Cursed

Chapter 2: Back in the Time

"Aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!!!" Ace and Erina both screamed while staring at each other.

Finally, Ace ran towards the stone slap he placed his clothes and wrapped cloth on his waist.

"You!! What are you doing here in the bathhouse? How dare you enter Prince's bathhouse?" Ace Evans yelled as he glared at Erina.

"Bathhouse?" Erina thought as she was still hiding her eyes with her hands and finally took a look at that place, moving her hands over her eyes. It was a beautiful pond surrounded by trees and gorgeous-looking statues and banisters.

"I swear I don't know how I reached here. I was in the museum, and that old man told me to touch the painting and----"

She couldn't say anything after that as she remembered the old man was not there anymore.

Ace narrowed his eyes at Erina as he lifted his sword in his hand and placed it on her throat. Erina's eyes widened as she felt the shiny sword too close to her throat.

Erina closed her eyes as she felt sweat breaking on her forehead and the fear was creeping under her skin. It was her first time watching death from too close.

"Are you an enemy spy? Tell me!" Ace snarled as his sword was on point.

Gulping a large amount of saliva, Erina opened her mouth and stuttered, " I promise Prince Ace, I am not an enemy spy. I don't even know how I arrived here."

"Stop lying, Lady, or your throat will be sliced in half!" Ace threatened as his sword touched her throat a little. Erina's breath hitched as she tried to explain herself.

"Prince Ace, Let me explain."

"I want you to explain! So spill everything!" He ordered.

"I can't ex----explain with the sword on my throat." She said while stuttering.

Ace checked Erina up and down, and his suspicions grew even more as he saw Erina wearing weird kinds of clothes. He pulled back the sword a little but stayed alert to attack any time soon if needed.

"Okay. Now, tell me, who are you? And what are you doing here in the Prince's bathhouse?" Ace asked her, narrowing his eyes.

"I really don't know how I reached here. I was at a museum, looking at a painting of---" Suddenly Erina stopped as she realised the seven men inside the picture lived 700 years ago.

"How am I standing in front of Prince Ace, who lived 700 years ago and died by a curse?" Erina thought as she couldn't understand what was going on.

"Why did you stop?" Ace yelled as he walked closer to Erina, and she started taking steps backward.

"And what is a museum? Are you trying to confuse me so you could escape finding the right moment?" Ace raised an eyebrow as he extended both his hands, placing them on the wall and trapping Erina inside his arms.

Erina's eyes widened as she found herself under Prince Ace's embrace.

"He is truly gorgeous. Silver hair, sky blue eyes, a straight-edged nose, an oval-shaped face, and a pair of thin lips. His appearance is screaming perfection." Erina thought as she stared at Ace.

Then her eyes traveled down to Ace's chin and his throat. Crossing them, her eyes arrived at the collarbones and his masculine chest. Erina was already hypnotised by Ace's appearance.

Ace leaned closer, and his face stopped only a few inches away from Erina.

"Speak up the truth!" Ace said with his cold tone and emotionless face.

"I-I-I----"

"Next word!" Ace yelled, and Erina started crying because of all the stress and fear.

Ace rolled his eyes as he sighed.

"You cannot just trespass inside the Prince's bathhouse and cry when you get interrogated." Ace explained as he took a good look at Erina.

Erina was a girl, almost 5'4". She had a round face, a little flat, small nose, round face, and puffy, red cheeks. Erina had long wood brown hair, and her jade green eyes sparkled when she blinked.

Ace licked his lips as he kept staring at Erina.

"She doesn't seem like royalty, but something special is attracting me to her." Ace thought as he was observing Erina. His eyes traveled down, "And what kind of clothes are these? They are too short for a woman!"

Ace narrowed his eyes at Erina as he thought all this. Suddenly Ace noticed Erina was checking him up and down with her lust-filled eyes.

"Is she a p*****t?" Ace threw a disgusted look.

"You! Are you the perverted lady who stalks males!" Ace snarled.

"What?" Erina gasped as she couldn't digest the sentence from Ace.

