Arielle hugged Archie again, making Archie smile in relief. For so reason, Arielle’s hug felt different from the hugs of his other siblings. He often hugged Andrea, Annelise, Annie, and his other sisters, but he had never felt such a peaceful feeling as this.
Maybe he couldn’t erase his childhood sins completely, but with this hug, Archie could know that he still had a second chance to compensate for what he had done.
"Am I the only one here who will never get a welco hug?" asked Lazarus after clearing his throat, trying to get Arielle’s attention. He pouted his lips, looking like he was wronged big ti.
"Johan, I need a private room to talk for a bit!" said William calling the innkeeper. The man then invited William to co with him.
Arielle let go of her arms for a mont and turned to Kael and Lazarus who were smiling broadly at her. Arielle reached out and patted Lazarus on the shoulder lightly. "I’m glad to et you again," said Arielle making Lazarus purse his lips.
William called Kael, Lazarus, Archie, and Arielle to a small room. The place looked quite luxurious for a simple inn in the middle of the capital city. There was a rectangular table, surrounded by eight chairs and a cupboard with rows of alcoholic drinks.
William pulled out a chair at the end of the table for Arielle to sit on.
"Oh? Where’s Sasha?" asked William, who had just realized that there was no Sasha near Arielle.
William still rembered well Sasha’s threat to kill Lazarus at their first eting again for making him wear won’s clothes. William thought after arriving in Nieverdell he could enjoy a bit of drama watching Lazarus being beaten by a child.
"I haven’t been with Sasha all this ti," answered Arielle. Since she woke up she had not found the child at all. "Earlier, when I t the fruit seller, the man said that Sasha and Tania had co back to the palace."
William turned to Archie, who took the seat beside Arielle. "I’ve delegated the tasks for Sasha to go alone and Arielle with ."
"Is Sasha still under suspicion?"
"Alexis is on alert at the mont. Right now, everyone is watching him. I’ve also been under surveillance ever since I went to the port back then."
"Are you safe here?" asked Kael, who had just opened his mouth after being silent for a long ti.
"It’s safe because I used my permission to buy dresses for Andrea and Annalise before going to the port tomorrow."
"Wait a minute, let ask them again."
William left the eting room. Lazarus knocked on the table in front of Arielle.
"Princess, how are you? We all miss you."
"I’m fine," Arielle replied briefly.
"Hah... nice to hear that. Without you, the Blackthorn Palace felt like hell," Lazarus muttered after taking a deep breath. The man rested his chin on his palm while wearing a sad expression. "Ronan really, really drains our energy. The man didn’t rest at all, and neither did the rest of us. I even had to give up my beloved ship..."
"Lazarus..." Kael suddenly scolded the man. He felt that Princess Arielle didn’t need to know much about the preparations they were doing, but Lazarus had a different opinion.
For almost ten days, he worked like a horse. Ronan and William didn’t even hear his protest. He needed soone who was so understanding and would appreciate his hard work.
"Is it that tiring? Sorry if it got you this tired. I hope you don’t get sick," said a worried Arielle.
Kael stepped on Lazarus’ toe as a code that what Lazarus said actually made Arielle sad. Lazarus, who had no intention of worrying Arielle, stuttered a little.
"B-but I do it with pleasure, Princess. Even, if I think that what I did is for you, all tiredness instantly disappeared completely," said Lazarus trying to correct his speech error earlier.
Archie chuckled as he saw Lazarus stuttering in front of his sister. Archie found it amusing to see a famous sea adventurer act childish in front of his sister. Archie turned to Arielle, who was smiling broadly. Lazarus, who heard his chuckle gave Archie a sharp look.
"Shut up, Nieverdell’s scum!" Lazarus growled, making Archie cough in his place.
"Lazarus!"
"Lazarus!"
Arielle and Kael reprimanded Lazarus at the sa ti, making the admiral close his mouth tightly. Archie smiled lopsidedly when he realized that Arielle defended him more than Lazarus. The man turned to his younger sister who was laughing a little. Then he looked away toward the window.
Arielle was a good girl, but why couldn’t he see it before? Why was it that now when soone was about to take her to a new kind of happiness, Archie felt a little sad?
No matter what, he couldn’t keep Arielle by his side forever. He never acted like a big brother to her. So it was totally inappropriate for Archie to ask Arielle to stay around him longer.
"Oh yeah, how did Archie suddenly cooperate with the North? When did you guys et?" asked Arielle.
"We’ve t a few tis actually. At that ti, William ca to the South as a delegate to the eting of the four great kingdoms. He was representing King Ronan, who was unable to attend," explained Archie.
He added, "Then it so happened that Alexis accidentally shot a wolf at a hunting party. After you were dispatched to the North, Duke Pellington arrived with the marriage proposal. Father imdiately accepted it without a second thought."
Archie looked at Arielle with an expression of pity. He said, "I wonder why Father is so quick to accept soone’s proposal. Sorry if I have to say this. To the royal family, you are of no value at all and when soone cos with a high offer for you, Father just accepts it."
Arielle bit her lip. She felt horrified that her own father was willing to sell her to an old man like Duke Pellington. She couldn’t believe King Hugo ever really loved her mother if this was how he treated his own daughter.
Reviews
All reviews (0)