C15: First Kiss

The sound of the royal horns blows across the lands, echoing through the woods. Every morning, the castle of Muri sounds those horns for the people to know that it's time to awake.

Just as it catches my ear, my eyes turn toward the wood.

'Guards. Spies. What if she got followed by someone?' Questions that were trapped inside me when my head was immersed in the cold water begin to swirl in my mind now.

I sit up in the pond water, my hand still grasping the princess. She's not aware of where she is. She's simply staring into my eyes with her hand clasping mine.

The water in this pond leaves an eerie effect in your mind when you immerse your head in it. It clears all your thoughts, searching the deepest words within your heart. The Princess is still immersed. She's still in a subconscious state.

"Princess –"

"Elm, can you be my king?"

I froze upon hearing her words. She sits up on the pond by herself. She doesn't need my hand to escape the subconscious state that falls upon you in the pond. She's accustomed to it.

"Elm? Can you?"

Her fingers slip over mine, clasping my hand tightly. Her hands speak for her. She's telling me not to let go.

Here is my chance, but – remember the rules?

I close my eyes, picturing the set of rules that the system bestowed upon me when I was cursed by the Monolith of Muri.

Just yesterday, I summoned the wisp to read me the list rules for the challenge.

"Wisp, show me the rules."

The small blue light materialized beside my shoulder out of thin air and declared all the rules of the challenge, listing it down as a system notification.

[Break the following rules in the challenge, and you will die.]

[Rule 1: You can only be with a woman given the title 'Princess' by the people of that kingdom. You cannot get points by simply sleeping with any woman who was or to be a princess.]

[Rule 2: You cannot have sex without her consent. You must steal her heart.]

[Rule 3: While you're at it, you cannot directly intrude on the quests of the other contenders.]

"Elm?" Reya calls out my name again. My eyes direct to her.

"I will marry you, Princess," I reply to her. "I'll marry you."

Reya's eyes spark with hope. "Thank you," she whispers under her breath, throwing her arms around my wet cloak and embracing me tightly.

I rub her back. 'Innocent girl,' I think to myself as I do this.

After seconds pass, she finally releases her hands from my neck. I look into her crimson eyes. She has fallen for me. I can tell from them.

"Father will ask me for Breakfast soon, Elm. I must run back to the castle before they find out that I'm gone. I didn't tell anyone that I'm leaving. But – I want to spend more time with you." She pleads, holding my hands. "You can be the king I want… right, Elm?"

"Yes. I can be your king."

"The answer you gave to my question spoke to my heart. I can tell that your ideals would push our throne further. You can continue our bloodline, Elm. I never thought I can meet someone like you," she continues.

The answer I gave isn't even mine.

"I will tell Father that I have found out about you. I only need a king that has the blood to rule. And you clearly do, Elm. I don't care where you came from, what you are. If anything goes wrong ~" She lowers her eyes, clasping my hands tightly. "I will come to you, Elm. We can take down our Father together... for a better future. He's old. He's scared. You and I are young; we're fearless."

I can see a spark glittering in her eyes, a depth to her words. She's a ruler alright. But this is just not her day. I'm just not the man.

I smoothly rub her chin, lifting it with my fingertips.

"You're destined to be a Queen, Reya."

Her cheeks flush. I gaze into those crimson stars.

Without hesitation, she throws her hands around my neck once again, pushing my face closer to hers. Our lips meet and I grasp her by the waist. Her chest brushes against mine, and my hand smoothly lowers from her waist.

I have a chance.

'Do her now, and escape,' my mind tells me.

I have a chance to earn one point right here. My hand suddenly slips up from her ass, not gripping it tight. Instead, I pull her closer by the waist.

She kisses my lips without stopping for a breath. Her hands smoothly rub behind my neck, her fingers running across my hair. This is her first kiss, but she's not hesitant to make it long. She savors every part of my lips, her tongue finally unsheathing from her mouth.

"Mmm~" She moans, sliding her warm tongue into my lips. I lick her tongue, unable to hold back any longer. My fingers finally slide down her waist to grasp her butt, but she suddenly pulls away.

A bridge of saliva is the only thing that keeps our lips connected for a second. I gaze at her face as she looks into the distance where the towers of the castle rise over the wood.

"The horns already went off. I'm getting late, Elm. Please, tell me the place where I can meet you if anything happens."

My chance escaped from my hands. But another idea pops into my head. I have another chance. She'll come. She will.

"Hollow Lodgings. I currently live there, Reya. I'll be inside the fourth room on the second floor. Come meet me there," I respond.

She nods to me, her eyebrows furrowing. Her fingers slip from my hand, finally releasing the tight grip she had on me. She steps away from me reluctantly.

"Reya, you must go. Otherwise, I'll be hunted down by the King before our marriage," I smirk at her.

She smiles back in response.

"Until we meet again then, my dearest." She turns back to her horse, her dress dripping wet. There is a black cloak resting upon the horse's back. She turns to me one last time before she hops onto the saddle.

"Goodbye, Elm."

"Goodbye, Reya."

She climbs onto the saddle and throws the cloak over her body. Both the horse and the girl disappears into thin air. Now I can see how she evaded all those guards.

Even I can't sense a drip of mana from her after she throws on her cloak.

The invisible horse neighs and rides through the woods like a ghost.

In the end, I stand there with my feet in the cold water of the pond, gazing at the ghost horse. I missed my chance to sleep with her here, but another chance will soon come.

'I'm sorry, dear Princess. But let this love be a lesson for your life. And my father's ideals, the path for your rule.'