Arielle Wants To Care For Snow Rabbits

Arielle once channeled her mana without her knowing it to Priest Elis. But Priest Elis didn't sense any mana flow at all. Which meant that the girl's mana flow wasn't open at all. Then how did Arielle share it?

Priest Elis and William left his study, Ronan had been deep in his thoughts. He watched the sleeping figure closely.

Who was the man his grandfather found and then disappeared so suddenly? This mystery suddenly piqued his interest. Ah, he remembered about Arielle once told him that she never knew her mother. Ronan tried to connect the dots of information but to no avail.

Mana type resided in the human body and was not dependent on lineage. So even if he found out who the girl's mother was, it was also not very useful, because what type of mana of the body was only influenced by the surrounding environment.

Ronan moved his hand and thick jet black fur appeared as his fingers turned into wolf claws. Ronan moved his finger away and his hand returned to a normal human hand.

"Even the mystery of the monster inside of me has yet to be unraveled. And now a new anomaly has appeared again," he muttered.

Arielle moved in her sleep which made the man gently pat the girl's shoulder to fall back asleep. The king smiled faintly at the thin wrinkles that formed between the two beautiful eyebrows.

Ronan put his index finger on the creases.

"What are you dreaming about?" asked Ronan in a soft voice.

The expression on the girl's face relaxed again and made Ronan chuckle. Ah, this was too cute for him.

"How could you be this adorable?" he muttered with a smile.

***

Arielle woke up after sleeping for a long time. Ronan was no longer on the couch with her. When she looked up, she found that the man was working at his desk. She touched Ronan's coat slung over her body.

"Did I sleep long?" asked Arielle in a hoarse voice.

Ronan raised his face from the paper and saw Arielle who was looking around with a confused expression. The man got up and poured a glass of warm milk for the girl. Once again, Ronan had abandoned his work to enjoy Arielle's face and her expression. She still looked a little sleepy.

"Thank you," Arielle whispered as she received a glass of warm water from the man.

"Lie down if you're still sleepy."

Arielle shook her head. "I want to go back to Whitethorn palace now."

"Why? You don't like it here?"

The girl chuckled. Why asked her such a question? How could she not like this place? This room had become her place of study, but she wanted to return to her room to return to painting.

Learning how to spell was so exhausting that she even ended up falling asleep like this. It meant the next stage of relaxation for her was painting.

"I just wanted to paint," she replied.

Ronan understood maybe the girl was bored. He nodded and allowed her to leave the room. Arielle bowed respectfully, making Ronan chuckle a little. She left the king's study. On the way back, she met Lucas, who also happened to want to go to Whitethorn Palace to check the condition of the library there.

The two of them walked together through the palace garden, which was filled with piles of snow. From a distance, Arielle saw a snow rabbit. Its fur was so white. The girl stopped her steps to admire the little animal.

"Oh, they're starting to come out of the nest," Lucas muttered and attracted Arielle's attention.

"They live here?" she turned to him.

The man nodded. "A few days ago, I saw their nest in the garden. It looks like the female rabbit has just finished giving birth, and now the male is looking for food for his little family."

"Didn't you say there was no greenery in the North?" asked Arielle curiously.

"That's right, I've seen them eat white pine leaves."

Arielle saw the little rabbit looking around as if looking for food. She felt sorry because she knew how it felt to be hungry and was looking for food in the past.

"Can they stay with me in the palace?" Arielle asked Lucas.

The man blinked in confusion. "Pardon?"

"I want to take care of them," said Arielle pleadingly. "Can I keep them with me?"

Lucas glanced at the large glass window of the Blackthorn Palace where the king's study was located. It was not that he didn't want to grant the princess's request, but last year, the king clearly ordered him to take the poor animals out of the palace compound.

"I am sorry, Princess. It's not allowed."

Arielle pursed her lips and put on a pleading expression to Lucas and caused the man to have an inner conflict.

"I think we need to ask His Majesty the King's permission first," Lucas replied nervously.

"You don't have to worry, let me ask permission," Arielle said with sparkling eyes.

Lucas loosened the tie around his neck, which suddenly felt so suffocating. He replied with a stammer. "I-if that's what the Princess wishes, then I can't refuse."

"Yeah! Thank you very much, Lucas!" Arielle cheered so happily.

Arielle and Lucas now turned to look at the rabbit that had jumped away. The two were silent for a moment, and Arielle glanced at Lucas, who also happened to be glancing at her.

"So… how do we catch him, Princess?" Lucas asked. He held back a smile when he saw Arielle's confused face.

Arielle took off her coat and threw it into a pile of snow and causing Lucas's eyes to widen in surprise. The girl rolled up her sleeves to her elbows.

"You know, in Nieverdell, I always joined the cooks in the palace chasing the chicken to cook. How about we make a bet?"

"Bet, Your Highness? W-what bet?"

"Uhm-Hm. If you catch them, I will ask His Majesty the King for permission. But! If I catch them first… then you are the one asking His Majesty the King's permission for the rabbits to stay with me."

"B-but… you said earlier that you would be the one asking for permission…" Cold sweat started running down Lucas' temple.

Now it was Lucas' turn to make a sad face. However, Arielle was used to taking advantage of people with her pitiful face, so she knew when someone else was using her signature technique. Arielle shook her head firmly.

"How dare you use my own tactic against me, Lucas," Arielle said proudly. "Your puppy eyes won't work on me."

She left Lucas, who still looked gloomy. Arielle looked at her shoes. Before descending into the thicker snow, Arielle tapped her shoes to make sure there were no gaps for the snow to get inside.

"Ready? On your mark.... get set, GO!" Arielle shouted and left Lucas who wasn't even ready. The girl dashed towards the palace garden. Likewise, Lucas ran behind her.

The rabbit who sensed the danger raised his ears and looked around. When his round eyes caught the fast movement of the two humans running towards him, the rabbit leaped swiftly towards the snow pile.

Arielle did not want to lose so she also penetrated the snow with difficulty. Her dress was slowly getting wet, but she didn't care.

"Your Highness… you could fall!" cried Lucas, who was so panicked to see Arielle surfing in the snow pile in front of them.

Whoopsie! Ack! Argh! A little bit more! Aahhh!

Arielle made various kinds of sounds as she chased down the rabbit. Lucas also wanted to chase the white rabbit, but he was too focused on keeping the princess safe so she wouldn't fall or get hurt.

"Lucas! You hold it there!" Arielle ordered. The man ran quickly to overtake the rabbit. When he arrived in front of the rabbit, Lucas stretched his arms to stop the rabbit from jumping away.

Arielle calmly approached from behind. However, suddenly, one of her feet got stuck in a pile of snow, and her shoe slipped off.

The rabbit, who noticed another movement from behind, jumped to the side. Unfortunately, the snow on the side was thicker and piled up high, making the rabbit sink into a mound of snow.

Arielle wanted to immediately help the rabbit so she plunged herself into the pile of snow. Her hand could feel the rabbit's soft fur moving frantically as it was covered in snow inside. Likewise, Arielle couldn't feel anything but cold. Her face felt stabbed from the cold snow.

Not too long after, her body was lifted into the air which allowed Arielle to breathe again. However, after a while, her body was still not lowered to the ground.

"Lucas? Uhm, you can put me down right now," she said.

"And let you go back to swimming in that pile of snow?" asked Ronan, in an annoyed voice.