The day was Sunday, the day where Arian and I decided to marry each other. I finished my preparation in front of the mirror while still inside my room. I wore a maroon polo and black jeans. I also wore my usual glasses and sprayed some perfume on my body before I put on clothes.

“But is it okay to marry Arian this fast?” Pixie asked as she floated beside me.

“It’s because of the story of the mermaid in your world,” I answered as I went towards the balcony of my room. I opened the sliding glass door and rested my arm on the rail as I watched the blue sky. Pixie followed and stopped right beside my left shoulder.

“About what part?” Pixie questioned me.

“It doesn’t offer a specific ‘happy end’ compared to the other ones. Because according to the story, the mermaid’s fate will be a tragic one, right?” I asked for confirmation.

“Yeah. But the difference in this world is that you, as the prince, have the power to change it,” Pixie responded with a smile. “That is why I believe that if you marry Arian, we can defeat the curse on her body.”

“If that’s the truth, we don’t need a genuine love in this situation,” I followed and looked at Pixie.

“What? Why is that?” Pixie asked me, confused.

“It’s because it doesn’t mention anywhere in the story that the mermaid needs a true love’s kiss. She aimed to marry the prince, that’s all. So with that logic, all I need to do is to marry Arian. We don’t have to fall in love with each other to lift the curse.”

“But...” Pixie replied, as she thought hard why my argument doesn’t sound right for her. “In my world, genuine love always solves conflicts like this. That is why I’m having a hard time believing that we can save Arian with this fake marriage that we will do.”

“That might be true. What we’re gonna do might be meaningless. But...” I said, still serious. “It’s more impossible if we don’t even try it.”

“Prince...” Pixie whispered with a worried face and made a deep sigh after. “I got it.”

“I didn’t expect you to agree that fast,” I reacted, a little surprised.

“It’s because you’ve got more reasons, right?”

“Yeah. Another one is that you got weaker in this world, right?”

“Well, that’s correct. But how is that related?”

“That means that all those eight curses also got weaker.”

“That’s... you might be right,” Pixie agreed after she made a thinking pose.

“And the last reason is this. No matter how long we stay here, she’ll never fall in love with me,” I continued and once again looked at the sky.

Also, I have a promise to her Mom to bring her back as soon as possible.

“Prince... you’re oblivious, aren’t you?” Pixie asked, dumbfounded.

“Huh? What do you mean oblivious?” I asked and looked back at her, confused.

“You can’t tell by what happened last night?”

“Uhmm... I’m lost,” I muttered with furrowed eyebrows.

Because of that conversation, I remembered what happened last night.

──◈─▣─♕─▣─◈──

“Arian... will you marry me?” I asked with a serious face.

After hearing that, Arian’s face became red and reacted, “Wh-wh-wh-what do you mean marry me?”

“Exactly what I’ve said. I want to do it as soon as possible. Tomorrow, to be exact. Is that okay?” I asked with an unchanging expression.

“Prince, did you eat something weird outside?” Pixie asked with a worried face.

“Do I look like someone who’ll eat a mushroom growing beside the road?” I retorted with furrowed eyebrows.

“Then, w-why are you proposing... this instant?” Arian asked, embarrassed.

“I think if we do it tomorrow, your curse will get lifted,” I replied in a serious look.

Arian then looked at me with serious eyes. It took a while before she replied.

“Okay, let’s do it tomorrow,” Arian replied after a deep sigh. “I know that you have more reasons, right?”

“I didn’t expect that you’ll agree to it without a fight,” I commented, taken aback because of her sudden agreement.

“Then, do you want me to refuse?” Arian asked, suddenly pissed.

“No, thanks,” I immediately responded.

──◈─▣─♕─▣─◈──

“But well, Arian agreed to this so that alone can be the reason to do your plan,” Pixie added with a sigh.

“Huh? If you’re saying that the reason she agreed is that she likes me, you’re mistaken.”

“Well, if you say so,” Pixie said and flew away. “Let’s go, Arian is already waiting.”

“I definitely can’t understand girls,” I thought to myself and followed her.

After that talk, we went to the next room where Arian changed clothes. There, we saw Arian who wore her uniform fresh from the laundry while seated on the bed.

