Tania continued to let Arielle cry in her arms. Sasha had arrived with a tray of cups and a teapot of hot tea. The boy put the tray on the table and then poured the hot tea into the cup.
Sasha sat looking at the princess’s body shaking with tears. His hand reached out to gently pat the princess’s shoulder. They had three days remaining in this place before King Ronan picked them up.
Sasha had already received word that the group that would be picking them up had left the capital of Northendell, and the ship carrying the goods had sailed and would arrive at the port in two days. They would et in the capital city of Nieverdell, exactly on the tenth day.
There was a knock on Arielle’s bedroom door, and a guard appeared, looking for Sasha.
"What is it?"
The man held out a small piece of paper. There was a red circle at the end of the paper, which ant all the spies would gather for an urgent eting. Sothing had happened that required the spies to be gathered.
"When?"
"Tomorrow, at one o’clock in the afternoon, buy so fruit beforehand."
Sasha nodded in understanding. That ant further orders would be told at the place where the man selling fruit he visited a while ago was.
"I will bring Princess Arielle."
"No, soone will be with her."
The man imdiately turned around, making Sasha frown suspiciously. King Ronan would always trust him for Princess Arielle’s affairs. Who in this palace could get closer to Princess Arielle without fearing suspicion?
Sasha closed the door and then slowly tore it open.
"Who?" asked Tania.
Sasha looked at Princess Arielle, who had fallen asleep on her maid’s lap. Her eyes were red and swollen. Sasha felt really bad seeing her like this.
"An order," replied Sasha curtly.
The boy climbed onto the bed and looked at Tania.
"Tania, what makes Princess Arielle cry like this?"
Tania tidied Arielle’s hair briefly and smiled sadly at Sasha.
"Soone told her her mother’s na."
"Princess Arielle already knows who her mother is?"
"More or less. I don’t know what Duke Pellington or Prince Alexis said about Miss Mirabelle to Arielle. It must be sothing this kid is so stressed out about."
Sasha let out a long sigh.
"I don’t understand Princess Arielle’s way of thinking. Very strange. Why would they hate soone who never even spoke to them? So what did they get for that?"
Tania watched Sasha, who was deep in thought.
"How can they still accept a marriage proposal from Duke Pellington as a parent and family and play with a proposal from a king like King Ronan?"
"Sasha... you should know sothing. There are two infinite things in this world. One is the universe, and the second is human greed. And for soone greedy, part of his vision has been blinded because all they see is the goal they want to achieve."
***
Arielle woke up with very heavy eyes. She did not see Tania or Sasha in her room. The sun was shining very brightly, which ant it was noon. She looked out of her bedroom window as she heard the laughter of so of the maids. They were washing up clothes in the backyard.
She rushed to find a basin of water to wash her face.
Arielle wore more conservative clothes and went out of her room to look for the whereabouts of Sasha or Tania. She was uncomfortable if she was alone in the palace. In the backyard, she just looked without any intention of asking anyone because they were just avoiding Arielle.
Arielle passed through the sa hallway but quickly turned around when she saw Andrea walking toward her. The girl nodded slowly. What more could her sister want after these few quiet days? The only reason Andrea was in this part of the palace must be because she wanted to see Arielle.
There was no way that woman would be there just to summon a maid or bodyguard. Arielle chose to hide behind the kitchen door as long as possible. Arielle wanted to keep her interactions with her family to a minimum.
After confirming that Andrea had passed, Arielle ran fast. No matter what, Arielle would spend her ti outside the palace. The back gate of the palace was in front of her eyes. While hiding herself, Arielle walked briskly with her head down towards the gate.
"Princess, where are you going today?" asked a guard who saw Arielle alone.
It was not a rare sight to see Arielle leave the palace alone. There was no special guard for Arielle like her other siblings, so the guards just thought that Arielle was looking to et her friends at the market as usual.
"I just wanted to see my friend for a bit."
"Oh, not with Tania or your little maid?" asked the guard.
"They are doing other work. I’ll be ho before nightfall."
"Okay, be careful!"
Arielle nodded and left the gate with such ease.
"May I join?" asked a man who was standing leaning against a tree outside the palace.
The man lowered his hood, making Arielle sigh in disappointnt. She didn’t know where all her luck went because she again t her brother, Archie.
"Archie? What are you doing here?"
"I was just waiting for soone, but the person I was waiting for didn’t co, then I saw you out of the palace."
Arielle wanted to refuse the man but Archie continued to approach her while not accepting the refusal. Arielle could only nod and let the man walk beside her.
"Aren’t you worried if soone sees with you, Archie?" asked Arielle, trying to remind Archie that the man had said he didn’t want to be seen alone with a witch’s child like her. That was one of Arielle’s ways to tell the man so he wouldn’t follow her.
"Easy, I would say if I accidentally bumped into you and leave. Why make it difficult?"
"Ah, sorry," the girl mumbled.
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