The Cursed Prince

Even if the stupid bracelet came from Raphael, what mattered was to who it belonged to now. This bracelet was hers and who cares if she had to fight herself out of this? Nobody was going to take what was hers!

This was a matter of principle, not just the bracelet.

"Come and fight me!" Harlow challenged them. "If you really want this bracelet, you have to get over my dead body!"

Without Julian and Icecube to protect her, Harlow was cornered, and yet even though she was afraid and outnumbered, the princess wasn't going down without a fight. The crowd of demons suddenly moved forward to attack her and the alley was filled with chaos.

Harlow fought them and clashed with her dagger the demon claws, ducking spells from the wicked witch. She was glad that she hadn't only trained with Gewen because close-combat wasn't his specialty.

She wasn't as good as Kira probably, but the Pirate Princess and even no other than her father, King Mars Strongmoor himself, taught his daughter well in the art of combat. Harlow was holding herself up pretty well.

The princess took advantage of the chaos and weaved around the demons in melee. Some of the demons were actually hitting and hurting their companions to get through and reach her - which was perfect.

However, Harlow was not perfect. She received a slash across her cheek and then felt the graze of a demon across her chest. Her dress started to split open and she growled at the stupid demon that did that and stabbed him in the eye.

The blood oozed out of the demon, but Harlow had already managed to overcome killing animals who were cute like deers and rabbits to feed her pet dragon. So, she didn't bat an eye as she pulled out her dagger and kicked the demon backward towards his friends.

It only took a couple of minutes, but soon the fight started to slow down and Harlow realized that she was truly at a disadvantage.

"Uff… I may have overestimated myself." The beautiful princess laughed a little as she pressed her back against the wall and held her dagger threateningly. If only she could scale up and run away…

However, there was no choice left.

"Give it up and we'll let you go alive."

The princess eyed the people and said, "If you guys are saying the truth about this Demon King's item. Well? Why don't we go ask for help, okay?"

The witch and the demons exchanged glances when they heard her statement. It took them a little while to understand what she meant and by then, Harlow already shouted at her bracelet.

"Demon King, I summon you and your armies!"

As soon as Harlow said the words, everyone started to shake for some reason. However, the princess wasn't impressed. There was nothing flashy at all and the demon realm didn't quake or anything.

"You called?" a voice rang beside her.

Suddenly… lo and behold, the demon king himself appeared. 

Harlow batted her eyes and glanced at her right side, knowing full well that nobody was supposed to be there. 

Her eyes caught sight of the owner of the voice.

He was a tall and burly, handsome man with white hair and two horns on his head. The man looked significantly older than her. Perhaps he was in his early thirties.

"Wait, YOU are the demon king?" Harlow choked. She was supposed to see Raphael and not this man. Still, wasn't a demon king supposed to be more hideous than this?

The demon king glanced over his shoulder and saw the jade bracelet on Harlow's wrist. He smiled at her and inclined his head. His words were uttered in a playful tone, but the content sent chills down Harlow's spine.

"We've finally met at long last, wifey."

"What the—?" Harlow's eyes bulged. She really couldn't believe her hearing. Was this another man trying to claim her as a bride?

Fuck. Was she that beautiful that so many men wanted her? Harlow realized she was attractive. Many potential suitors came to her parents before she was even of age. Those elven princes also fought for her affection.

But why did this start to feel like a curse?

GASP

The witch and her demons friends gasped in unison when they realized who just entered the picture. It was the demon king himself.

This distracted the demon king's attention from Harlow. He nonchalantly waved his hand and, despite no visible force, he quickly tossed the wicked witch and demons aside. Their bodies flew and hit the wall with loud thuds.

Harlow stepped away from him instinctively and placed her dagger at his chest. "Stay away from me, you freaky bastard."

"I came here at your call and this is how you treat me?" The demon king pursed his lips. He lifted a finger and touched Harlow's dagger, like it was a child's toy.

"Don't come closer!!" Harlow shouted in a panic.