“Are you ready?” I asked in a serious tone.

“Is it okay to only wear my school uniform? Should I wear... I don’t know... at least a white dress or something? I also need to apply some makeup, right?” Arian said nervously.

“Why are you that nervous?” I asked in a confused expression.

“We’re going to the church, right? Even though it’s not official, I want to at least look... not like this.”

I guess I must provide some compliment here to calm her down.

“You’re already beautiful so I don’t understand why you’re acting like that.”

Arian’s nervousness disappeared after she heard those words. Instead, she became stunned with her cheeks red.

“Oh~ That’s smooth,” Pixie whispered to herself with a teasing smile.

“And also, this wedding is fake anyway.”

“Geh,” Pixie reacted, dumbfounded.

As for Arian, she became serious after she heard that.

“And there you go ruining your flow,” Pixie said to me with a somewhat disappointed face.

“Flow?” I repeated, clueless.

Am I missing something here?

“Anyway, let’s go, Arian,” I said and offered my hand.

“This is the reason we can’t get along, Prince Dweeb,” Arian muttered to me with a displeased attitude and took it.

“Hate me then. As long as I can lift your curse, I have nothing to wish for,” I followed with a serious expression. After that, I carried Arian in my arms.

“Hmmph,” Arian reacted with a snob.

“Hey, at least don’t be that angry at me. What if it affects the wedding?”

“Then at least change your attitude towards me. Do you even like me in the first place?” Arian asked, irritated.

“If I don’t like you, I won’t even try to help you,” I responded in honesty.

With that, Arian’s face became red and averted her gaze. Then my legs shook.

“Uhmm... Pixie, I’ll appreciate it if you can cast your spell as soon as possible,” I said as I tried my best to endure Arian’s weight. “This girl is heavy, you know.”

“Huh?” Arian exclaimed in anger. “Isn’t it because you’re weak? I’m not even on the fat side!”

Well, that’s true.

Then, Arian laughed and commented, “As expected to my prince. How strong~”

“Do you want me to let go of you this instant?” I reacted in an irritated look.

“Jeez, you two can’t even avoid fighting each other,” Pixie commented and cast her illusion to me. “Anyway, let’s go.”

With that exchange finished, I descended the stairs as I carried Arian. Luckily, there was a wheelchair on the first floor. If we used that, it won’t be that hard anymore compared to when I brought her here. So when we arrived on the ground floor, Arian immediately sat in the wheelchair and the three of us left the house.

“Oh, a taxi,” I whispered and called it. The driver saw us and stopped in front of my house.

“Want a ride, kid?” he asked me with a smile after he opened his car window. It’s a middle-aged man with droopy eyes and a sharp chin. There was an unlit cigarette in his mouth.

“Yeah, we have a PWD here, so can we use your trunk to store her wheelchair?” I asked.

“Sure,” he said and pressed the button to open the trunk.

After that, he went outside to help me. I lifted Arian, and he brought the wheelchair inside the trunk. We then went to the backseat, and the driver came back to his seat.

It smells like a cigarette inside, jeez.

“So where’s the destination?” the driver asked with a smile.

“The chapel,” I responded, serious.

“Got it,” he replied and drove the car. Pixie was maintaining an illusion on Arian’s mermaid tail. She made it look like human legs to everyone in the car, so Arian doesn’t have to cover her lower body.

“So here, you already invented unique types of magical tools,” Pixie commented. She flew around inside the car and inspected everything she saw.

“Pixie, don’t wander around or you might bump the windshield if this car stops,” Arian reminded her, worried.

“Idiot, the driver can’t see Pixie, you know,” I whispered to Arian.

Then, Arian immediately covered her mouth with both hands. “Sorry.”

“Wow!” Pixie reacted with sparkled eyes as she looked to the vehicle next to us. It was a big cement mixer truck. It had a color of yellow, so it stood out among the other vehicles. “What kind of magical tool is that? How big and cool!”

“Jeez,” I whispered with a sigh and became speechless by what I saw. Arian’s mermaid tail wasn’t human legs anymore. Pixie’s spell disappeared.

“Pixie!” I called in a panic.

