Vex and Amelie stood awkwardly on the main street. Tired of endless walking, Vex shouted.

  "NO WAY WE'RE LOST."

  "But I never get lost, my lord."

  "Something's not right. I wish that prick was here. Maybe we're under some kind of artifact effect."

  Amelie's eyes lit up like a kid watching massive robot fights.

  "An artifact that powerful??? It must be sent by the stars! Maybe it's guiding us to get DONUTS!"

  Hunched over, hands limp, knuckles bloody, no hope left in her eyes, Alixa approached them slowly. She had run as fast as she could until she simply couldn't anymore. She couldn't outrun the shame, the failure. Defeated, she dropped to her knees and whimpered at Vex.

  "The scroll. It bent reality. We're bound. Forever."

  She looked to the sky and screamed with everything she had left.

  "FOREEEEEEEEEEEVER."

  "Ok ok, don't make a scene. You're making me look bad."

  Vex grabbed Alixa by the collar and started dragging her. Amelie skipped along happily beside them, knowing donuts were coming. Shortly after, Alixa gave up resisting and just limped along in silence.

  ?????

  Hal approached the cafe, hoping to get intel on Persika. It could be deadly, but he had to find out if she was the one luring Vex to Olpore. The outdoor tables were half full. Persika, beautiful as ever, waited tables dressed as a maid.

  "Hm… This strange behavior. Why would a stone-cold killer wait tables? Is she scoping?"

  Hal found himself watching an older gentleman who stared at Persika every time she bent to pick something up. As Persika went inside, Hal walked over and greeted him in his iconic polite, convincing tone.

  "Greetings, mister. Want to hear something crazy? huhu"

  He leaned in and continued in a whisper.

  "That fair maiden noticed you looking at her. She wants to meet you in the back… But take my advice. Be bold. Start with something shocking—she's weak to that stuff. And after you do it, tell her 'this is from Vex'. She'll understand."

  You could see the fantasies playing across the old man's face, in a second he would've started salivating, but he stood up. No words needed—he just smiled and nodded. As he walked away, Hal swiped the pouch on his hip that he'd been eyeing the whole time.

  Inside, Hal felt conflicted. He enjoyed causing trouble, but this felt undeserved. That man could be killed.

  "Eh. I've forgiven Vex for worse."

  Hal took a seat at the old man's table and waited for the result. Moments later he saw the old man get personally thrown out by Persika. She hurled him off the raised platform and spin-kicked him as he fell. Hal noticed a small detail: the man's hands were tied with a weird white rope. He exhaled in relief- he hadn't killed a man for a laugh.

  Persika approached slowly, voice soft.

  "Hello handsome. By the way you're chuckling to yourself, I take it was you."

  "I have no idea, but I'm glad I'm talking to you now."

  "Oh really now. Like what you see?"

  "Hmm… the rumors were that you weren't into boys like me. And even then, I'm more interested in your technique."

  Persika's eyes glowed red when she heard "rumors". She continued.

  "I take it you're a friend of that black-haired idiot."

  "Were you expecting him?"

  "Way to ruin the mood, smart pants. I never want to see him again, and if I do…"

  Hal thought.

  "So she wasn't the one luring us. Still… that glow in her eyes and those weird ropes. I need to investigate her."

  Then he said.

  "Well I'm not friends with him. I just happen to know him. I think we got off on the wrong foot."

  He stood up, did a noble bow and introduced himself. It was the proper way nobles showed respect to the fairer sex.

  "I'm Hal Raisin, an ex-scholar. I used to study chaos, but now I found something more beautiful- love."

  Persika raised an eyebrow. Hal had been much more interesting to her before the "love" crap.

  "You're not gonna impress me that way."

  "Really. I'm glad you're not such a simple girl. Although I had my guesses. You had way too much fun throwing out that old man."

  "Don't think I didn't see that pouch you're hiding. I was eyeing it myself."

  Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

  "Oh really. Want it?"

  Persika grunted slightly and kept her silence. Hal continued.

  "Let's do a competition. Whoever manages to ruin more people's days wins the pouch and a free dinner."

  "Dinner? With each sentence you keep getting pettier. But I kinda like my men submissive."

  Hal ignored the comment about being submissive.

  "Ok let's say we have until 7. Plenty of time."

  ?????

  Vex and Alixa sat on a concrete block. Vex saw the situation as his second chance with the princess. He tried to lighten the mood, but every attempt at small talk was met with.

  "Shut up."

  Alixa had calmed a little- just enough to survive. Her dread had yet to turn into anger. Memories ran through her head: her declaring her mission "For the good of the kingdom!" in front of AFO. Every embarrassment, every waste, every mistake on endless repeat.

  Amelie came back with blue-frosted star-shaped donuts.

  "Lord, I found the best ones!"

  She handed one to Vex, then to Alixa. Alixa stared at the donut as if it might betray her, plunging even deeper into darkness.

  "Even your stupid donuts are star-shaped. That necklace, those robes, what's the obsession?"

  Amelie answered like it was her area of expertise.

  "The stars guide our fates. They promised us greatness. It's our way of repaying them- we honor them with small things like this. And by eating this donut, you will honor them as well. I can already feel your threads of destiny reworking themselves."

  Alixa finished her donut in silence. Quietly she said to herself.

  "Delusional idiot and a scumbag idiot."

  Vex was appalled.

  "What was that?"

  "Nothing."

  "You spewed all that shit about good for the kingdom and look at you—defeated, almost no will to live. We've been working our asses off. You know, I'm the hero sent to your world to fix it."

