The Romantic Trials Of A Transmigrated Empress-Chapter 305: Gossip in the Thorin kitchen.

"Starting with me." Lady Iryne joined them. She brought with her a string quartet and they settled down. "Mauve tells me that you are not in a good mood. I brought you some instrumentalists to play you some music. If you need someone to sing, I can hire the three beauties as well."

She did not give Sigrid a moment to say yes or no and instructed the instrumentalists to begin.

*****

In the kitchen meanwhile, a storm of gossip had already been initiated among the servants. They were all pretentiously lingering in the large kitchen under the guise of of doing kitchen related tasks. Some were sitting around a table, eating afternoon snacks and making last minute preparations before serving lunch.

The subject of East Ridley’s good looks was livelier than the clatter of iron pots and rich scent of roasting duck.

"I have never seen a man so handsome in my life." The head cook, muttered as she piled fried bread onto a tray. Her voice was rich with excitement and her eyes sparkled. "My God! it is such a shame that he is not a noble lord."

"He is still the son of a noble family Martha." Rex, a footman reminded the head cook. "Just because the word Lord is missing from his name does not mean he is less privileged than his brother that will inherit their father’s title."

Rosalind who had long grown used to life among the servants happily rushed down the steps leading into the kitchen. " Oh have you see Mister East’s jaw! His eyes! Like midnight and a storm rolled into one!"

"I did." Nina, a scullery maid, dramatically fanned herself with a cabbage leaf. "If our Lady was not the crown princess I would be rooting for her to take down Mister East. I saw the way he was looking at her before the peacocks took him for a run."

The servants laughing, drowning out the clash of glass on the floor as one of the lady Iryne’s maids slipped.

"Speaking of the crown princess, have you noticed that she returned with a lot of her luggage. I counted and it was ten suitcases. I hate to say this but something is going on." Lynette, a parlor maid shared. She had been in the courtyard when the suitcases were offloaded.

Rex gasped suddenly, his right hand wrist went limp as he collapsed into a chair as if his legs had lost all strength. "It cannot be what I am thinking. When my sister returned home with all of her luggage two months ago, it was to share the news of her divorce." He looked at Penna, a nursery maid that had been hired as soon as Deanne’s pregnancy was announced. "Do you think that our lady is divorcing?"

Mirrored gasps like those that had escaped Rex’s mouth were heard all through the kitchen. Another glass was shattered.

"Have you lost your mind Rex?" Penna hit him on the back with a rolling pin. She was gentle because Rex was a weakling. "The crown princess is royalty and royalty does not divorce."

"They just wither like Queen Maurelia and vanish until you hear of their mysterious death." Martha chimed in with skepticism. freёweɓnovel.com

Rosalind’s eyes widened. "Surely that will not be the fate of our crown princess. The crown prince is very much in love with her. He would never divorce her."

"It doesn’t mean he would never take up with another woman." Augustina, a chambermaid walked into the kitchen with a mysterious smile on her face. "I have a cousin that works as a chamber maid in the royal palace. I met her in the market one hour ago and she said something big had happened in the castle. But she wouldn’t tell what it was. She just said the crown prince is truly his father’s son when it comes to women."

More dramatic gasps followed, fewer than before as some of the servants were confused about what Augustina meant.

Augustina whose mouth was itching to trade what she knew looked up at the stairs and then she whispered, "The king married the queen but loved consort Rina and on the day of her funeral, he took another consort immediately. I am not sure what my cousin meant but I can guess that the big thing that happened must be related to a woman."

"I don’t know what is going on but Lady Mauve said that they would be staying a while and she gave us all clear instructions on how to keep the crown princess’s bedroom neat and freshly scented all day." Linda, another chamber mind shared.

"I heard Lady Christie is coming over as well. Lanai, Lama, Bella and all the other maids are returning. They were delayed because they are picking up some things from The Vale. I am telling you, the crown princess must be planning to divorce. You don’t pack up and leave your husband’s home with everything unless you don’t plan to go back." Augustina whispered in a sure voice.

Mickey, Elowin’s valet could not agree more. "Aye, I knew the union be doomed from the very moment I caught wind that she laid a right good fist to his eye on the very day they be makin’ their vows."

He reminded everyone of the old rumor that Sigrid had punched Roland on the morning of their wedding.

Tom, one of the gardeners had a brilliant idea. "I know how we can find out. My brother’s wife has a cousin whose suitor has a brother that works at the castle as a red knight. I will send word and ask about which women have been to see the crown prince lately, particularly today."

He looked around, searching for an excuse to leave the estate grounds without raising suspicion.

"We are out of salt." Martha slapped the kitchen counter. "Which one of you let Mister John into the kitchen again?"

Tom was already on his feet meanwhile, "I will go and buy more salt."

He run out of the kitchen so fast, forgetting to take the money for the salt.

"I hope they don’t divorce. But if they do, I hope our Lady marries Lord East. Their babies would be the most beautiful babies in the world." Penna sighed sighed. And she would volunteer to take care of those babies at no charge.

Just then, slow but firm footsteps where hears on the steps and the servants started to scatter as they were familiar with those footsteps. The butler strode in with that dangerous air of authority.

"What are you all doing down here?" He barked. "Don’t you know that we have guests and the duchess is demanding that lunch be served already. How many times must I tell you not to gossip at the wrong time? What were you all whispering about this time?"

Silence.

Maids rushed out with trays of food, glasses and cutlery.

Rex stood and said, "We were discussing what kind of desert the crown princess and Lord East would prefer. Everyone else has already responded but we never heard back from them."

The butler snorted. He did not believe them for a single second. Gossip in this kitchen brewed more than any soup or tea they prepared.