Ronan leaned forward then touched the boy’s head, making Sasha look down in sha. Arielle stood up to welco the arrival of the king.
"You have finished talking to Priest Elis."
"Hmm, that’s how it is."
Ronan now turned to Arielle’s side. He then asked the girl to sit back down. But this ti, the man sat halfway between Arielle and Sasha.
The three of them sat side by side in front of the Altar. Sasha just looked down silently at the king’s side, feeling unworthy to sit next to soone so great.
"I heard that soone took the Cathedral’s ornants in the na of Princess Arielle?" asked Ronan making Sasha’s body stiffen for a mont.
"Don’t get wrong, Sasha just wanted-"
"Arielle, we’re in the blessing hall. It’s not very good to lie. Besides, I heard it myself earlier."
"You’ve been here ever since?"
Ronan nodded. "My talk ended early."
Sasha didn’t want to be scolded. So, while the king was talking to Princess Arielle, Sasha used the opportunity to sneak away quietly. However, his efforts were in vain because even though Ronan didn’t pay attention to him and was facing Arielle, he could still feel movent beside him.
Just before Sasha left his seat, Ronan grabbed him by the collar, making Sasha sit back down on the spot.
"Where do you want to go? You haven’t answered my question," Ronan said intimidatingly at Sasha beside him.
Arielle touched the man’s arm reminding him not to be too hard on Sasha. The boy had been on the streets for too long. Stealing must be sothing Sasha did daily.
So, without realizing it, when he saw a valuable item, he imdiately thought of taking it and selling it back. Habits were really hard to change, so Arielle tried a better approach than judging Sasha.
"I ... I ... will leave and ... I have apologized to Princess Arielle," said Sasha stamred.
"Didn’t I say yesterday that I would chop off your head if you dared to steal from the palace?"
"Your Majesty," Arielle rebuked, but Ronan didn’t hear.
Sasha clasped his hands together in fear. His feet felt cold, and his back felt like it was starting to sweat.
"Sorry," he said quietly.
Ronan was still watching the boy closely.
"I don’t usually tolerate mistakes. For this incident, I will pretend not to know. But if you repeat this, I will expel you from the palace. I won’t care whether you beco a beggar or return to the sa orphanage, I will cancel your training to beco a knight under Kael’s tutelage."
Sasha smiled widely. This ti he didn’t look scared at all. Ronan furrowed his brows behind the mask, feeling strange at the quick change in the boy’s mood.
"So it’s true that I’m going to beco a knight?" he asked with his hands cupped in front of his chest. He looked at the king expectantly. Arielle covered her lips to hold back a laugh.
Ronan looked back for a mont, and Arielle just shrugged her shoulders. The man looked back at Sasha.
"If you trained properly," said Ronan curtly.
The boy stood up and jumped for joy. "Yeah! I’m not going back to the orphanage! And I will be a knight!" he cried so loudly that it echoed through the hall.
Sasha bowed to Ronan in a salute. "I promise to be the most reliable knight in all of Northendell! Thank you for the opportunity, Your Majesty!"
Ronan, who wasn’t used to getting a thank you from a small child, just nodded. Sasha straightened himself back then smiled broadly. Ronan snorted in amusent because when the boy smiled broadly, he could see that one of the teeth on the back was missing.
Ronan had not had ti to tell Sasha to leave back into his room, the boy bumped his body, spreading his arms around both Ronan and Arielle, making them surprised.
Ronan wanted to throw Sasha’s hand that was hugging his neck tightly away but seeing Arielle, who smiled back at Sasha’s hug, the man stopped his intention. He put his hands back on his thigh because to return Sasha’s hug like Arielle only made it more awkward. The hug only lasted a few seconds.
"I’m going back to my room to start getting ready," Sasha said after letting go of his hug. The boy galloped out of the hall with the sound of his footsteps echoing.
Arielle was still laughing at Sasha’s departure. "A very sweet child. Reminds of the festival night that ti," she said.
Ronan was still silent. He sat down awkwardly touching his neck, as he was quite surprised by the hug just now. He could never get close to a small child. Even the animals were afraid of him, except for Riel and his little family.
In his eyes, Arielle looked very suitable to be a mother. The girl had a warm soul and easily loved children. Seeing Arielle hug Sasha earlier made Ronan’s heart tremble. He could imagine how she would love their children in the future.
But the problem was with him. The concept of having children was still very grey for him. Trauma in his childhood made Ronan afraid of having a child. He always thought that if he married and had a queen, Ronan would not want to have children.
But if his wife was Arielle...
"Arielle, how many children do you want?" asked Ronan making Arielle almost choke on her saliva until she coughed.
"Are you all right?" asked the man, who imdiately patted Arielle’s back lightly.
"Ahem, I’m fine," replied Arielle half-laughingly.
"So?"
"So?" asked Arielle back, making Ronan pinch the girl’s cheek in exasperation.
"How many children do you want to have after we get married?"
"I... I don’t know," Arielle replied truthfully.
Arielle shook her head slowly. She never thought about having children one day. She knew if people were married, soti later they might have children. It happened often. Arielle herself never thought about it.
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