“What is it?” Pixie asked and turned to us. Then, she became astounded and immediately swung her wand. “I got distracted, I’m very sorry!”

Worried, I looked at the driver and saw him focused on the wheels.

Thank goodness he didn’t see that.

After he dropped us in front of the white chapel, I pushed Arian’s wheelchair so we could enter inside. Because the mass was in the afternoon, no one was there. Inside the small chapel were only a few pews, around twenty. Also, the usual gospel table, candles, and tabernacle in the altar were there. There was also a red carpet that covered the nave until the end.

“So what will we do now?” Arian questioned me with a nervous look.

“First, are you ready?” I asked and looked at her with a serious expression.

“Well...” Arian said hesitantly.

“We can’t start unless you’re prepared for this.”

Pixie flew in front of Arian and said, “Don’t worry. I’ll handle everything so the two of you won’t need to worry.”

“I... see,” Arian responded, still nervous, but after taking a deep breath, she made a serious face and replied, “I’m ready.”

“Then, let’s get this started!” Pixie said with a big smile and flew up. She swung her wand around and everything inside the chapel glowed. In an instant, the side of the pews got decorated with ribbons and flowers. Then, the empty chapel got filled with people wearing formal clothes.

“How amazing...” both Aria and I whispered, astonished by the display of magic.

Before I knew it, my clothes changed into formal ones. I was wearing a black long coat on top of white long sleeves together with a red necktie. As for Arian, she stood up and her uniform turned into a wedding gown. It was a white sleeveless gown with a unique design that somewhat resembled that of the scales of a mermaid. Her hair also got tied in a bun and light makeup appeared on her face.

“Ohhh~ You look so beautiful, Arian,” Pixie commented in a cheerful tone. Then, she continued the circular motion of her wand.

After I saw Arian’s new look, I became speechless.

She’s so beautiful right now.

“Pixie, what is this? My legs are back to normal. And I can even walk fine,” Arian commented in a confused expression. She stepped back and forth while she looked at her white shoes in heels.

“That? It’s only an illusion. You’re spinning the wheels of your wheelchair, but in our vision, you’re walking,” Pixie replied with a smile. Then, she filled the chapel with flowers as design.

“Prince?” Arian reacted after she noticed my gaze on her.

Because of that, I staggered and made a flustered expression.

“P-Pixie, wasn’t there’s a limit to the illusions you can generate?” I asked, trying my best to not get flustered.

“Well, it looks grand but all I’m doing was to deceive the vision of you two. So this is the extent of what I can do for the ceremony,” she replied with a smile. And once she pointed to the empty piano in the choir section, a pianist appeared. Without a cue, that person played a wedding music.

“But this is realistic all right,” I commented, and before I knew it, I got transported near the altar. As for Arian, she got transferred to the end of the hall at the start of the carpet.

“So with that, let’s start the ceremony!” Pixie announced, and the choir sung.

After that, a figure of a man in a black coat appeared beside Arian. When she saw his face, she became shocked and tears dropped from her eyes.

“Don’t cry, Arian,” the man said and immediately wiped the tears before it dropped to her cheeks. “It’ll ruin your beautiful face. Today is a special day, right?”

When she heard those words, Arian smiled and nodded.

“Papa... can I... hug you?” she asked as she tried her best not to shed a tear.

The man paused for a second and nodded with a gentle smile. After she got that confirmation, Arian hugged the man and nuzzled on his chest.

“I really... missed you...” Arian muttered and bit her lip. Tears then dropped from her eyes.

The man placed an arm around her back and a hand to her head.

“You’ve grown into a beautiful woman, Arian,” he followed and patter her head gently.

Arian then nodded and tightened her hug.

“Let’s go?” the man asked with a smile. “Your groom is waiting.”

Arian drew away from him and wiped her remaining tears with an arm. Then, she smiled at the man and nodded. After that, the man escorted her towards the altar as the people around cheered.

“You’re one lucky groom. Look how beautiful your bride is,” Pixie said after she appeared beside me with a poof. She was the size of a human and was wearing a white version of her usual dress in her original form.

“Don’t surprise me like that or I’ll have a heart attack,” I retorted with squinted eyes. Then, I returned to my usual poker face.

