22 First Day Of Work (1)

Tania held Princess Arielle's hand, giving encouragement.

Arielle got up and bowed slightly in salute to the Priest. Unfortunately, Priest Elis was experiencing an inner conflict as he watched her leave. The princess then turned and walked slouchingly. She was no longer excited.

Priest Elis closed his eyes tightly. He hoped that the action he would take would not incur the anger of the King.

"Princess Arielle," called Priest Elis when Arielle just came out of his room.

Arielle turned languidly. "Yes, Priest?"

Priest Elis walked over. "In three days, one of the maids intends to resign, but I haven't had time to report it to King Ronan. If Your Highness doesn't mind, you can take the maid's position."

The girl's face immediately brightened. "Really, Priest? I-I don't need to ask the king's permission right?"

"No." Priest Elis shook his head slowly. "And I also hope that King Ronan won't find out about this."

"I accept it!" said Arielle, with sparkling eyes making Priest Elis feel a little relieved. "I will keep this a secret, just between us."

Priest Elis turned to Tania, who was looking at Princess Arielle worriedly. He cleared his throat. "Sorry, I can only provide one place. I can't hire two maids because I can only pay for one maid's wages."

"Well-" Before Tania could protest, Arielle interrupted her words by gripping the woman's hand tightly.

"I will use the wages for my needs, so I will carry out the work," said Arielle firmly. "Not Tania."

"In that case, Your Highness, you can come to the Cathedral in three days. I'll explain some of the things you'll be working on."

Arielle nodded enthusiastically. "Thank you very much, Priest!"

Her chest was filled with hope again. Ahh.. she would be able to collect the money. It felt so good!

***

Arielle's first day of work finally arrived. She had not seen King Ronan in the past few days. Even when Arielle walked into the palace garden, she also did not meet the king. Arielle often walked out of her room just to sit and enjoy the clear sky without snow or make a new sketch on paper.

After spending some time in the north, she grew used to seeing the sky in Northendell, which remained grey even when it was clear.

Arielle sometimes had the opportunity to see the man's shadow in his study, but there was no attempt from Arielle to meet or just say hello. It was much better like this for her because she didn't have to lie about what she was going to do some time in the future.

Arielle forced Tania not to come with her. She told Tania to rest more, or get closer to the other servants in the Whitethorn palace who handled her. After she made sure Tania agreed with her, Arielle grabbed her coat then ran out of Whitethorn palace.

"Oops!"

Arielle immediately hid behind a wall before crossing towards the south building where the Cathedral was. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw King Ronan's entourage and his loyal guard, William, come out of the Cathedral.

She didn't dare to peek, afraid that the man would notice her presence. At times like this, she didn't want him to interfere in her affairs.

Arielle tried to listen more closely. When there was no more sound of footsteps, she ventured out of hiding.

"AAAAH!!!" Arielle shouted in surprise when she saw a tall figure standing casually in front of her.

In front of Arielle now stood the king, Ronan who leaned on his side against the wall. His hands were folded in front of his chest. The man had been waiting for Arielle to come out of her futile hiding.

"H-how could His Majesty be here…"

Arielle turned towards the courtyard and noticed William. The bodyguard waved his hand at Arielle, and it turned out that the sound of the footsteps of King Ronan's entourage went missing not because they had left this place, but because they halted their walk, waiting for her to come out. Arielle raised her hand awkwardly and waved back at William.

"How did you know I was hiding?" Arielle asked the man who was now standing tall in front of her.

"Look to your left carefully." Ronan raised an eyebrow.

Arielle turned to her feet. Right beside her was a large glass window. They all could see she was trying to hide behind the wall from the reflection on that window.

"Oh…"

She could see William, who was holding back his laughter. The girl let out a long sigh. Her face felt hot and she was so embarrassed because she had shown her stupidity in front of so many people.

"Why are you alone out here? Where's Lucas?" asked King Ronan.

"Ah… I… well, I wanted a new canvas, and Lucas has gone to town to buy new ones. I was bored out of my mind. So, I wanted to go to the Cathedral to pray."

"Then where's your maid?"

"Tania is old… her body is still not used to this cold temperature. So, I told her to rest."

"Then, what about your other servant?"

"I just want to be alone!" Arielle answered impatiently. The girl then realized that she had raised her voice in front of a king. Arielle immediately lowered her head and corrected her words and spoke again, this time more gently. "I… I just wanted to pray alone…. Your Majesty…"

Ronan looked at the girl from top to bottom. He didn't want to disappoint Arielle with his words. These few days, he was so busy with his royal duties, he couldn't see Arielle at all.

Now the two of them met accidentally. And this made Ronan feel curious about the days that Arielle went through. He wanted to know everything about the girl.

Reports from Lucas every day really did not satisfy him. He wanted to hear Arielle talk at length… about what she was doing while Ronan wasn't seeing her.