King Ronan Doesn't Like Animals

"Lucas? Uhm, you can put me down right now," Arielle said. She started to feel uncomfortable because she was still floating in the air. The rabbit that she had caught began to struggle so that Arielle had to hold his two long ears.

"And let you go back to swimming in that pile of snow?" There was a distinctive groaning sound behind her.

Arielle looked back and found Ronan standing behind. He lifted her waist up with ease with just his one hand.

"Y-your Majesty?" Arielle immediately panicked. The girl looked at the king's study window and turned to look behind her. Her eyes bulged. "W-what are you doing here? You should go back to work."

"What am I doing here?! I saw you running here and there from up there. How do you think I can work in peace seeing all that?"

Ronan lowered Arielle's body and pulled Arielle's shoulders to face him. His eyes found a mound of white fur in the girl's arms. From the two long ears that Arielle grasped, Ronan immediately knew that it was a wild snow rabbit.

The rabbit looked back and found a pair of red eyes staring at him intently. The man growled softly, which made the rabbit jump frantically in Arielle's arms because it wanted to escape.

Arielle turned her back to Ronan to calm the rabbit down. After a few strokes, the rabbit stopped its frantic movements.

Ronan glanced at Lucas, who didn't dare to raise his head.

"Didn't I tell you to throw them out of the palace compound last year?" the king was furious.

"That's right, Your Majesty. It seems they are a new family. The female rabbit looks like she's just given birth, so I don't have the heart to throw them away," Lucas said in a low voice.

Ronan let out a long sigh. He took off his coat and draped it on Arielle's body. She had started to shiver. The girl didn't even care about her own condition. The northern clothes were quite thick, yet for someone who had been exposed to the sun all her life, the northern cold would still be biting.

"Let go of the rabbit. You have to warm up immediately," said Ronan.

Arielle shook her head quickly. "Please allow me to look after them, Your Majesty. I want to raise them until the children grow up and can survive on their own. They are so little and the mother just gave birth. They need proper food to survive, but it seems the father is struggling to feed his family..."

"Princess, at this time, please pay attention to the condition of your body first. These animals will only trouble you." Ronan still tried to insist.

Arielle shook her head once more. She felt she would be able to look after and care for them. In Nieverdell, she had several pet chickens. After the mother incubated the eggs and the chicks hatched, the chef there cooked the mother and it made Arielle cry all day.

Because she was devastated and couldn't bear to see the orphaned chicks, Tania allowed Arielle to be the substitute mother for the little ones.

Arielle took care of the chicks so painstakingly. If she visited the coop behind the kitchen, she would be greeted by their little tweets. Arielle often invited the chicks to play catch up.

When the chicks had grown up, Tania helped Arielle to release them in the forest, so that the courtiers could not eat them.

Arielle thought that her experience of raising a few chicks and a few rabbits would not be much different. She had a great sense of empathy for the poor animals.

She felt so touched after she heard Lucas say earlier that what she had caught at this time was the father looking for food for his newborn children.

"No, you should focus on studying. Let's just return them to the forest," said Ronan firmly.

Arielle pursed her lips as she grew sad. She looked into the rabbit's round eyes. She could not bear to let this rabbit roam the palace gardens without finding any food to bring back to his little family.

"Please allow me to take care of them, at least only until the children grow up. And if you didn't like them, I'll take them back to Nieverdell."

When he heard Arielle's intention about returning to Nieverdell, Ronan scoffed in annoyance.

Arielle's lips slowly turned blue, and Ronan could clearly hear the girl's teeth chattering from the cold. He couldn't argue long if Arielle's condition was like this. So, the king pulled his coat close, and Ronan lifted the girl into his arms.

"Your Majesty, I can walk on my own." Arielle tried to protest.

"I know," answered Ronan curtly. There was absolutely no intention for the man to let Arielle walk on her own.

Arielle's body also almost felt frozen with some of the snow entering through the gaps of her dress. It looked like the rabbit was also calmer in Arielle's arms. Ronan tightened his embrace so that the girl wouldn't get cold.

"Is this a yes? I'm allowed to take care of them?" asked Arielle hopefully.

Ronan didn't want to look at the girl's face because he knew when he looked into those pair of sparkling eyes with a pleading gaze, he could never refuse the princess's request.

"No. I'll send them out tomorrow."

"But why Your Majesty? The children are still small, if we release them in the forest, then they might be attacked by other wild animals…"

That was precisely what Ronan was worried about. If they roamed in the palace, at the time of the full moon next month, then those rabbits were only going to end up as food for this monster. He did not want to make Arielle heartbroken in the future due to his actions.

"The palace is more dangerous," answered Ronan curtly.

Arielle then stopped forcing the man to give her permission. This was his palace, and it was only natural for Arielle to follow the rules. Maybe King Ronan wasn't the type of person who liked animals.