"Your Highness, we've arrived at your room," said Aslan, hoping that Rosie would quickly get her hands off of him.
"I'll let you go if you promise not to punish Sarah and the others," said Rosie with an adorable pout.
Aslan closed his eyes, trying to restrain himself from venting his annoyance. "Your Highness, it is very late now. It's time for you to sleep."
"I will not let you go until you comply with my request," Rosie replied more stubbornly.
Aslan raised one of his legs and positioned Rosie on the bed. He also had to bend his body so that the girl's body was released from his arms. However, Rosie's hands were so tightly wrapped around his neck that Aslan fell on top of her.
Taking advantage of Aslan's fallen body, Rosie used her karate moves to lock onto her opponent and reversed their position. Now Aslan lay on the bed with Rosie sitting on his stomach.
"I will not let you go until you truly promise not to punish them, Duke Aslan."
Aslan looked at Rosie with a flat expression. This position was completely unexpected. And frankly, Aslan was quite surprised by the princess's movement and strength. Maybe if he had been more vigilant, this wouldn't have happened.
Aslan was still on his principles. He had to punish his people who had neglected to carry out their duties. It was not just a matter of the princess. They failed to carry out the task Aslan had given them.
Aslan didn't like it when things didn't go his way. As a perfectionist, today's incident tarnished his ego. Of course, he would tell Howland about this tomorrow. Howland should know about his sister's barbaric behavior. Aslan could barely handle the girl on his own.
"I'm still on my principles. If something goes wrong, it should be punished immediately. But before that, could you step aside for a moment?"
"They are innocent, Aslan!" said Rosie, increasingly getting desperate.
Aslan tried to grab Rosie's body to lift her up, but with a quick movement, Rosie tucked his hand over his head. "Your Highness…"
"What is it, Aslan?" Rosie asked in a more seductive voice.
"This is not true. We should not be like this. I beg you to let me go," said the man, still with a deadpan face.
Rosie shook her head. "No. Until you promise you will not punish them, I will never let you go."
With the remaining self-restraint, Aslan pleaded once more. "This is my last request. Please come down from above me, Your Highness. Do you know what you are doing right now?"
Rosie smirked. She knew what Aslan meant. A man and woman in a room in a position like this was something that could become a scandal and lead to something dangerous. However, Rosie blinked her eyelashes a few times and put on an innocent face.
"What? What am I doing? I'm just asking you not to punish them."
Aslan sharpened his gaze, making Rosie's heart skip a beat. The man had much greater strength. He could have reversed their current position, but he tried to give in for the sake of the princess.
"Your Highness," Aslan called at the end of his self-restraint.
Rosie brought her face closer and whispered in the man's ear. She was purposely grazing her lips against his earlobe. "What is it, Aslan?"
With his greater strength, Aslan gripped both of Rosie's hands, which were clenching her fists.
"Ah!"
It only took Aslan a second to reverse their position. If Rosie needed two hands to trap Aslan's hand, Aslan only needed one to grip the girl's hands. His other hand held her back so she wouldn't fall onto the bed.
The man glanced at Rosie's legs, where part of her dress was lifted to her thigh. The man then leaned forward. Their lips were so close that only with one move they could kiss each other's lips.
Rosie swallowed her saliva, feeling nervous. She didn't know why, but there was an urge inside her to press her lips to his. However, before she could kiss Aslan, the man's index finger stopped her.
"Of course, you know well what I mean. A man and a woman alone together like this is not a good thing."
Aslan brought his lips to her ear and did the same as Rosie had done to him a moment ago.
"You are very naughty today. I really want to punish you, but I can't. So don't tease me too much, Princess. Or you'll regret it," Aslan whispered, making Rosie shudder.
The man got up. Before turning around, he saw Rosie sprawled beneath him. Some part of her evening gowns was lifted and he could see things he shouldn't have seen. The man pulled down Rosie's dress, then left the room.
And it seemed that this was the hundredth time the man had cursed because of the princess.
"Howland, your sister is a devil," he muttered.
***
The morning had come, but Rosie was too tired to get up and start her day. She couldn't catch a wink of sleep because she kept thinking about what happened last night. Her position and Aslan were very close, only an inch away.
Never had she been this close to a man before. Eh… Maybe she had done it with Bryan a few times, like holding hands and hugging, but… it felt like being with Aslan last night was very different.
Rosie had tried to forget the incident by reading a book, but the book she was reading was a romance novel, making her imagine that she and Aslan were the ones living the story in the book. Her mind had gone wild.
Rosie also tried to close her eyes several times, while counting sheep, but after she counted to 400, the girl gave up because it was useless.
Until there was a knock on the door, Rosie could only daydream.
Sarah and the three other maids entered her room with her toiletries. Rosie agreed without much protest. After cleaning her body and putting on a better gown, the doctor who treated her wound yesterday returned to change the bandage on her knee.
Rosie watched Sarah and the others closely. Their faces looked fresh even though the eyebags were very obvious.
"Are you guys okay?" Rosie asked.