"Brother? Didn't you say you wanted to have lunch?" Rosie asked, not understanding the reason she was brought to Aslan's office when the owner was not around.
"Yes, we'll have lunch here," said Howland. He came closer to Rosie and led her to sit on the couch with him.
"I don't see any food here," Rosie replied, making Howland laugh.
"Of course, the food will be brought out in a moment."
Rosie saw a key lying on the table and reached for it.
"What is this key?" she asked Howland. The man quickly grabbed it back and tucked it into his coat pocket.
"Something important. You'll find out in a moment."
While Rosie and Howland waited for the food to be prepared, the door opened from outside without a knock. Aslan arrived, dressing in more casual clothes than this morning.
He paused in front of the door after seeing Rosie sitting on the couch in his room. He glanced at Howland, who raised a hand to greet him.
"Come here. There is a maid behind you who brought Rosie lunch," Howland said, making Aslan glance back.
He moved his body to make room for the two maids to push in a trolley filled with food, snacks, and a lukewarm tea.
After the two maids had served all the food on the table in front of the couch where Rosie was sitting, Howland got up to take Aslan into the room, not just standing like a statue near the door.
"You two can talk. I'll be back in a minute," Howland said, then left the room.
Click!
Aslan and Rosie both turned toward the door when they heard a click from the outside. Aslan walked to the door and tried to open it, but it didn't budge. A letter was tucked under the door, and Aslan opened it quickly.
(Let me know when you guys have forgiven each other. I'll be waiting patiently)
Aslan took a deep breath, then walked slowly towards his work chair.
"Howland locked the door from the outside?" Rosie asked, and Aslan just nodded.
"Why? What's the reason? He said he wanted to have lunch with me!"
Aslan handed him a piece of paper that Howland had tucked under the door. Rosie had to stand up, then walk over to receive the small piece of paper. She read it and suddenly all her will to live instantly disappeared.
"This is bullshit," said Rosie, throwing the paper back onto the table. She turned and walked out to the balcony of Aslan's office.
Aslan nearly fell over as he stumbled to run after Rosie, who climbed onto the balcony rails. He quickly grabbed her from behind and pulled her away.
"What are you doing?!" Aslan scolded her in a high tone.
"Let go of me! I'm going to jump off the balcony. I want to get out of this place!"
Aslan hugged Rosie tighter. He gritted his teeth as the girl kept struggling from his grip.
"You're crazy! This is the second floor!" said Aslan, who could no longer control his emotions.
Aslan carried Rosie back inside and locked the door to his room, which connected to the balcony. He kept the key in his trouser pocket. Rosie was still trying to reach for the key, but Aslan held her hands together. The two of them glared at each other fiercely.
"Give it back," Rosie ordered in a low tone.
Aslan stayed where he was, not at all intimidated by Rosie's effort.
"No."
"Ughhh!!!! I can't be like this!"
Rosie folded her arms across her chest. Her brows furrowed, and her lips pouted, as if he was very upset. Aslan chose to stand while leaning against the window, just in case the princess planned to jump out of the window again like before.
If he could do it, Aslan wanted to shut down all the vents because the girl was completely unpredictable. It could be that by the time Aslan blinked his eyes, Rosie would have been on the wall, trying to force herself out through the vent.
Rosie poured herself a cup of still lukewarm tea to cool off her head.
"So, what should we do?" she asked, still in an annoyed tone.
Aslan shrugged his shoulders. He was busy watching whatever Rosie was doing. Even the smallest thing, like the girl ruffling her hair in frustration, did not go unnoticed.
He raised an eyebrow as Rosie walked quickly toward him and stopped right in front of him. He looked at Rosie's index finger in front of his face.
"All this because you burned the book I wanted to read! That is an atrocity that I will never be able to forgive," Rosie threatened him, yet Aslan still didn't show any expression at all.
If he could escape, maybe Aslan would have done it long before the girl got mad at him. Being locked in alone with a princess who couldn't stay still only gave him a headache. If Aslan had a spare key, he would gladly open the damn door so Rosie could go back to her room.
Or… maybe letting Rosie jump off the second floor was a good thing? Aslan could help her down. He glanced back to estimate the height of the balcony and the ground below.
As Aslan was busy thinking, Rosie suddenly grabbed both of his cheeks, surprising the man. Rosie pulled Aslan's face to look at her. As the two of them felt their faces very close, Aslan tightly gripped the windowsills on either side of him.
"Tell me the real reason you burned the book! I can't believe it was an accident," Rosie said.
"Those books contain adult content that you shouldn't read," Aslan said honestly.
"Huh? Adult content?"
"A bed scene between two characters,"
"Don't tell me all the books you burned yesterday were books that-"
Aslan didn't need to answer because a nod of his head confirmed Rosie's suspicion. Rosie gasped in surprise because she couldn't believe that a trivial thing made Aslan hate the books.
"I just wanted to say that you are very pathetic."
Aslan frowned in confusion. Rosie was speechless. She released his hands from Aslan's face, then laid down on the sofa. She stared at the ceiling in Aslan's office thoughtfully.
The book she read was not a porn story without a plot. The existing snu snu scene was actually used to strengthen the chemistry between the romance story of the two characters.
There were romance books that didn't have bed scenes. One of them was the story of Howland and Savvy. It was just a quick kiss. However, that was because both characters were too innocent to do a snu snu scene.
However, the book she read was very interesting. The conflict of the cursed and the chosen one were her favorites, but Aslan judged the book by its bed scene. Damn!
"I don't regret doing it at all," Aslan said, making Rosie groan in her place.
Aslan walked over and stood on the ends of Rosie's dangling feet on the edge of the couch.
"But, I'm sorry if it upset you."
"Huh?"
"What happened yesterday was initiated by my selfishness, burning the books you wanted to read," Aslan said.
"Do you regret what you did?" Rosie asked.
"About burning those immoral books? Not at all. If time goes back, I might do it again, but without you knowing it."
Rosie was speechless. She didn't know whether she should have felt touched that Aslan apologized first, laughed because Aslan spoke with such a blank expression, or was sad that the man didn't regret what he did at all?
Rosie got up from her place.
"Are you serious?" Rosie asked again.
Aslan nodded. He left Rosie, then chose to sit in his work chair to keep himself away from the princess. However, it seemed like a waste of time because Rosie followed behind him, then leaned her body to Aslan's desk.
"Why did you call those books immoral? They're just writings that tell about other people's lives. You think humans don't have sex to have children?" Rosie asked.
"Humans certainly need to do that in order to have offspring, but it doesn't need to be described and distributed so that anyone can read it. Just like you who are underage."
"Wha-what? Who? Me? Am I underage?" Rosie asked in disbelief. "I'm twenty years old! And even if I want to do it with someone, it's legal!"
"No!" Aslan cut Rosie's words, which sounded ridiculous to his ears. "A person can only be considered an adult after passing the age of twenty-one."
"Huh? Don't be ridiculous," Rosie said while laughing because she thought Aslan's response was so funny.
Rosie noticed Aslan who was still staring at her intently. Her eyebrows arched up, and she deliberately lowered her dress to reveal her soft shoulders.
Aslan took a deep breath then picked up a piece of paper and read it, as if he wasn't interested in what Rosie was doing at the moment.
"Why does it have to be like that? Even though by reading a book I know how to satisfy a man, even though I have no experience," said Rosie weakly.
"Your Highness, our conversation has got off track," Aslan said, not wanting to give Rosie any more attention.
"Why? Are you afraid of being tempted into doing something immoral with me?" Rosie whispered right in the man's ear.