After William left, Ronan stepped down the halls of the Blackthorn palace. Where he stood, he could see Arielle walking slowly. He smiled, seeing Arielle, who stopped several times while climbing the stairs. For some reason, seeing that figure fascinated him.
Ronan walked slowly without a sound. He raised his index finger as a servant watched him walk slowly behind Arielle. Ronan asked them to be quiet and gave way to Arielle, who walked without lifting her head at all.
When Arielle grabbed the doorknob, Ronan suddenly announced his presence. The man took one wide step and stopped right in front of Arielle, making the princess bump into his body.
Arielle immediately looked up. Seeing whom she hit, Arielle immediately backed away, then lowered her head to apologize.
"No need to apologize. I came here to take you to the town square."
Arielle’s gloomy expression disappeared in an instant, it was replaced with a big smile.
"T-town square? I mean... Your Majesty would bring me to meet Tania?"
Ronan nodded, and Arielle jumped for joy. Unbeknownst to him, his smile was wider than usual.
"Are you happy?" he asked.
"More than anything!"
"Then, come with me. We’re leaving now."
Without waiting any longer, Arielle walked after Ronan. They passed the palace gardens. The sky was completely dark. Even though she was wearing two thick coats, hers and King Ronan’s, Arielle still felt the cold when the wind blew.
She then took off the coat belonging to King Ronan to be returned to the original owner.
"Your Majesty will definitely be cold. Please put this coat back on."
Ronan saw Arielle’s lips slowly trembling, so he fixed the coat tighter around her. Before Arielle could refuse, the man lifted her to sit on the horse. After that, Ronan followed and sat on the same horse.
"I’m used to this temperature. Princess need not worry."
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
Ronan smiled then pulled the horse’s reins to start walking. The horses galloped so fast that the wind crashed onto them even harder. Arielle started to shiver.
Ronan felt Arielle’s body start to tremble, he quickly released one of his hands from the horse’s reins to grab Arielle’s body from behind.
"We’ll be there in a minute."
As they passed by, several people slowly started to light the oil lamps in front of their houses. Arielle couldn’t see Northendell town clearly because Ronan was driving so fast that everything she saw was blurry.
As they entered the more densely populated area, Ronan slowed down his horse. He still hugged Arielle tightly in his arms. After traveling for half an hour, the two of them arrived at an inn near the town square. Ronan read the name of the inn to make sure they arrived at the right inn, as William had informed.
"Is it true that Tania is here?"
Ronan got off the horse first then helped Arielle down. "The name of the inn is the same as what William said. We’ll take a look inside."
Arielle held Ronan’s arm because she still felt cold. When the two entered the inn, Arielle sighed in relief because her body felt warm again.
A guard who noticed the presence of his king immediately stood up from the bench by the fire to pay his respects.
"Where is Tania?" asked Arielle impatiently.
"She’s on the second floor."
Ronan and Arielle thus went up to the second floor after the bodyguard pointed to a room. Arielle immediately entered without permission. Her body felt weak when she saw Tania’s condition.
The old woman’s head was bandaged. There were several small scars on her face. Her right hand was bandaged perfunctory.
"Tania... What happened to you?" asked Arielle in a low voice. She couldn’t hold back her tears anymore. Slowly she approached. She held Tania’s hand, who was still asleep.
Arielle held Tania’s hand so tightly. She refused to let go, remembering the last time she did, Arielle lost Tania during the winter storm.
Ronan, who saw Arielle sitting silently, left the room to give Arielle time with her maid. A guard gave Ronan a chair so his king could rest comfortably.
Ronan felt strange about himself. Since when was he willing to bother himself like this for the sake of other people? The sound of burning wood filled his ears. He stared blankly at the crackling flames in the fireplace.
He knew that he didn’t want the princess to feel uncomfortable being in the North. Even so, in the past, he always left all the affairs of the royal guests to Lucas. He had never interfered like this.
So now, he really didn’t know why he was doing all of this, which left Ronan even more confused. All he knew was that he seemed to be drawn to always be closer to the girl. Damn, that girl wasn’t even his type, but he couldn’t take his eyes off Arielle at all. For him, Arielle had her own charisma. He could watch whatever the girl was doing without getting bored.
A smile etched on his face as he remembered the excited look on the princess’ face when she tried the Frostberry fruit the first time.
Before long, his memory drifted back to when Arielle wore a marveled expression when she listened to Priest Elis’ explanation about mana flow and the concept of trigrams.
Later in the Cathedral hall, Ronan even saw Arielle cry because she missed and worried for her maid.
That was right. The girl wept for a maid, who even if one was lost, could still be replaced with a new one. Usually, Ronan really didn’t care about such matters. However, when he saw Arielle beg to find her servant, Ronan, without thinking, mobilized his soldiers to look for the servant named Tania Wilson.
Inside the inn room, Arielle continued to hold Tania’s hand. The old woman felt warmth in her hands and slowly opened her eyes. The dim light from the oil lamp placed on the nightstand didn’t bother her too much.
"Tania? Tania..." Arielle called and hoped Tania heard her
"Princess Arielle?"
"Yes! It’s me, Arielle! Tania... w-what happened to you?" asked Arielle. Tears started to roll down her face.
Tania forced her body in pain to get up to sit. "Your Highness... are you safe? Are you okay? Forgive me for leaving you alone..."
Arielle cried even louder now. She shook her head and asked Tania not to worry about her.
"I’m fine... "
Tania bit her lip to stop herself from crying. For eighteen years, she was the one who took care of Arielle. It was the first time she had seen the girl sobbing.