I Love You, My Cursed Prince

In the next week or so, there were still moments where Muriel closed her eyes and stayed close to Vidar so they could kiss and share intimate touches. No matter how hideous Vidar was, he still felt and smelled lovely. Once, when two hands were on her shoulders, a third patted her back, and Muriel shook and w.h.i.n.ed as if she feared pain. She didn't believe she would be harmed. She was merely reacting to the eccentricity of it. Her brain wasn't used to it. Thankfully, Vidar seemed to understand and he removed the third hand.

The purchases that had to be delivered to the castle arrived safely, including Muriel's new betrothal ring. Often distracted by the glittering thing, Muriel found herself sighing and gazing at it, holding her hand out even when it wasn't convenient.

Another thing that was delivered to the castle was a letter from King Thorvaldo Petran. He seemed to be eager to have his supposedly cursed son come to the Royal Court and explain himself. Princess Arya later confided to Muriel, "We have some evidence to present to the king. The body of the wretched fairy that cursed Vidar, for example."

Muriel gasped and whispered to her, "Why do you have her body?"

"Placing a spell on someone without permission, especially a member of the royal family, is highly illegal. It was my duty to imprison her. Eventually, she committed suicide. So, we preserved her body in case it could be used to remove the curse. That was a false hope, but the corpse is still useful, isn't it? The mark is on her ankle."

Tugging on her new ring, Muriel turned away and muttered something light.

A corpse had been in the castle all along, and she hadn't known about it.

But that didn't matter. What did matter was the fact that Vidar had to show himself to his servants.

On a morning that was whispering the threat of winter into everyone's hearts, Princess Arya gathered all the servants and most of the guards into the foyer. As all the workers lined up on both sides of the blue rug on the floor, Muriel quickly scanned their bored faces and wondered how they'd take the shock. She followed Princess Arya to the rug between the servants, and when the princess stopped a foot or so inwards, so did Muriel.

"I have a confession for all of you," Princess Arya said as she stood firm and tall. "Your master has not been physically ill. He was cursed years ago. His body is hideous. He's decided to finally reveal himself to all of you and apologize for his dishonesty."

All the workers said in unison, "Yes, Your Highness!"

Princess Arya nodded and looked back towards the curved staircases. "Vidar?! Are you there?!"

Muriel turned around and laced her fingers as she too looked at the stairs. She held her breath.

From an archway, he emerged.

Slow, cautious, tall and nearly menacing, a shadow in broad daylight. One of the prince's unevenly colored hands claimed the safety of a white railing as his plain shoes carefully navigated down the steps. Each whole foot was slightly too big for each step. He had to move each foot sideways with each step to be stable. After around six steps, Vidar made a gruff hiss in his throat. Then he literally hopped, stretched out at least five of his long arms, gripped the railing, and literally climbed down to the foyer's floor without touching the steps.

Muriel's eyebrows rose as she looked away and made an uncomfortable exhale.

More than half of the workers were gawking at the creature that was apparently their master. The rest appeared to be visibly ill, but controlling themselves well. Muriel was happy to note that nobody was running away.

When Vidar was standing beside Muriel as a normal person would, he gave a bow to everyone present, and he said with a voice that might not have been loud enough for the circ.u.mstances, "I've deceived all of you. Please forgive me."

Fortunately, nobody had been talking. It was fairly quiet. Everybody heard him.

Princess Arya addressed everyone again. Her soft hand drew a horizontal line in the air before her. "This is my son. This is the man who pays all of your salaries. He will soon go to the king to apologize just as he has done for every one of you." She elegantly positioned her hands before her belly. "If anyone objects to serving him, then now is the time to leave."

Nobody seemed bold enough to try. They just stared at Vidar.

"Well," Princess Arya said, "then it's all settled. Return to your duties." She dusted a bit of lint off her skirts as the workers dispersed. "Let's have a walk." She walked over to Vidar and tugged on his cloak. "Come along, Dear. You haven't enjoyed the daylight in so long."