Lady Liz was eager to reject the old beggar's pouch. Seeing how shabby and dirty the man was, she was sure the pouch he held out was dirty too.
Why would the princess accept trash for her kindness? It would be better if the old beggar just say thank you, get out of there, and stop bothering them.
However, Rowena accepted the black pouch with a sweet smile on her face. "Thank you, Grandpa. I appreciate this."
Rowena opened the bag. It contains several black seeds. There was nothing special on them. The old man might have taken them from the nearby plants, who knows what these were…
"I'll take good care of them," the princess said and kept the small pouch in her coat pocket.
The old beggar bowed his head so deeply to show his respect to Rowena.
"You are such a wonderful young woman," he said with a smile. "Beautiful on the inside as you are on the outside."
"You are too kind," Rowena smiled and covered her mouth with the back of her hand. "Thank you again for the gift."
Lady Liz didn't want Rowena to linger with that beggar. She pulled Rowena to enter the park and started their picnic.
"Eat slowly!" Rowena cried to the old man as Lady Liz dragged her away. "If your stomach has not had food for a long time, don't make it upset by eating everything at once. Take care!"
"I can't believe you almost let that dirty old man hug you, Your Highness," Lady Liz said with a winced forehead. She still looked disgusted when she remembered how the dirty robe almost touched Rowena's dress.
"You know, there is something odd about the beggar, Lady Liz," Rowena said.
"There is nothing odd about a dirty old beggar," said Lady Liz.
"No, there is one actually," Rowena insisted. "He was so dirty and his clothes were shabby, right?"
"So?" Lady Liz raised an eyebrow. "I don't see the problem?"
"Well… I do." Rowena shrugged. "He didn't smell. Weird isn't it? For someone looking so dirty and shabby, he didn't have a bad smell coming out of him. Don't you think it's weird?"
Lady Liz halted her steps and looked at Rowena, feeling impressed. This was only the princess' first day at seeing the world, but her observation, her judgment, and her wisdom were so prominent.
Rowena noticed things that regular people overlooked. She could see how the magician conned his audience of their money, and the old beggar kept a mysterious facade. Now that she thought about it, Lady Liz realized Rowena was right.
The old beggar didn't have that pungent or disgusting smell that she often got from beggars in general. So.. what actually happened?
Was he not actually a beggar and only used the dirty clothes for disguise? If that was the case… who was he? And what did he want?
"Oh shit!" Lady Liz pressed her mouth in shock. She just cursed when she suddenly suspected that the beggar might actually be a spy sent by King Draco to check on how his daughter's excursion went.
"What is it?" Rowena looked at Lady Liz seriously.
Lady Liz turned to Rowena and shook her head in frustration. "No… nothing, Your Highness. Let's find a place to eat."
"What is it?" Rowena repeated her question. "Please tell me. I am not dumb. There must be something…"
Lady Liz turned and tried to find the old beggar again to no avail. Then, she let out a long sigh.
She looked at Rowena and spoke seriously. "I am worried that His Majesty sent spies to check on us."
"Oh…" Rowena immediately understood what made Lady Liz worried. Her governess might regret having given her the freedom to play and eat sweets. If King Draco found out, he might be angry.
"What do you think?" Lady Liz asked Rowena with a low voice.
Rowena took out the pouch with five black seeds from her coat and looked at the contents intently. She remembered the old man's expression. It seemed impossible that the beggar was her father's spy. Maybe he was really a beggar and she just gave too much thought to a simple matter.
"Just throw it away," Lady Liz scrunched up her nose. "We don't know what they are anyway."
"It's okay. I want to be surprised when the seeds grow. I will plant them in the back of the castle," Rowena said. She thought about it again and added. "I don't think he is father's spy."
"Ugh.. whoever he is, let's not talk with a stranger ever again." Lady Liz sighed. "Let's go find a place to eat."
She pointed to a shady tree for their picnic and Rowena agreed. The governess then spread out a wide cloth with their basket of food and sat there, followed by Rowena.
Lady Liz hated the fact that they now had less food, but she didn't say anything. She was busy thinking about the mysterious beggar. Rowena took a chunk of the bread and started eating.
From a distance, she heard the sound of flapping wings and sure enough, Lucent was flying around in the sky above the park. The phoenix stopped at a top of the tallest roof.
Rowena lifted her hat and the bird flapped its wings again and darted swiftly toward the park. It didn't take long for Lucent to perch on the highest trunk of the same tree where Rowena was sheltering from the heat.
"Are you enjoying the festival, Your Highness?" Lady Liz asked. She took an apple and started eating too.
"I am! I love this place. The crowd, the food, the atmosphere," Rowena gushed. "All great!"
"Are you serious about bringing that dirty pouch home?" lady Liz decided to bring up the pouch from the old beggar again.
"I will never throw them away," said Rowena firmly.
"Why? You can buy more seeds of more beautiful plants, can't you?"
"Since I don't know what seeds are these, I will plant them when I get back. The plants would serve as a reminder of how much fun I had at the Almere festival today," Rowena replied as a matter of factly.
Lady Liz couldn't argue with Rowena's wish this time.. She had a point.
