"Did he do sothing to you, Sasha?" Aie asked once again.
Sasha nodded. He recalled the first unpleasant encounter with Lazarus. The man threw him into a pile of snow when Sasha drew a wooden sword and asked him to have a duel.
Sasha told Aie how unfair Lazarus’ behaviour was towards him. He still held a grudge when that man forced him to wear won’s clothes while undercover to the South.
Arielle listened to Sasha’s story with an awkward feeling. anwhile, Aie was very focused on listening to the child’s complaints. She also conveyed the sa thing about how Lazarus kept teasing her because she had a fat and ugly body than girls her age did.
After sharing awful stories about Lazarus, Sasha no longer felt shy when he talked with Aie. Arielle only listened to their talks because she didn’t have much to say about Lazarus.
Maybe yesterday the man had bothered her by constantly looking for her, but Arielle didn’t hold a grudge towards Lazarus as Sasha and Aie felt.
***
Arielle didn’t expect ti to pass so quickly. It was already night. The carriage sent by Viscount Ferdi had been in front of the Whitethorn Palace to pick up Sasha. Arielle hugged the child once again.
"See you later. Take good care of Crimson, okay?" The boy nodded, then entered the carriage. Aie also waved behind Arielle to escort her new little friend away.
"See you again, Your Highness. I’m glad I could spend ti with you again. And please don’t forget your promise!"
Arielle nodded, then waved her hand until the carriage left the front yard of Whitethorn Palace. Sasha repeatedly reminded her about their promise so that Arielle didn’t forget about it. It seed the boy really wanted to go camping with Kael and the knights again.
Aie walked beside Arielle.
"Today is a nice day," said Arielle. Aie nodded in agreent while smiling at the princess.
Arielle and Aie had talked about a lot of things to get to know each other. Though, most of their talks were just trivial things. Now, Arielle would take Aie to et with Ronan.
"Sasha is an adorable child," said Aie, to which Arielle nodded her head.
"That kid has helped a lot in my difficult tis. I love him very much."
"I can see it, Your Highness. You are a person who can truly love everyone. That was my first impression when I t you."
Arielle chuckled. "I just did what my heart told to do."
"Miss Ai-"
Arielle turned to the side, looking for the whereabouts of Aie, who suddenly disappeared. There was no trace of her footprints in the snow.
"Princess, what are you looking for on a cold night like this?" Lazarus asked. He approached Arielle with William.
It seed like Lazarus and William had t Ronan. Arielle just stood there awkwardly.
"Um... I felt cold and wanted to take a walk."
Lazarus frowned. He didn’t understand the princess’s words at all. It was really contradictory. Why did Arielle take a walk if she felt cold?
Arielle glanced at William, who also looked at her in confusion. She blinked her eyes several tis, giving a code to William through her eyes.
"Ah, I heard Aie visited today. Had she gone ho? Or did she stay in the palace? Did you know which room Aie rests in?" Lazarus asked while approaching Arielle, but William imdiately put his arm around his friend’s shoulder.
"Seriously, Lazarus? What’s wrong with you looking for Aie persistently? Aie had gone ho. I saw the carriage had left the palace?"
"Is that true? Why didn’t you tell ?" Lazarus protested angrily at William.
"Because I don’t think it matters! Now, co join for a drink. I’m so tired of the work Ronan gave ," William said, and he imdiately covered his mouth, almost forgetting that Arielle was still there. "I’m sorry, Your Highness," he said, feeling guilty for speaking badly of Ronan in front of the princess.
Arielle just smiled. "It’s all right, William. Don’t forget to rest tonight. Please, don’t drink too much, so you don’t get sick tomorrow."
"Thank you, Your Highness. I will rember it."
William dragged Lazarus to go with him. Lazarus was still protesting because William didn’t tell him about Aie’s arrival at the palace earlier.
After the two n left, the bushes covered by thick snow on Arielle’s side moved, and Aie ca out from there.
"Oh my gosh, Miss Aie!" Arielle rushed to help the girl out of the hiding. She brushed off the remaining snow from Aie’s hair and dress. She didn’t expect Aie to go this far to avoid Lazarus.
"Thank you, Your Highness," Aie said after being helped by Arielle to clean her body from the snow.
"How long are you going to avoid Lazarus like this?’
Aie clenched her fists determinedly.
"Until the end of my life," she replied without the slightest hesitation.
"Miss Aie..." Arielle was speechless. Yet, she would let Aie do as the girl wished.
However, it would be difficult to avoid Lazarus in the future. Lazarus always spent the rest of his ti wandering around the palace in the unexpected place. No matter how much Aie tried to avoid Lazarus, surely one day they would cross paths by accident.
Arielle invited Aie to et Ronan after all the snow had gone from the girl’s dress.
When they visited Ronan, he was talking to the chamberlain. Arielle bent her head slightly to greet the chamberlain as the man left the room. Ronan stood up from his chair and grabbed Arielle’s body to stand beside him.
"How was your day? Did you enjoy your ti with Sasha?"
The girl nodded. "Sasha told a lot about his new family."
"Aren’t you sad?"
"Not at all because Sasha seed happy with them."
Arielle released Ronan’s hand from her waist. "Ronan, Miss Aie wants to see you."
Ronan looked at the brown-haired girl with the freckles on her face.
"Aie?"
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