Arielle Meets The King

In the Blackthorn Palace, Arielle headed straight for the passage of the great hall. She was surprised to see the line of people who wanted to enter the hall. They were lined up in a row extending backward.

A confused Arielle patted the shoulder of a fat man in front of her.

"Excuse me, sir, is this the line to meet the king?"

The man furrowed his brows in confusion.

"That's right. But did you just come to the palace for the first time?" he asked.

Arielle nodded. She had indeed lived in Northendell palace for some time but she had never seen anything like this before.

The man looked behind Arielle. "Looks like you will be the last in line. Are you in a hurry, Miss? Because usually, this line will end in the evening."

"Evening?" asked Arielle in disbelief.

"That's right, so if you can't stand the wait, you can come back next month and come early."

Next month? Was that right? Tania said the festival was only held once a year so it meant that when she came next month, she couldn't ask Ronan's permission to go to the festival...

A guard that was assigned with checking the queue recognized Arielle as the Princess of Nieverdell. He realized She was the one who pulled the king's hand out of the study yesterday afternoon. The guard immediately bowed respectfully at Arielle which made several people in line look back.

Arielle's face heated up and she became flustered when she got the attention of so many people. She touched the shoulder of the guard and asked the man to immediately straighten up.

"Do you wish to see His Majesty the King, Your Grace? I can convey your presence to Lord William so that you can meet the king first."

Everyone who heard the conversation started whispering to each other.

"Princess?"

"Is she a princess? Why is she lining up with us?"

"Where is she from? I've never seen one before?"

"Where's the princess? She really is a princess?"

Arielle bit her lip in panic. Her face flushed with embarrassment. She was restless by the attention she was now getting.

"Er… why not just let me join the line?"

"Do you want to rest, Your Highness?" the guard offered once more.

Arielle, who was not used to special treatment, immediately refused the offer.

"Oh, no need. I'll be standing here with the others," she said. She looked up at several people in front of her and soon they bowed respectfully, including the fat man that Arielle was talking to earlier.

"You may go ahead of us, Your Highness," said the man. "Just skip the queue."

"No need. You've been waiting in line for too long. I don't want you guys to wait in line longer because of me. I can still wait."

Several men in line in front of Arielle blushed and smiled sheepishly at the presence of a princess. The guard then remained in place with Arielle in line to avoid any unwanted incidents.

Arielle really kept her word and didn't jump or cut forward in the line, even after Arielle had been offered several times by the people in the queues to enter the great hall first. She still insisted that she didn't want special treatment.

However, it made Arielle more familiar with the people in front of her. Since it felt awkward just standing in silence, Arielle started the conversation by asking a few questions about Northendell. Arielle introduced herself as a guest from Nieverdell.

When she got tired, Arielle did not hesitate to sit on the floor with the men. Arielle was easy to get along with. In the south, she had many acquaintances among ordinary people.

She always greeted the servants and the palace guards. So to her, talking to them was something that reminded her of the people of the south.

Arielle sympathized when a man told her about his misfortune of being tricked by a fake priest.

"That brat promised that he could use hot mana and would warm my farmland, but after I paid him, he ran away with all my money! I wish the king would behead him!"

Arielle gasped at that. The man's words took the people around him by surprise as well. They just realized that among them there was a princess who might not have been exposed to the language on the street like what they were using just now.

"Sorry princess, I didn't mean to scare you," said the first man in a regretful tone. He just realized that he had used inappropriate swear words in front of a respectable woman in his anger just now. Let alone a royal princess.

"Oh, it's okay... I'm just surprised how someone would cheat on other people like that. I hope His Majesty the King can help you with your farm problems," Arielle said sincerely, making the men in front of her blush.

The people and the princess kept talking with one another. When they had to go forward they would stand up and sit back on the floor to rest. The sky slowly darkened, and one by one, the new friends that Arielle met entered the great hall.

When they finished meeting the king, they would say goodbye and bow respectfully to Arielle, to which the girl replied with a smile and bade them farewell.

The day sky finally turned dark, and Arielle was left alone in line. The hall door opened and revealed William's figure. The man was surprised to see Arielle standing in front of him.

"Your Highness? What are you doing here?" he asked, surprised.

"I'm queueing to meet His Majesty King Ronan," Arielle replied cheerfully.

"You're queueing? Since when?"

"This afternoon."

"Your Highness, you could have summoned me so I could put you first."

"No need, William. I was actually happy to be able to join in the queue because I met some new friends."

"New friends?"

"Some of the guys that lined up with me were really nice. They didn't hesitate to talk to me, so I wasn't bored while waiting."

William was speechless. Finally, the last man in line with Arielle left the hall. The man saluted Arielle.

"It is an honor to meet you, Your Highness. I hope Princess will have a pleasant stay at Northendell."

"Thank you, sir," replied Arielle.

William thus invited Arielle to enter the hall and quickly welcomed her in. The princess's mouth fell open when she saw how magnificent the great hall was. Arielle's eyes were fixed on the large ornament on the king's throne. Above the glass wall was a statue of a golden wolf stepping on the head of a dragon.

William cleared his throat and made Arielle wake up from her daydream.

"Ahem. Please welcome, Princess Arielle Dellune of Nieverdel. She is your last guest, Your Majesty."

Arielle looked around. There were some people she didn't know. Perhaps they were the dukes who presided over the territory in Northendell. Arielle smiled at Priest Elis, who was seated at one of the nearby tables.

Ronan raised his eyebrows at the sight of the princess. He wondered why Arielle came here, but then he gritted his teeth in disdain when Arielle grabbed William's arm and whispered something to him. Ronan wanted to know what Arielle said.

William walked around the table of the Dukes and walked over to Ronan.

"Your Majesty, Princess Arielle wishes to have a conversation with you... in private."

That was an easy request. Without waiting any longer, Ronan dismissed the nobles. Some of them looked at Arielle with a questioning gaze. Even so, no one dared to voice their curiosity. Priest Elis and William were also asked to leave immediately.

Now in the Great Hall, only Arielle and Ronan stayed together. The man sighed in front of her.