CHAPTER FOUR

-A Month Later-

"Quickly! Hurry up and bring the hair tie!" A chubby woman could be seen ordering the other maids around.

The woman was average in height and had dark fry skin. Her dark brown eyes were shining in both excitement and annoyance.

Like the others who work here, she was dressed in a standard maid uniform. Her long black hair was pulled up into a neat and tight ponytail.

"Isn't this too much Maya?" Ariella asked and seeing how hard everyone was working because of her made her feel bad.

Maya just adjusted the oversized glasses on her face and looked at Ariella as if she was a fool.

"Of course not, right Chloe? This is the first time his majesty has invited you for tea. It's usually the other way around." Maya muttered the last part of her sentence.

"Yeah, even on your birthday he didn't invite you." Chloe chuckled as she handled the white hair tie to Maya.

Ariella just stared at Chloe in a daze for a few seconds before snapping out of it. Even though she had been with Chloe for two weeks now, she still can't get over her appearance.

Chloe had orange hair and violet eyes which made it hard to ignore her, she had a very conspicuous look.

"He didn't know that it was my birthday!" Ariella spoke up when Maya was done with her hair.

"Sure. Sure." Mina's voice was heard shocking most of the people in the room.

Quickly realizing how abrupt her entrance was, she let out an embarrassed smile and bowed slightly as a greeting to everyone.

"Mina!" Ariella shouted as she ran to hug her.

"Princess!" Maya was stern as she addressed her.

"Don't run, not only is it not lady-like, but it could also mess up your outfit." Chloe calmly stated, making Ariella's cheeks turn red with embarrassment.

"Sorry..." Ariella apologized sheepishly.

" Enough of this, Louis is waiting for us Ariella." Mina opened the door for Ariella and then the both of them exited the room.

Standing outside the room was Louis who was dressed in his usual attire.

"Greetings Princess Ariella." Louis immediately bowed as soon as he saw her.

Ariella although a bit flustered, still managed to regain her composure.

"G-greetings to you too Louis." Her childlike voice stuttered at the beginning but became more confident after that.

"I still have something to complete. You don't mind taking her there alone?" Mina asked Louis.

"Not a problem, you can leave it to me." Louis reassured her, his strong arms carrying Ariella from the floor.

"Thank you so much, goodbye Princess!" Mina said as she dashed off.

*********

Louis and Ariella were almost at the clearing in the garden when they were stopped abruptly by Seth.

"Good morning Count Merrick." Louis greeted him politely.

Seth just nodded his head at him with a smile before turning all his attention to Ariella.

"I came here to give you a gift, for His Majesty's acceptance." Seth clapped his hands once and a man in a blue and white guard uniform appeared with a wide rectangular box in his hands.

"His acceptance?" Ariella was a bit confused at that moment.

"Of course, why else would his majesty send you an invitation?" Seth snapped his fingers calmly as he laughed slightly at Ariella's confusion.

At his master's gesture, the guard quickly opened what was inside the box. It looked to be a tea set, it looked extremely expensive. It had very meticulous flora and fauna designs that were gold-plated engraved on it.

"It's so pretty..." Ariella was awed at the gift that he was going to give her.

"Thank you so much, I'll make sure to use it soon!" Ariella thanked him with enthusiasm.

"You honestly don't have to thank me Princess." Seth chuckled as the guard closed the box and handed it to Louis who collected it with his other hand.

"If that is all then we'll be on our way." Louis had started walking away the moment he collected the gift.

They both went their separate ways and after Seth was no longer in sight, Ariella spoke up.

"Why don't you like him?" She asked him.

"Is it that obvious?" Louis didn't even try to deny it after the way he behaved toward Seth.

"Yeah, you weren't exactly hiding it." Ariella responded.

"He's just not the type of person that I'd associate with. He's a nosey and shrewd man." Louis told Ariella truthfully.

"Does my dad know about it?" Ariella asked curiously.

Louis wanted to answer back but his attention was smashed away by the figure approaching them.

"Dad!" Ariella jumped down from Louis's arms and rushed towards her father.

She hugged him tightly before letting go and giving him her brightest smile.

"I told you not to call me that." Although his words sounded like he was annoyed he still reached out his hands to pat her on the head.

"Greetings to the king of Ingrid." Louis greeted him with a bow. Theodore just nodded in response.

"Dad, pick me up!" Ariella ignored his previous remark as she gave him the cutest look she could muster.

Theodore just stared at her blankly before clearing his throat and replying.

"Sure." It was a short and simple response but that was all Ariella needed for her face to beam with joy.

"If both of you don't mind, I'll get going." Louis vacated that area and left Ariella, who was rambling all about what happened earlier today with her father.

**********

-A Short While Later-

'This is boring... ' Ariella thought as she glanced at her father.

Nobody was saying anything. Until Edward, who was standing behind Theodore cleared his throat and said something.

"It's lovely weather we're having today."

"It's cloudy."

The whole area was plunged into silence once again. It was like that for some time and by the time they were half done with their food, Ariella finally ended their silence.

"I'm, dad, can I ask you a question?" Ariella asked nervously.

"Ask away."

"Can you tell me about my mother?" Ariella asked hopefully.

"No." Theodore replied bluntly, not even sparing her a glance.

'W-why?! Nobody ever tells me about my mother. I deserve to know.!" Ariella screamed out, her chair falling to the ground as she stood up.

"Princess... Please, try to calm down. " Juliet who was behind Ariella tried to calm her down.

"Sit down, don't be a child. " Theodore said coldly to her.

"I-I won't! Not until you tell me about her... " Ariella felt hurt by his tone and tried her best to hold back the tears in her eyes.

"Why is it... " Theodore put down the teacup in his hands and rose from his seat.

"That you want to know so much about a dead woman that you'd never meet?" Theodore finished his sentence, his cold grey eyes looking directly at Ariella.

The girl finally couldn't hold it anymore as she lowered her head and finally let the tears that she had been trying so hard to hold, drop.