How About We Go On A Date?

Ronan placed Arielle on his desk. Afterward, the man rested his body on the chair, facing her. He looked up slightly and smiled when he saw Arielle's blushing face.

"Tell me honestly, what made you want to study in your own room?" Ronan decided to ask Arielle seriously.

The man rested his hands on Arielle's sides in a relaxed manner. One of his fingers played with the cloth of the girl's dress, as he waited for Arielle to answer.

"Um… those rabbits… they don't want to leave me alone, and I don't want to bother Your Majesty with their behavior…."

"Why don't you leave them in the room and lock the room?"

"It is not that easy… they never distanced themself from me… and I couldn't bear to leave them alone."

Ronan took a deep breath. He glanced at those silly rabbits and realized he had to make an exception for Arielle.

"Then you needn't worry," he finally said. "You can study here with your rabbits."

"But it will only interfere with your work, Your Majesty."

"No, I'd be more annoyed if I didn't see you studying in person." Ronan grabbed some papers and held out a pen and ink to Arielle.

"Our learning concept today is about correspondence," said the king proudly.

"Correspondence? But I'm not very good at spelling yet."

Ronan shook his head. He grabbed a piece of paper for her and wrote a sentence, then he handed it to Arielle.

"Read this to me."

Arielle nodded and tried to spell them out, syllable by syllable. When there was a mispronunciation , Ronan patiently explained it again. It earned him a smile and a nod from Arielle as a sign that she understood now.

"So the whole thing reads as?" asked Ronan.

"Good morning, Princess," answered Arielle more confidently.

"Perfect. Now write your answer under the sentence I have written."

Arielle understood what she had to do at this point. Ronan helped the girl to get off his desk. Arielle didn't want to sit beside him this time. She sat on the carpet by the fire.

The rabbits jumped quickly at Arielle. Some played with the girl's clothes, and some rested on her lap. When he saw those pesky rabbits, it made Ronan grumble in envy. Especially when Arielle took a break from writing to stroke the rabbits' heads.

Ronan pouted in annoyance and went back to completing his royal duties.

Once she had finished with her task, Arielle got up again to give Ronan her reply letter.

[Good morning, Your Mayestj.]

Ronan smiled and asked the girl to come closer. He showed the girl the wrong part. "You always mixed these two letters."

He meant "J" and "Y".

Arielle just nodded every time she heard the explanation from the king. Ronan wrote back his reply.

[How are you today, Princess?]

Ronan asked Arielle to spell the sentence out loud, and he nodded in satisfaction when she managed to spell his handwriting though she still stuttered a little. Arielle then returned to her original place on the carpet and began to write her next reply.

It took Arielle longer to write because the girl still needed to copy the writing from the book. She had not been able to fully memorize all the letters that existed. When she was done, she got up and again asked Ronan to check on her work.

[I'm good. And how are you too, Your Majesty?]

Ronan didn't say much and immediately wrote down his answer.

[I'm good. You look very lovely today, Princess.]

After reading his words, Arielle blushed.

"Thank you, Your Majesty," she replied.

Ronan raised his hand then shook his head. "I won't receive a direct answer."

"Oh, alright."

Arielle rushed back to the fireplace and wrote down the answer. After checking the spelling and making sure there were no mistakes, she gave the paper back to the king.

[Thank you, Your Majesty. You look dashing as usual.]

Ronan chuckled as he read the answer and glanced at Arielle, who looked embarrassed. The man took his pen back and wrote down his reply.

[Thank you, Princess. You really just made my day. How about we go on a date to repay your kindness?]

"A date? What date, Your Majesty?" asked Arielle, a little confused.

Ronan folded his arms on the table. The man leaned slightly to whisper to the girl.

"In two days, I will go to the western border area. There is a village that has a Forstberry forest. And since it's harvest season, there will likely be lots of Frostberry."

When she heard the mention of Frostberry, Arielle's mouth opened wide. Her eyes lit up so much that Ronan chuckled. The girl raised her index finger and silently asked Ronan to wait a moment. Arielle grabbed the paper in the man's hand then turned quickly towards her place.

Ronan waited patiently. His smile bloomed when the girl returned the paper.

[You are the best!]

Ronan was speechless.

"May I get a hug as a thank you?" he asked, looking hopeful.

Arielle's body stiffened. She remembered how Tania hugged her friend who had helped Arielle learn to paint.

Maybe hugging between friends was okay? It wouldn't feel awkward, would it?

Arielle circled the man's desk while Ronan patted his lap for the girl to sit there with his arms outstretched.

"Come here," he said.

Arielle just stood beside the king's chair and hugged the man from the side. Ronan, who felt that it was lacking, wrapped his two arms around the girl's body then slowly brought Arielle to sit on his lap.

The two of them stayed in that position for some time. Arielle, who felt it was enough, released her arm around Ronan's neck, but the man didn't want to let go. He continued to tighten his embrace.

"Arielle, am I the only one feeling this attraction?" Suddenly, he asked her with a hoarse voice.