The convoy ambled along and only arrived at Munashii Temple in the evening. The abbot of Munashii Temple, Gautama Damma had already waited outside with a bunch of people.
Mary and the others were covered with drapery hats tightly and they went inside the temple with the help of the maidens. Knowing that they had an exhausting journey, Gautama Damma, being thoughtful, quickly let several young priests whose hair had just grown guide them to the guest room for a rest.
Amy’s body was not feeling well, therefore she stayed with the side consort, while Grace had her own room. As for Luna and Mary, they shared a room together. Upon entering the room, Angelica and Azuki began arranging the luggage and helped Mary to change her clothes. Once she had done changing, the maiden of the side consort, Margaret then came and delivered the side consort’s message that they need not greet her due to the exhausting journey and they can have their dinner on their own.
Munashii Temple had prepared quality vegetarian foods, yet Luna complained that she was not used to the food and went to try Mary’s desserts cheekily, without forgetting to bring along the dews and sweet sauce she made.
To be frank, Luna was talented in making these things, at least Mary felt that there was not much difference with the fruit jam she tasted at the moment.
Having a good mood, Mary joked on Luna, “Luna sis, your handcrafting skills are absolutely splendid. If you sell these I guarantee that they would be so popular that the supply is unable to meet the demand.”
Mary only said it casually, yet Luna’s eyes suddenly lit up and she replied, “Mary sis, what if I really go and open up a store?”
Mary was shocked and she sighed, “Luna sis, you really are hasty. It’s not that easy to open a store.”
Luna’s face immediately went dull and said spiritlessly, “I was only saying, I’m not rich like you now.”
Mary could not help but let out a laugh, she asked, “Are you lacking money recently? If so, I can lend you some and you don’t need to return to me afterwards.”
Luna quickly waved her hands and replied, “You had a tougher life in the palace than me, at least I still have my mother, yet you don’t have anything besides this money so how could I take it from you? Besides, I need plenty of money so I couldn’t be possible to always take it from you.”
Mary asked out of curiosity, “Luna sis, why do you need so much money?”
A blush rose to Luna’s cheeks, she looked around and lowered down her voice, saying, “Please don’t make fun of me. Amy is now engaged, while Grace as the eldest sister, her marriage will soon be decided too. After that it would be our turn. You’re the daughter of the formal queen, so no matter how much you’re not loved, your dowry would still be ample to maintain the pride of the regent household. Grace and Amy have the side consort, and Grace is even the eldest daughter, therefore she does not need to worry about the dowry. While for me, Concubine Talbert though is able to talk to father, yet it won’t get me much dowry. I could not bear to let my mother worry about me, therefore I want to think of a way to get me the money.”
Luna glanced at Mary embarrassingly, seeing Mary serious and did not intend to make fun of her, she felt relieved and then continued, “The reasons why I research rose dew, rose cream, plum blossom wine, apricot blossom jam all these things are, firstly, because I do like it, and secondly, I want to discover something out of it that might help me to earn some money.”
Luna’s words had touched Mary’s heart deeply. These days, she had discovered that during this era, even a small regent household would be tougher to manage without money. If there was money, not only they could be more relaxed in terms of eating and drinking, but also be more generous when giving gratuities to the servants. The servants would be more cautious to do what she had ordered even if they only did it for the money.
The money which worth one thousand and two silvers that Ralph gave would soon run out and there was a limitation for the money she took monthly which worth only ten silvers. Coming to think about it, Mary discovered that she was the same as Luna as both of them lacked money. Luna earned money for her dowry while for her, it was perhaps to detach from regent household in the future and build her own wonderland.
“Luna sis, if I’m willing to help you open your store, could I become a shareholder of your store?”
Luna was initially lacking energy, having heard Mary’s words, her eyes rounded with excitement, “Seriously?”
Mary nodded her head firmly, “Certainly.” Her impression to Ralph was good at the moment, therefore she decided to fawn on him and seize the opportunity to plead for Luna’s store once she returned from Munashii Temple. She reckoned that Ralph might not find her request to be overly difficult.
With Mary’s help, Luna had her tail up and asked the maidens to get the capes, wanting to view the apricot blossoms with Mary in the middle of the night.
Mary agreed since she had no choice and also because she wanted to have a walk outside too.
Luna was too excited that she blabbered all the way, “Mary sis, you must have not known, people said that Munashii Temple has a huge apricot blossom forest. The apricots have blossomed during this season and the flowers are gonna be so pretty under the moonlight.”
Mary lifted her head and looked at the night sky. The moon tonight was indeed beautiful. The first quarter of the moon hung on the sky, giving out a sense of mindfulness yet dazzling. “Luna sis, have you not been to Munashii Temple before?”