"Why are you staring at me with those lust filled eyes of yours?"

Erina cleared her throat As she was actually checking out Ace. Her face turned bright red as she lowered her head, staring at the ground.

"You are so weird! Why don't you tell me the truth?" Ace yelled again.

"Prince Ace, I am telling you once again. I don't know how I reached here." Erina explained herself.

"Is it?" Ace raised an eyebrow, and Erina nodded her head.

"Tell me, who are you? Where are you from, and what work do you have in the castle?" He asked.

"I am Erina Brown. And I don't have any work in this castle. I don't live here. I am from----". Erina couldn't finish her sentence when she heard from someone.

"What is going on here, Brother Ace?"

Ace turned his head to look at that person. Erina tried to peek at that person as well. But her eyes widened even more as she found out it was another prince from the painting.

He was handsome as well. He had hazel-brown eyes, a round face, a pair of plump lips, and red hair. He was a little shorter than Ace but still taller than Erina. The man smiled as he sauntered towards Erina and Ace.

"I thought Brother Ace only liked books." The man smirked.

"Alan, this is not a time to joke. She trespassed inside the bathhouse when I was supposed to take a bath here." Ace yelled.

"So this is Prince Alan Evans?" Erina thought as she kept staring at Alan.

Alan's eyes widened in shock as he shifted his eyes at Erina and observed her up and down.

"Is she a p*****t or an Enemy spy?" A wicked smile approached Alan's lips.

"Brother Alan, she can be dangerous. Do not take this incident easily. And observe her clothes. She is not from our country." Ace explained as he grabbed Erina's both hands and stood behind her.

Erina tried to make as little trouble as possible.

"I was interrogating her when you jumped in between," Ace added while rolling his eyes.

"Call the Knights and tell them to keep her in room arrest for now. I will call my brothers after a bath. I am tired.

We can interrogate her then." Alan said.

"Brother Alan, she can be an Enemy spy. Why room arrest? I am going to put her in prison." Ace suggested.

Alan smiled as he placed a hand over Ace's shoulder and said, "Brother, look at her. She is scared as hell. She also can be innocent. Don't distrust everyone you meet, okay?"

Erina's eyes filled with relief as she heard Alan saying those kind words.

"Now go and order the guards to take her to an empty room," Alan said and pushed Ace a little towards the door of the bathhouse.

Ace sighed and started pushing Erina out of the bathhouse.

As they both exited the bathhouse, Erina felt the grip on her wrist loosened. Two royal guards were waiting outside of the bathhouse while holding lances. Prince Ace pushed her towards them and ordered, "Take her to the guest room in the east and tell someone to keep eyes on her until we reach there."

The guards bowed their heads and replied, "Yes, Your Highness!"

And with that, Erina felt the light push of the wooden shaft of the lance on her back.

"Follow me." One of the guards said as he walked before Erina and the other guard walked behind her.

"What is going on?

Why am I here? How did I appear here? Have I really traveled back 700 years ago, where the seven princes lived?" Erina started having conflicting thoughts as she followed the guard before her.

Erina's eyes fell in the way she was walking. It was an enormous hall decorated with banisters, expensive and gorgeous-looking statues, and paintings. One of the paintings caught her eyes, and she stopped midway.

There was a man and a woman in the picture. They looked like royalties. The man was holding a sword, and the woman was embedded on a seat. She was dazzlingly beautiful though a little aged.

Another wooden shaft pushed Erina from behind.

"Keep walking!" The guard behind her ordered.

Erina shook her head as she asked, "Yes... But...Who are they?"

"They are the King and the Queen of Palecien!" One of the guards replied.

"Now move!" He added.

Erina nodded her head and started following them again.

After a while, they arrived near a room. It seemed like more than a room. It has a huge door with beautiful designs painted on it. One of the guards opened the door with a push, and the other one pushed her inside the room.

As soon as Erina entered the room, she got startled by the thud sound of the door closing from outside.

