Challenge Accepted!

"Take a breath in... Take a breath out.." Equinox was sitting in the garden and was doing few exercises to calm herself down.

She was so lost in her thoughts, that she didn't noticed someone ogling at her up from the balcony.

"What happened to her now?" Anastasia kept staring at her with confusion. She was actually returning back to her house again. But she stopped when she saw Equinox. "Is she upset about something?" After thinking about it for a moment she decided to let it go. "Anyway, I should not be nosy... I need to reach home early that's why let's not waste time." As she turned around to leave. Her head got slammed on something.

Anastasia rubbed her head and looked at the person she just bummed into.

When she looked up, she noticed Ezen looking at her with a flustered face. She became suspicious by his different behavior. What does he want from her now?

Anastasia raised her eyebrows. "What's with you? You were normal in the morning... What happened suddenly?" She thought about something and quickly raised her arms in denial. "Don't even think about it... I am not going to cast any spells for you anymore. Understand?"

"It's not that!" Ezen tried to explain to her in a low tone because he was very embarrassed to speak. "I just have a question."

"Question!? What question?" Anastasia became more perplexed.

"Umm... Uhh..." He looked down and tapped his foot to avoid looking at her expressions. "It's a great day. Right?" He suddenly changed the topic.

"Yeah.." Anastasia became more confused by his behavior. She tried to go inside his mind to read his thoughts. But her magic didn't worked on him.

Ezen also looked back at her and noticed her being fully dressed up to go outside. "Are you going anywhere?"

Anastasia nodded. "Yeah, at home. I can't stay here forever."

"You can stay if you want." He slowly mumbled under his breath so she could not hear it. But Anastasia read his lips and understood what he said.

"Huh?"

Ezen looked away from her and shook his head. "Nothing..."

"See, I am going to be honest. You are not acting like your usual self. That's why I am little worried.. Tell me, did something happened? Did you fought with Equinox?"

"How did you know!?"

Anastasia smiled. "I don't know... It's my hidden talent to know the situation around me. I can read everyone's mind in an instant..." She pouted. "Except yours."

Ezen became more curious. "Really? Then can you read Equinox's mind? Can you tell why I was mad at her?"

"You were mad at her because she met uncle victor." Anastasia tilted her head. "Am I right?"

Ezen got shocked when she said this. Does Anastasia knows about Equinox and Victor? "How did you find it out?"

"What do you mean how I did that?" She chuckled. "Anyone with a sane mind can sense the connection between them... When I first saw them together I felt like they had some past link with each other... And my doubt turned true when I saw Equinox crying after meeting him."

"She cried!?" Ezen was in disbelief. Even if the situation was so bad before for her, Equinox didn't even dropped a tear. But she cried for him. "Impossible!"

Anastasia was very curious about their relationship that's why she asked him a question. "By chance, were they lovers in the past?"

"I don't know, I found out about them in the very end."

"Wow! So my visions were true? There was a forbidden romance between a demon and an angel?" Her eyes sparkled.

"What visions? And by the way... Why do you fancy forbidden romance so much?" He looked away in distaste. "You don't know what they lost by doing that mistake."

"That's what makes it thrilling..." She looked at the sky in aww. "Just imagine, someone loving you so much that they are ready to sacrifice anything for you... Isn't it amazing? I also want a love like that."

"Really? Then will you sacrifice all of your powers for your so-called love?" Ezen looked at her with a strange feeling. He didn't knew that Anastasia was this hopelessly romantic.

"Yes... If the love is true then I am ready to sacrifice anything... I am not greedy for power. I can lead a normal life with or without it." She looked at him. "What about you? Will you sacrifice your powers if you fell in love?"

"Never!" He was very sure about it. "I have many enemies around. If I don't have my power then I'll die instantly..." he played with his ring. "And by the way, I have no interest in falling for a human."

"When did I said you need to fall for a human?" Anastasia raised her eyebrows. "You can fall for anyone you want. It's a free country. Love don't see no color, caste, or species. It just naturally comes into your heart. Who knows, you might also fall in love with someone in the future?"

"Never!"

"Why? Scared?" She smiled mockingly. "You know, even the coldest heart got melted for someone. You can't even be compared to it."

"Well, then challenge accepted!" Ezen became serious.

"Good!" Anastasia smiled.

As they were daydreaming about winning the challenge. Equinox scared them by coming from behind like a ghost.

"What are you two arguing about?" She said while keeping her hand on Anastasia's shoulder.

Anastasia turned behind and smiled while looking at her. "Nothing! We just always talk about useless stuff. Nothing else.."

