The Cursed Prince

She had a bad feeling as soon as she saw the waiter's expression turn confused. Gosh… she also didn't see Julian?

Was she telling Harlow the truth?? How was that possible?

Harlow remembered vividly that Julian was having lunch with her and he tossed a lot of meat outside the window for Icecube. He also came to the waiter and asked her to show Harlow a nice inn to stay in.

If it wasn't Julian… was it actually Harlow all along? How could she ask the waiter about the inn? She had never been here.

Gosh… this was really confusing and frustrating!

Without another word, the princess left the restaurant and headed off into the streets of the city. She exchanged a silent look with Icecube and then motioned for him to follow her as she walked and headed for her next destination.

There was a bad feeling that was sinking in her. It was the same emotion that Harlow experienced before she went into hysterics and worried about her state of being. She felt high strung, her heart pounded hard, and her hands were growing sweaty. 

"No, no. I'm fine." Harlow placed a hand on her chest. "The waiter must have gotten confused with a lot of customers coming in and out. She probably forgot and I can't expect too much from her."

Harlow was fine.

There was nothing wrong with Harlow.

Right?

For now, The princess ignored that feeling and went into the place where Julian orchestrated the gambling house during the fight between the lycan and demon tiger. There were a lot of stalls that happened to be around that area. It was quite a busy market. Some people must have seen something. Right?

True enough, when Harlow asked about the lycan guy and tiger guy fighting, many merchants attested to it.

"I knew it!!" Harlow threw her fist into the air.

They confirmed that the fight truly happened. This made Harlow feel relieved. 

However, the next words that came out of their lips made the princess pause. 

"Great job, facilitating that event, Miss." One of the merchants laughed. "You must have earned more than me on that day. It was a spectacular fight! I admire your quick wit to organize a betting house almost immediately. If I didn't see it with my own eyes, I wouldn't believe that such a young and beautiful girl like you could do such a thing... hehehe."

"As a merchant, I can't blame you for changing the odds to the lycan," another merchant called out to Harlow with a grumpy look. "But I lost two silver that day!"

  "Huh?"

Harlow lurched back in surprise. She stared at two of the people she talked to and they were giving her the credit for not only starting the gamble house but also the one who agitated the tiger demon into losing?

What the…?

"Are you alright, Miss?" the second merchant asked. His tone became a bit kinder when he noticed the haunted look on Harlow's face. "You look a bit pale. Do you need anything?"

"Can't blame her when you're scaring her away with your temper!" The first merchant pointed out to his friend.

While the two merchants started to squabble, they didn't realize Harlow was already scampering away from them as she panicked internally. She thought she could hear blood rush through her ears.

"No. No." Harlow refused to let her emotions overwhelm her while she was in the city surrounded by a lot of people. She bumped against someone hard.

"Watch where you're going!" an annoyed demon told her, but then backed away at the sight of an angry ice dragon landing close behind Harlow.

"Excuse me." Harlow turned away from them. Her eyes were stinging as she ran away and stumbled upon her Icecube. 

The ice dragon paused in his steps as he saw his master look extremely bothered. There was an erratic movement in Harlow's steps and she bumped several other people on her way back to Icecube.

The ice dragon gently lowered down his wing and Harlow scrambled up her dragon, grabbing the harness tightly. Harlow choked back a lurch in her throat and said. "I-I… please take me away, Icecube. Somewhere far away please. I don't want to be here."

As Icecube flew into the air and took off from the city, the ice dragon took Harlow further away from the city and the castle of the Demon King. He took her into the barren wilderness where Harlow and Julian first arrived when they had jumped from the mountain in the elven realm.

"If… he was even actually real… where is he??" Harlow brushed at her hot tears and tried to stop herself from crying. She could clearly remember the man and everything that happened when she encountered him in the elven realm's wasteland.

If he was real… Julian didn't keep his promise to come and see her. His absence made Harlow question herself and her sanity. How could he do this to her? She trusted him!

But..

What if everyone was right and she was the only one who actually saw him? Was Julian only a figment of Harlow's imagination?

If that's true… that means… Harlow was really crazy, right?

How could a princess like her, who was smart, sheltered and loved become crazy??

Was everything even real? Was her family real too?

Did they know she was crazy? Did she imagine everything in her life? Which part was real and which part was her imagination??

And why did Raphael apologize to her earlier today? He said his magic use was the reason she was like this. What happened??

If Julian was the only thing that was not real, why did he appear to her out of nowhere?

Was Harlow so incredibly lonely that she ended up making up an adventurer to follow her around? Was it the effect of magic of the different realms she had visited? 

A tear trickled down her cheek and it opened the floodgates.

She started crying again.