Loving The Cursed Werewolf King-Chapter 282: The Arrival on Northendell’s Palace

Arielle’s party had crossed the border. The temperature dropped even more drastically with the snow falling above their head. For some reason, seeing the falling snow made Arielle feel at ease. It felt like she was really where she was supposed to be.

This was the second time for Arielle to come to the North. Though, at this moment, she came with a different purpose. She had moved into the carriage because Ronan didn’t want her to get sick from the extreme temperature difference they went through.

Unfortunately, they didn’t bring a single priest to warm Arielle, Tania, or Sasha who had been out in the sun for a long time in Nieverdell.

Arielle began to recognize the scenery they were passing by. Starting from an inn in a remote border area where she first stayed, Arielle remembered she met the owner who warned her about the red-eyed wolf monster. Until the same street where she was attacked by bandits.

"Tania, weren’t we being attacked in this place back then?" asked Arielle pointing out the glass window that was tightly closed, so the cold temperature wouldn’t get inside.

"I think so, Princess. Considering we passed the same inn near the border earlier."

"Have you ever been attacked by bandits, Your Highness?" asked Sasha who also peeked out the glass window.

Arielle nodded. "Back then, when I first arrived in the North. My carriage was attacked by some bandits. Tania and I even got separated for a few days. I was saved by His Majesty the King who happened to be in here."

"You accidentally met him? In this kind of place? What was King Ronan doing here?" asked Sasha again.

Arielle thought for a moment. She had not asked what that man was doing at that time. Maybe because of his other royal duties? She tried not to overthink. Maybe it was just a pure coincidence and she was just really lucky.

"Probably government duties. His Majesty once said that in the border areas, there are a lot of bandits because the route from Thebis Kingdom to Wolgast has been diverted via Northendell. So that the neutral area border route is getting quieter and some bandits want to mess with that," she answered with something she could come up with.

"Ah, I see...." Sasha didn’t really understand what Arielle meant but he nodded anyway. "Then, how about you, Tania? How could you two get separate?"

"I am an old woman, Sasha. My movement is already very limited, not as agile as when I was young. So, I was caught by them while running away and got separated from Princess Arielle. However, at that time there was a pack of wolves attacking the bandits and I used that opportunity to escape," Tania replied.

She added, "I didn’t understand the route to the capital, so for the past few days I walked around, hoping someone would help me. When I got to the capital, I was found by the guards, then I could meet Princess Arielle again."

"Wow... I didn’t know you guys went through a lot before arriving at the palace."

Sasha didn’t want to ask whether there were no guards from Nieverdell accompanying them or not. After a few days in the South, Sasha had known their nature and certainly, no one cared about Princess Arielle’s safety.

Sasha sat pensively in his place. His body trembled in horror at the thought of what Arielle had gone through all this time. How could they have been so cruel to her?

Sasha was not at all frightened by Andrea’s threats. He only felt sorry for Arielle, who had been through a lot of abuse from her brothers and sisters.

Besides, Archie’s presence as Northendell’s spy was the most surprising thing for Sasha. For all his worries, Sasha was very relieved that he could now return to the North again.

After recovering, later he would train hard again to become a more worthy knight so that he can protect Princess Arielle from various threats. One of those was from the bandits out there.

***

After a long three-day journey from the South, they finally arrived at Northendell Palace. Arielle felt increasingly impatient to meet her rabbits. When the gate opened, the first thing Arielle saw were several guards as well as Lazarus running back and forth in front of the palace.

They stopped in their place when they saw Ronan’s and his group’s arrival. A guard opened the carriage door and Lucas helped Arielle to go down.

Ronan, William, and Kael also got off their respective horses and the other guards immediately brought their horses into the stables. Lazarus came to them hesitantly.

"Hello, Lazarus," Arielle greeted warmly.

The man scratched his head in response to Arielle’s greeting with an awkward laugh.

"Ehehehe, welcome back to Northendell, Your Highness. I hope your journey is not too tiring" he replied politely.

Seeing Lazarus’ suspicious behavior, Ronan walked closer to that man.

"What else are you doing now?" asked Ronan in a matter-of-fact tone.

"I-I didn’t do anything! I just... wanted to..." There was a brief pause for Lazarus to think of a lie. "Play! You know, I was bored in the palace all alone, so I brought some of the guards here to play hide and seek with me."

Arielle nodded in understanding, but Ronan didn’t easily take Lazarus’ words. He glanced behind him where several guards were standing tensely in their respective positions.

"Your Highness, isn’t that Riel?" Lucas asked, pointing at the little white furry ball that was standing near the garden fountain.

Arielle also looked back with sparkling eyes.

"Aaah!" Arielle screamed in surprise when a guard nearby tried to catch Riel. Instead of dodging to the ground, the little rabbit’s foot slipped and plunged into the fountain.

Lucas, who was also surprised, let go of Arielle’s bag and ran after the little animal that was almost drowning.

Arielle, who grabbed Riel first, ignored her wet clothes. The guards who wanted to catch the rabbit stiffened in fear seeing the king walking fast with murderous eyes.

"Princess! You’re wet now!" said Lucas who stuttered seeing the princess’s body was wet.

"It’s okay, I can change after this," she replied with a smile to comfort Lucas.

The guard who tried to catch Riel kneeled and apologized for his negligence.

"I beg your forgiveness, Your Majesty. I-I’m guilty! I just want to help you get the rabbit back!"