Page 34 of Markets & Mooncakes

"You're welcome."

Doing things like this makes me feel normal in a way I don't think I ever have, and it has nothing to do with being a princess. I get to try things with Nate, and to indulge in the things that interest me in a way that no one else allows. My siblings try, but they have their own interests.

"What have you got?" Veronica asks as she appears beside me, seeming to have noticed that we've stopped. Either that, or the guards told her.

"Mulled wine," I say.

"Oh, I haven't had any since last winter. Do you want some, My Lady?" she asks Lady Sun Jinglan.

"I do not know what it is. I know what wine is, but not the mulled part."

"It's cooked with spices," I respond. "Cinnamon, star anise, and cloves. Do you know them?"

"I do."

"It's also got lemon in it. We get them from Someil, where our brother's wife is from," I say excitedly, glad to be on a safe topic.

"I do not believe that we have anything like this in Shengda," she says. "But I would like to try." She looks at Veronica.

"I will get some." My sister heads over to the vendor, swiftly returning with two more mugs and handing one of them to Lady Sun Jinglan.

She takes it from her and gives Veronica a smile. "Thank you, Your Highness."

My sister's face flushes in a way I don't think I've ever seen before, and she looks away. "You're welcome," she murmurs.

Nate steps closer and leans in so that only I can hear him. "I see the no-dalliance thing is going well."

I laugh. "She says that she just thinks that Lady Sun Jinglan is beautiful," I respond quietly. "And that it's normal."

"From everything I've heard the staff say about Princess Veronica, this is not normal for her."

I look at my sister and give it some consideration. I've thought something similar myself, but I thought I was just imagining it a little bit. "I have no explanation," I respond before taking a sip of my wine.

"You don't need one." He puts a free hand on the small of my back, and I lean into his touch without thinking. Even with my winter jacket trimmed in fur, I can still feel the warmth coming from him.

"It's pleasant to see you outside of the kitchens, Chef Matthews," Veronica says, clearly trying not to look at the ambassador's daughter beside her.

"You never see him in the kitchen," I point out.

"I wouldn't say never," my sister counters.

"Do you not spend time in the kitchens, Your Highness?" Lady Sun Jinglan asks.

Veronica clears her throat. "I've been there before. But I will admit that I do not know how to cook."

"Ah, that is a shame," she responds.

"It's not that I don't want to," Veronica blurts out. "I have just never had the opportunity to."

I go to open my mouth, but Nate catches my attention and shakes his head. I don't really know what's going on, but I stay quiet anyway. If he thinks that's the appropriate response, then that's what I should do.

I finish my mulled wine and return the mug to the vendor along with Nate's, leaving the other two to their conversation.

"Do you still need to go to the tea shop?" I ask Nate.

He nods. "Though I might need you to soak the lotus seeds for me tonight. I have another lesson to get to when we return to the castle, and I don't know what time I'm going to be done."

"So we can't bake tonight?" Disappointment floods through me. That's the third time this week that our time together has been cut into. I know that it's important for him to learn all of those things, but it's still disappointing.