"Ohh." Equinox looked at Ezen with seriousness. "So you still didn't told her anything?"

Anastasia looked at Ezen while being confused. "What do you mean by that? Is he supposed to tell me something?"

Ezen shook his head to hint Equinox to not say anything. But in return, she gave him a cold look.

"Fine! I am leaving now. But Anastasia... If he didn't said anything to you then come to me, I'll explain everything to you later. Alright?" After saying that, Equinox disappeared from the balcony, leaving the surroundings quiet. Even the birds were not chirping anymore.

Anastasia turned towards Ezen and crossed her arms. "So... Are you going to say something or not?"

"Uhh," he looked away from her while avoiding eye contact. "It just..."

"Yes?"

"There is a problem..."

Anastasia chuckled. "I am not surprised. From the day we met, there are problems all over the world."

"Are you done now?" Ezen became cold.

Seeing him like that, Anastasia also became serious. "Yes... Now just say what happened?"

"You know we bounded our souls together. Right?"

Anastasia nodded. "Yeah... And every night, my heart pains for you because of it. I don't know why!"

"Let's not go off topic..." He looked at her with embarrassment. "So today I learned that because of the soul bounding. Both of our magic is getting weak. that's why we need to take it off."

Anastasia clenched her Ruby necklace and stared at it. She really got attached with this thing. But she also wanted her powers back. That's why she accepted it. "Alright. Then what are we supposed to do?"

"Actually... Umm.." he was little scared to speak. Because he knew that Anastasia's reaction is not going to be good. "We need to..."

"Kiss?" Anastasia said with a calm tone. She didn't felt anything wrong in it. "If by kissing you my powers are going to be strong. Then why not? I don't mind..." She came closer towards him but backed down when she saw his flustered face.

Anastasia became irritated. "What now!? You only said we need to take out our soul bounding... Then what happened? Why are you acting like you never kissed a girl before?"

"Because I haven't!" Ezen turned red. He didn't knew Anastasia was so casually about kissing.

On the other hand, Anastasia was in disbelief. "Really? You never kissed any girl?"

"Aren't you being too personal? Why should I tell you?" He was too arrogant to admit it. "By the way, who told you that a kiss can end the soul bounding ritual?"

Anastasia smirked. "I know it. Because I did a research." She learned about this necklace with the help of the book which victor gave her. It had many information about the ritual. "In the olden days, people used to get engaged young. That's why they used to bound their soul with the help of jewellery as a token of promise."

She glanced at her Ruby necklace again.

"By the way, why did you gave me this necklace? Did you also wanted to marry me?"

"No! It's not it. I just thought this necklace would connect our powers together. But... I was wrong." He only did it because he was very weak at that moment.

"You are not completely wrong... The soul bounding did make us connect with each other spiritually and emotionally..." She scoffed. "I still remember the sleepless nights i got because of this soul bounding. Thankfully, it will be over soon. All we have to do is either kiss or...." She stopped talking when she realized what they have to do.

"Or get married? Please tell me it is a joke." She looked at him in hope that he will deny it.

He closed his eyes because he understood her feelings. "Sadly... It is not."

"Ohh no! What!? I can't do this! If it was about kiss then I would have thought about it. But... Marriage? No! I am not even ready to be a girlfriend yet. And you want to make me your wife!?" She became hyper.

Ezen went closer towards her to explain. "See, even I am not ready for marriage. But... We don't have a choice anymore. Just think that marriage as a sham."

"Sham? Fine! But what about rituals? Those would be true. And we are supposed to do real marriage to stop the soul bounding."

"I know, but think about it. If we don't stop our soul bounding then your magic will go weak... And also your health might decline later. So that's why I am saying, just say yes to this sham wedding... if we delay it longer. Both of us would be in trouble. I also need to go back in my real body ASAP"

Anastasia was understanding what he was trying to say. But her heart was not ready yet. She and her family had a lot of hopes for her wedding. But this situation was very weird to deal with...

"I am sorry Ezen. But I need some time to think about it. I promise I'll let you know about my decision"

Ezen nodded. "It's okay. I understand."

"Then bye... See you later" Anastasia quickly left from the balcony to leave for her home. She had a lot of things in her mind. And she wanted to tell it to someone that's why she couldn't wait till she reach there.

Ezen sighed and stared at the sky which was slowly turning dull. It was almost evening now.

He knew Anastasia needed time to think about the marriage because agreeing to it would be hard for anybody. He just wished that her decision is going to be yes. Otherwise, if she said no then he would never be able to get back into his original form again.