Arielle's Job Description

Arielle touched her shoulder that Ronan bit and squirmed, trying to get away from him. This made the king feel bad and he pulled her more gently into his embrace.

His voice was apologetic when he spoke. "Sorry. I just got carried away. Go to sleep, I promise I won't do anything again."

Arielle did not reply. She let Ronan lift her head to slip his arm into a pillow for Arielle, while the other arm gripped her tightly from behind. Arielle yawned one more time, and soon the girl fell back asleep.

***

Arielle got up first. She freed herself from Ronan's arms that hugged her body from last night. She walked on tiptoe to find the location of her shoes. Once she put her shoes back on, Arielle hurried to leave the king's room.

It was a very cold morning as she left the Blackthorn Palace. Arielle did not have time to take her coat, which was left in the man's study. When she arrived at the Whitethorn palace, she was greeted by Tania.

The maid didn't want to ask where Arielle was last night. She didn't want to make the princess feel uncomfortable with her questions. From what the old woman noticed on her princess's demeanor, it didn't seem like anything bad happened as Tania had feared.

Arielle still looked normal with her cheerful attitude. She only looked a bit cold.

"Let me prepare you a warm bath, Your Highness," Tania said with a smile. Soon, she made herself busy helping Arielle with her bath and get dressed.

Once she was done with her bath of warm water, Arielle filled her stomach with the breakfast that the other maid had brought in. Moments later, Lucas came knocking on their door.

Tania allowed the man to enter. Lucas carried a piece of paper with the royal insignia of Northendel on it.

"This is an assignment letter from His Majesty the King," he said respectfully.

When Arielle heard the man mention the assignment letter, she stopped her breakfast to take a look. She didn't know what was written there, and Tania couldn't read either.

"Lucas, can you help me read it?"

"With pleasure, Your Highness."

Lucas scanned the king's writing as Arielle clasped her hands enthusiastically, looking forward to hearing what her job description would be. She was going to do whatever work Ronan asked her to do.

Arielle had no problem tidying the man's room every day or bringing him his food as long as she could repay Ronan for teaching her to read and write.

Lucas cleared his throat and started reading the document. However, his face soon turned red. The man glanced doubtfully at the princess because he felt that the royal assignment letter was too personal.

"You can't read either, Lucas?" asked Arielle innocently which made Lucas feel embarrassed.

"I-I can... I can read, Your Highness," he replied with a stammer.

"Then why don't you read it?" Arielle looked at the letter in front of her, then back to Lucas in turn.

Lucas cleared his throat once more and, finally, he began to read the opening of the letter.

"Hereby Princess Arielle Delune of Nieverdell is assigned to do the assignments as follows…" Lucas hesitated again, but Arielle continued to look at the man expectantly.

"First: she will accompany the king to breakfast every day."

Arielle looked at the letter in front of her in confusion. "Huh? Does it mean I am to prepare the king's breakfast? You didn't read it wrong, did you, Lucas?"

"No, Your Highness. It's written here that you must accompany the king to breakfast."

Arielle tried not to think about it and asked Lucas to continue reading. Maybe King Ronan wrote it wrong?

Arielle turned towards her bedroom window. Outside, the sky was still dark. It was a sign that the day was still very early. Could it be that the king penned the assignment letter when he just woke up? He might still be feeling sleepy. Thus, he misworded the letter.

Yeah... it made more sense. The reason why he made a mistake when writing her job description was that he was still sleepy.

"Okay. What's next?" asked Arielle.

"Two: she will accompany the king for tea time during the day."

"You mean to make his tea?"

"Accompany, Princess."

Arielle became more confused at hearing this. Meanwhile, Lucas went back to reading the assignment letter in his hand.

"Third: she will be a good friend to King Ronan D. Blackthorn."

Lucas then folded the letter back and gave it back to Arielle.

"Done? No other assignments listed? Like sweeping, cleaning the room, or doing the laundry?"

"Nothing, Princess."

"Oh..." Arielle still felt suspicious. What kind of job description was that? They didn't sound like work at all. Arielle wanted to protest, but what could she do to make Ronan change his mind?

They were friends, but she still couldn't study for free. Uff...

After she thought about it carefully, suddenly, an idea popped up in her head.

"Has His Majesty had breakfast?" she asked Lucas.

"It is not currently time for His Majesty's breakfast time."

"In that case, okay. Lucas, take me to the royal kitchen where the cooks are making food for King Ronan."

"But princess?"

"The letter only said to accompany His Majesty to breakfast, right? There is no prohibition for me to make him breakfast too, right?"

"But—"

Arielle didn't listen to Lucas' protest. Tania helped her master put on her winter coat. So, whether he liked it or not, Lucas then showed the way to the kitchen of the Blackthorn palace.

Kitchen residents who had never seen a nobleman set foot in their kitchen flocked to tidy up their bodies and clothes. A fat man named Michael introduced himself as the head cook, who was also responsible for making food for King Ronan.

"I'm sorry to interrupt your time, Chef Michael. Can I borrow the kitchen for a moment?"

Michael, who was still dumbfounded by the presence of a royal princess, blinked his eyes in confusion.

"Do you want to eat something, Your Highness? Let us do it."

"Ah, no. I want to make breakfast for His Majesty King Ronan."

"Pardon?" Michael batted his eyes in confusion. He couldn't believe his hearing. Several young cooks and waiters in the kitchen exchanged glances. They all looked very surprised.

Lucas came forward to explain. "Princess Arielle is His Majesty's guest of honor. Her wish is the wish of King Ronan himself."

After Lucas announced it, Michael took a few steps back and allowed Arielle to enter his kitchen. Arielle felt very touched by Lucas' words just now. She had forgotten that her status in the North was just a hostage. Arielle promised to one day repay the kindness of the man and the people of the North before she returned to Nieverdell.

"Michael, thank you for allowing me to use your kitchen. I promise to do it as quietly as possible so you won't be bothered by my presence."

Michael waved his hand quickly. "N-No, Your Highness. Your presence here is an honor for us. You can use this kitchen however you like. We'll leave the kitchen if you need more space."

Arielle shook her head quickly. She didn't want to take possession of something that didn't belong to her. She knew what she had to do. "Um… how about you help me show me where the kitchen items are?"

Michael bobbed his head quickly. "With pleasure, Your Highness."

With Michael's help, Arielle was able to start cooking breakfast for Ronan. Lucas waited not too far from the kitchen door in case he was needed, while Tania helped Arielle make the Southern breakfast.