lily, your cooking is getting better and better.”

Lily, standing to the side, showed a look of delighted surprise and bowed her head respectfully. “It’s my honor to serve the Prince.”

“What did you lose? Was it something valuable?” Grace asked, frowning.

“It wasn’t anything valuable,” Eric replied, his gaze subtly sweeping over Tu Nan. “But somehow a Mouse sneaked onto the ship and chewed up things in the Storeroom. It even took away the food I had carefully selected. It’s really quite a headache.”

“A Mouse?” Grace wrinkled her nose in disgust. “I hate mice.”

Tu Nan paused in the act of cutting her potato, realizing that Eric had likely already discovered the two corpses in the Storeroom.

Faster than she had expected.

She pretended to be calm and forked a piece of potato into her mouth.

Suddenly, a man burst in, hurried over to Eric, and whispered something in his ear.

Eric listened with a calm expression, then waved the man away. A relaxed smile appeared on his lips as he pressed a kiss to Grace’s cheek. “My dear, the food I prepared for the Wedding has been found.”

He looked at Tu Nan and said slowly, “Ariel should be careful too. We’ll be disembarking soon, and if anything is left behind… it won’t be easy to find.”

Tu Nan’s face turned pale.

Eric’s smile deepened. He picked up the cup of black tea beside him and took a sip, but his smile vanished abruptly, replaced by a cold, furious glare.

He suddenly hurled the cup at the wall with force. The cup shattered into pieces, and the scalding tea splashed onto the floor.

Tu Nan was startled; it was the first time she had seen Eric so enraged.

During the day, he always maintained the demeanor of a Prince, graceful and refined.

“Who made this tea?” Eric demanded angrily. “Are you trying to scald me to death?”

Grace, however, was not surprised. She gave Tu Nan an apologetic smile and reached out to gently pat Eric’s back in comfort. “Eric, there’s no need to get so worked up.”

Lily seemed frightened as well, barely daring to breathe.

The Dining Room fell into a dead silence.

After a long moment, Eric’s heaving chest gradually calmed, though he was still visibly angry as he got up and left the Dining Room.

“Sorry, he’s not usually like this,” Grace sighed, speaking to Tu Nan with helplessness.

Tu Nan watched Eric’s departing figure, deep in thought.

[It was just a cup of tea. Why was the Prince so angry?] She couldn’t help but jot down her question.

“Eric usually has a good temper, but when it comes to anything related to food, he just can’t control himself,” Grace explained. “He has extremely high standards for anything he eats. If he tastes something he’s not satisfied with, he’ll fly into a rage. That’s why he’s so fond of Lily-because the food she makes suits his taste perfectly.”

So that’s how it was.

Tu Nan smiled slightly and got up to help Lily clean up the shattered teacup the Prince had thrown.

Lily looked up and gave her a grateful smile.