Luna was suddenly upset and replied, “No. The side consort always brought Grace and Amy sis out but never you and me. Even if there’s guest, she would ask Grace and Amy sis to serve but it would never be me.”
Both of them talked to each other and reached the apricot blossom forest behind the temple. The flowers looked as pure as snow and also as wonderful as a young lady’s face when being shined by the cold moonlight.
Luna who was blabbering just now went stunned right away, looking at the flowers without blinking an eye.
Mary teased Luna, saying that she looked like a goon but Luna ignored her. She pulled out the jade flute on her waist and played a tune skillfully. Suddenly remembering something, she pushed Mary and said, “I’ve seen you learning drawing from Mr. Booth before and he even complimented you that your drawing skills improve fast. Why don’t you draw down the amazing scenery in front of you and give me the drawing as a gift during my birthday?”
Mary refused, “My drawing skill is insignificant like carving worm-like characters so how could I possibly draw down the amazing scenery in front of me?” She learnt Chinese drawing in her previous life and that was why she had a fast improvement when she learnt drawing from Mr. Booth.
Luna rolled her eyes and said, “Stop being humble to me. Even if your drawing does not score a perfect ten over ten, there must be at least eight or nine points.”
Giving in towards her badgering, she threw up her hands and replied, “Even if I do want to draw for you, I didn’t bring anything so I couldn’t.”
Luna stomped her foot, “Go back now and let Angelica and Azuki to prepare the things for you. If the desk is too heavy to be lifted then ask Jewel and Jade to help.” Both of them did not bring the maidens out and the four maidens were now chatting happily with each other in their room.
Mary looked around, making sure the surrounding of the forest was safe and asked, “Would you be fine staying alone here?”
Luna replied disdainfully, “You’ve underestimated me, I ‘m even afraid that you’ll lose your way.”
After giving a few more instructions, Mary then covered herself tightly with the cape and returned following the path they came.
She was worried that Luna would feel scared waiting alone in the forest, therefore she sped up her pace but unexpectedly she bumped into someone when she was going around a cloister.
Mary felt painful on her forehead from the bump, she looked up angrily and heard gasps in the surrounding, following by a deadly silence.
Mary was also shocked as the person who had bumped into her was actually the handsome man speeding along the streets on his horse this afternoon. She never expected to meet him again at Munashii Temple.
Now Mary knew the man had a highly prestigious status. He must be an extraordinary character that the abbot of Munashii Temple, Gautama Damma dared to take the risk of offending Lord Regent just to let him in.
Upon looking away from him, she guessed out his identity as the other man standing beside him was actually the fourth prince, Sebastian Stuart!
Ever since she got rid of the poison in her body, Mary had become an irresistible beauty in the country. Naturally, Sebastian Stuart would not realize that the beauty in front of him was actually the idiotic fifth daughter of the Debeur family who used to disgust him.
Sebastian’s eyes lit up and with a smile, he asked, “Hey little maiden, which family does you belong to?”
Mary did not have a good impression of Sebastian and decided to ignore him, she only bowed to the handsome man as an apology and was ready to go through them from another path.
Yet Sebastian was not wanting to let Mary go, he moved and blocked her path, “Little maiden, you probably did not know who I am? The one you bumped into was my ninth brother, as for me, I’m……”
“Okay, Sebastian, stop fooling around and let the lady go,” another person spoke. Sebastian curled his lip having heard of that and actually moved aside.
Mary was shocked, the eldest prince, Henry Stuart was the only one who managed to call Sebastian’s name and still made him obey his order.
She counted in her heart and there were indeed nine men in front of her.
The current emperor, Julius Stuart had nine sons who were all grown up. The eldest prince, Henry Stuart was the only son of the formal queen. He was given the title ‘crown prince’ when he was born and he had an extremely honorable status. The second prince, Iago Stuart and the fifth prince, Ivo Stuart were given birth by Concubine Marilyn. Iago had an indifferent personality and almost did not care for world affairs, so was Ivo who was apathetic, both brothers were masters that did not like to cause trouble. The third prince, Hector Stuart liked martial arts and was honest therefore he was fond of by the emperor while the fourth prince, Sebastian Stuart was a playboy that enjoyed looking for beauties.
The sixth prince, Jared Stuart and the seventh prince, Jesse Stuart were twins, both of them had thick, knife-shaped eyebrows and big, glittering eyes. While the eighth prince, Leonard Stuart’s biological mother had a low status yet he was loved and respected by the people for his maturity.
The ninth prince, James Stuart was the handsome man that bumped into Mary. It was said that his mother died due to difficulty in giving birth to him therefore the emperor did not like the ninth prince much. Although the ninth prince had inherited her mother’s divine looks, yet he was weak and prone to illness since young, making him look like an elegant scholar.