Erina rubbed her heart as she was affected by the sound. Then her eyes fell in the room. It was a huge bedroom with luxurious furniture and a king-sized bed in the middle of the room. A window was right behind the bed.

Erina ran towards the window to escape the room. But when she arrived there, Erina realised the window was on the 1st floor. And the window was pretty high from the ground.

Erina sighed as she turned back to the room. She walked to the door and tried to open it, but it was locked from outside.

Erina gave up and walked to the window again, and stared outside. She could see the ocean from there.

"It's situated right beside the ocean.." Erina murmured as she shifted her gaze to the forest at the right.

"A forest near the seashore.."

Erina sighed.

"Am I really back into time? 700 years ago?"

"And if I have really traveled back, then how to go back to my time?"

"But how did I appear here? Is it even possible to time travel?"

Erina tried to remember everything before she traveled back to time in the palace. And soon, her vision cleared.

"That old man forced me to touch prince Ace's painting, and my vision went blind by a white glow. Right after that, I found myself here!"

"It means that, old man!!!" Erina clicked her tongue in anger and clenched her hand into a fist.

"He dragged me here somehow!"

Erina gritted her teeth as he remembered the mysterious old man.

"I need to find a way to go back to my home! Anyhow!" Erina promised herself!

"Not so soon, lady!"

Suddenly a voice startled Erina. She spun back to find seven men were standing right behind her, and in the middle of them, Ace standing while crossing his arms over his chest.

They were all wearing royal clothes as Erina saw in old movies. Erina was relieved at least that she hadn't seen one of them naked again.

"You need to answer us first!" Ace added as he glared at Erina.

Erina gulped as she saw all the seven princes she saw inside the painting in the museum. They were indeed tall and incredibly handsome.

Erina knew she was in danger, but she couldn't help but stare at all of them. It felt so unreal for her to witness their existence in reality.

"Is she even listening to us?" A gorgeous man said from behind Ace.

The man had frozen grey eyes, semi-curly brown hair, and perfect thin lips. He was almost as tall as Ace, and he looked the most handsome amongst them.

"Hello, beautiful Lady." The gorgeous man waved his hand as he walked towards Erina slowly.

As the man stood before Erina, he looked even taller. His eyes met hers, and she felt hypnotised by his appearance.

"I am the 2nd prince of the Palecien, William Evans." William paused as he obobserved Erina up and down.

"Can I have your name, lady?" He added with a beautiful smile.

"I can't believe there exists a human so handsome!!!" Erina thought as her cheeks turned red.

"Huh! No need to treat her so gently!" A heavy rude voice broke Erina's beautiful dream bubble where she was admiring William.

As she turned her head left, Erina saw Ace glaring at her. Then Ace walked closer and separated both William and Erina from each other.

"I am sure she is an enemy spy!" Ace declared while glaring at Erina.

Erina felt a little mad as Ace kept blaming her. She was a victim herself.

"Keep your calm, Ace. She doesn't look like a spy." William said from behind Ace and glanced at Erina with a smile.

Erina blushed.

Alan giggled as he stared at William flirting with Erina.

"Gross!" Ace frowned, watching Erina blushing at his brother's words.

"Enough talking! Who are you, and how did you enter the palace crossing the strict security?" One of the Princes jumped in.

The Prince had honey-brown eyes, a small nose, and Honey-colored hair. He was a little shorter than Ace, but he seemed quite, strong with his broad shoulders. Also, he looked very young compared to the other princes.

"Rayan, easy with ladies. You shouldn't use that kind of tone when you are talking with a woman." William said, glancing at Rayan and then he shifted his gaze towards Erina and said, "Especially when she is this beautiful."

Erina blushed again. She understood the prince who just spoke up was Prince Rayan.

"Brother William, every woman is beautiful to you!" A prince spoke up as he rolled his eyes.

"I want to sleep. I am tired." He added, followed by a yawn. He looked intimidating with deep black eyes with an oval-shaped face. He had small thin lips and dark black hair. He was almost the same height as Alan.

