"Oh, no no no no. Aslan put out the fire right now! You burned the book I wanted to read!" Rosie protested frantically.
She lifted her dress to step on the fire, trying to put it out. It was a very dangerous act because the large fire could have burned her dress or even her feet.
The maid screamed desperately. She tried to hold Rosie down to stop the princess from doing foolish things. Aslan grabbed the girl and placed her on his shoulders like a sack of wheat.
Rosie, who was about to put out the fire to retrieve the book she wanted to read, struggled to get loose from Aslan. Aslan held onto Rosie's legs tightly, keeping the girl from kicking him. However, Rosie's hands wouldn't stop hitting his back.
"Put me down! Aslaaan! What are you doing with my book?! Put me down! Put me down right now!!!" Rosie's scream echoed throughout the castle.
Aslan ignored Rosie's whining, asking him to put her down. The man ran into Howland in the corridor, who ran in panic after hearing his sister's screams.
"W-what? Did something happen to Rosie?" Howland asked worriedly.
Aslan lowered Rosie back down to stand on her own two feet. The girl's hair was in disarray from falling upside down as Aslan carried her like a sack. Besides, her face was wet with tears.
"Rosie? W-why are you crying?"
Rosie pushed Aslan away, then strode to Howland's arms.
"Aslan… Aslan burned the book I wanted to read."
"What does this mean, Aslan?" Howland asked sharply. Meanwhile, Aslan didn't feel the least bit guilty. He actually felt at ease now. Rosie didn't have to read those disgusting books anymore.
"I only burned the books that were no longer worth to be in my library, and the book Princess Roseanne wanted to read accidentally caught on fire with the other books I had already sorted out."
"You lied!" Rosie accused him. "You did it on purpose, didn't you? When I asked where the book was, you pretended not to know."
Aslan shrugged his shoulders as if he didn't care about Rosie's accusations. Rosie was still devastated that Aslan had burned the book she wanted to read. She knew well that the man did it purposely.
She did not know the reason the man burned the books, but judging by Aslan's character, it turned out that the seeds of the villains had come out one by one.
"Perhaps, did you also throw away the book I read this afternoon too?" Rosie accused sharply.
Aslan clenched his jaws hard. He didn't like the threatening tone Rosie gave him.
"It's up to you if you want to believe me or not. But I did what I was supposed to do as the owner of this place."
Howland still didn't understand the conflict between Aslan and Rosie. He embraced his sister, who was still crying to get away from Aslan.
For some reason, Aslan clenched his fists in anger. He turned to go in the opposite direction from where the siblings had gone.
Howland caught up with Rosie, who still looked angry. He had never seen his sister like this, so he was worried half to death right now. When he asked what had happened, Rosie kept her mouth shut, still with her angry face. The girl didn't cry, but an annoyance could be seen on her pretty face.
Howland managed to follow Rosie to her room. He gently grabbed his sister's arm.
"Rosie? What did Aslan do to you?" Howland asked gently.
Rosie took a deep breath, then exhaled it slowly. She had never been this upset before. Even when she was betrayed by her own friend, she didn't feel this frustrated.
Rosie really liked novels. She had never lost a book before, especially if the book was great. Rosie had always wanted to finish her books and now… they had been burned by Aslan for no apparent reason.
What was the reason? Why didn't Aslan tell her? Why did that man suddenly turn into a book hater?
"Roseanne?" Howland called to her once more.
Rosie turned to her brother. Seeing Howland's worried expression made Rosie feel guilty. The man had been following her, yet Rosie acted cold. It wasn't Howland's fault, so it would be inappropriate for Rosie to take her frustrations out on Howland.
Rosie's frown slowly faded away. Her pouting lips slowly curled into a smile. Then, she grabbed Howland's hands.
"Howl, I'm just feeling tired right now. I'll tell you everything tomorrow. Can I?"
Howland stroked his sister's head lightly and nodded. "As long as you're okay, Brother will listen to your stories whenever you want. If you feel uncomfortable here, we can head back to the capital tonight. You don't have to force yourself to join the party tomorrow night."
Rosie shook her head. She couldn't let the golden opportunity to see the first meeting of the two main characters in the story slide from her palm. And also… if Rosie returned to the capital, then how would she melt Aslan's heart?
She had to calm herself first before she met the man again. In her room, Rosie glanced at the rest of the books she had borrowed the previous day. She tried to cheer herself up by reading one of the books. However, her heart still lingered on the two books she had not finished reading.
Rosie wondered how the female protagonist melted the heart of the cold king? She wanted to know so she could apply it to Aslan later.
For the rest of the day, Rosie decided to lie down alone in her room lazily. Sarah, the maid assigned to serve the princess, was only given the opportunity to enter the room when she brought dinner.
Aslan's and Howland's invitations to have dinner together were definitely refused by Rosie.
***
Aslan was cutting the steak in front of him when a maid came with her head down.
"I have delivered the princess's dinner, Your Majesty," Sarah reported to Howland.
"Is she okay? Did she really not want to join us for dinner?" Howland asked again.
Sarah shook her head. "Princess Roseanne said she was fine and asked you not to worry about her. And the princess also turned down the invitation to have dinner together."
"Ah, I see… alright then…." Howland replied weakly.
After Sarah left, Howland continued his dinner. Aslan could see that Howland wasn't in the mood to eat. The two of them had met several times, but Howland didn't ask him what had happened.
In between his chews, Howland let out a long sigh that irritated Aslan. Aslan put down his fork and knife a little rougher.
"Just ask me. You don't have to be afraid to ask questions."
Howland looked up with sparkling eyes. "Is that true? I don't want to make you uncomfortable. I know you don't like it when people get in your way."
"But your sighs are so annoying."
Aslan reached for the glass of water to quench his thirst. Because of Howland, he also lost his appetite.
"So.. what made my sister mad at you?" Howland asked as gently as possible, not wanting to offend Aslan.
"I burned the books she wanted to read," Aslan replied without beating around the bush.
"Huh? What do you mean by burning the books she wanted to read?"
Aslan tapped his index finger on the dining table, considering whether he should convey what Rosie had been reading or not. Aslan decided to tell Howland. At least, that way in the future, Howland could take better care of the books his sister read.
"I found Princess Roseanne reading a book that was not appropriate for her age."
"My sister is twenty. Next month, she will turn twenty-one. What kind of book isn't appropriate for Rosie's age?" Howland asked in confusion.
"I found books containing adult scenes on Princess Roseanne's reading list. Vulgar books that shouldn't be printed for public consumption."
Howland immediately knew what Aslan referred to. Back when Aslan was a knight commander, the man took away his subordinates' books that contained adult scenes. Aslan always said that the books were immoral and deserved to be destroyed.
Howland didn't expect his sister to read the same thing. Of course, Aslan would be angry because the man had always hated that kind of book.
Rosie was an adult. The girl could already differentiate which books were worth reading or not. Howland knew that his sister loved books. Even their father gave her a private library as a gift for her seventeenth birthday.
Howland also always gave his sister a new book every time he came back from a journey out of the palace. Since Rosie had a weak body since childhood, Howland introduced her to the world through the books.
He already knew the problem, but Howland became even more confused about who he should defend because neither of them could be blamed, even though their attitude was also a bit too much.
Aslan, who hated books with excessive adult content, burned them. And Rosie, who loved books, was angry that Aslan had burned the books.
"I can't blame you two," Howland said in frustration.