The Cursed Prince

"You'll just scare yourself off, darling." Julian chuckled as the fire torch disappeared. "Why not take a leap of faith and take some risks with me?"

"Calculated risks." Harlow corrected him. "If I have some rope and something to help us climb, even a super long rope could suffice, we can go down. Well, we could descend at a slower rate even if we don't fly using Icecube."

"Don't you trust me?" Julian smiled. "I say we should just jump."

"I think we've already gone through this, Julian." Harlow gave him a sharp look. "You're nice, friendly, and you even told me about your life and goals, but how can I trust a man that I just met?"

"Aaaw… so you admit that I am nice and friendly?" Julian's eyes twinkled in happiness. "What about handsome? You missed that one out, by the way."

"Gosh! Did you not listen to what I said?" Harlow barked at him."I told you I cannot trust you because we just met! Why are you focusing on your good qualities? Those are NOT the points."

Julian smirked and said, "Ahaha… sorry. I do have selective hearing. I am still working on that."

"…" Harlow closed her eyes and took a deep breath. When she opened it, she found the handsome man was observing her attentively. She waved her hand. "Fine."

"Then you can let me jump?" Julian asked her. "There's not much to lose for you."

Harlow gave him an unimpressed look. "You're saying this after we made an agreement to work together?"

"Darling, I don't have any intentions to die." Julian chuckled. "Why don't you get that? After meeting you, I'm sure that if you realized that I died, you'd be sobbing your heart out for me. I won't let a princess cry."

Harlow's lips twitched slightly and then she eventually sighed. "Perhaps I may be underestimating you. I don't know you that well so I'm operating under the belief that you'd die easily… but you're more experienced than me, right?"

"Of course." Julian nodded. "As I said before—"

"Art of the trade. Yeah, I still remember that one." Harlow nodded and took a step forward. "Okay. So, let's jump at three."

"What?!" Julian's eyes widened.

Harlow tossed him a smirk. "I'm sure that an adventurer like yourself won't let a princess like me get hurt, right? It'd wrack you up with guilt if you knew anything happened to me. That would eat your heart out, right?"

Julian stared at her and then chuckled as he moved forward beside her. "Touche."

Harlow smiled and then glanced over her shoulder to her beloved dragon and instructed him. "Icecube you should follow—woah!"

The ice dragon had become impatient with both Harlow and Julian exchanging words and arguing like an old married couple that the moment that the two decided to jump, Icecube already hurtled forwards to get things over with.

Before Harlow could get hit by her own dragon, Julian reached out and grabbed her hand. With his strong hands, he took her over towards the cliff. Harlow started to scream as they all dropped into the canyon and went down fast.

"AHHHH!"

"Hahaha!" 

Icecube roared and tried to flap his wings as they fell, but somehow, the gravitational pull of the underworld pulled them further and descended into the darkness. He could have the power to move his wings and fly.

As they went down without any preparation or warning, Harlow clutched Julian's hand tightly as she screamed her lungs out. At first, it was because of fear and surprise but then before Harlow knew it, she was screaming with adrenaline.

"Ahhhhh!" Harlow opened her eyes and looked across her to see Julian falling down alongside her. As the two of them went down, the darkness of the canyon eventually gave way to glowing crystals across the walls of the canyon.

If there was anything that the underworld was known for, it was after all the place where countless precious jewels, gems, and artifacts were mined for and now they glittered and sparkled in Harlow's eyes.

The sight was so beautiful even as the princess kept dropping towards what might have been her possible death. She started to laugh a little and enjoy herself, especially when she saw that Icecube was also falling beside them and trying his best to flap his wings.

Harlow didn't expect that the way down to the underworld was like an exciting ride.

Julian was laughing as they fell but then he glanced at the princess with a soft look in his eyes. He was happy to see how she was having so much fun as well that he was glad that he got the opportunity to do this with her, because it was so worth it.

This would be the first and yet not the last of the cliff jumping things that Harlow could ever possibly imagine and do. When they reached the end of the canyon, Julian somehow landed first and caught Harlow in his arms.

"We're safe now, princess," Julian reassured her as they reached the depths of the mountain. Harlow had automatically wrapped her hands around his neck to keep her balance.

She was really impressed. Julian managed to land on his two feet and even caught her in time. His movements were light and beautiful. For a moment, the princess was dazed as she stared at his onyx eyes.

Julian glanced out into the city ahead of them, then turned to Harlow in his arms. He smiled broadly when he said, "Welcome to the heart of the underworld, Harlow. We've finally made it."

Harlow was finally moved from her daze. She batted her eyes and then removed her hands from his neck. Her voice stammered when she spoke. "W-we've arrived?"

"We have arrived. There is a city nearby." Julian tilted his head to their right. "Do you want me to carry you there?"

Before he finished his sentence, Harlow had jumped down from his arms.. The handsome adventurer just smiled and scratch his hair.