Chapter 69: Way Out

"Of course, I will choose that wooden vessel."

"Aries!" the princess was obviously not agreeing with him. "You cannot return to Cari! Not until we convince her to work with us."

"That is if all else fails. You know that I cannot fight well in this tiny vessel," Aries explained.

"You can shoot needles at our enemies," Princess Pieffer stifled a smile. "Absorbing corrupted souls is already a big help to us."

"Only his original body can contain those corrupted souls," Guardian Aika informed them. "Once your body rots away, the souls you absorbed will once again be freed."

"Princess, why don't you convince the king to come right away? He is your father. He will listen to you."

"The king listens to no one," Princess Pieffer smiled without any trace of bitterness. "He will do what he thinks is right. He will save you."

"The king believes that you can bring peace in the House of Twins within a week," Guardian Aika was also smiling.

"If the king can save a dead body…"

"The king takes care of his knights while his knights take care of his kingdom," Guardian Aika simply stated.

"Then the king will stop taking care of the knights that no longer protect his kingdom?"

"I don't know," Guardian Aika shrugged her shoulders.

"I believe so," Princess Pieffer defended her father. "The knights are still alive. Maybe Father is still protecting them.

Guardian Aika only smiled suspiciously for a second then cleared her throat and told them, "I can free you from that surprisingly sturdy barrier."

"Please, Guardian Aika," the eyes of the princess were sparkling with hope. "We need to plan with the rest of the knights."

The powerful spellcaster approached the bed and carefully placed a hand on the invisible barrier.

"This is truly a masterpiece," Guardian Aika was completely mesmerized. "Maybe I should start considering Tauren and Quaria as my new disciples."

"Those two has a world of their own," Princess Pieffer informed the excited guardian. "They only want to learn from each other."

"That's a waste of their potential," Guardian Aika suddenly looked disappointed. She moved her hand away from the invisible barrier. "You can get out of there on your own."

"Guardian Aika!" Princess Pieffer was suddenly blushing with embarrassment. "You can get us out of here with a wave of your hand, right?"

"But that will be a waste of this wonderful barrier," the annoying guardian beamed teasingly at the princess then turned her back on them. "I will see you soon," she waved a hand not to free them from the barrier but to bid farewell to them.

"Is there something you are not telling me?" Aries glared at the blushing princess. "Do you know a way to escape from this barrier?"

Princess Pieffer only stared at him with hesitation and her cheeks were blushing further.

"Princess, this is a matter of emergency," Aries was trying to stay calm and avoid shooting needles accidentally at her. "You need to tell me what it is."

"If you truly want to get out of this place, then try to remember!" Princess Pieffer snapped at him then hide her flushing face under the blanket. "If you can't then let's wait until the barrier fades away. Guardian Aika said that they are still getting treated. They need to get some rest after that. We can wait here until they are well."

"Fine!" Aries slumped on the bed with annoyance. "Let's wait here!"

But even though he had said those words and felt a little irritated, he could not help but wonder what it was that Princess Pieffer was too embarrassed to tell him.

He closed his eyes and tried to remember.

What was it? How did we escape this barrier?

He already recalled getting trapped in there. He only had to remember a little further.

Just… a little further…

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Aries woke up with his arms over his mouth. He quickly noticed that the needles had finally transformed into harmless rag arms and legs. That was a relief for him but he also realized that his vessel had become tinier than before. He was probably twelve inches tall before his transformation but after that, he was nearly half of it.

"Aries, what's wrong?" Princess Pieffer removed the blanket over her face and gazed at him with worry. "Did you have a nightmare?"

Instead of answering, he said, "You asked the same question back then."

The princess bolted upright with eyes wide open.

"You… remembered more?"

Aries felt his face flushed and wondered if rag containers could also blush.

"I… I remembered everything that happened on that day."

"Everything?" Princess Pieffer quietly breathed while her cheeks blushed intensely.

Aries only nodded.

"It is better to wait, right?"

Aries failed to reply. His memories of her on that day left him speechless. He could only stare at the princess with a pounding soul.

Ten years ago, when they got stuck on a single bed for hours, they were strangers to each other. He was still suspicious of her. He kept on reminding himself that he had seen a dark aura around her. But the more time he spent alone with her, the more attracted he felt towards her.

The more he stared at her sapphire blue eyes, the more he wanted to get close to her.

