“Look, it’s Arian,” the guy said in front of me in class. I glanced up as Arian entered with her vivid red hair tied in its usual ponytail.

This girl is Arian, a classmate of mine. From what I’ve heard, she’s a member of the taekwondo club. But despite doing the martial sport, her build is closer to that of a model with her chest bigger than average. She is also friendly, making her popular with both girls and guys. Talk about high spec, right?

“She’s hot. Do you think it’s possible to make her my girlfriend?” the guy from earlier said in a trance.

“You don’t have a chance. And do you want to date a girl stronger than you?” the other one retorted and laughed.

“Idiot. That’s the good part, you know!” he exclaimed with a proud smile.

After that, I stood up and went outside the room.

The two guys watched me as I walked away. Then, the guy said, “As expected of Prince Dweeb, he’s not even interested in girls.”

“Leave him alone. He has his own world,” the other one followed and snickered.

My name is Prince. I am infamous throughout the school as Prince Dweeb. If you’re wondering why a guy called a dweeb is like that, my answer is simple. Even though I’m a loner like this, I am always at the top 3 students of over-all grades in my year. With that fact, I stand out in a good and a bad way. ‘But Prince,’ I hear you saying, ‘If you’re that smart, aren’t you supposed to be popular in a good way? Smart ones have friends swarming around them, right?’ The answer is this.

After I arrived at the cafeteria, I glanced towards the bread section of the buffet line and spot the last ham and cheese sandwich after I picked up my tray. I hastily skipped the macaroni and cheese and other options to grab it. But another hand dove into my target. Because of that, I bumped shoulders with that student.

“Prince?”

“You...” I whispered after I looked at the one who said my name.

That was Arian. Because our hands touched each other, she blushed. It can only be my imagination, though.

“So you also want this sandwich?” she asked in a friendly tone.

I know, I know. This is the time where a guy should now blush and get flustered. A beautiful girl is now before him, so he will now offer the sandwich in an embarrassed expression. And once this Arian takes it with a smile, the guy will jump in euphoria and get another flavor of sandwich instead. Or the second scenario where even if you don’t find her attractive, you’ll still let her take it. And it’s because she’s in the taekwondo club and you don’t want any trouble. So it’s always a win-win situation for her. But...

I took it as fast as I could and replied, “Yeah. Sorry, but I touched this bread 0.001 milliseconds ahead of you.”

With that response, she got dumbfounded with a thought of, ‘Is this for real?’

I will say this to you, Arian. I’m not like the other guys who will fawn on you because of your looks or get scared to you because of your status.

“Aren’t you supposed to give me that sandwich? You’re one fine gentleman, you know,” she said with a slightly displeased face.

“Too bad but I’m an advocate of gender equality. I have no intention of giving my rights to others because she’s a lady,” I retorted in a serious face.

She became surprised once again, and she showed an expression of getting mad. “You... how rude can you get? At least say that you want that sandwich instead of saying those mean things.”

“I see. Then I want this sandwich. Can you give this to me?” I followed, still serious.

“Why you...” she exclaimed in anger.

“Arian, let’s go,” a girl behind her said and looked at me with furrowed eyebrows.

“Yeah, nothing will come good from talking to that dweeb,” the other girl said, also irritated.

After that, the three of them went away. Then, I looked at the bread in my hand and whispered, “I will... show no weakness ever again.”

That was mine and Arian’s first conversation with each other. After that, things didn’t go well between us. Like when we came across each other,

“Is it fun to walk alone, Prince,” she asked with a smug smile.

“Leave me alone, darn it,” I responded, irritated.

“Hmmph,” she followed with a pout and immediately looked away from me.

...or when I had something to give to her.

“Arian, Sir Dan said to give this to you,” I said in my usual serious face with her notebook in my hand.

“Don’t tell me you did something weird to my notebook…” she followed with furrowed eyebrows.

“What the heck would I even do to a collection of ruled pages?”

She grabbed it by force, and once again pouted in a displeased manner. After that, she walked away and turned around towards me. “Thank you. Hmph.”

“So you’re still saying thank you...” I whispered to myself.

Also, when she answered a question of a teacher...

“Here,” Arian said with a smile after she finished her solution on the blackboard. “I believe that this is the shortest solution to solve this problem.”

“I see,” Professor Jane followed and looked around the class. “Does anyone have a shorter solution?”

When I heard that, I stood up in silence and went towards the blackboard. Then, I erased Arian’s solution and wrote mine using a chalk. After I finished, everyone saw that it was shorter compared to Arian’s.

“Excellent, Prince,” Professor Jane said with a smile, while Arian’s face was that of an angry girl.

“Hey, do you have to erase mine? There’s still a blank space over there,” Arian asked in a grim mood.

“Well, it’s wrong anyway,” I responded, serious.

Because of that answer, she snapped the chalk she was holding out of anger.

You can say that we don’t get along. So let’s now go to the present time.

“Prince, my legs, it... it became like this out of nowhere!” Arian said to me in confusion and nervousness. There she was, sitting on the floor of the library, her legs transformed into that of a mermaid’s.

“Princess, can you see me and the crown on top of Prince’s head?” the fairy asked Arian.

