006

"S… Stop it! Haris!" I pull him on his collar and shake him. Yet he couldn't stop, he's even hugging his tummy from extreme laughter. "How could you do that!? Why didn't you say that was your plan!? I'm not just a peasant woman you can kiss whenever you want! I'm a princess! I can decapitate you for discourtesy in one command!" 

It was my first kiss! I mean it that he nailed it but I rather have it with Prince Almidoron than him! He grasps both of my wrists, and he's so strong I can't break free, stronger than my resolve to beat him. When I gave up from freeing my wrists, I beat him with my raging gaze but his mesmerizing eyes tamed me once again. 

It's so alluring I want to own it… I want to stare at it without a blink… It dawned on me that we'd been staring at one another until I felt his hands trembling, he released me and hastily wore his eyeglasses again. He exhales in relief. What was that? His eyes turned black again, that eyeglasses filters the real color. "Let's go home to Ms. Tony," he said in a rich baritone. 

"Don't ignore me!" I hit his chest. "You're aware of what will happen to you! Why would you kiss me anyway?"

Frankly, he scanned me up and down with those teasing eyes. "You're not bad."

"Haris!!" Just a thought of him being 'obsessively in love with me' sends my heart into overdrive… in irritation! My right wrist feels tight then I find a golden shackle locked on it, it's thick like a bracelet with detailed carvings and tiny pieces of diamond on it. Haris' left wrist has the same situation. 

Then it glows, chain forms connecting to each shackle and it's made of gold too. It doesn't contain so much weight but I can feel its existence. It appeared out of nowhere and chained me with Haris. Not only my forehead but I think my whole face creases. "What are you doing?" 

"This isn't me." He looks at his shackle then he has a moment of insight. "It's the spell." 

"Over here!" We heard the knights coming. I told him that we have to hide. I was crawling back to the foliage but he grabbed me on my waist and pulled me to him. He clutches the grass like a blanket and everything goes black as we take cover under it. All I can feel is him behind me, one arm around my waist and his other arm crossed over my shoulder, I keep my mouth covered.

"Where did these lanterns come from?" 

"Was someone here? I'm certain I heard a voice." 

"Keep looking!"

We waited for the knights to leave before Haris lifted the blanket and came out. I chase my breath with my lips pursed. The distress attack wasn't intense even though it was dark underneath the magical blanket. Haris lays it and it turns back into grass. 

"What now? What are we gonna do with this chain?"

"Maybe the caster knows what to do." 

"You have no idea what to do!?" I snapped in a hush voice. 

"I first broke the curse. Now we have to figure out how to break the spell."

"And you immersed yourself into the spell without knowing how to break it!?"

"Why are you so afraid of me falling for you?" 

"Haris!!" I stamped my knees. 

He chuckled. "There are some plans we can only come up with in the middle of the event. Let's go." 

"But I have to stay here. They will suspect me for trespassing if they find my room empty."

He stretches his neck, sighs, then gives me his note and a pen. "Leave a message that you came back to Ms. Tony's house. They'll understand." 

"..." I took it in anger. 

'I am sorry that I had to return to Ms. Tony. The ✧inspector✧ needs his cane due to his rheumatic disorder. Thank you for opening the door for me.' 

And then I gave it to him teasingly. His eyes narrowed as he read and shook his head with a smirk. Not the reaction I was expecting, I probably should have written 'Baby Grapes.' He tore the page and folded it. My shoulders flinched when he made a handkerchief turn into a dove, the messenger that flew my letter to my room. 

"Let's go," he said in a silent, low tone. He offered me a hand to stand, I also used his cane for support. We sneaked into the hallways as he looked for a room. 

"I thought we're going to Ms. Tony?" 

"We are. We'll use a shortcut." On the door of a basement, he knocks twice with his fingers and one knock with the side of his fist. We came in but instead of a murky storage, we came inside the small warm home. He closed the door immediately. I am not mistaken. We teleported into Ms. Tony's house the moment we crossed the door! 

"Ms. Tony—" Haris couldn't continue what he was saying when we were both pulled by the chain when he walked away from me. I almost lost my balance but thanks to the cane, it supported me again. 

"Can't you slow down?"

"You're too slow." 

"Look at me!" I was trying to show my seemingly lame legs but his eyes were fixed on mine. I can only gasp when he lifts me in his arms. 

"Crying is caused by overwhelming emotions, the sign that we've been hurt. Mentally and emotionally exhaustion, muscle tension, and mild dehydration from shedding tears can cause tiredness, the sign to take some rest," he said in a soothing volume. He lays me down on a couch. 

"What about this chain?" 

"Haris!" Venji called, Ms. Tony is behind him. "How did it go?" 