He closed his eyes and remembered his beloved Pieffer. He might be feeling attracted because they had the same face.

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Or… was it the other way around?

"Aries, are you okay?" Princess Pieffer was getting more worried because he was violently shaking his head.

"I'm okay," he quickly said because the princess was trying to close the distance between them. "Just stay where you are. Please."

Princess Pieffer listened and remained on her spot. Aries moved a little further away from her. He was careful not to touch the invisible barrier. The least he wanted to happen was bounce on it and get thrown towards the princess just like what occurred ten years ago. It was all because of his impatience.

Was it really because of my eagerness to break out of that barrier or…?

No! There is no such thing as love at first sight. I just want to be free! That's the only reason for it!

"Let's do it!" Aries yelled at the princess who blushed even more.

"You mean…"

"Yes!" he resolutely answered. "Let's kiss!"

The face of the princess was as red as an apple. She was left thunderstruck by his proposal.

"I will kiss you now!" Aries jumped over to Princess Pieffer and kissed her lips.

His tiny vessel could not feel a thing but as soon as their lips touched, his face felt the softness of her lips.

It must be that his vessel had finally obtained the sense of touch or the memories of the past felt so strong that he was reliving the sensation.

The barrier could only be broken by a passionate kiss.

Aries remembered those words from Tauren.

Ten years ago, they had to kiss three times to know how long their lips had to stay connected until the barrier fades away.

Their first kiss was accidental. Both of them were stunned but they never failed to notice the momentary weakening of the barrier around them.

Out of impulse, Aries jumped out of the bed but instead of touching the floor, he collided against the invisible barrier and had been tossed back to the princess.

Out of frustration, Aries kissed the princess once again, a few seconds longer than the first. He was not wrong. The kiss was weakening the barrier. But once their lips parted, the barrier was quickly reconstructing.

Getting more frustrated than before, Aries leaned towards the princess but before his lips could touch hers, a hand had slapped his face.

Despite her blushing cheeks, she looked deeply offended. Aries was too absorbed with the barriers that he had failed to notice her hand coming for his face.

"You should not kiss people without asking for their permission," the princess had strictly told him.

"But…"

"I know that you are doing this to get us out of this place. But you should still ask for permission," the princess firmly repeated.

"Okay," Aries sighed and looked away. "I'm sorry."

Both of them remained quiet for a few seconds before Aries heard the princess let out a deep breath.

He glanced back at her and saw that she was staring at him with contemplation.

"Think of it as a kiss of desperation," Aries reasoned. "We need to get out of this bed."

"How many women have you kissed?" Princess Pieffer blurted out of curiosity.

"Do you think I have time to kiss women?" Aries was taken aback. "I am busy fighting the corrupted souls, unlike you royalties. You must have kissed a lot of men in royal parties."

Princess Pieffer stifled a smile and said, "Do you think royalties still have time to organize parties? I haven't been to a party ever since the day I could remember. I think we are all busy fighting for Serestral."

"Then let's get out of here and resume with our responsibilities," Aries eagerly proposed. "Let me kiss you."

"Okay," Princess Pieffer simply agreed. "I think we have to kiss for a longer time to fully destroy the barrier around the bed."

"How long?" Aries was trying his best not to blush but he could already feel his face heating up.

"A minute or so?" Princess Pieffer suggested despite her embarrassment.

"Okay," Aries agreed, took a deep breath, and then kissed the princess for the third time.

It was different than their first two kisses.

The princess kissed him back.

For someone who was busy defending a kingdom, she could kiss unexpectedly well. Aries was also surprised with his lips. Kissing someone felt natural to him.

The heat he was feeling was rising up. A sudden desire to grab the princess closer to him and kiss her more passionately was threatening to overpower him. 

He tried his best to fight it off but his hands were moving on their own but the moment he wrapped his arms around the princess, he had been pushed away.

"The barrier," Princess Pieffer shyly muttered. "I think it is already gone."

Aries had been pulled back to the present as he heard Princess Pieffer say the same words.

He could not believe that two minutes had already passed. He only remembered the past and could not enjoy the present moment. Maybe it was better since he was only in a tiny body and could not feel anything.

"Let's…" Aries froze as soon as he realized that his vessel was no longer a tiny gingerbread doll but the wooden container Cari had provided to him.

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