Loving The Cursed Werewolf King-Chapter 585: Potraits Of Mirabelle

Archie patted his sister’s shoulder briefly then shifted to the side. Behind him had got down his grandfather, Duke Ambrose, who had long wanted to meet Arielle as well.

Duke Ambrose smiled at the girl, and so did Arielle. She returned Duke Ambrose’s honor by putting one of her legs and feet behind her back and folding it a bit to return the courtesy given by the duke.

The girl walked closer to shake hands with the old man.

"Welcome to Northendell, Duke Ambrose. I hope you enjoy your day here," said Arielle.

Duke Ambrose laughed, "Thank you for your hospitality, Your Highness. I am very honoured."

"Then, let’s go to a warmer place. Your journey must have been very cold."

Arielle received the blanket Lucas had given her and then gave it to Duke Ambrosse. Duke Ambrose accepted it with gratitude. Arielle took Archie and Duke Ambrose to the Whitethorn Palace because Ronan was currently having a meeting with someone else, so she would receive her own guest alone for now.

In a warm meeting room, two long, soft sofas were placed opposite each other with a single sofa at the end, forming a rectangle around a black glass table.

Lucas arrived to offer Archie and Duke Ambrose drinks. Duke Ambrose only asked for a hot tea and so did Arielle. The fireplace had also been lit, making the room feel warmer,

"How was your trip, Duke Ambrose?" asked Arielle to start the conversation.

"Oh, Your Highness. If it wasn’t for the priest, you have sent me. I might have been an ice cube here," Duke Ambrose replied jokingly.

Arielle smiled. She had indeed sent an apprentice priest to fetch Archie and Duke Ambrose. Considering Duke Ambrose was very old and prone to cold, she didn’t want to make the duke sick. Besides, Ronan also allowed it because soon the regulation to manage the cathedral’s people would be Arielle’s task.

***

"Oh, I almost forgot. I brought you something," Archie said.

He then called his bodyguard who brought forth a medium-sized box with a green ribbon around it.

"What is this, Brother?" Arielle asked after receiving the box.

"Open it, you’ll see for yourself."

Arielle pulled the green ribbon that tied the box then took off cover. Inside the box was a round pendant necklace and a small notebook with a brown leather cover. There was no title or anything on the cover.

"Can I open it?" Arielle asked Archie.

"Of course. It’s already yours," replied her older brother amusedly.

At first, Arielle took the notebook and opened the first page. A drawing of an edelweiss flower made with pen scribbles greeted her. Arielle looked up to look at Archie. The man then raised his head, telling Arielle to keep turning to the next page.

The book did not have any writing. Just a few numbers showing the date. Perhaps that was the date those sketches were made. Most of the sketches were filled with splendid scenes of nature, starting with various types of flowers, plants, scenery, and also deers which were resting under a tree.

Arielle’s hands stopped moving when in the middle of the book, she saw a sketch of a woman with straight hair laughing happily. The woman was wearing a black maid outfit and a white apron wrapped around her waist.

From the position of the sketch, it looked like the person who drew the woman did it without permission. On the next page, there were also several sketches of the same woman. Arielle started to know who that woman was, but she was not sure about the owner of the book.

In the last few pages, the sketches of the woman were no longer candidly drawn. The woman started to pose, sat down gracefully, and wore more elegant clothes. There was also a sketch where the woman was wearing the same white veil she was wearing before. It was a wedding portrait.

Then, in the last sketch was a portrait of the same woman with an even bigger belly, but her face was not as bright and cheerful as in the first few pages. After that, there were still some blank sheets. It looked like it had never been touched again.

Finally, there was the writing of the name that Arielle could recognize.

(To Mirabelle. My last smile.)

Arielle didn’t know what to do. This... was his father’s sketch book?

"Where did you get it from?" she asked after putting the book back in the box.

Arielle didn’t know why, but it felt very strange to hold something that belonged to her father. She seemed to have a peek into her father’s private life that she never knew. Mirabelle was her mother’s name. From what Duke Pellington had said, her mother was just a slave that the man had taken and served as a maid in his residence.

However, somehow, the King of Nieverdell got ahead of him and asked her mother to marry him. Arielle wasn’t an illegitimate child anymore, but her existence was still often ostracized by her other family. Even her own father never looked at her until the end of his life.

It was after seeing the notebook. Arielle felt that her mother was very loved. But, why was he different?

Arielle waited for an answer from Archie.

"A worker found it in the rubble of the ruins of the palace," Archie replied.

Arielle was now taking the necklace and opening the cover. There was a portrait of a woman with white hair glistening with black irises. Anyone who saw it would think that the small portrait inside the pendant was Arielle, but it wasn’t her. It was her late mother.

"The necklace... I found it at our father’s old residence in another city. In that place... there are a lot of paintings of that woman. I can’t bring it for you, but you can see it if you want to go to the South later," Archie said.

"Paintings?"

"Yeah. All of my father’s paintings."

His father... could paint? She never knew that her father also liked painting. Arielle became even more curious. She nodded and thanked her brother.

"Of course. I will visit the South after all this is over," Arielle said, making Archie smile.

Arielle then closed the box again and gave it to Lucas to keep in her room. She thanked Archie once again because of the notebook and the small portrait in the pendant that Arielle was able to imagine her mother’s real face.

"Have you seen my mother before?" Arielle asked curiously.

Archie shook his head. Perhaps he had seen her because, as he tried to recall, his mother always said that there was once a white-haired witch who lived in the palace with them for a few months until father kicked her out. It was a story he got from his mother. After Archie had grown up, he realized that wasn’t true at all.

"I was just a kid back then, so I don’t really remember it. Maybe if our siblings were still around, Alexis and Andrea would probably remember your mother," said Archie in a bitter tone when he said the name of his late siblings.

Feeling that the atmosphere had become uncomfortable at the mention of their late siblings’ name, Duke Ambrose cleared his throat to lighten up the mood.

"Arielle, may I look around the palace?" asked Duke Ambrose.

Arielle swiftly stood up and offered her hand to help the duke get up and walk.

"Of course, Duke Ambrose. I’ll be happy to show you a few places here. Brother, you can rest first. You must be tired from the long journey," Arielle said to Archie.