Page 22 of Knotted By the Triad

She looked pissed off. A memory flitted through my mind of Allie and me in the countryside, getting into arguments with anyone who tried to mistreat us. We’d always held our own when others looked down on us.

“But,” she continued. “When I tried to use the kitchen’s ingredients, they told me I’d have to get permission from the princes first.”

I cocked my head to the side. “We need permission just to use the kitchen?”

She nodded. “So, I went in search of the princes.”

That’s my Allie.

“They’re at Mei Lin’s courtyard,” she told me.

Of course, they are. I mean, where else would they be other than with their precious Lin’er?

“And the guard standing at her courtyard’s entrance told me not to disturb the princes’ breakfast with their princess. So, I wasn’t able to get permission to make breakfast for you. And now the kitchen won’t even resend the porridge. I’m sorry, princess.”

“There’s no need for you to apologize. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

Allie sighed. “I’ve failed you. All I was able to steal was some fruit from the kitchen before they kicked me out.”

She reached into her pocket and pulled out two apples. I looked at the apples, then at her.

“You’ve been busy,” I told her, unable to stop myself from smiling as I accepted one.

She tried to give me the other one too, but I pushed it back toward her.

“You keep one. We can snack on these later.”

I turned the apple over in my hand as my stomach gave another angry growl. Two stolen apples weren't going to fill us up. I may not be the princes’ beloved, but I wasn’t going to let them mistreat me.

“As for breakfast,” I started. “I’m starving, so we’re going to eat. And we’re not going to eat some cold porridge. We’re going to enjoy a feast.”

Allie blinked at me. “We are?”

“Yes.”

I pushed myself to my feet again, much more carefully this time. The room didn’t spin, and I no longer felt dizzy.

“Where are my clothes?” I asked. “I need to get dressed and go find the alphas who hate me. It’s time for me to establish some rules around here.”

Allie frowned. “But princess, what if they get mad at you?”

“Fuck their anger. They don’t have to love me. But they’re rich. So I expect them to at least make sure I have enough food to eat. She can have their hearts. But I’m going to get into their pockets. Let’s hurry before they leave her courtyard.”

Allie helped me dress. I’d chosen a dark-colored hanfu dress adorned with silver designs and a silver sash at my waist. The dress was a spaghetti-strap style, but I wore a light, sheer, kimono-style jacket over it.

I knew there was a proper name for it, but I just couldn’t recall it from the books. I’d chosen a dress with a neckline that plunged a hint lower than the others. There was nothing wrong with showing off a little cleavage.

Allie complained about my choice the entire time she helped me into it. According to her, I should have worn one of the pale pink dresses in my wardrobe or even the pretty yellow one she'd pulled out for me.

She said they made me look more demure and sweet, which was what the princes liked. I gave zero fucks about what the princes liked. Plus, black was my favorite color. Brown was a close second.

If I'd had a black freakum dress, I would've worn that. Hmm... maybe I should start a clothing line in this realm. If I truly couldn’t leave this place, the least I could do was introduce these people to some modern fashion.

I looked into the mirror over my vanity. This was one of the modern conveniences CiCi had sprinkled throughout the book. She’d done her research and learned that polished bronze or copper mirrors were the ones she should put in her book.

Yet, she’d insisted that in her dreams, the mirrors were modern and made of glass. In fact, this realm had tons of modern conveniences. Like bathrooms, refrigerators, and... well, I couldn’t think of them all right now.

When she’d been writing this series, I’d laughed when she said those things had to be in the story because they’d been in her dreams. In later books, she revealed that witches and some realm travelers brought those modern conveniences from other realms to this one.