บท 27: King Ronan Interrogates Arielle

"What are you doing with all those baskets?" Ronan repeated his question.

"I-I… just want to exercise," answered Arielle casually.

Currently, she now juggled various excuses in her head so that Priest Elis wouldn't be blamed.

"Exercise? With dirty clothes?" asked Ronan again. He narrowed his eyes, looked at Arielle with a gaze that seemed to be able to pierce the girl's soul and read her mind.

"Your Majesty…. I… got bored sitting around in my room doing nothing, so I went around to sweat." Arielle was still trying to come up with the perfect excuse.

"By bringing a basket of dirty clothes with you?" Ronan's eyebrow rose.

"Um… this is my way of doing exercise, Your Majesty."

"What kind of exercise involves a dirty laundry basket?"

Arielle closed her eyes, sighed, and held in her temper. Why did the man keep pressing her by bringing up what she was carrying? She already knew she was carrying a dirty laundry basket!

The girl took a deep breath and then exhaled through her mouth.

Okay, maybe lying to King Ronan wasn't such a good idea, and there was no point in arguing over something that made her look like a thief being caught off guard.

Arielle did this for herself, so there's no shame in revealing it.

"Honestly, I came here to work," said Arielle. Her confession made Ronan raise his eyebrows in disbelief.

"Work?" asked the man and repeated Arielle's statement. His voice was filled with wonder and surprise.

"I forced Priest Elis to give me a job because I needed money."

"Money? For?"

"As I've said before, my position at Nieverdell doesn't give me the privilege of getting an education. And I also have limitations regarding money. I need this job to earn money so that when I return to Nieverdell, I can pay for a teacher," Arielle bit her thumb and now looked even more nervous. "I-I… want to learn how to read and write…."

Ronan glanced back. William didn't know what his king was thinking, because the mask he wore prevented William from judging the man's expression. Priest Elis could only look down in guilt.

Arielle took Ronan's hand and held it tightly.

"It's not Priest Elis' fault! I forced him to accept me! I-I actually threatened him!" said Arielle, who now felt panicked when the man looked at Priest Elis sharply.

Ronan just sighed and grabbed the girl's hand. "You come with me."

Arielle didn't dare to fight back. She bowed apologetically at Priest Elis as she was dragged by Ronan away. They left the Cathedral towards the palace building in the north, Blackthorn Palace.

Arielle's heart was beating very fast because this was the first time Arielle had set foot in this building.

Arielle panicked even more because, along the way, Ronan didn't say a word. Arielle couldn't even use her time to admire the splendor of the Blackthorn palace.

They passed through the hall and the guards and servants who happened to pass by the two immediately bowed respectfully. Arielle passed Lucas who widened his eyes, feeling confused to see Princess Arielle with the King.

Arielle waved her free hand and silently asked Lucas not to interfere. The man just nodded.

Ronan brought Arielle to his study. He pulled his work chair then forced Arielle to sit there. The man pushed aside some of the piles of paper on the table to lean on it. The position was very intimidating for Arielle.

"Let me conclude. A princess asking-ah, no, rather, threatening Priest Elis to get a job as a maid?"

Arielle raised her hand hesitantly. "Permission to interrupt, Your Majesty. Not as a maid, I'm only in charge of tidying the rooms on the third floor."

Ronan nodded. "Not a maid but tidying up all the rooms on the third floor of the Cathedral to earn money. And the money will be used to pay for a teacher after returning to Nievierdell later. That is right?"

The girl nodded.

"Then why Priest Elis?"

"Sorry?"

"Why did you turn to Priest Elis for help and not come to me?"

Arielle remained silent and did not answer. Then, Ronan remembered something. He bent his body so that he could see her face from a very close distance.

Arielle, who felt intimidated, slightly slumped on the king's chair to keep some distance between the two.

"Was the day you hid from me, and then I brought you to the Cathedral was the day you asked Priest Elis for a job?"

"Th-that was my first day on the job. I asked for it before then…"

"Ah, so Princess has only been working for two days and got caught?" asked Ronan again.

Arielle nodded slowly. Her face flushed bright red which made Ronan smile slightly, when he saw the girl's embarrassed expression.

Ah, after those two days yesterday he was almost driven mad by the full moon, now Ronan felt like a human again.

The man closed his eyes, then opened them and watched Arielle's eyes which were wide open like a deer caught in surprise. The girl looked scared, and it made Ronan's head hurt.

The king then rested his hands on the arms of the chair and locked Arielle, who was slumped to the chair. Arielle looked very small when she was between the man's two arms.

The pain in Ronan's head was excruciating, and when he closed his eyes he could faintly see Arielle's frightened face in the night. Ronan growled and caused Arielle to look up in concern.

"Your Majesty?" called Arielle quietly. Yet the man continued to hold his violently throbbing head.

Arielle cupped the man's face to look at him. "Your Majesty? Are you okay?"

Ronan was still growling. Arielle, who was now worried. She intended to go out to find William. However, Ronan gripped her hand so tightly it made Arielle wince in pain.

Arielle was quite understanding because she thought Ronan did that to ease the pain. Without permission, the man hugged Arielle tightly and buried his face in the crook of her neck.

Ronan's breath was still rough. But slowly, the pain began to subside when he remembered that Arielle was near him, so he better not get out of control.

Arielle was silent due to the surprise that someone was hugging her tightly. She was not a person who was awkward in hugging other people. She always hugged Tania freely, but this hug felt different. Her heart was beating so fast it made her face turn red.

"I'm sorry I scared you, Arielle."

Arielle blinked her eyes when she heard Ronan say her name for the first time without any honorifics…

Arielle did not know what the man meant by frightening her. Ronan was indeed intimidating but as far as she recalled, the man had never frightened her as much as when she faced the wolf monster like last night.

Arielle let out a long sigh and returned the man's hug. She rubbed his broad back gently. "It seems that you are not feeling well, Your Majesty. You need rest."

Ronan did not answer. Instead, he tightened his arms, and Arielle only resigned herself that she needed to wait for the man to let her go.