The Clueless Prince

Chapter 23: Cursed

A/N: Before anyone gets angry that I'm super late, this was a really hard chapter to write. And uh... I accidentally made it 9k words long. Haha... whoops.

Enjoy!

——

Al pointed at the fountain in front of him. "Uh, what is this?"

"The secret to increasing your abilities ten-folds," I spoke, looking around the area. I didn't want anyone to see what was happening. Al stared at the fountain blankly.

"What's... inside it?"

I glanced at him. "Do you want to know?"

He hesitated, before nodding his head.

"Alright but first, I need to give you rules," I said, turning to him. "The first one being, don't address 'Them' casually. Be respectful and don't look into their eyes. Second, be sure to say 'By your will' as they are a Blessed of the God of Luck."

"A Blessed?!" Al sputtered.

"Yes."

A Blessed of the God of Luck. Blessed were believers of a god whose unwavering faith caused them to be noticed and rewarded by their god. They transcend the mortal limit and become creatures hovering between god and mortal.

A Demigod.

"I thought that they—they—" His face grew pale. I patted his shoulder, giving him a thumbs up.

"Don't worry. They can't kill you or imprison you unless you do something really stupid." He glared at me and I backed off.

Clearing my throat, I asked, "What did you think to ask him? Be careful not to exchange too many years of your life."

"An increase in MP, at least to make it above average and... I'm not sure what else."

"You should either ask for an increase in luck or danger sense." He looked at me.

"Isn't that a bit... boring?"

"You call two abilities that can save your life at any moment—boring?"

Al swallowed his complaint. He seemed reluctant, but he mumbled, "Then I'll choose an increase in luck. Hopefully, I'll find a girlfriend too..."

I lightly pushed him closer to the fountain. "Now go, they must've already overheard this conversation. Don't make a deal you can't keep and be careful. Even demigods can go back on their word."

It almost looked as though the water had rippled. But when I glanced, I saw nothing.

"Alright so, don't trust the demigod but ask them for favors in exchange for potential years of my life. Okay. Got it." He nodded and then took a step forward. I handed him a gold coin that I'd been preparing. I watched as Al plopped the gold coin and—

Vanished.

I breathed, before looking around again. I had to make sure no one was around—

I spotted Ophelia and Ru walking close to each other. They were headed in my direction but they hadn't noticed me yet. They were still talking to one another with smiles on their faces.

If they were to see Al appear out of thin air, there was no explaining it. They were mages too, they'd probably notice the fluctuation of the mana.

I stood still for a few seconds, cooking up a plan to distract them. Finally, my eyes lit up. I ran up to Ophelia who was nearly at the fountain. When I approached them, Ophelia jumped in fright while Ru coolly glanced at me.

"Ah, Ophelia, there you are! I was just by the food market and saw that they were offering couples food. There was this delicious parfait that I could barely finish myself. Why don't you try it out with—" My gaze innocently turned to Ru. "—him?"