"Aie?"
"Your Majesty, it is a pleasure to see you again after such a long ti."
"I didn’t think you would change so much."
"Well, at least this way no one will call fat-Aie again, right?" Aie asked, making Ronan chuckle.
"Please, sit down," Ronan said, inviting Aie to sit on the couch.
Ronan also asked Arielle to sit on the single-couch where he always sat when receiving guests. anwhile, he chose to sit on the arm of the couch that Arielle occupied.
"How are you?" Ronan asked.
"I am doing well. How about you, Your Majesty? I heard you were sick a few days ago. Ronan D. Blackthorn could be sick too, huh?"
Ronan laughed loudly. Arielle didn’t expect Ronan to laugh like that with soone else. Maybe it was because Aie was Kael’s younger sister, and they had known each other long enough that Ronan didn’t have to put on his cold attitude anymore.
"I’m fine. I heard from Kael you ran away from ho, eh?"
Aie put on a sour face, then nodded languidly.
"You should have co to . I can help you."
"Well, I didn’t think about it. I’m too emotional, and I don’t want to et Lazarus."
"Ah... it turns out that you still hold a grudge against that man. I thought William and Kael just exaggerated the story."
"You know how Lazarus is... This afternoon I t him in the town, and he didn’t recognize . Ugh, looking back on it disgusts so much."
"In the town? I was out of the palace with Lazarus today. Could it be that you are the girl who pushed him to the ground?"
"You were there, too? Yes, that’s . I was so disgusted when he held my hand that I unconsciously pushed him hard!"
Again, Ronan burst out laughing. Arielle only listened to their conversation because she didn’t understand what they were talking about. The girl didn’t open her mouth at all when they talked about their past, which was about Lazarus again.
Arielle gripped her dress. This was Arielle’s first ti feeling this way.
No-no... Arielle had this feeling before.
This was the sa feeling when she saw her father spoiled her sisters. At that ti, she wanted to be included in their conversation. However, this was a bit different. It wasn’t just envy. There was also a sense of selfishness... She wanted to be in Aie’s position.
Arielle was indeed envious of Aie right now. The girl graduated from the academy while Arielle didn’t. Aie ca from a prominent family while she was just a princess without a title.
Arielle didn’t have an elegant deanor like Aie. She also didn’t have any mories of the past with Ronan, so she couldn’t share the story about Lazarus.
However, out of all that, there was one thing that lingered around her heart strangely. Arielle wanted Ronan to be aware of her presence there. She wanted Ronan to ask her to join their conversation.
How could Ronan see her when the man was so busy sharing stories with Aie?
Arielle looked down at her fingers, fidgeting anxiously. She didn’t like this feeling. Aie did nothing wrong. The girl just reminisced with Ronan. It was only natural for them to talk together since they hadn’t seen each other in a long ti.
Then, why didn’t she feel this feeling when Aie had a fun conversation with Sasha earlier?
"You already know what you need to do, right?" Ronan asked Aie.
The girl nodded. "More or less, I’ve talked a lot with Princess Arielle, too."
"Tomorrow I will assign Lucas to give details of Arielle’s entire schedule."
"Thank you, then I have to go back first. It’s getting late," Aie said, then stood up, leaving Ronan’s office.
Arielle also stood up because she needed to rest. She took a deep breath.
"I’ll be back too. Good night," the girl said without looking back.
Ronan raised one of his eyebrows in confusion at Arielle’s change in attitude. Usually, Arielle would give him a goodnight kiss, but she just left without looking at him. Not even a glance.
Ronan also stood up and walked slowly behind Arielle, while keeping his distance. Several tis, Arielle stopped to take deep breaths, making Ronan wonder what had happened to her. Did Lazarus bother her again?
Ronan thought the girl would go to her room, but Arielle went into her library instead. Ronan opened the library door, making Arielle, who just sat in her chair, surprised because the library door opened without anyone knocking.
"Ro-Ronan, what are you doing here?" Arielle asked nervously. She was surprised by Ronan’s presence. Since when did that man follow her? Arielle didn’t hear his footsteps at all.
"What are you daydreaming about that you didn’t notice I follow you out of my office?" Ronan asked as he took off his coat and mask. He then placed them on the table.
The two of them were trapped in an awkward atmosphere. Arielle obviously couldn’t answer Ronan’s question. She lowered her head in sha and shook it weakly because she didn’t know what to say.
Ronan walked across the room and sat on the couch. He glanced at Arielle, waiting for the girl to follow and sit with him. However, what he hoped for did not co, Arielle chose to sit on a chair instead. He looked at Arielle’s back with his brows knitted in confusion.
Ronan tried to rember what he had done to make Arielle behave like that. However, he didn’t feel he had done anything wrong. Ronan only t Arielle in front of Whitethorn Palace after he ca back from the inspection, then Arielle ca to visit him with Aie.
That was it. Ronan didn’t rember other than that.
"What is it? Did I make a mistake?" Ronan asked straight to the point, because he didn’t like the awkward atmosphere between them.
Arielle turned around frantically.
"No-no... nothing happened," she replied with a blush.
The flushed face, the intertwined hands, the restlessly moving legs, and the eyes that didn’t want to et his gaze... Arielle wasn’t very good at lying, but she always tried to cover things up. Ronan knew well that the girl wasn’t telling the truth. Sothing must have happened because she looked uneasy.
Arielle turned her body nervously when Ronan looked at her intently. She pretended to be busy with the book in front of her. Her heart was beating really fast when she heard Ronan’s footsteps approaching behind her.
A hand slipped over her shoulder, then lifted her neck up.
Reviews
All reviews (0)