The Cursed Prince

"It's supposed to mean… Well, I'm only doing this so I can get to know you better." Harlow sipped her drink and fixated a stare on him. "I'm here to see if the two of us can get along and actually match as husband and wife. How could I marry someone I don't know?"

"Thank you, I am flattered," Raphael said with a big smile on his face. "I am very happy you made this decision. However… I also can't help but think this is quite a change of heart from you. Didn't you tell me to break the oath by asking an exchange or else you would… you would take your life?"

Raphael looked horrified as he mentioned the fact that Harlow threatened him with her death earlier today.

The princess wanted to roll her eyes at that question. After so many jugs of wine, why was he still able to remember what she said before?

"I just don't want to make the mistake of saying no before I get all the facts and regretted it," Harlow replied. "I saw the party you threw for me. I also remember how the elven princess was so lovesick about you. So, I thought… maybe.. maybe you have a redeeming quality that I should beware of."

"I have many redeeming qualities," Raphael bobbed his head. "You are right."

Harlow held back from rolling her eyes. She looked at the man firmly and added, "I am giving you the benefit of the doubt now and truly open my mind to the possibility that MAYBE…. maybe we can really connect. So you better be wary and on your toes. One wrong move and you're out."

Raphael grinned so wide. "Then I have nothing to worry about, wifey. I am more than reassured that the two of us will get along well. If you believe in fate…"

"You say that but weren't you worried I would judge you for your appearance earlier?" Harlow scoffed earlier. "Did you think that I was a shallow woman who only liked men for their appearances?"

Raphael's expression flickered temporarily as he took a long sip of wine. He let out a heavy sigh and then refilled his wine glass with another full measure from the jug and shrugged a bit sadly.

"I do not think that you are the problem, princess," he said honestly. 

Harlow smirked a little. "Well, I know that you're certainly problematic. What kind of guy expects a woman to marry them simply because you have an agreement with their mother?"

Raphael looked down at his cup and swished the liquid around. 

"...What I meant to say by problematic, though, is this. There are situations when a man cannot always fulfill the expectations of a person he cares about. What happens then if this person cannot do what is expected from him and lets the person down?"

Harlow blinked at the rather deep question and pursed her lips. She was teasing him but then he became sentimental all of a sudden. It was really true that a person couldn't be judged from their appearances alone.

"What are you trying to say?" Harlow asked. "Do you think that a person can be the perfect match for someone else and always keep them happy?"

Raphael looked deeply into Harlow's eyes. "Perhaps? Possibly? That is what I intend to do when you become my wife."

Harlow laughed a little and drank some more of her wine. "I'm not as old as you but even I know better about love than you'll ever do, Raphael. This is really silly."

Raphael frowned and arched his brow. "Why is that?"

The Demon King seemed offended that Harlow claimed to be more of an expert about love than him. He was truly a lot older than her, but in Harlow's eyes, there were some misconceptions about love on his side that she needed to correct. 

The princess took a deep breath and then smiled at him. "Do you know the story of Mars and Emmelyn Strongmoor?" 

She decided to tell Raphael about her parents' love story. Who else was the better couple to talk about love than her own parents?

They were the epitome of a couple in her eyes.

Raphael nodded. "I am aware that they are your parents if that is what you're asking."

"Not that part." Harlow snorted. "Or at least, let's not talk about me yet and concentrate on what happened before they became a couple, and even after they became husband and wife."

"And that is…?" 

Harlow looked at Raphael's nearly empty wine glass and picked up the jug. She poured him another drink and grinned. "I'll tell it to you after you finish that one glass."

Raphael looked at the princess and shook his head. "That's quite an unfair arrangement."

Harlow stuck out her tongue. "Now you know what it feels like to be trapped in an unfair arrangement. Drink up, Demon King."

He eventually drank down the entire cup and then looked her in the eyes. "Well?"

"Okay, okay." Harlow chuckled. "It started with my mother wanting to kill my father. Insane, right?"

***

After a couple of hours of conversing with one another, Raphael finally became drunk. Harlow resisted the urge to chuckle, but even her cheeks were rosy and red.

"What I'm trying to tell you is that couples may not always understand each other," she said in a patronizing way.

"Yes, I get that, princess." Raphael bobbed his head again.

Harlow hiccuped and poked at the empty jug disappointedly. "My father had to chase my mother all the way to Summeria because she thought that my father wanted her death."

"That is miscommunication, though…" Raphael blinked and snapped his finger idly. 

The empty wine jug once again refilled itself to the brim. 

"My mother's expectations were dashed." Harlow smiled sadly. "And yet despite all of that, the struggles and with them not always being the person that each one of them hoped for, they still love each other."

"Do you think…?" Raphael looked at Harlow for a moment and for that split second he seemed a bit vulnerable.. A raw emotion flickered across his eyes but then he shut them because his head was spinning.