It was very quiet in the room. There were only the sounds of brush and paint being mixed or the mumbling of the painter, who felt satisfied when he found a colour that matched the dress Arielle was wearing.
Arielle felt her back getting tired, and she was also getting sleepy. Normally, she would ask Ronan to have a chat when the man beca the object of her painting. However, the painter who was painting her at the mont didn’t make a sound at all, making Arielle feel awkward if she suddenly asked him to talk.
Aie, who saw the princess’ tired face, stood up to bring her a glass of water.
"Is it okay for Princess Arielle to drink?" Aie asked the painter.
"Oh, of course you can! I do not forbid the Princess to drink or eat. If you want to chat too, please do," said the painter, making Arielle smile with relief.
"Here you are, Your Highness. Have a drink first." Arielle received a glass of water to quench her thirst and returned the glass to Aie after she drank all the water.
"Can I really speak?" Arielle asked, making sure she didn’t disturb the painter’s concentration.
"Of course, Your Highness. I can’t stop you from talking."
"Oh, I thought you’re the type of painter who doesn’t like any noise when painting, so I was a bit hesitant to ask a few questions earlier."
The young man shook his head. "No-no.. I actually felt a bit uncomfortable if I invited you to have a talk, and I thought you didn’t like to talk, so I chose to keep silent," said the painter, making Arielle chuckle.
After Aie gave the princess a drink, the atmosphere in the room beca lighter than before. Aie smiled as she saw the princess looked more relaxed right now.
Arielle asked the painter several questions. At first, she asked where the young man lived and also how he could start painting as his job.
"I live near the palace. My family has been in the painting business for generations. My father’s family had painted many royal portraits, and my mother was a sculptor. We have a shop where we are high up selling furniture."
"Oh! You’re .... You’re the son of the owner of the painting supplies shop near the square?"
The young man turned around from the canvas to look at the princess with sparkling eyes.
"You know my family’s shop? That’s right, our shop is the only shop that provides painting supplies in this city."
"Of course I know. I often buy canvas and painting supplies there," Arielle replied enthusiastically.
Aie also smiled, seeing the princess beco close with the young man who painted her. She sat back down where she was before, but her smile faded as Lazarus moved himself to approach her.
"Princess Arielle is very beautiful," Lazarus said, trying to open a conversation with Aie as well.
"Always," Aie replied curtly.
"But, I’m no less beautiful," Lazarus continued, making Aie groan. She was annoyed.
Lazarus, who saw Aie’s annoyed face, chuckled. While Arielle was busy conversing with the painter, Lazarus leaned closer to whisper in Aie’s ear.
"Tonight... in my room or yours?’ Lazarus asked seductively.
Aie, who had been holding back her annoyance, got up and grabbed Lazarus by the collar.
"Aie!! Forgive !! I’m just kidding!!!" begged Lazarus, who was slightly choking because Aie was dragging his neck towards the door. The little commotion made Arielle and the painter stop talking and turned to look at the couch.
"Aie?" Arielle’s call made Aie stop moving. She imdiately removed her hand from Lazarus’ collar.
"Yes, Your Highness? Can I help you?"
"It’s okay. I was just wondering what the two of you were doing?" Arielle asked, making Aie’s and Lazarus’ faces flush red at the sa ti.
"Oh... that... there was a pretty big ant on Lazarus’ collar, so I helped him take it out," Aie replied.
Arielle said nothing, then smiled, not wanting to make Aie uncomfortable by forcing the girl to answer her question. Even so, Arielle knew that they were fighting again earlier. She didn’t understand what had happened to them.
Just a mont ago they seed very close, and the second Arielle took her eyes off the both of them, Aie looked like she was about to strangle Lazarus to death.
Lazarus also took the opportunity to sit back on the couch quietly before Aie tried to push him back. Aie also sat back down. She took off the scarf, then wrapped it around Lazarus’ face.
"Shut up or I’ll kill you," threatened Aie, to which Lazarus nodded his head.
After making sure Aie and Lazarus weren’t fighting anymore, Arielle asked the painter for so tips for painting using different paint thods. The painter explained well and Arielle nodded while listening attentively to his advice.
Several hours had passed, and Arielle started to feel that her neck was sore. Aie was aware of that.
"Is it still long? If it’s still long, can Princess Arielle take off her crown for a while? We’ve been sitting for hours," Aie said.
The painter thought for a mont, then allowed Aie to take off the crown that Arielle was wearing. Lazarus also prepared the box and kept it well beside them.
"Aie? What’s in your neck? Why is it full of rashes?" Arielle asked worriedly, seeing many red marks on Aie’s neck as the girl removed the crown from her head. Arielle just saw it because Aie had been wearing her scar since a while ago.
Arielle was really worried because Aie said she was cold earlier. Arielle was worried that the girl had an allergy, and Aie was actually sick. Then, that caused rashes all over her body.
Aie was frantically looking for an excuse.
"Ah this... looks like I was bitten by mosquitoes last night. It felt itchy, and I scratched it, so it beca red like this."
"Mosquitoes?" Arielle asked in confusion.
She found it strange because she had lived in the North for so long, but she rarely saw mosquitoes. Probably almost never. Even though Arielle had stayed at an inn on the edge of the Northendell forest, she was never bitten by mosquitoes.
Maybe in the South it could have happened because she used to live in a secluded room near the kitchen. Not only mosquitoes, many ants and mice also often appeared in the room. She did not expect that the Northern palace also had bugs.
"Then, ask Tania for itching dicine. Do you want to move to another room?" Arielle offered.
"Thank you for the offer, Your Highness. However, the Northern bugs are quite stubborn. It will follow wherever I move. So I have to kill him first if I don’t want to be bitten again," Aie replied while glancing at Lazarus, who was smiling behind Aie’s scarf.
"Strange, is it bug season now?" Arielle muttered while wondering curiously.
The danger was that if this continued, then soone else might be bitten and beca sick later. Lazarus was bitten by an ant and Aie was bitten by a mosquito. Arielle didn’t want anyone to be bitten by a rat either. That would be very dangerous.
However, what Arielle was worried about was in vain because Aie and Lazarus were keeping sothing secret...
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