“That man... is Arian’s father, right? How did you form him without meeting him?”

Pixie looked at me with a smile and answered, “I accessed Arian’s memory directly and use that to form him. Of course, his actions earlier were based on Arian’s belief on how his father would act to that situation.”

“I see,” I said and looked to Arian who was approaching us together with her father. “But this ceremony is so realistic that I’m having a hard time distinguishing reality from illusion.”

“Well, I watched the video you showed me last night, right? That is the reason I could make this possible,” Pixie replied with a smile and the two arrived before us. The man nodded to me with a smile, and I took Arian’s hand. Arian offered her last smile to her father, and he went to the seats.

“Pixie, thank you... for this ceremony,” Arian said to Pixie with a charming smile.

“You’re welcome,” Pixie responded with a smirk.

After that, both Arian and I went to the altar with a priest behind the communion table. We stopped before him and he asked me the usual question.

“Prince, will you take this girl, Arian, in sickness and in health—”

“Wait, father,” Arian interrupted the priest with a serious face.

“What’s wrong, Arian?” Pixie asked with a confused look.

Arian faced me and asked, “I can’t do this, Prince.”

“What?” I reacted, startled.

“B-b-b-but why?” Pixie asked in panic.

“I can’t marry a person who doesn’t like me,” Arian continued and looked straight into my eyes.

“That’s...” I reacted, confused on how to react.

“That is why I’ll make this clear. Prince, I like you... not as a classmate or a friend... but as a man. We always fight each other, but despite all that, I still ended up falling for you. I know something happened to you in your past, I can feel it even if you don’t say it. I think that’s the reason you can’t open up anymore and act cold towards everyone, but... I still felt your kindness as a good person. After all, you won’t help me if you’re not like that. It’s much easier to abandon me. But you didn’t. You even helped me reconcile with my mom. That is why I ended up liking you before I know it. Prince, I like you. That’s my honest opinion. How about you?” she confessed, serious yet with a blushed face.

“I’m...” I whispered hesitantly.

Arian... what is she for me? Is she only an annoying classmate? Is she someone I hate being around? Why did I even help her with her problem and in the mermaid’s curse? Is it because that’s my duty as the prince? Is it because of guilt? I...

“Prince...” Pixie called as she looked at me with a worried face.

“I only helped you because it’s my duty as the prince... and my curse as the opener of the book,” I responded in seriousness.

Because of that reply, Arian got stunned.

“But that doesn’t mean that I don’t like you. As you said, I don’t want to trust anyone anymore. That’s how I lived until now. But you... you always disrupt my reasons. That is why I always end up arguing with you, messing with you. But before I know it, I am now having fun teasing you. I want to know more about you, I want to help you and above all, I want to be with you. I still don’t know if this ‘like’ is like yours, but... I want to continue... liking you more.”

“Prince...” Arian muttered, amazed by my confession.

“That is why I’ll say this. Arian, I like you. Please marry me!”

“Wow~” Pixie reacted in elation and placed her hands on her cheeks.

“I do,” Arian replied in a very charming smile.

Then, I looked at the priest and asked, “So... could you continue the ceremony?”

Before I knew it, Pixie took over the role of the priest.

“Hurry and kiss her, that’s only what matters after all! So with that said... you can now kiss the bride,” she wrapped up with an enormous grin.

“Jeez,” I whispered and looked at Arian. Then, I placed my hand on her chin and kissed her on the lips. With that, the bells rung throughout the chapel and everyone in the ceremony applauded.

After our kiss, Pixie’s illusion faded, and in an instant, I found myself in front of the altar in a standing position. As for Arian, she was in the wheelchair, faced to me. Our previous outfits returned to normal too. But when I looked at Arian, I immediately got stupefied.

“I’m still... a mermaid,” Arian reacted, dumbfounded while she stared at her mermaid tail.

Confused, I looked at Pixie and asked, “What happened, Pixie? Arian... Arian didn’t return to normal.”

“I don’t know too,” Pixie replied, overwhelmed like me.

Then, the door opened with a loud bang, and a familiar man appeared. He smiled evilly and brought out a knife.

“I’m here to take that little mermaid, kid,” the taxi driver from earlier said and snickered.