"You have to get used to being close to me since you are my bride." The demon king smirked.

Harlow became pissed because the demon king repeated his claim that she was his bride. Why were there so many presumptuous men in this world?

"I AM NOT your bride, okay?" Harlow shouted angrily. "I am grateful that you came here to help me from those... those wicked people, but that doesn't mean you can claim me as your... your bride."

Had she known the help would come at that price, she would probably just toss the damn bracelet to the wicked witch and be done with it.

"I didn't help you to claim you as my bride." The demon king still smiled in amusement. "I helped you BECAUSE you are my bride. How could I let these fools bother my wife without getting the consequence?"

"Wife? I am no one's wife... Don't be ridiculous!" Harlow became so frustrated.

So, this guy was even more presumptuous than Raphael and the elven princes. It seemed the only decent man she had met on her journey was Julian.

Now, she regretted not listening to Julian's advice to stay in her inn and get some rest while he did his thing. She overestimated her own capabilities in a foreign land.

"..." For a flash second, Harlow thought the demon's king's expression was filled with sadness at her words.

However, it was blink-and-you'll-miss-it... so the princess was not sure if her mind wasn't playing tricks on her.

The next thing she saw was the man smirk even wider as he stepped forward to her, not caring that her dagger stabbed into his skin if he went closer.

"I am glad you like my gift and wear it wherever you go," he said softly. 

Harlow was dazed, couldn't say anything for a few moments. Her brain was confused by so much information that entered her system at once.

"T-the... bracelet... you mean?" She finally managed to find her voice. The demon king nodded as the reply. The princess bit her lip. She countered, "This bracelet is given to me by Raphael. You.. you are not him."

"Oh, I am Raphael." The demon king shrugged. "I gave you birthday gifts every year since you were two. That bracelet is your fourteenth birthday gift."

Suddenly, Harlow didn't know anything anymore.

She came here looking for the presumptuous ice prince and ended up with a demon king? What actually happened? Who was this man really? Was he really Raphael as he claimed to be?

Harlow was confused and couldn't be relieved. "Aren't you supposed to be the Ice Prince? Why do you have horns? Are you really the demon king?"

Raphael raised an eyebrow and smirked. He turned to look at the witch and her demons friends. His eyes flashed and surrounded the people with a blast of blue light. Suddenly, all of the people struck turned into ice statues. 

"You mean… this little old trick?" Raphael asked. His voice was filled with amusement. "I still got it."

Finally, Harlow realized that this man... the demon king, might actually be telling her the truth.

Her mother told her the story of the ice prince several times when Emmelyn was sharing about her adventures. Those were the days before they knew that all Harlow's amazing birthday gifts were from Raphael. 

Emmelyn told Harlow how the ice prince could turn people into ice statues. Even the formidable Kira Grim Athibaud once fell victim to the ice prince and almost ended up as his castle decoration.

Now, seeing with her own eyes, how the demon king easily turned people into ice... Harlow couldn't help but believe that he was telling the truth.

So... THIS MAN was her so-called fiance? Raphael was actually the demon king?

"Now… shall we go?" Raphael's deep and dark voice moved Harlow from her daze.

"G-go…? Go where?" Harlow croaked a reply. Somehow she couldn't get her eyes off of this man. No… this demon king. "I am not going anywhere with a stranger. My mother told me about stranger danger...."

She was lying, of course. Even though her parents always warned her about dangerous people, Harlow didn't always listen to them. She tended to think she was strong and could hold her own, especially with the presence of Icecube around her.

However, there was no Icecube now, and she was cornered by a powerful demon king.  This man looked so imposing and had a very powerful aura around him that made her knees go weak. 

"We will go to... my place." the demon king reached out his other hand and grabbed Harlow's waist before her legs turned into jello.

Perhaps, it was out of shock or out of fear… but Harlow suddenly passed out.

The demon king readily took her in his strong arms and carried her gently. He observed Harlow's beautiful face for a long time, admiring it in silence.

Finally, he let out a sigh.. "You like danger too much."