She Belongs To The Devil

Ariel and Damien couldn't convince Joyce otherwise.

Joyce was adamant that she wasn't affected by that plant anymore and that she would be okay hereon forth.

"Fine! Don't blame us if your soul gets sucked into that capsule and you turn into a ghost or something," Ariel sighed in defeat and went and sat down on the sofa.

"Don't worry, Ary. I won't blame you even if I happen to die." Joyce smiled and instantly busied herself with studying the runes that were carved on the wooden capsule.

"I bet you'll come down to Hell to torture me even after your death," Damien sneered at Joyce and he also walked towards the sofa to sit down beside Ariel.

Joyce chuckled and replied while caressing her finger on one of the runes, "Now that you've said it, I will make sure to come down there. I would love to visit your mansion. And of course, hover around you 24/7."

"Whatever," Damien sighed.

Damien and Ariel kept on watching the enthusiasm of Joyce in silence. She looked like a kid who just got a new toy. And they couldn't help but wonder if they made the biggest mistake of their lives by bringing that plant to Joyce.

After staying there in silence for a while, Damien asked Ariel, "So, what's the plan? Did you arrange everything?"

"Ye–"

Before Ariel answered him, there was a light knock on Joyce's door followed by a maid's voice, "Your Highness, I've got a letter for you."

"A letter?" Joyce's attention was now at the door because she would barely get any letter.

"Come in," she asked the maid.

"Who sent a letter for me?" Joyce asked the maid who she didn't see that frequently.

The maid gave a bow to both the Princesses and said, "It's a letter from Price Zachariah, Your Highness."

"Zach?" Joyce smiled and went to get the letter. "That kid amuses me at times."

The maid handed over the letter to Joyce. She then turned her gaze towards Ariel and Damien and added, "I also have letters for Her Highness Ariel and Lord Damien."

Joyce took the letters on behalf of them and dismissed the maid.

"I bet he has sent us some of his drawings," Joyce said as she handed the letters to Ariel and Damien.

Ariel thought otherwise. She opened her letter and a smile curved up on her lips.

It was a handwritten note from Zach. It looked like he had put on a lot of effort into writing colorful words and drawing some flowers at the corners of the letters.

"He's invited us for a sleepover at his quarter?" Damien gave a questioning glance to Ariel.

And Ariel gave a meaningful smile to Damien. "It will be a lot of fun."

Joyce was surprised, well not that surprised, after reading the letter. She looked at Ariel and asked, "Was this your doing?"

Ariel gave a smug smile and said boastingly, "I might have inconspicuously suggested Zach into organizing it."

"Whoa! You're a master manipulator, aren't you? And a good one at that." Joyce put aside the letter and focused her attention on the capsule again. "Not complaining though. It makes tonight's plan easier."

---

Though the day passed at the usual speed for everyone, Ariel and Damien felt as though it took forever for the nightfall to arrive.

They couldn't think about anything else other than sneaking out of the Palace at night.

The two of them would normally be the loudest ones at the dinner table. But tonight, they were the quietest.

"Are you sure you two are okay?" Ramon asked Ariel and Damien as he munched on the marinated chicken drumstick.

"Actually," Ariel spoke on behalf of the both of them, "Damien wants to stay here but he doesn't know if his mom will allow him to or not."

Zachariah then excitedly spoke with Ariel, "I already asked my father to ask your father to ask Damien's mother to allow him to stay."

"Really?" Ariel raised her brows at Zachariah.

"Yes. Why would I lie to you?" Zachariah couldn't help but keep on staring at Damien's head while he ate his fries.

"Good job, Zach." Ariel winked at Zachariah and said, "We can tell scary stories and stay up all night."

"Count me out on the story part, I have some things to take care of." Joyce was sipping on a glass of milk after finishing all the food on her plate. She couldn't wait to continue going through piles of her books to find the similar runes and the meanings behind them.

"Alright, but you have to head towards my quarter right away," Zachariah said to Joyce. And he instantly raised his hand in the air and declared, "But only I get to sleep with Damien."

In her anxiousness, Ariel had forgotten to update Damien about the lies she told to Zachariah; that Zachariah was excited to see his horns at the midnight, and that he would be sharing a room with Zach, that is if he was allowed to stay over.

And thinking it would ruin their plan to quietly sneak out at night, Damien instantly refused Zach, "No, I'm sleeping with Ariel and Joyce."

Joyce was chugging down the milk and the moment she heard Damien, she tried to laugh with a mouthful of milk. As a result, the milk spurted out of her nose, creating a mess all over the table.

"Ewww…"

"Aahhhh…"

"Joy, you stinky woman!"

All the other kids got away from the table with disgusted looks on their faces and also scolded Joyce for ruining their meal.

"Why are you laughing? Did I say something wrong?" Damien tried to hide his flustered cheeks with his hands and scolded Joyce.

It didn't sound wrong when he said that he wanted to share the room with Ariel and Joyce. They were not going to sleep anyway. But Joyce's laughter made him all red.

Joyce wiped her mouth and nose with a napkin but she was still holding her nose as if someone had punched her right on the nose. She closed her eyes and said in her nasal voice, "Shut up, all of you. My head and my nose hurt."

"I hadn't even had my fill of the chicken and now it got drowned in your–" Ramon covered his mouth and nose and gagged as if he was going to puke.

"I don't think any of that milk from her nose got here," Niylah was intently looking at her plate to see if any drop of milk got to her plate. "I think it's safe to eat," she innocently mumbled and was about to eat but Ramon stopped her.

"Are you crazy? Leave it." Ramon glanced at Joyce who was now wiping her nose and ordered her, "Joyce, you're getting us all some more food. Ask them to bring it to Zach's quarter so that we can eat and hear the story at the same time."

"What? No! I'm already full. Whoever wants to eat can ask for more food," Joyce pushed her chair back and got up.

But Ramon blocked her path and demanded her to come along.

After the chaotic dinner abruptly got over with Joyce ruining most of the dishes, Ramon dragged Joyce to the kitchen so that she would ask the chefs to prepare some more meals.

The rest of the children were still inside the dining hall with confused expressions on their faces.

The maids were clearing up the whole table while apologizing to the Princes and Princesses for not covering the food containers that were kept in the middle of the table.

They all then heard familiar footsteps approaching the dining hall.

The maids bowed to the Prince Consort and left the hall.

"Why the long face?" he asked the kids.

"We're still hungry. Joyce ruined all the food." Ariel replied while blankly staring at the table.

"Shall I ask the chefs to prepare another batch of meals?" Theodore asked in a concerned voice.

Ariel finally looked at her father and said, "It's alright. Joyce and Ramon went to the kitchen."

"So…"

"So…"

Both Theodore and Ariel tried to speak simultaneously.

And Theodore waited for his daughter to finish what she was about to say. "Go on."

Ariel looked at Theodore with hopeful eyes and asked, "Did Aunt Lilith give permission to Damien to stay here?"

"Yes, after a lot of convincing," Theodore smiled at Zachariah and said, "I did it just for our little Zach. So make sure you enjoy the sleepover, okay Zach?"

"Okay. Thank you, Uncle Theodore," Zachariah ran from his chair to give a hug to Theodore.

And Ariel and Damien's hearts were almost about to explode with anticipation and excitement. They were barely holding it in since Theodore was still there.

"Don't stay awake till late, okay Ary?" Theodore glanced at his daughter and asked.

Ariel pressed her lips tightly and excitedly nodded her head.

The only thing that was dancing in Ariel's mind was, "Freedom…"

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