Chapter 40: Sleeping On His Lap

Ronan returned to his study as morning approached. From the glass window where he stood, he could see Arielle with Lucas and her maids heading towards the Blackthorn palace.

It was not yet time for breakfast or study, but the girl was already awake?

Ronan could guess what Arielle was going to do. He had told the girl to stop going to the palace kitchen to prepare his breakfast. However, considering that Arielle was quite stubborn, yesterday's request from the king was just like a passing wind.

Ronan didn't really mind it though. As long as Arielle could enjoy her time in the North, that would be enough for him. He just hoped that she wouldn't prepare milk again this morning.

Ronan grabbed his chair to drag it to the window so he could enjoy the view of the palace that morning. Even though there wasn't much to see, just piles of white and gray clouds, to Ronan it was still his home.

He placed some of the letters that William had sorted on his lap. Then the king began to read the letters one by one.

An envelope with the coat of arms of the Nieverdell Kingdom made Ronan's body stiffen. He opened it slowly and read the contents of the letter.

Immediately, Ronan gritted his teeth in annoyance. The King of Nieverdell had given the news that they had found a pair of wolves.

At the end of the letter, King of Nieverdell hoped that Ronan would reply to his letter to provide news about Arielle's condition.

"So annoying," Ronan grumbled.

The man rose toward the fire. He then tore up the royal message and threw it into the fire. Ronan stared at the white paper as well as the slowly melting seal wax with a sharp gaze. His black mask reflected the orange light from the fireplace.

There was a knock on his office door, and the next thing he saw was Arielle's head that poked inside. Ronan's sharp gaze instantly softened when he saw the appearance of the girl's figure. His smile was etched upon seeing the girl's innocent face.

Arielle found the king stand near the fireplace. She waved her hand and made Ronan feel itchy in his heart.

"Good morning, Your Majesty. Your breakfast has come," Arielle said politely.

Ronan was still in his place as he waited for whatever the girl would do. He preferred to just pay attention.

Arielle pushed the trolley towards the same table where they had breakfast yesterday. She placed several trays on the table. Ronan could smell the bacon.

Sure enough, when Arielle opened the tray cover, Ronan saw he was served a plate of bacon and two sunny sides up. It was his usual breakfast. Nothing special.

"Chef Michael said you love bacon and eggs in the morning. So, I made this," Arielle said proudly.

Ronan suddenly changed his mind. Ah, maybe the breakfast this time was more special because Arielle made it herself. However, before he could give her a compliment, Ronan softly growled as the girl opened another tray. It contained a glass of milk. Again.

"What is it? You don't like my food?" Arielle asked. She immediately noticed the expression of displeasure on his face.

Ronan didn't know how to answer. So, the man chose to lie. "No. I really, really like it. It's just that yesterday, didn't I tell you not to go back to the kitchen?"

"I can't… I wanted to make breakfast for you, Your Majesty."

Ronan folded his arms across his chest and let out a long sigh. "If today I forbid you again, will you listen to me?"

Arielle chuckled and shook her head. "I'll only stop if you tell me the food I make isn't good."

Uff, of course, Ronan would never do that.

How could he say Arielle's cooking was not good? Yesterday's sandwich he admitted was tastier than the one made by the head of the palace kitchen, who actually had been working here longer.

"You know I would never say that," Ronan pretended to grumble.

"I know," replied Arielle with a big smile on her face. She was proud that she had successfully eliminated reasons for Ronan to stop her from preparing the man's breakfast.

For the second day, they had breakfast together. However, this time, Arielle didn't feed Ronan because the girl brought her own food. The two then ate quietly without speaking to each other.

Ronan had long removed his mask so that Arielle could see the man's expression. Ronan nodded, appreciating the breakfast.

After the two of them filled their stomachs, Arielle sat down on the chair beside Ronan's work chair. The man started the lesson by asking Arielle to recite the letters she had memorized yesterday.

Ronan couldn't take his eyes off the frown on the girl's forehead when Arielle tried to distinguish two letters that looked similar.

"This is… Y?" asked Arielle doubtfully.

