The Cursed Prince

***

Harlow woke up and sat up to find herself in a room that looked almost exactly like her own. She rubbed her eyes and wildly looked around in curiosity as she pressed a hand on her chest.

  "Have I… have I been dreaming everything?" she asked herself.

No. Harlow couldn't accept that and she quickly started to see the differences between her room and that of the chambers that she was currently in. She stood up and left the soft and majestic bed and went for the huge lone window.

She saw that the garden didn't resemble the garden sights of the Draecian Royal Palace and instead looked more similar to the one in Myreen Royal Palace. That beautiful jacaranda tree was very similar to the one she saw there. 

She hadn't exactly been able to tour the place well, but before Harlow left, King Alexander actually showed her the garden.

"My wife loved this garden and so my daughter took great care of it." King Alexander told her that time. "There is another garden similar to this, well.. perhaps slightly bigger, in Castilse. My late wife's bestfriend wanted to preserve Catalina's memory by having a garden similar to the one we have here."

At that time, Harlow only listened to the king's explanation half-heartedly. Her mind was preoccupied by the thought of chasing and finding Raphael. However, now that she saw something familiar around her, she couldn't help but think about the garden again.

Was she in Castilse? If she remembered correctly, Castilse was the capital of Summeria. She visited that place when she was really young, around one year old. That was… in human realm, right?

Was she back  in her own realm???

However, before she could shout in joy, she saw two demons walking by the garden with gardening tools.

Shit!

She was still in the demons realm.

She remembered Alexei and King Alexander said Raphael went to Myreen in the past. Perhaps, he liked the garden there and decided to have the same one in his own place?

Harlow massaged her temple. She felt stupid for jumping into conclusions so easily. She looked around her and assessed her surroundings.

Harlow pursed her lips and realized she was in a room fit for a princess.

She was actually impressed by what she saw, from the beautiful garden and the luxurious chamber.

"Huh. I almost expected skulls and monster corpses decorating his kingdom or at least the castle." Harlow muttered to herself as she rubbed her chin. "At least a moat filled with alligators. But this one almost feels like home."

The princess turned around and surveyed her room. Everything was impeccable and not a single thing was out of place… Harlow could even say that it was to her liking.

"Wait. Why am I acting like I'm some kind of guest here in his castle? This bastard abducted me!" Harlow slapped her cheeks and tried to make herself not get distracted by her environment. 

The princess looked at the window again and wondered if she could survive falling out from her windows. Harlow muttered to herself. "He might have saved me, but that's because he sees me as an object to be claimed!"

Before Harlow could do anything drastic, somebody knocked on her door. The princess quickly paused, realized what she was doing, and then rushed to get on top of her window's sill.

However, soon the door opened and the Demon King himself walked in.

Raphael was carrying a tray of food. He seemed to be in a jolly mood. The man only looked at the princess who was already by her window and prepared to jump just to escape him.  Harlow was stunned at the sight of the man because she expected someone else to come in.

Why would the Demon King come into her chambers? 

Wouldn't a maid or at least a guard come instead and not the king of the demons himself? 

Surely the man had servants who could follow his orders, right? Or they could have just summoned Harlow into his throne room to be presented to his liking. It was a typical thing for tyrants to have their prisoners be taken into the throne room for judgement at least.

Harlow could also see that the man was carrying a tray in his hands.

Was that food? Harlow could already smell the sweet scent of something roasted beneath the lid and she felt her mouth salivate. 

Somehow this man also managed to get her favorite food and delivered it by himself?

This was not the way that Harlow expected this Raphael to act around her. It wasn't only his appearance that stunned her, but even the little things that he was doing now that rendered her at a loss for words. 

Raphael chuckled a little and broke the silence between them. Instead of being upset that his 'wifey' was trying to escape him, his eyes actually lit up in amusement.

He smirked a little. "You're as energetic as ever and you've just woken up, wifey. Why not take a seat?"

"And why would I listen to you?" Harlow narrowed her eyes at him as she forced herself to speak.

"Even if you tried to escape, now that I have my eyes on you, do you really think I'd let you go?" Raphael replied nonchalantly. "Besides, I wouldn't want to see you try and hurt yourself by jumping out of the window. So, let's sit down and talk. That's what you came here for, right?"

Harlow's expression hardened at his words. It was true that this Ice Prince, Demon King, or whatever he called himself would be more than capable of capturing her and making sure that she wouldn't be able to escape.

And it was also true that Harlow actually came here to talk. So, why not sit down and talk, and find ways to break off the forced engagement? Maybe that could work?

Finally, Harlow sighed, went down from the window and headed back to her bed, and plopped down to take a seat. "I've actually come here to beat some sense into you, but fine.. Let's talk."