The Cursed Prince

"It seems like the Demon King doesn't allow anyone in this part of his residence," Harlow murmured to herself. It was so quiet that she felt like she could hear a glass shatter from rooms away.

Since there was no one else around, Harlow eagerly took advantage of this situation. She started to navigate and opened doors one by one to see if they would lead her to the artifact that she was looking for. 

There was actually quite a large variety of rooms and each one was unique. The first rooms she encountered were a little simple, an extra guest room or something else… and then she actually found her own room. She furrowed her brows when she realized it just happened to be so close to his.

"Ah, at least he has given me my own chamber," Harlow muttered. "It would have been worse if he told me that we have to share a room during the duration of our engagement. Now that would be a nightmare."

She suddenly remembered something.

"My room was capable of changing appearances to accommodate my whim," Harlow remembered that before she had left to play with Icecube in the garden, she had actually complained about the beddings in her bed and they changed before her eyes.

When she remembered that, Harlow quickly returned to them.

Appearances were truly deceiving in the demon castle because when Harlow opened the old rooms that she had visited, they changed completely. Harlow's eyes bulged and she was relieved that she already discovered the properties of rooms earlier from her own.

"... So they are enchanted to deceive a person on the first open and not reveal the true nature or contents of the room. That's actually brilliant." Harlow was once again impressed.

If there was any would-be thief who came in the night to steal something, then they would be deceived by the castle and assume that all of the rooms in the Demon Castle were simply plain, undecorated, and there was nothing worth stealing.

They would go out of the castle and feel disappointed for risking their lives and coming out empty-handed. 

For a thief… Well, treasure hunters like Harlow and Julian, then it was great that she had already discovered one of the secrets to the Demon Castle. Harlow eventually discovered the rooms some more.

There was so much to see and discover!

***

Harlow opened one of the doors and found a grand library before her. There were so many bookshelves everywhere that the princess couldn't even imagine counting them. The shelves were so tall and stretched out so high.

"Woah." Harlow's eyes widened and she was at a loss for words. "Is this even greater than the famous library in Summeria? I'm not sure but this is amazing."

There were a lot of tables and chairs to sit down in and for someone like the princess, she was sorely tempted to walk in, grab a book to plop down, and enjoy one out of the several titles.

It was a library that a person could walk through and get lost in their days with. Perhaps it held all sorts of books, from historical, magical to anything that one's heart desired? Harlow would never get the chance to find out tonight.

"Ahh… I can't get distracted here." Harlow reminded herself and reluctantly went out of the door so she could move on and not lose track of her time.

The next room following the grand library then turned out to be another enchanted library, but unlike the last one that was fit to hold at least thousands of people, this library was more welcoming and cozy. It looked like a personal library.

There was a nice fireplace and a lone sofa close to it with a rather moderate-sized collection of books. She blinked for a moment and then rubbed her chin a little as she inspected the much smaller room with interest.

"Was the last room supposed to be for his guests and this one is for Raphael to read quietly and in peace?" Harlow muttered and she could already imagine the Demon King sitting happily by the fireplace. 

The princess quickly shook her head and stepped out of the room and ventured into the next one. "That image wasn't one that I wanted in my head. Stupid Ice Prince quit occupying my head space."

If Harlow thought the libraries she visited were nice and exciting, the next place she visited made her jaw drop because she entered into an aviary. There were countless birds in different but beautiful cages and all of them were singing in the room.

"It's not even room, it looks like a beautiful forest for these birds," Harlow smiled a little because from the smallest hummingbird chirping happily there were even large and amazing ones. One, she could even safely call 'the bird of paradise' for its breathtaking beauty.

However, eventually, the smile faded slightly from the princess' lips as she remembered something and it soured her mood as she eyed all of the birds that were held in their cages. Harlow could see they were all taken care of, well-fed, and seemed happy.

"Even though Raphael seems kind to me… I don't want to live in a gilded cage." Harlow told herself. It reminded her of what she needed to do and it gave the princess the encouragement to leave the room and go into the next one.

However, Harlow eventually swallowed her words because the next room was like an exact replica of the last one but there was something that had changed. There were no cages whatsoever and a flurry of birds flew past her freely in the room.

If the last room was filled with birds of a variety that surprised her, the princess was even more surprised when she caught a flash of fire in her vision and she couldn't help but gasp aloud.

"Niam?" Harlow called out uncertainly as a beautiful Phoenix dove through the sky and then eventually flew out towards her.. Its majestic red and orange plumage ruffled in the wind before it landed in front of her.