Ronan nodded and smiled sweetly.

"Perfect," he replied. He smoothed a bit of Arielle's white hair that fell on her face when the girl looked down at the book. Ronan added, "I think we can start learning how to spell. Since you're good at painting, I'm sure you can easily learn to write."

Ronan pulled out a book he kept on a pile of papers. It was one of the books he used to start learning at an early age a long time ago. He asked William to look for it in the archives of the palace library.

Arielle listened with focus on every spelling that was taught by Ronan. Little by little, she began to be able to spell simple words. Both of them were so immersed in the learning process that they didn't realize that time had passed quickly.

Ronan's study door opened from the outside. A butler came with a new trolley.

"Good afternoon, Your Majesty. I brought snacks and tea for the afternoon."

Ronan gestured for the butler to leave immediately and leave the tea trolley by his table. He didn't forget to also bring back Arielle's breakfast trolley to the kitchen. Ronan tapped the book in front of Arielle so that the girl could focus on learning to spell again.

Arielle was getting tired. Even though Ronan taught her patiently and answered Arielle's questions or corrected her spelling, she had never studied for so many hours like this. She batted her eyes to keep herself from yawning.

She felt bad about asking for a break. Because of that, Arielle chose to overexert herself.

Ronan continued to teach her a new spelling of a few letters combined. Slowly Arielle herself began to lose concentration. Her straight body began to bend, and she could no longer stop herself from yawning.

Ronan saw the girl's eyelids slowly closing and when he deliberately cleared her throat. Arielle immediately blinked so as not to be caught sleepy. Ronan really wanted to laugh at the adorable demeanor.

"Want some tea?" Ronan offered. Arielle straightened herself and nodded quickly.

Finally….. the break she had been waiting for had arrived!

Arielle took a tray that contained a teapot, a porcelain cup, and a snack plate of ginger cookies. Arielle poured hot tea into a cup and gave it to Ronan first. She then poured herself tea.

"You studied very well today," said Ronan and made the girl's face blush.

"Thank you, Your Majesty. This is all thanks to your help."

Arielle took another sip of the hot tea and hummed softly, enjoying how it warmed her body. Likewise, when she took a bite of the ginger cookie, Arielle seemed to really like it.

Ronan just took a sip of tea without wanting to try the pastries. Seeing Arielle enjoying it so much made the man smile.

"What are you going to do after this?" asked Ronan. He considered Arielle's study hours to be enough. They could still continue tomorrow.

"Hmmm..." Arielle hummed. Her index finger lightly tapped her chin as she thought. She then answered simply. "There's not much I can do after this. Maybe I will start painting."

"Hmm..."

Arielle yawned once again. "Or maybe a little nap? And wandering around the Cathedral."

Ronan grabbed Arielle's empty cup and placed it on the table. He took her hand to pull her closer to him.

"What are you going to do, Your Majesty?" asked Arielle, confused as she tried to hold her body so as not to come any closer. Ronan didn't answer. The man now grabbed her head and placed it on his lap.

"Rest here," said Ronan casually.

Arielle panicked and immediately got up but again, the man grabbed her body to lie on the sofa.

"I've been watching you ever since. You have yawned a few times."

"But I can sleep in my own room."

"Uhm-hm, but like we can be good friends because we can help each other. I've slept on your lap too, haven't I?"

"But…."

The charmed Ronan pinched the girl's nose and closed Arielle's eyes.

"Go to sleep, Arielle," said the man using the name Arielle.

Arielle pulled the hand that covered her eyes. "You won't go back to work?"

"I need a break too."

"Then I must not disturb your rest, Your Majesty!"

Ronan let out a harsh breath. He wondered why this girl was so excited now, even though just a few minutes ago, her beautiful eyes had started to droop from sleepiness.

"This is my form of rest," Ronan replied simply.

"..."

"Arielle, sleep," Ronan ordered firmly as the girl wanted to open her mouth again.

Arielle was not offended by the firm order just now. The girl just chuckled so Ronan couldn't be annoyed any longer. The king stroked Arielle's fine hair until the girl stopped moving.