She Belongs To The Devil

"I just hope she will go easy on me," Kenneth mumbled as he walked out of the back gate of the Palace and into the forest.

He was on high alert as he stepped deep inside the forest while searching for Ariel.

"Ariel? Are you here?" he gave a sound but there was no reply.

And he thought to himself, "Maybe I came a bit faster. Shall I go back and wait at the gate for her? I think I got excited and came a bit too far from the Palace."

Kenneth heaved a deep sigh and then turned around.

However, the moment he did, Ariel came running at him. And when she was close enough, she screamed like a mad woman and kicked him in the gut.

Kenneth flew and crashed on a huge tree trunk.

"Arghh!" Kenneth could feel his bones cracking. Again. This was the second time Ariel broke his bones today.

The tree that he got slammed into also broke in half and crashed down to the ground.

The crashing noise was so loud that Adeline and Theodore, and the others with sensitive ears heard it.

Adeline looked out of the window of her workroom and said to Theodore, "Ah! Poor Kenneth. Is sending Ariel to Brenalia really a good idea?" She frowned and mumbled with all seriousness, "I hope she won't kill the Crown Prince when she is there."

Theodore chuckled and replied, "Relax. I believe it's her twisted way of dealing with his affection. She doesn't know what to do with it and just tries to shove him away by hurting him."

Back in the forest, Ariel was grabbing Kenneth by his collar. She didn't care for his broken bones because he would heal in no time.

She shook him and shouted at him, "That was for putting me in this uncomfortable situation. You know that I am taking my time to win over my fear. You know that I wanted to take it slow. And yet, you forced me into agreeing to come to your Kingdom."

Kenneth endured the excruciating pain that he was feeling in his back. He looked at Ariel's amber eyes and said while panting in pain, "You've already waited long enough, Ariel. It's about time you start to take control of your fear. All I want to do is help you."

"I don't remember asking for your help!" Ariel glared at him and pushed him away.

Kenneth grunted and spoke very uncomfortably, "I know that getting out of your comfort zone is hard. But once you take the first step out of here and see what the world has to offer, you will wonder why you ever locked yourself."

Kenneth was grimacing every time he breathed. He tried to get into a comfortable position so that he would heal faster. But it seemed like he had broken his backbone and he couldn't bring himself to lie down properly.

Ariel felt a prick in her heart when she saw that. She held her head and sighed. She knew she went overboard this time.

"Lie down on your stomach," she ordered him.

Kenneth pressed his lips together and gritted, "I would have done that if I could move my broken body."

Ariel knelt down beside him and slowly helped him turn. "I'm going to speed up your healing, okay?" she asked.

"That would be really great… considering you were the one who broke my bones," Kenneth threw a satire at her.

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The waistcoat that he was wearing over his shirt made it difficult for Ariel to shift the clothes up so that she could inspect and heal him.

So she tore off the waistcoat without even asking him.

Kenneth was caught off guard when he heard the sound of his cloth getting ripped. And he shouted at Ariel, "H-Hey! Don't tear off my clothes in the middle of the forest, you mad woman! I don't want to get burned by your Dad."

Ariel smacked his head and shouted back, "Don't speak if you don't want your bones to get powdered."

"Yes, ma'am," Kenneth pressed his lips together and rested his forehead on his arms.

Ariel pushed his shirt up. Her heart ached when she saw a small piece of bone sticking out of his flesh. And she slowly mumbled, "I'm sorry."

"What?" Kenneth raised his brows since hearing the word 'sorry' from Ariel's mouth was a rare occurrence. He turned his head to the side and asked, "Can you repeat it? I didn't quite catch that."

"Shut up!" Ariel said in a monotone.

"Yes, ma'am," Kenneth smiled and rested his head back on his arm.

Ariel lightly pressed her palms over Kenneth's back. She closed her eyes and started to flow her own energy into Kenneth's body.

She didn't need to borrow the life of the plants or borrow the energy from nature like the witches to use the spells. Her own energy was sufficient.

Kenneth could feel the warm sensation on his back. And he could tell that his already fast healing process had sped up by at least 10 times.

And in no time, Kenneth's body felt as good as new.

"How do you feel? Is there any pain left?" Ariel asked him once she was done.

Kenneth got up and tried twisting and moving his back. He didn't feel any pain at all. But he pretended that he was still hurt.

"Aah!" He closed his eyes and crouched a little.

Ariel gave him her hand for support and asked worriedly, "You still feel pain? Where?"

Kenneth grabbed Ariel's wrist with one hand and tapped on his chest with the other. And he grunted, "Here. I think something is broken in my chest."

"Really? But the earlier healing process should have healed your whole body." Ariel easily believed him.

And before Kenneth could laugh and joke that he was heartbroken, Ariel ripped the buttons of his shirt and pressed her palm over his chest.

Kenneth's eyes were wide open as it was very unexpected. He curled his toes and tightened his fist since her gentle hand was tickling him.

Ariel instantly closed her eyes and began to heal the healed person.

Kenneth, on the other hand, gazed at Ariel's face. He smiled and thought to himself, "Look at her… she looks so innocent with her eyes closed. If I was to show this face to someone and say that she can kill without even lifting her finger, no one would believe me."

He took a deep breath in and wishfully thought, "I hope she will agree to marry me one day. I would try my best to keep her happy."

He then waited for Ariel to finish 'healing' him. As she was already in the middle of it, he didn't want to say that he was joking and get beaten to a pulp again.

After a while, Ariel opened her eyes and asked again, "Now? Is the pain gone?"

Kenneth smiled and nodded. "Yes. I feel alive now."

Ariel glanced at his sculpted abdomen and casually commented, "Ooh! You have a nice body."

Kenneth awkwardly pulled his shirt together and scolded Ariel, "How can you say something like that so easily? Don't deny my marriage proposal and then confuse me like this."

Ariel scowled at him and started to walk back towards the Palace. "I am not confusing you, you idiot. I meant to say that you look sturdy. And I was going to ask you how many hours you trained daily to achieve that. Don't overthink it."

"Tsk! You could have let me be happy for a little longer," Kenneth frowned. But then he followed Ariel with a smile on his face.