She Belongs To The Devil

"Holy mother! I knew it!" Joyce jumped with excitement when Ariel confessed that she had feelings for Damien.

And she gave a tight hug to Ariel and squeaked with happiness, "I knew that you two would eventually fall for each other since you two were kids. You two used to be inseparable."

"Wait…" Joyce abruptly broke off from the hug as she realized that Ariel never told her if Damien also liked her or not.

She glanced at Ariel's slightly flustered face and then asked her, "Damien also feels the same about you, or is your feelings towards him one-sided?"

Ariel's cheeks turned as red as tomatoes upon hearing that question from Joyce. And what more? Her mind had somehow concluded that it was the right time to recall the steamy and passionate kiss that she had shared with Damien a few days ago.

She pressed her cold palms over her cheeks and then answered after clearing her throat, "Damien was the one who was very persistent. He kept on confessing his love towards me, maybe more than ten times in the past few days."

Joyce covered her mouth with her palm and looked at Ariel with happiness. "That is so sweet! I never thought that shy and rude kid could be so romantic."

She then leaned closer to Ariel and asked with excitement, "So, are you two a thing now? Have you two thought about when you are going to get married?"

Ariel took a deep sigh. She looked a little uncomfortable.

"What? You two haven't thought about marriage yet?" Joyce made her guess.

However, Ariel shook her head and replied, "Um… I haven't cleared things with Kenneth yet."

"Cleared things with Kenneth? And why would you need to do that?" Joyce narrowed her eyes at Ariel and asked teasingly, "You sound as if you were seeing both of them at the same time."

Ariel simply pressed her lips together and looked down in shame.

"Oh my days!" Joyce leaned back on her chair and looked at Ariel in disbelief. And she laughed and said in a teasing tone, "You really were seeing both of them! Please don't tell me that you are planning to marry both of them."

"Joy!" Ariel knitted her brows together and gave a look of disapproval. "How can you even say such an outrageous thing?"

Joyce simply shrugged her shoulders and then said in a nonchalant manner, "Well, our grandfather had three wives and countless concubines. So, what's wrong with you marrying two men?"

Ariel got up from her seat in embarrassment. She folded her arms and questioned Joyce, "Are you even listening to yourself? Will you be okay if I say that you should take one more man as your husband?" Find adventures at empireNôv(el)B\\jnn

"Well, I don't like or love anyone else." Joyce replied with a coy smile on her face, "But you said that you liked Damien more, which means that you also like Kenneth, don't you? So why not marry both of them?"

Ariel scoffed at that mad suggestion from Joyce. And she sternly said, "Polygamy and polyandry were the things of the past."

Joyce laughed at how Ariel was getting all riled up. "Okay, okay! Relax! I was just trying to pull your leg. But it looks like you took it too seriously."

The two of them kept on bantering for a while more. Joyce was also helping Ariel to get out of her tight gown at the same time.

And before entering the bathroom, Ariel asked Joyce, "Joy, can you keep it a secret? Everything I just said about Damien and Kenneth? I have yet to let them know my decision. But I don't want to do that anytime soon, and definitely not before this trip is over."

"Why? Shouldn't you do that sooner though? They might be dying to hear your answer," Joyce pointed out the obvious.

To which, Ariel replied, "I don't want Kenneth to be gloomy during the trip. Besides, Damien and Kenneth are finally starting to get along. And I don't want to take that away from them… take away their chance at friendship before it even gets a proper foundation."

Joyce gave a nod to Ariel. "Alright. Do what you think is right. I will keep the secret safe. But let them know before it gets too late."

"I will," Ariel replied with a thankful tone.

Joyce took a deep breath in and asked one final question, "Why Damien? And why not Kenneth?"

"I gave it a lot of thought regarding whom I should choose or if I should even choose one of them. And a lot of things pointed my heart and my mind towards Damien."

"Like?"

"Kenneth is very kind and considerate towards everyone. It would be very selfish of me if I decided to keep his kindness all to myself."

"What do you mean by that?"

Ariel shakily breathed in and replied to make things clearer, "You know how I plan to explore the world rather than sit in one place by bearing the burden of a Kingdom. Kenneth said that he would do that with me. But I witnessed how crucial he is to his Kingdom. He is the only child and he already has so many responsibilities. I cannot simply ask him to give up all that and follow me around."

Ariel's eyes dilated when she further added, "But I can do that with Damien. With him, I can be as wild as I can. Nobody is going to say anything to us. Well, at least our parents won't. Also, I won't have to constantly worry about accidentally hurting my husband if it's Damien."

Joyce immediately asked another question again, "Are you sure that you are making the right decision? You sound like you chose Damien with your mind and not the heart."

She worriedly held Ariel by her arms and said, "Love isn't always logical, Ariel. You also need to feel it with your heart. I am not trying to say that you did wrong by choosing Damien. But I am just trying to warn you so that you won't regret your decision later on in your life."

Ariel's lips curved up ever so slightly when she replied in a soft and lost tone, "No, both my mind and my heart chose Damien. I never realized it before, but I think I have always loved Damien just the way he loved me since way before.

The restlessness I felt when he used to be out of my sight for a minute, the need to take care of him, the desire to always be by his side, the rage I felt when he denied coming back to me, and my broken heart after I realized he wasn't coming back… if all those things weren't the signs of love then I don't know what they were."

Ariel gulped to ease her sore throat and said with confidence in her decision, "Besides, I realized that I want Damien all to myself. And I can have him all to myself without feeling guilty all the time... I cannot imagine my future without him in it."

Joyce was finally convinced that Ariel hadn't made up her mind just because of some logical reasoning. She didn't doubt Ariel's feelings anymore.

She hugged her cousin and then whispered to her with a wide grin on her face, "I can't wait to formally welcome Damien into the family, Ary. You two will make a lovely pair."