  "You know your actual purpose in this world was to be my father's puppet. He would've used you to aid in his territory grabs he calls 'peace missions'. And even then, what good have you done? I've tracked you since Lira. You did nothing but cause chaos."

  "And what good have you done, princess? Wanna share?"

  Deaths of her lackeys flashed in her head.

  "I didn't get to finish my goal…"

  "And what is your goal?"

  "To become leader of a kingdom."

  "Wait. That actually sounds awesome. I wanna do that too."

  "Well it's impossible now. You made me lose all my underground power in Aldrich. I can't even show my face in the capital anymore."

  "Uhhh. Let's just conquer a different kingdom then."

  "What?"

  ?????

  It was almost 7—the competition's end. Hal ran back to the cafe, sweaty, dusty and tired. Persika was already sitting there relaxed. Her eyes looked satisfied.

  "So, boy, what did you get up to? I hope you made it worth skipping work."

  Hal sat across from her, giddy. He couldn't wait to share. The sun was already setting, it made Persika's hair look a shade of washed orange.

  "You know a gentleman on the street told me your hair looks really beautiful in this shade. A lighter color would suit you."

  A little jolt of pain surged through Persika's heart.

  "Yeah it would…"

  She snapped back to herself.

  "Well you're not gonna woo me with compliments. Talk. What did you do?"

  "Well for starters I got to the market and fiddled with a fruit merchant's scales. He sold 2 boxes before he figured something was wrong. And when he did the customers just started arguing with him about the prices!"

  "Haha, good one. Well I also started light. I 'tripped' and knocked over a painter's table. Paint flew on the posing noble. She screamed out of embarrassment, a whole crowd gathered. And the best part, the painter apologized to me."

  "You know it's kind of unfair. I don't have your charms. I ran all day to avoid angry folks. Anyway I still think I got you beat. Next, I went to the merchant's gate and convinced couriers that a mix-up happened and rerouted wagons to completely random places. After a while a jam happened."

  "That's… That's evil. Oh I love it so much. Well, I went to a small high-traffic street. I saw a bunch of laundry lines over the street. At once I snapped all of them—boxers, panties, all kinds of sheets flew down and tangled people. The whole street became one huge ball of people."

  "How did you do that?"

  Persika winked.

  "It's a secret. Surprise me and I'll show you."

  "We'll get back to that later. Well for my last trick, I wanted something lighthearted. I asked a guard what's a cool place in the city and he guided me to lover's fountain. It's a nice fountain, populated by young adults. So I knew I found a goldmine. I rigged an artifact on top of the fountain to spray everything. It was difficult. I had to design a waterproof casing—"

  "Get to the good stuff, jeez."

  "Well I told a bunch of guys that something unforgettable was going to happen if they professed their love in front of it. It took some convincing but I got 3 guys. Right as they brought their girls, the artifact activated at the perfect timing, spraying them. The girls screamed and ran away thinking it was a prank by them. I ran a long time to get them off my back…"

  "Well, you did promise them something unforgettable."

  They both honestly laughed. Persika continued.

  "And for my last trick. I went to a tailor and swapped all dress sizes. Then I watched from outside how angry women stormed out of there, offended, thinking they got too fat. I can't stop laughing imagining them trying to fit into those tiny dresses, squeezing themselves."

  "Nice. So who's the winner?"

  They stopped looking at each other. Their gazes wandered off, not wanting to admit they were on par. At the same time they said:

  "You win."

  A lighthearted laugh followed. Hal took the lead.

  "I guess it's a tie. The old man's paying for our dinner. Know any good places?"

  ?????

  Hal woke up in the middle of the night. Persika lay next to him naked. Reality hit, but Hal was prepared. He had insisted they finish the evening in his room. He found time during the day to set up a quick escape. He slowly got up, trying not to wake her.

  As Hal dressed, he saw his biggest nightmare. In front of him suddenly stood Persika. Her eyes glowed slightly red, nails freakishly long and sharp, faint web tattoos visible. Her eyes stopped glowing for a second.

  "Why? Why did you have to ruin a good thing?"

  They glowed again. She sounded like a maniac.

  "Now you'll have to die."

  Persika pointed her hand at Hal, strings flew from it, constraining his hand. With his other hand he took out his trusty smoke-bomb artifact and launched it. Persika still tried to pull him in. He was surprised by her unnatural strength. He had no knife nearby to cut her threads. The struggle continued. Hal had an idea, he put a cooling block artifact on the thread and dialed it to max. As the chain froze, it shattered, leaving Hal free to escape. He opened the window; a rope ladder was prepared. He exited and ran for his life.

  ?????

  The sound of footsteps woke Vex up. He heard Hal huffing.

  "Hal, is that you?"

  "Yee."

  "Took you long enough. Why so late. Wait… You and Persika... No way. You crazy bastard."

  "Yeah yeah laugh all you want. I was conducting an experiment."

  He looked at Alixa. She was dead out.

  "Who's she?"

  "Long story. We decided to fix the kingdom of Wavel."

  "WHAAAAT?"

  His scream could be heard through the entire forest.

  Morning came. Hal wrote in his journal.

  "Potential curse victim – Persika. By day she's elegant, precise, almost artistic in execution. Seducing men with ease. Genuine interest in her cracks her temptress persona, showing slight glimpses of true self. Post-intimacy her charm is replaced by cold lethality in seconds, including body transformation. Need to kill the recipient is compulsory. Body transformation, personality switch, superhuman stregth and magic threads lead to a curse hypothesis. Curse origin could be tied to assassinations and sexuality."

  Everyone else woke up.

  Vex still yawning.

  "Ready to conquer Wavel, Hal?"

  "You're still gonna need to explain that one."