Arielle Is Avoiding The King

***

Arielle had been locking herself in her room all day. The question that King Ronan asked yesterday was still etched in her heart. Meanwhile, Tania sat nearby, adding firewood to the fireplace to keep Arielle's room warm.

"My apologies, Your Highness… If only I could read and write, perhaps I could be of some help…."

"It's not your fault, Tania. Stop blaming yourself…"

Arielle bit her thumb, and Tania let out a long sigh seeing her master's bad habit returned. With her legs still not fully recovered, Tania approached Arielle, who sat on the edge of the window.

"What is Your Highness worrying about?"

"Nothing… There's nothing I'm worried about…." Arielle lied and bit down on her thumb again. Her eyes wandered to the pile of snow in the garden.

Tania smiled then pulled her master's hand so that the girl would stop biting her thumb. "Your Highness, you are biting your thumb again. That means Your Highness is thinking about something…"

Arielle felt it was useless to keep her thoughts to herself. Tania was someone who truly knew her. She couldn't hide anything from her maid.

"I'm thinking of starting to learn to read and write." Arielle immediately straightened herself when she saw Tania's confused face. The princess added enthusiastically, "I plan to find a job here and keep myself busy."

"Your Highness?"

"You know, Tania… staying in a cold place without any activity will only make our bodies susceptible to illness. Tomorrow I will visit Priest Elis. I'll ask if there's any work I can do here. But it won't be for free. Of course, I'll charge money."

"Your Highness, I don't think it will be that easy…."

Arielle raised her hand, asking Tania not to cut her off first. She got up from the window. Arielle grabbed the teapot then poured hot water into the cup in a graceful motion.

"Forget about my status as a princess. The title of princess before my name is just a meaningless moniker. In Nieverdell, I often help you wash, sweep, and prepare food… and I'm sure those skills will come in very handy."

Tania nodded in understanding. She asked, "Then why Priest Elis?"

Arielle snapped her hands in front of Tania, making the woman smile, seeing Princess Arielle's spirit had returned. Arielle replied, "Priest Elis seems to be able to better understand my condition of not being able to read and write. Even though at that time I was really embarrassed, I could see the pity in his eyes!"

"And…."

Arielle walked around Tania and hugged her maid from behind. "I will beg with my best puppy eyes so that I can be given a job. We can save the money to pay for a teacher at Nieverdell to teach me how to read and write."

"The best puppy eyes?"

Arielle was then moving in front of Tania. The girl sat on the fluffy carpet then held Tania's hand tightly. Her lips trembled. Her eyes slowly started to water. The old woman's heart was wrenched when she saw the pitiful face of the princess in front of her.

"Okay, maybe this will work. Let's pray, hopefully, Priest Elis is a person with a high sense of empathy," said Tania. She turned her face away, unable to stare at Princess Arielle's expression.

That pitiful face turned bright when Tania no longer looked at the princess.

"But why did you suddenly want to learn to read and write? Was the question from His Majesty King Ronan that hurtful?"

Yesterday, Tania wanted to provide lunch for Princess Arielle but was shocked when she saw her master sobbing in her room. A few minutes later, the door to the princess's room was knocked and King Ronan appeared.

He wanted to talk with Princess Arielle. However, Tania as politely as possible refused King Ronan's wish and told him that Princess Arielle was currently resting.

After Arielle finished crying, she told Tania that King Ronan had indirectly insulted her by saying that Arielle would rather learn to paint than learn to read and write.

"Perhaps His Majesty didn't mean it that way..." Tania said gently.

"But he looked at me so intently, Tania. I was really embarrassed!" said Arielle, annoyed.

Since then, every few hours, William or Lucas took turns and asked about Princess Arielle's condition and with the same answer, Tania always said that Princess Arielle was resting.

"After that incident, I realized, Tania… one day, my father will marry me off to a man." The girl's cheerful expression was now gone in an instant. Her broad smile turned gloomy.

"I'm just a puppet princess. If they don't want me anymore, they will kick me out by marrying me off to some foreign man. And that man could just be a lowly noble, or maybe I will be the umpteenth wife of an official in the palace."

"Your Highness…."

"Therefore, I just want to prepare myself for the worst. If my future husband is a man who treats me badly, I can get away with earning my own money. And reading, writing, and counting are basic skills for one to survive out there…"

This time Tania was really saddened by Princess Arielle. She always considered Arielle like her own child. But she did not have the power to resolve the fate of the girl.

"Your Highness… although I can't be of much help. Let me always be by your side. Let me share your burden. Your Highness need not worry, I promise I will make Priest Elis employ both of us."

"Both of us?" asked Arielle, confused.

"Right, the two of us. If I go to work, then we will get double the wages, which means we will save more money and we can pay even better teachers…"

"But Tania-"

KNOCK KNOCK

Their conversation got cut off. Arielle and Tania turned towards the door at the same time. The two stared at each other, wondering who was visiting again?

"William or Lucas?" asked Tania with a mischievous smile, making Arielle laugh a little. The princess then clamped her mouth shut, afraid that the sound of her laughter would be heard by the people outside.

"Whoever it is, just tell him I was sleeping."

Tania raised her two thumbs, agreeing to Arielle's order. The princess walked quickly to her bed. She lay with her back to the bedroom door. Tania helped tidy up Arielle's blanket first so that their acting looked more convincing.

After making sure Arielle closed her eyes and positioned her body comfortably, Tania moved towards the door.

However, seeing who was standing in front of her, Tania froze in her place.

"Y-Y-Your Majesty?" She muttered her words in shock.