The tension between Aslan and Rosie continued to the next day. Howland tried to bring the two together, but he failed. In the morning, Howland had purposely invited his sister to eat with him, as well as Aslan. However, Sarah, the maid in charge of serving Rosie, said that the princess wanted to eat in her room again.
Aslan returned to his office, accompanied by Howland. Howland felt awkward around Aslan, who was much quieter than usual. Meanwhile, Rosie, who had breakfast in her room, was laughing heartily at the story of one of the maids complaining that Aslan's party preparations were taking too long.
"This is the first party in a long time since Montgomery Castle was abandoned. And, Lord Aslan was a person who didn't know how to prepare for a party. He almost crossed half of the party's necessities from the pre-planned preparation list. We had to start all over again," said the maid.
She continued, "Then, Prince Howland came, saying the preparations for the party needed to be done perfectly. He added again the list that had been crossed by Lord Aslan. So, we had to do it all over again a second time."
"What did you expect from a simple man like Aslan? Of course he doesn't know how to host a party," Rosie commented as she chewed her food harder because she was still annoyed every time she heard Aslan's name.
"True, but I agree with Lord Aslan's words. The more crowded the party, the more difficult it is for us to protect you," the maid said, then covered her mouth because she felt he had spoken too much.
"Protecting me? Is there someone threatening my life?" Rosie asked. She stopped chewing her food in surprise.
She swallowed the rest of the food she had chewed with difficulty, feeling nervous that her life was being threatened.
"N-no, it's not like that! It's just… We are afraid that the incident from a few days ago will happen again… when you took Lord Aslan's horse and left the castle."
"Ah.. you're worried about that..."
Rosie was really relieved to hear that. She thought she was being targeted by an organization. Rosie was a princess of a kingdom. She thought her father had enemies that targeted her. Rosie chuckled at her stupid thought. She ate the rest of her breakfast again.
She asked another servant to tell her about Aslan's daily activities. Rosie was still annoyed every time she heard Aslan's name. It was just that for some reason, she always wanted to know about him. The man was still in the grey zone for Rosie.
Rosie still couldn't tell whether they were outside the plot line where Aslan would continue to be as good as he was right now, or they were still on the main plot of the original story, where Aslan would become a villain.
Rosie started to get tired of waiting for Howland. The man said he wanted to visit her that morning, but no one knocked on her door, no matter how long she had been waiting.
"Did you see Howland?" Rosie asked Sarah.
"No, Your Highness. I had informed Prince Howland that you didn't want to have breakfast together. Then, he told me to come back to accompany you," Sarah replied.
"I saw His Highness Prince Howland with Lord Aslan in Lord Aslan's office," another maid replied.
Rosie pouted her lips. It seemed Aslan had told Howland everything.
Rosie stood up and closed the book she had been reading. She hid the book well, just in case Aslan hated seeing herself reading a book. It would be bad if the cruel duke checked her room and burned the book again.
"Where are you going, Your Highness?" Sarah asked in panic when she saw the princess take off her dress and change into men's clothes again. Sarah forgot to get rid of it from the princess' wardrobe.
"Princess, Prince Howland is still here. Don't let the prince see you dressed like this," Sarah said, trying to remind Rosie that a princess shouldn't wear men's clothes.
"I don't care," Rosie replied casually.
She took a quick step out of her room and asked about her brother's whereabouts to the few people who were busy decorating the castle with colourful flowers.
When Rosie was about to leave the castle, she met with Howland and Aslan, who had just arrived from somewhere. Howland was surprised to see the clothes his sister was wearing. Aslan, who had seen the princess in men's clothes, was no longer too surprised.
"Rosie! Whose clothes are you wearing?!" Howland asked frantically, pushing his sister inside so she could change into her usual dress.
"Oh this? I don't know."
Sarah, who was responsible for finding the men's clothes for the princess, immediately broke into a cold sweat because she knew it was her fault.
If the princess said that she was the one providing the clothes, then Sarah should be prepared to leave the castle. She had to look for other jobs out there.
"I found it in my closet since I got here. I thought Aslan specially prepared it for me, so I used it."
Aslan, who had been standing silently behind Howland, frowned at the absurd accusation.
"Whatever it is, you have to change into your own clothes. These are men's clothes. You can't wear them."
"Huh? Clothes don't have gender, Howland. And it's just a fabric. You're fine if you want to wear my dress too."
Rosie took Howland's hand and squeezed it gently.
"An outfit isn't going to kill me. It's also hard to exercise if I'm wearing a wide skirt and a corset. It will only suffocate me."
"E-exercise? But you-"
Rosie, who had had enough of listening to her brother's protests, covered Howland's mouth with her palm.
"Sssh! I will only run around this castle a few times."
Howland forcibly pulled Rosie's hand from his mouth, then checked Rosie's body temperature. It felt normal in his palm. He didn't understand why Rosie suddenly wanted to exercise right now.
His sister was a child who got tired easily. She was also weak. Her frail body made Howland always overprotective, even for trivial things. In the palace, people always forbade the princess not to move too much because of her weak body.
"Bye!" Rosie shouted, then ran away from her brother. She deliberately gave an annoyed face as she passed Aslan, and the man only glanced at her coldly.
"Hmph!"
Aslan looked back to find the princess stretching her muscles by raising her arms several times. The girl turned her body slowly to the left and the right and folded it, then she stretched her arms and legs alternately several times.
Aslan turned and saw Howland, who was full of worry, looking at his sister.
"Do we still need to talk about the captured revolutionary soldiers or do you want to catch up with your sister?" Aslan asked as he left the place first.
Howland ordered a knight to accompany his sister. He didn't want Rosie to be with only her three maids. If something happened to his sister, there was the knight who could react quickly.
"I'm coming with you," said Howland, following Aslan.