The next day, Ariana went back to the palace with her horse carriage. However, unlike yesterday when she went with James, this time Ariana only brought Valencia to accompany her to Prince Raoul's castle.This time, Valencia had to return to her maid outfit because the fact that Valencia was secretly trained as a knight was still a secret of the Alison family. The girl followed Ariana obediently behind her. The two didn't say much until Ariana suddenly stopped before they reached the forest surrounding the palace.“Ariana greets His Highness the Crown Prince.”When Valencia heard Ariana's voice, the girl immediately knew that the crown prince was walking towards them. Valencia immediately bowed politely, before taking three steps back, according to the palace's rules regarding the manners of a servant.However, Emilio wasn't really concerned with Valencia's actions, as his eyes focused on Ariana. His eyes looked sadly at Ariana, as Emilio reached out to touch Ariana's hand.“Why do you
Three years had passed since Ariana first came to assist Prince Raoul with his studies. Every day without exception, Ariana would come to the palace with the excuse of studying in the building owned by her family. Of course, Valencia is also accompanying Ariana into the palace. The two of them would secretly sneak into Prince Raoul's castle, teach him things, then return when night fell.But especially these few days, Ariana and Valencia would teach Prince Raoul stricter than usual. In the next few days, the hunting festival which is an event held every three years will be held again this year. Every noble and royal family will participate in the event, which has become a tradition of the Sigmund Kingdom. Prince Raoul was no exception. The hunting festival could be Raoul's chance to properly show his face in public.But all this time, the hunting festival was not something the man had been waiting for. Because he had never been taught anything properly, Raoul had always only been the
With a horse, it didn't take long before Ariana arrived at the hunting grounds. Since the girl had indeed arrived earlier than most, there weren't many people gossiping as soon as she came with a horse. Despite that, none of the people present were not surprised when they saw Ariana present with Albert as her escort.With Albert's identity as the head knight of the Alison family, that man wouldn't come just to escort an ordinary Alison family member. The man would specifically only escort the new head of the family or the future head of the Alison family. Here, Ariana's status is finally set in public.If Duke Andrew dies, Ariana will step up to take the position. Even more unique, Ariana will not only rise as the head of an ordinary family in the future. When the girl actually succeeded Duke Andrew later on, she would also change her status officially to that of a Duchess and protector of the Kingdom of Sigmund.Ariana's gallant horse stopped when the girl happened to see Emilio just
“ … Your Majesty, your tea.”Queen Melissa received her tea quietly as she sat down in her chair. Her gaze was icy cold, as she slowly sipped her maid's brewed tea.“I seem to be too careless this time, Teresa. Just because I feel this kingdom has become mine, I forgot that there is still one important noble power that has not obeyed my orders yet.”Melissa muttered to herself as she finished the cup of tea Teresa had prepared. Since the hunting competition had started and almost all the men had left to participate in the competition, Melissa as a woman was left alone in her resting tent.“That damn king too … It seems I've been too soft on him to the point where he feels like he can act on his own. Should I kill him after this? No, no. A King must be above eighteen years old to take full control of government affairs. If I kill him now, I will only give the Alison family a chance to take control of the government."The Queen muttered to herself as she thought of all the possibilities.
“Another grouse from Lady Aria. I am very impressed with your archery skills, My Lady.”Ariana smiled shyly as Albert praised her abilities. Ever since the hunt started, Ariana could easily take down a few hares and grouse using her bow. This achievement was possible because Albert patiently helped Ariana to be good at finding prey. Her grandfather really do a great job, when he appointed Albert as Ariana's guard for today.“This is all thanks to Sir Albert's teachings. However, Sir Albert … Have we got any news about Prince Raoul?”Ever since the hunting competition started, Ariana hadn't seen Prince Raoul yet. The hunting ground, which is too wide to explore, makes it difficult for the participants to meet each other in the competition. Her grandfather had reminded her many times that Raoul would be fine because Grandpa had already assigned several shadow guards to guard the prince. But, Ariana still couldn't stop worrying as she watched the sky above her, begin to be covered by thi
“Firstly, I want to thank you for being Prince Raoul's friend for all these years. I'm glad to see him growing more confident since he got to know you, Ariana,” King Alexius said to begin with. The whole time, Ariana didn't understand why King Alexius was suddenly paying attention to Prince Raoul like this. That man had also helped her many times when she had a confrontation with Prince Emilio. It was hard for Ariana to imagine, that this simple-looking king in front of her was the same person as a father who had the heart to abandon his child for many years.“Secondly, I would like to apologize for using you to help my son secretly all this time. I had no other choice, Ariana. The Alison family has always been on the side of the truth. So, I thought … Maybe you can help my innocent son.”Ariana's hand that was originally holding the teacup stopped moving when she heard King Alexius' words. Ariana's round eyes turned to stare at the man without even blinking. The girl never expected a
As soon as Ariana left the room, the girl saw Prince Raoul, who was still sitting with his head down on one of the chairs in that place. Before King Alexius spoke to him, the king seemed to have spoken to Prince Raoul first. For Ariana, who was only an observer in this tragedy, the life story of King Alexius and Prince Raoul was too sad to be true. Ariana couldn't imagine how broken Prince Raoul's heart was after hearing the truth of his life. “Lady Aria ….”Albert looked worried when Ariana came out with a slightly dazed expression. Even though everyone in Alison's household had acknowledged her greatness, Ariana was still a young girl who shouldn't have gotten too involved in political matters at such a young age. Moreover, Ariana is still a minor. Albert looked at Ariana sadly, wishing he could do something for his young lady.“Has His Majesty left?” Ariana asked quietly. Albert immediately nodded. “His Majesty the King returned immediately after speaking with you. I had offered t
After they finished talking, both Ariana and Raoul immediately returned to the camp to watch the hunting process. In the tent that was starting to get muddy from the rain, Ariana saw that King Alexius had arrived earlier and was overseeing the appraisal process being carried out by the people. When King Alexius saw Ariana and Raoul's arrival, the king secretly smiled a little at the two. However, his look soon turned cold again, as Queen Melisa glanced at her husband with a suspicious look.Just like King Alexius, Ariana pretended not to look at the two of them as she dismounted from her horse, and then joined in watching the other participants' prey. As per her calculations, she was in the top five of all the nobles. Ariana could see the other noble children were sending her accusing looks. Of course, since Albert was with her as her knight, many people thought Ariana was just asking her knights to find her suitable prey during the competition.But something more surprising happens a