“Eeek! A... fairy?” Arian reacted while she gazed at the 6 inches floating fairy beside me.

That’s the normal reaction, all right.

“Prince, she’s cursed for sure. The proof is that she can see me.”

“So what do we need to do to remove that so-called curse from her?” I asked to the fairy, somewhat nervous about what will she answer to me.

“You have that crown, right? That means you are now the prince of this world. It’s your mission to reach the happy ending of every princess. Princesses who got cursed in this kingdom.”

“Wait. If I’m the prince, does that mean...” I whispered and looked at Arian.

“Hey, Prince. What is even happening here? I can’t understand what the two of you are talking about,” Arian said, more confused than me.

“In short, you need to follow the story of the princess who received a similar curse as you in my world. And the key will be the prince of your world here, Prince,” the fairy explained with a smile.

“Wait, a curse? Did I get cursed? And Prince can turn me back to normal? Is that it?” Arian asked as she tried her best to process every information she got.

“Correct,” the fairy answered with a smile.

“Arian, let me first tell you what happened earlier,” I said with furrowed eyebrows. Then, I placed a hand on my aching head out of the sudden turn of events.

“Okay.”

With that, I told her what happened earlier. I found a book and opened it by accident. And it resulted in the release of eight different curses in our world with one of those now on her.

“A... Are you an idiot? Why would you open a dangerous book like that?” Arian shouted to me in a furious state.

I turned away and replied, “Sorry.”

If only I didn’t enter that room, this mess won’t happen.

When she heard my apology, she became astonished.

“But don’t worry, Princess Arian. I’m also here to help so you can rest assure that you can turn back to normal,” the fairy cheered Arian up with a smile.

“Jeez. You can call me, Arian,” she said with a sigh. “What’s your name?”

“Me? You can call me Pixie,” the fairy introduced with a swung of her wand.

“So... what are you planning to do now, Prince Dweeb,” Arian asked with furrowed eyebrows.

“Don’t call me like that,” I retorted, irritated after I heard that nickname.

“So you have the nerve to get angry at me. Do you think it’s fine to act like that after what you did to me?” Arian countered, not fully angry anymore but a little displeased.

“...”

I don’t have any retort right now.

“Don’t fight, you two,” Pixie said to calm the both of us. “Do you want me to tell you the story of the mermaid who suffers from that curse in my world?”

“Will that take long?” I asked in a serious face.

“Well, yes.”

“Then, it will be bad if someone saw Arian in this state. We need to hide first.”

But this school is a dangerous place right now. I can’t afford to take the risk of a student seeing Arian’s mermaid tail.

“Arian, can we go to your house?” I asked as I looked into her eyes.

“That’s...” Arian whispered and averted her look away from me. Then, with a sad face, she answered, “We... can’t.”

“Why?” Pixie asked obliviously.

“My mother and I quarreled so... I ran away from home earlier...”

“I see,” I responded and looked around. “We can’t stay here or someone might see us, eventually.”

“Sorry...” Arian said and looked down. Just one glimpse at her and you could see that she was feeling bad because of her situation.

Jeez. Don’t apologize to me. I’m the one responsible in the first place, you know.

“Arian, are you okay if I bring you to my house?” I asked her with a serious face.

“Huh?” she reacted with widened eyes.

──◈─▣─♕─▣─◈──

After we exited the library, I walked in the hallway while I carried Arian like a princess in my arms. Pixie followed us through flight.

“Look. Isn’t that Arian of the taekwondo club?” one student reacted, stupefied.

“And that’s... Prince Dweeb. Are they in that kind of relationship?” another student followed in shock.

“Jeez, Pixie. Can’t you make the two of us invisible? This is embarrassing,” I muttered with a twitch of my eyebrow. Then, I looked at Arian but she was only silent with no movement at all.

“I can’t do many complicated illusions, you know,” Pixie complained as she pointed her wand to us. “If I made you two invisible, I can’t make you forget the fatigue in your arms. I can only use advance magic for emergencies, so you have to deal with this for now.”

Pixie was maintaining two illusions at the same time. The first one was to make Arian’s mermaid tail look like her former legs. The second one was to make me forget the fatigue on my arms. Earlier, I tried to lift Arian but I couldn’t even last a minute.

Can you blame me? I’m not suited for physical labor since I was born, you know.

That is why we don’t have a choice but to let other students see this flirtatious action. After we got out of the school, we immediately rode a taxi and reached my house in no time.

“So this is your castle, Prince,” Pixie reacted with a clear look after we arrived in front of my house.

It was a three-floored house enclosed in a concrete wall with steel gates both in front and backside of the land. There was a garden right in front of the house and a terrace and a garage right after it. As for the back part, there’s a small hut and a space for recreation. We also have a swimming pool with a size of around 18 square meters and a depth of 5 feet at the rooftop. So with that pool on the topmost floor, this place was the ideal place for Arian to stay.

“It’s small for a prince’s castle though,” Pixie commented with a disappointed face.

“First, I’m only Prince in the name so don’t expect a castle as my home, jeez,” I retorted with squinted eyes.

