The Cursed Prince

Meanwhile, Harlow rolled her eyes at Alexei's words. She wanted the conversation to stay focused on her search for the Ice Prince. However, they still had not given her any useful information and this made her feel frustrated.

As a princess, she was taught court manners, but she was now too impatient and decided to wave her hand and got their attention back.

"Is it even really possible to hurt a god?" Harlow couldn't help but ask.

King Alexander and Alexei both looked in her direction a bit surprised by the question. It wasn't exactly unnerving, but at the same time, nobody expected the princess to ask such a bold statement.

"Hurt, pain… yeah, of course." Alexei laughed. "We're not made of stone, princess. So it isn't that surprising that we can feel pain, emotional, physical, or even mental pain are all possible."

Harlow nodded slowly. "I see…"

Alexei's eyes suddenly sharpened as he looked at her seriously. "But if you want to learn how to kill a god… will you be prepared for the consequences?"

Harlow gulped.

"If you mean Raphael though, you'll be doing us a favor." Alexei grinned. "Well, not me, but the others."

Harlow's brows knitted together at Alexei's words because it confused her a lot. What was he saying about killing the Ice Prince and it being a favor for others? Some people wanted him dead? 

"Wait, do you mean other gods?" Harlow blinked. "Do the other gods want to kill the Ice Prince? So, he is a wanted man?"

"Forgive Alexei, he doesn't know what he's saying, Princess," King Alexander said. "I assure you that there is more to a person than what rumors and gossip imply about him and the story that this young god knows is probably incomplete and inaccurate."

Harlow tilted her head. "Story?"

"Oh, don't you know?" Alexei blinked. "It's about how the—"

King Alexander cleared his throat and looked at Harlow politely with a smile. "You are looking for him to converse with him, right? Is there any problem, Princess? You've come so far from Draec and ended up here in Myreen."

Harlow pursed her lips and it felt like King Alexander perceptively redirected the conversation to her and chose not to reveal everything they knew about the Ice Prince. She sighed and crossed her arms.

"My mother, Emmelyn Rosehill Strongmoor encountered Raphael and made a deal with him that accidentally involved me without my consent. I've come to speak with that jerk— I mean… man," she said.

Speak to him and preferably smack him in the face and other sorts of violence for his presumptuous nature, if Harlow had a chance. Her hand was twitching so hard that it even Alexei could tell that she was upset.

Compared to Harlow's encounter with the White Witch, King Alexander Leoralei seemed more reasonable and wasn't as scary as described by Marguerite. However, the young princess still needed to be prepared.

These were still the people who ended up cursing her mother, right?

"Oh, deals. Well, I am certain that the conversation will go smoothly once you meet him." King Alexander said and eventually smiled. "If you wish to find Raphael then I  recommend that you go to the elven realm to seek for him."

"Elven realm?" Harlow's eyes bulged. "What is that?"

Alexei ended up chuckling at the princess and glanced at her. "Don't you know that there are many realms and not just this world? Elven, Dwarven, mermaids, and countless other realms which will take you to places that you wouldn't even dare dream of."

King Alexander cleared his throat. "There are many secret portals available in human realms to go to the other realms and of those, there will be some that will take you to the elven realm."

"I see… is there any clue as to where these secret portals maybe?" she asked.

Harlow sighed inwardly and knew that she was getting more than what she bargained for by trying to go out to find the Ice Prince. Was he really that elusive? 

Normally, Harlow would be thrilled by the idea of exploring the world. It was exciting to go out and see sights that she'd never had a chance to experience before.

However, after flying from Draec all the way to Mount Tempest, she ended up learning just how quickly she could brush against death and barely escape with her own life intact. It was dangerous.

Too dangerous for an ordinary princess.

Compared to gods and powerful wizards and witches, Harlow was an archer, yes. However, she would still end up dying if she pushed herself too hard and, compared to her mother, Harlow was all by herself.

She did not have any friends to help her, no hidden king like King Maxim Ashborn who would go to extreme lengths to ensure her safety, no pirate princess or any of those beautiful adventure stories that her mother told her for bedtime stories. 

Right now, Harlow was a princess and all by herself, with an ice dragon perhaps, but even that didn't assure her safety.

"It could be a passage underwater, it could be a secret cave or it could even be a haunted forest where people are said to get lost and never return. Countless passages to different realms." Alexei grinned at her. "You better be careful and not end up in the underworld, princess."

"Don't frighten Her Highness, Alexei." King Alexander scolded the young god.

"I'm not scared," Harlow said. She was wary, cautious, and even anxious, perhaps… but she was not scared at all. Her eyes narrowed at the young man who called himself Alexei. This guy was really getting on her nerves.

And yet at least he was easy enough to read compared to the guy that was on the top of Harlow's most wanted. If the Ice Prince really showed up at her party from her beloved phoenix's ashes then it meant that he would have at least shown a tiny bit of decency. Yet, he just sent a stupid letter and now played hide and seek? What did he want???

"You aren't scared? Really?" Alexei raised a brow.

"I'm not afraid, I'm pissed off with how much time I'm already putting into looking for this guy!" Harlow threw her hands up and started pacing across the throne room angrily. 

Both the king and young god watched her storm about.

The princess knew she was making a scene, but she was filled with furious vengeance. Harlow was once again going to hop from Myreen to the elven realm and then… what? The further she went away from home, the further she put herself in danger just to find the jerk.

"Argh! I've left my home without permission and now I can't justify doing anything else but go looking for him or else doom my family and say I wasted my time!" Harlow said and then eventually slowed down and halted her steps.

The runaway princess glanced up at the young god that was standing boredly beside the King of Myreen. As far as she could tell, this Alexei was strong and also knew how to fly. Did he know other great spells? Magic? Strength?

"Why are you looking at me like that? Do you think I look handsome?" Alexei winked at her, noticing her stare.

Harlow blinked once and then shook her head with pursed lips. "Yeah. I'd rather go through this by myself."

She immediately canceled her intention to ask for Alexei's help.

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From Missrealitybites:

For Rhonda - ZZgirl, Lois McGee, Alina Aluska, Andrea Osgood, Adriana AAMia, and anyone who reads "The Alchemists" (sorry I cannot mention you one by one), I have an announcement to make.

Now that I have ended "The Cursed King" and "Finding Stardust", I will continue Rune's and Rose's story in January 2022. I can't wait to give Rune and Rose their proper finale, show Caspar's and Finland's new kid, and Mischa's and Vega's beautiful family.

You can see in the comment, the chibi for Rune and Rose. I love the pictures so much and I shared them on Instagram, but since many of you don't use Insta and I couldn't post this in the book (I haven't posted a new chapter in "The Alchemists"), I decided to share them here.

PS: For "The Cursed Prince" readers, you can see the picture I commissioned for Harlow too in the comment.