The Cursed Prince

"Ah… you're just like me then." Raphael chuckled and looked at her with a pleased expression. "I've been anxiously waiting for you to come here and visit me when you come of age. I'm glad that you're finally here and even summoned me to save you."

Harlow narrowed her eyes at him. "You could have come to Draec yourself if you really wanted to see me."

"I would have… but circumstances and knowing fully well that you would seek me made me more patient." Raphael smiled and swiftly changed the topic. "Isn't it more nice that you sought me out yourself? I can do it to test my patience."

Harlow looked at him in disbelief and jabbed a finger in his chest. "You made me go on some wild goose chase just to find you! I went to Mount Tempest, Myreen, and then the Elven realm just to find you and then found myself all the way here!"

"The journey indeed has been long." Raphael acknowledged. "I am relieved but also impressed that you made it here all by yourself. With Icecube, but still, it's not too often that a princess of your age would set out into a perilous journey by herself. Of course, I shouldn't expect less from my bride."

Harlow pursed her lips at how smoothly the words 'my bride' roll in Raphael's tongue.

She crossed her arms together and wanted to say that she actually had another company, not just Icecube, at least,  all the way to the demon realm. It was a man by the name of Julian who was actually leagues better than this stupid Raphael. 

However, she chose not to say anything. The princess wanted to protect Julian from the Demon King and the best way that she could do that was not making his presence known. Ideas and situations were actually already turning in her head.

Julian was after the Demon King's Closet and that meant that the man would still come here even if Harlow wasn't around. She could imagine the man accidentally stumbling and realizing that Harlow was captured… 

And Julian would save her. The two of them would escape together.

Harlow sighed aloud and shook her head. That was simply the princess daydreaming to herself because she couldn't actually imagine any of that happening. 

Even if she escaped, she would still end up betrothed to the Demon King.  The main issue that she needed to resolve was the fact that the Demon King or the Ice Prince, whatever he called himself, claimed her as his bride.

Raphael soon finished by sipping the glass of wine that he actually prepared for her and soon smacked his lips in satisfaction. He gave the princess a sweet smile, seemingly unaware that Harlow was fantasizing about another man.

"The chef has prepared it well." He gave her a grin. "It would be a shame if you made my minotaur chef shed a tear by rejecting his cooking."

Harlow batted an eye at the word 'minotaur' and 'cooking'. She looked at Raphael in disbelief. She heard a joke like that from Julian and didn't know what to say at first because how rare was a minotaur who could cook? 

"Are you telling me that minotaurs here in the demon realm like cooking that much? This is the second time I've heard of a minotaur cook," she said.

"Really?" Raphael shrugged and gently placed the tray on her lap and then swept up to his feet. "That is perhaps a coincidence. Now you can enjoy your meal, wifey. I have made sure that the food is safe—" 

Before anything else happened, the Demon King suddenly blinked and paused unsurely. His body shivered as he fell to one knee and then winced in sudden pain.

Harlow's eyes widened and she quickly reached out to him worriedly. She didn't know what to do and stopped herself from touching him on the shoulder and only hovered around in concern as she held on to her tray of food. 

"Wait. Wait. Are you okay? Don't tell me that you're dying!" she said. "Oh god… What happened to you? So, is the food really poisoned??"

Raphael growled in pain for a moment, making Harlow feel frantic and stressed. Then, suddenly, he raised his head and looked at the princess with a huge grin on his face. "No. But I'm quite pleased to know that you're actually concerned about me."

"What the—"

Raphael added, "I'm glad to see that my wife cares about me."

Harlow's eyes widened and she realized that this man tricked her. Harlow grew upset and threw a punch across his shoulder once she put away her food. 

"My heart dropped to the floor! How could you joke about something like that?" she yelled at him. "This is NOT FUNNY! Do you want me to get heart attack??"

She beat him up with her small hands, feeling cheated and played. The man didn't even dodge. He let her beat him with an amused smile plastered on his face.

Harlow finally stopped because she thought this shameless demon king actually enjoyed her touching him that way.

She stepped back in annoyance. "That was lame."

"It was simply to test your emotions." Raphael chuckled. "I would have assumed that you would be pleased to see me suffering and then die by choking on the food."

Harlow glowered at him. "I don't want to have your blood in my hands. People would accuse me that I've murdered you if you suddenly died. Of course, I would be worried about you. You can't die on me when I'm around."

Raphael chuckled and looked at her in amusement. "Of course."

The princess, not knowing what to say to Raphael, stomped her feet. Then she begrudgingly took her food and started eating.

Even though Raphael laughed heartily at her reaction, Harlow simply focused on her food and chomp down on the rabbit leg. She was starving but she was also taking it as a chance to think.

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From Missrealitybites:

If you guessed that Raphael would let Harlow beat him up, you are right! XD