“But it’s big all right,” Arian followed with a slightly surprised face while still in my arms. “Wait. How about your parents? What will you say to them?”

“They’re not home. They’re abroad for vacation,” I replied with a serious look.

“Wha--” Arian reacted with a sudden flustered expression. “So you brought me here because there’s no one there? What are you planning to do to me?”

“Hey, what the heck do you take me for? This is the only safe place I could think of. Or do you have any other suggestions?” I asked with furrowed eyebrows.

“I... don’t have any...” Arian whispered and looked down.

“So leave everything to me, Princess Dugong,” I continued with an arrogant smile.

“Wha—You... Dweeb Prince!” she shouted in anger and pinched my arm as hard as she could.

“Ouch!”

“At least call me mermaid, jeez,” she continued and pouted after.

What a violent girl.

♡ Arian’s Point-of-View ♡

After I turned into a mermaid, the night came. Pixie and I chilled inside the rooftop pool after we arrived at Prince’s house.

I wore my cut out school’s one piece swimwear that became a fitted navy blue camisole. It was lucky that the P.E. class for the day was swimming. So I changed from my school uniform to this swimsuit before entering Prince’s pool. As for Pixie, she rode a rubber duckie as we talked to each other.

“So the story of that princess is like ‘Little Mermaid’,” I reacted with a sad expression.

Before Prince left the two of us on the rooftop, Pixie told us the story of the princess that had my curse. According to Pixie, it’s from a mermaid who fell in love with a human prince. To meet the prince, the mermaid went to the sea witch and traded her voice for a pair of human legs. That is when the curse went missing in the world. If the story continues, the mermaid won’t be able to marry the prince. Then, she will curse her fate for sacrificing her mermaid tail on nothing. After that, the sea witch will give a dagger to the mermaid. If she killed the prince and let the blood drip on her feet, she could become a mermaid again. But the mermaid won’t be able to bring herself to kill the prince, so she will kill herself. After we heard the complete story, Prince prepared for dinner.

“But wouldn’t it be better to leave the curse here? With that, the mermaid in your world won’t suffer her destined tragic fate, right?” I said to Pixie in a melancholic look.

At least, by doing that, I still could help that poor mermaid in Pixie’s world.

Pixie became astonished and smiled after. “You’re a good-hearted lady, Princess Arian.”

“Don’t call me princess. Call me Arian like I said earlier,” I said with a sad smile.

“But even if that’s the case, that’s still the fate of that mermaid princess. If we do your suggestion, it will throw off the balance in our world. Her fate will change and others might get affected too. And that’s what I need to prevent to happen no matter what,” Pixie explained seriously. “But I’m grateful for your consideration for the princess of my world.”

“No need to thank me. Because I can’t even do anything in this situation,” I replied and forced a chuckle.

“Don’t worry,” Pixie said with a bright smile. “We have Prince in our side.”

“Now that you mentioned it, does Prince have powers now?”

“Correct. He has now the power to change every princess’s fate. He is the key to reach everyone’s happy ending.”

“But how can he do that? At least in my case?”

“I believe that everything happens for a reason,” Pixie said with a smile and looked at the crescent moon above the night sky. “It’s not a coincidence that Prince was the one who opened the book. He got chosen to become the prince of your world. That is why it is up to him to save every one of you. But I’m sure he can do it. You only need to trust him.”

“But according to the story... does that mean that... to prevent the ‘tragic end’, he needs to... marry me, right?” I asked with flushed cheeks.

“That might be the case. Because he’s the prince and you’re the princess,” Pixie answered in a cheerful tone, as if that was a fact already.

After I heard that, my face got red, so I dove underwater. After five seconds, my upper body rose and my sopped hair swayed down.

Why am I getting this nervous?

“Hey, don’t do that without notice, Arian. I almost fell off this fancy boat,” Pixie complained as she hugged the toy duck she was riding.

“Well... that’s because...” I replied with a complicated expression.

“Do you hate the prince?” Pixie asked with a worried look.

“I… don’t hate him,” I answered with a blush and I twirled my wet hair using my fingers. “It’s because... we don’t get along.”

“You and Prince are... classmates, right? Did something happen?”

“Nothing much but... it’s just...” I muttered and looked at the starry sky. “We always end up arguing even though we’re not even close. Maybe it’s because we’re opposites of each other.”

“Isn’t that fine?” Pixie asked with a smile.

“That’s... fine?” I repeated in a puzzled face and looked at Pixie.

“As you said, maybe it’s because the two of you aren’t close to each other that much yet. You still need to know more about each other. And also, opposite attracts, am I right?” Pixie followed with a wink and a smile.

When I heard that, I once again blushed and submerged my cheeks in the water.

What does he think of me, anyway?

“Hey, here’s the dinner,” Prince said after he arrived. On each of his hand was a tray with food and drinks.

“What’s that?” I reacted with an excited smile.

“Fried Fish, seafood fried rice and lemonade,” he answered in a sadistic smile.

“Pixie...” I whispered with sudden squinted eyes.

“Arian?” Pixie asked, surprised from the shift of my expression.

“I hate this guy after all,” I followed and let out a deep sigh.