Ade left my room momentarily and returned a few minutes later, holding a paper in her hand.
"The head maid gave me this," she said, passing me the paper.
I reached for the paper she held and read out the content.
It says here that I have a thousand gold and five-hundred silvers in total. One gold is equivalent to fifty silvers and one silver is equivalent to a hundred coppers.
It does seem quite a lot but at the same time, it's not. A princess with parents that governs the kingdom, I would think the minimum would be a hundred thousand gold, but I might just be asking for too much.
"Does the head maid control the funds of the palace?" I questioned, looking at her.
Ade nodded and explained, "The palace has an accountant, but the head maid is responsible for distributing payments to us and managing your allowances as well. I've also heard that she oversees funds for repairs and decorations."
Basically, the head maid is like my boss.
"Is it the head maids responsibility?" I asked further.
Ade hesitated before responding, "Well, originally, you were tasked with handling those responsibilities. However, there were some errors in the process, and as a result, they had no choice but to assign the head maid to take charge of it instead."
That's why I always find it weird that I don't have many responsibilities as a Princess. It's almost as if they consider me bothersome and just let me do as I please.
"May I ask how much money you get every month, Ade?" I questioned further.
"I receive about five hundred gold each month," Ade replied.
"I see," I said, smirking.
Maybe there's a corrupt person here trying to fend off from my budget or that my parents only gave me this much because they don't want me to over spend. Or maybe they just don't care at all, and all I can have is the left over money when everyone's done getting paid.
I'll have to go to the accountant and try to sort this out, but I'll do that another time.
"Well, what do you think Dahlia would like? Do you have an idea?"
"You might have forgotten, but my wife is the second in command of the knights! I'll ask her for you." She said proudly.
"Eh~ You're quite head over hills in love with your wife." I teased.
"Of course! I love her with all my heart." Ade blushed.
"B-but she confessed to me first hehe~ I got lucky." Ade clasped both her hands together.
Well, who wouldn't fall for Ade? She has a robust chest and a pretty face. Though she's quite shorter than me, she's very capable and easy to get along with. Anyone would be captivated by her emerald eyes that glimmer.
After that, we both ended the night and Ade went back to her own room. The next morning, Ade continued to assist me with etiquette training and helped me memorize the names and families of the aristocrats who are likely to attend Dahlia's birthday celebration.
Later that evening, Ade went to my room and gave me news of what Dahlia wanted for her birthday, she wants absolutely nothing!
Great news! Now we don't have to worry about giving her anything.
But Ade insisted that we needed to give her a gift as a sign of respect, sigh.
She mentioned that the last gift I gave her was a golden sword, but she didn't use it and instead gave it to another knight. It seems that putting effort into choosing a gift might be a waste.
So, let's just give her a handkerchief, the expensive kind. I'm sure she wouldn't even bother opening it, but at least I'd be giving her something.
The next morning, we left the palace and headed to a nearby town. To avoid drawing attention and potential theft, we dressed in modest clothing and went to a fancy clothing shop.
I honestly thought that the clothes at the shop would have price tags on them, but no, a sales lady had to follow us everywhere, and before she would reveal the price, she would tell us who tailored them and what the inspiration of the design was.
And when she finally discloses the prices, I couldn't help but twitch. The less expensive clothes were priced at one hundred gold, while the more expensive ones were a staggering fifty thousand gold.
Like damn.
I'd rather buy myself food rather than wear a fifty thousand gold dress. Plus, I only have a thousand gold and five hundred silvers with me.
I never knew I'd still feel poor, even though I'm a Princess.
I let out a heavy sigh, and we left the shop. I could sense the sales lady who had been assisting us glaring at our shoulders. I'm pretty sure she thought we had wasted her time since we didn't end up buying anything from the shop, haha.
After visiting several shops, we found that everything was still very expensive. But, after carefully looking around, we finally settled on buying a handkerchief! Each piece cost a hundred gold, and I ended up purchasing five of them.
Sure, I could have embroidered a handkerchief myself, but the thought of it was just a pain in the ass.
As we exited the shop, we were greeted by the delightful aroma of kabobs from a nearby vendor, just a few feet away. It smelled absolutely delicious.
"Welcome, ladies! Would you like some kabobs? They're only five coppers a piece!" The vendor winked.
"Give us four please!" I said and smiled.
"Here you go!" The vendor handed us the kabobs, and I gave him one silver coin.
"Keep the change!" I winked at him.
"Thank you!"
"B-but Zinnia, we shouldn't be eating the food made from the streets." Ade said, sounding worried.
Even though Ade was a maid, she actually came from a rich family and was told not to eat peasant food, as it might make her fall sick.
"Fear not, Ade! This is a delicious delicacy, try it!" I encouraged her, handing her a kabob while taking a bite of mine. The juicy and flavorful meat seemed to melt inside my mouth.
Ade hesitated at first but decided to take a bite. As she chewed on the meat, her face lit up with delight.
"W-what is this?!" Ade exclaimed, finishing the whole kabob. I chuckled and handed her another piece, which she eagerly accepted.
"Well, well, well, I'm guessing you want more?" I teased, enjoying her newfound enthusiasm for the tasty street food.
I smirked at her, and she nodded profusely in agreement.
"No can do!" I said, shaking my head playfully.
Her crestfallen face made me chuckle.
"Because you wouldn't have room for any other food. Let's go on a food adventure!" I cheerfully said, grabbing her wrist.
We moved from one food stall to another, exploring a variety of delicious treats.
As a peasant myself in my previous life, street foods rule! Granted, some street food could upset your stomach, but they were still incredibly tasty!
We ate a lot, and eventually, we decided to take a break from our street food hunting. Ade was exhausted, so we found a bench to rest on.
Now that I looked around, it really felt like a fairy tale. The street was still busy even though it was dawn, and I noticed a flyer that flew by our feet. Out of curiosity, I picked it up to see what it was about.
Oh~ It seems there will be a festival on the day of Princess Dahlia's birthday. It is to honor the knight who brought hope and light to the people of the kingdom.
Everyone loves Dahlia, but sadly, no one knows about Zinnia. It's quite sad, but I'm happy for Dahlia though. I'm sure the festival will be a lot of fun. I might even try to sneak out of the party and come here instead.
After our street food adventure, we returned to the palace. Unfortunately, Ade had an upset stomach the next day and had to take the day off. I'm afraid she wouldn't want to eat any street food anytime soon.
Sorry, Ade.