"Princess, today we have an appointnt with Miss Dressrosa to do basic dress fittings for your wedding," Aie interrupted, trying to remind Arielle about her schedule because it was indeed Aie’s job.
"Just five minutes!" Lazarus cut off Aie’s words. He didn’t want to back off.
Arielle looked at Aie and Lazarus alternately. She didn’t know who to listen to, Lazarus held his left hand as well as Aie who tried to forbid Arielle to listen to Lazarus.
Before being pulled by two people at once, Arielle released both of her hands from Lazarus and Aie’s entanglent at once. She looked at the clock on the wall and it seed there was still ti before Miss Dressrosa arrived.
She touched Aie’s hand briefly. "Just five minutes. I’ll talk to Lazarus for a bit."
Lazarus bit his lower lip to stop himself from smiling because the princess was on his side. Aie glanced at Lazarus sharply, then chose to wait outside the hall. After Aie left the hall, Lazarus invited Arielle to sit on one of the benches.
"Hehe, thanks for defending , Your Highness," said Lazarus with a wide smile.
Arielle smiled, feeling happy by Lazarus’ cheerful smile.
"I’m not defending anyone. I just want to hear what you have to say. There’s still so ti left before I et Miss Dressrosa," Arielle said, making Lazarus silent.
"Oh... Miss Dressrosa... She is a punctual person."
"You know her?" asked Arielle.
"Hm-hm, Miss Dressrosa was the one who designed my father’s wedding dress when he remarried," Lazarus replied, not too excited.
Arielle just nodded because she didn’t want to prolong their conversation about Miss Dressrosa. She just silently waited for Lazarus to convey what he wanted to say. Lazarus cleared his throat for a mont.
"Your Highness, regarding Aie..."
Arielle had already guessed that Lazarus was going to talk about Aie.
"Yes? What’s wrong with Aie?" asked Arielle.
"Yesterday afternoon, I tried to apologize to her for all the things I had done in the previous days as well as in the past. I had sincerely apologized because now that I think about it, I am much older than Aie, yet I acted like a child. Probably much worse than Sasha."
Arielle wanted to justify it, but she kept her mouth shut because she didn’t want to make Lazarus sad.
"I know what I did in the past must be very difficult to forgive."
"What did you do in the past?" Arielle asked, trying to test Lazarus’ mories.
"Er... I guess you already know that. Maybe... Ronan or Aie have already told you about... my bad habit of calling little Aie... fat."
"Oh, is that all?"
Lazarus nodded, and Arielle closed her mouth again. Lazarus covered his face with both of his palms. His breath sounded long, like he was really exhausted.
"Aie used to be so adorable. Her cheeks were chubby with red hues. I don’t have a younger sister, so I’m very happy when I have Aie. That’s why I teased her so much. I had treated Aie like my own little sister."
Lazarus only had a few younger brothers, and they weren’t adorable at all. When he teased his brothers, they would beat Lazarus with a hard punch. Whereas, when Lazarus teased Aie, Aie just put on an annoyed face while puffing out her already chubby cheeks.
This made Lazarus tease Aie more and more. Besides Aie’s adorable face, Lazarus knew he wouldn’t be beaten by the girl.
That was why when Aie hit him for the first ti, Lazarus was so shocked that he couldn’t speak, allowing Aie to keep hitting him until his face was battered and his hands were broken.
"I know I was wrong for constantly calling her fat. After Aie hit , I wanted to apologize, but Aie had entered the academy. I didn’t have a chance to apologize. After that, I also started sailing, so I lost my chance to apologize again."
"Lazarus, if you regret what you did, then why did you still call her fat? Do you expect Aie to be the sa Aie as ten years ago? It must be very painful for her."
Arielle still vividly rembered the fight between Aie and Lazarus a few days ago. Lazarus clearly said Aie was fat. Those words were very rude. Anyone would be offended if soone said that to them.
"I know...." Lazarus turned his face so that Arielle wouldn’t see the blush on his cheeks. "I was just too shocked, so I didn’t filter my words well. I didn’t expect Aie to be so beautiful."
"All won are beautiful, Lazarus. You can’t judge soone by being beautiful or not. Then, if Aie isn’t pretty, you won’t apologize?" Arielle asked in a sharp tone.
Lazarus turned his head in a panic. This was the first ti he had heard Arielle’s sharp tone. For god’s sake, he would never want Arielle to get upset at him. That was the last thing he wanted.
"P-Princess, please don’t misunderstand... I didn’t an it like that at all... It’s just... um..." Lazarus was getting more and more hesitant to tell the truth. "The day before I found out that she was Aie, I had t her in the town. A-and I told Ronan that I fell in love at first sight with that mysterious girl who had pushed away."
"Huh?"
"Actually, at that ti... I was trying to cover up my awkwardness. I never imagined that I would ever like my friend’s sister, so I couldn’t accept what had happened. I used to think of Aie as my own sister. It felt strange when I ended up liking her as a woman. It’s weird," Lazarus said at length, making Arielle speechless.
"You like Aie?"
"Even before I knew she was Aie. Now, I don’t know what I’m feeling. I still want to think of Aie as my little sister, but my heart keeps beating strangely."
Arielle stared at the altar in front of her. Her head was blank right now. She couldn’t think straight. Neither did Lazarus, who was embarrassed because he had exposed his feelings.
"Lazarus?" Arielle called without looking at the man.
"Yes, Your Highness?" said Lazarus weakly, without any enthusiasm.
Lazarus and Arielle turned their heads at the sa ti, and they both looked at each other. "You know, you have a long list to apologize to Aie. Just sincerely apologizing is certainly not enough."
"I know. That’s why I ask for your help in discussing this with Aie. Please help apologize to Aie," Lazarus asked with pleading eyes.
Arielle imdiately averted her gaze because if she continued to stare at his eyes, she would accidently tell him what Aie had told her yesterday.
Arielle shook her head. "I’m sorry, Lazarus. I can’t help you with that. You have to do it yourself."
Lazarus shrugged his shoulders as if his spirit was floating sowhere. "What should I do? Aie ignored my apology yesterday," he replied dejectedly.
"Are you sure you’ve realized all your mistakes?" Arielle asked.
"I think I have apologized for all my mistakes to Aie yesterday."
The two of them kept their mouths shut until the door opened again. Aie ca to remind Arielle that it was ti to et Miss Dressrosa.
Arielle touched Lazarus’ hand gently.
"Think about it, Lazarus. Try to rember it. I will support you," Arielle said before standing up, leaving a confused Lazarus in his place.
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