Haris didn't speak up and they're waiting for answers. "Venji… Ms. Tony… I'm sorry I couldn't kiss the prince. He's…" in love with someone else, "... he has a dream on his own and I don't want to take it away from him." 

"... Then, the curse?" 

"We broke it," Haris lifted his shackle, "and it resulted in this." Ms. Tony inspected the chain. "So we came back here to ask how to get rid of this chain." 

"My spell did this?" She couldn't believe herself. Instead of unsettled, there is astonishment in her expression. 

"Wait," Venji thought of something, "you broke the curse? Does it mean that you two… kissed?" 

I can't look at them! I can't complain too for it was such a good kiss! Haris responds nonchalantly, "Yes, we did." 

Ms. Tony dramatically dropped the chain to cover her mouth. While Venji abruptly clutches Haris' clothes. "You… I can't believe you!! How could you disrespect the lady to this extent!? When will you learn some manners!?"

"Why does it bother you?" 

"Because I'm responsible for you!! Can't you prevent yourself from adding to my problems!?"

"V-Venji, it's okay!" I pacified him. "He has my permission a-and I was the one who asked for help." 

"..." He heard without looking at me, then he leaned his forehead on Haris' shoulder. "Just know… that I am still and so proud of you, brother." Venji suddenly mourns. "I promise your heroism will be remembered and your name will forever be honored in history classes in academia." 

My forehead creases, it worsens when I see Ms. Tony is in tears already. What's this sudden change of wind? There was tension a while ago. Haris, remaining nonchalant, shoves Venji's face away. "I came here for a solution, not for condolences. Ms. Tony, can you fix this?" 

She sniffs. "I'll think about other solutions. But for now, Ashlene needs treatment." 

I almost forgot that I have scratches and torn pajamas. Back in the room where I first woke up on Earth, Ms. Tony cured my scratches and fixed my disheveled hair. "Haris, can you change her clothes too?" My eyes widened at her. Haris changed his clothes despite the chain attachment. Normally, no one can do it. 

"Alright." 

"I'll leave it to you. And, Ashlene, make sure to take some rest," Ms. Tony willed and left me alone with Haris. I covered my chest with one arm. He hissed a chuckle. 

"You already stole my first kiss, and now you will change my clothes?"

"We'll sleep together tonight too," he added. 

"Those are the duties of a husband and it's not you. How lucky do you think you are?" 

"Incredibly fortunate beyond measure." I quivered as he uttered it huskily. I was defensive until he touched the hem of my pajama and gently pulled it like a lamp's pull chain switch, then my pajama turned a pink and new one. I check it out and it's more comfortable. When I saw him walking toward the bed, 

"Wait, are we really going to sleep in one bed? That's a single bed too," I complained. 

"Would you like it?" he teasingly asked again. I squint sharply at him. "Of course, you wouldn't." Then he set up the pull-out bed under the platform. I use the upper one. 

Minutes passed yet sleep is escaping me tonight. I can't sleep in one position for 6-8 hours but I have to because of this chain. We left the lamp on so he's covering his eyes with his left arm, where the shackle is. A smirk on my face arises, then I turn around. His left arm was pulled. I was snickering silently until he easily hauled me down to him using the chain! I fell on his chest and met those mesmerizing eyes. 

"Are you trying to win my attention?" A deep morning voice. 

"Jerk! You're the one hitting on me!" I slapped his chest and crawled back to my bed. 

"What a cute idiot." 

"Don't call me that, baby grapes!"

"Can't you sleep? Or you're seeking for more tiredness for a deeper sleep?" 

"Just why is this happening!? This isn't what I expected… How can I come home like this? My moves are so limited. Aren't there any easy ways to unchain us?" 

"... In fact, Ms. Tony prepared only one way; 'both of you chained in love that only death can tear you apart.' Only death can tear us apart. Which means the only way we know for now to unchain us is that one of us… must die." 

I gripped on my bed sheet. No. This is worse than not knowing the case at all! 

"And I am the candidate of death," he said like it was nothing for him. Now Venji's mourning makes sense. "So I won't sleep tonight. If you want to kill me, work hard."

"Don't say that!" I may have wanted to strangle his neck but not to death. He was coincidentally there to save me from landing and it will be a great display of ungratefulness if I kill for my own freedom. I looked at him and offered a pinky finger. "Let's make a promise. No killings. We will look for other ways to break this spell."

He scoffed at my finger at first and when he found me dead serious, he cleared his throat and sealed a pinky promise with me. "You have my word, madam." 

We were able to sleep tight nevertheless. My skin is now being painted by the morning sun. The wall is behind my back and I press my hips there naturally. The pillow I've been cuddling on my neck seems stiff the more I regain my state of awakeness. The chain clang. My eyes widen, it isn't the pillow but an arm, and behind me isn't the wall but a man in the same bed!