"You are always tired, brother Edward! It's not like only you came back after fighting a war!" Another prince replied as he shrugged, glancing at Prince Edward.

"Frederique, stop disrespecting your elder brother!" Prince Edward scolded him.

Prince Frederique seemed like a free spirit. His movement while talking proved he was not calm at all. Frederique had light brown hair, a straight-edged nose, an oval-shaped face, and a pair of hazel brown eyes. He was taller than Prince Edward.

"War?" Erina murmured as she understood they just came back after fighting a war.

"It is enough! Let me ask her! Please keep quiet." The Prince, who was standing at the last, spoke up while shaking his head in disappointment.

Everyone kept quiet and let that prince talk to Erina. He looked quite mature by his face.

The Prince had amber eyes, a straight-edged nose, and a dimple on his right cheek. He was the tallest prince with black hair.

"Alan would have never asked guards to keep you here unless he was not sure about the fact that you are not an enemy spy. And I respect his decision." The Prince paused and took a look out of the window.

Erina shifted her gaze to look at Alan. Alan smiled at her, and she smiled back. Erina was thankful to Alan for believing in her.

"I am the first prince of Palecien, Conrad Evans. And they all are my brothers and the other princes of this kingdom." He said while pointing at those princes.

"I am royal blood, and I know how to respect a woman. Hence, I am asking you to reveal everything about you with all your respect." Conrad explained as he shifted his eyes back on Erina.

"My Greetings to all the princes of Palecien." Erina curtsied.

Then she sighed and glanced up at Conrad.

"Your Highness, my name is Erina Brown. And I do not belong here. I live in a small city in the Netherlands.

And I don't remember how I appeared here." Erina explained as she licked her lips and observed Prince Conrad's expression.

He seemed confused.

Erina continued, "I was at a museum, and then I met a mysterious man. After that, I found myself here, in your palace!"

"She is lying!

I never heard of a name museum! What is it now?" Rayan spoke up with a cold tone.

Erina glanced at him with her worried eyes as she explained, "A museum is an institution that stores and exhibits a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance.

I know it is not believable, but trust me, your Highness, I am stating the truth. I am the victim of the circumstances myself!"

Erina begged them to believe her, but no one seemed that convinced. Erina lowered her head, not knowing what to do next.

"How does that man look?" Conrad asked.

Erina's eyes filled with hope as she answered, "He was shorter than me. He had a grey beard, moustache, and grey hair."

"Pffft… There are so many old men looking like that. She is making stories." Edward said.

"I swear, I am not lying. I want to return to my home too." Erina said as her voice started cracking. She wanted to cry as she was already missing her home.

"So you're telling me to believe that you teleported from your country to our bathhouse? And an old man did this to you?" Ace sneered.

"How foolish..!" He added with a chuckle.

"Bathhouse?" Other princes gasped except Alan and Ace.

Ace shrugged and Alan kept giggling.

"I can understand, that must have been a great meeting." William chuckled.

"But it is the truth," Erina answered.

"Where is this Netherlands?" Edward asked as he scratched his head.

"Right! I have never heard of this country!" Frederique added with a confused expression.

"Miss Erina, can you tell us where it is exactly? To the north of Palecien?" Alan asked as he stepped closer to Erina.

Erina thought for a few seconds but couldn't understand how to answer it because she didn't know how to explain to them where the Netherlands was of Palecien because she didn't even know where Palecien was.

But an idea resided in her head as she asked, "Could you give me a map so I can show you?"

Alan smiled, "Of course."

"No way! Alan, you can't show our map to this stranger girl!" Ace jumped in between.

"I agree with Ace," Edward said as he glared at Erina.

"Let us not waste our precious time on this peasant! I am tired already!" Suddenly Rayan said and pushed Erina on the wall behind her. He pulled out his sword and placed it on Erina's throat.

Erina's breathing became faster, and her eyes widened in fear as she stared at the shiny, sharp sword on her throat. Cold sweat broke on her forehead and her heart thumped inside her chest as she thought about a way to be free.

"Let me just kill her and end this interrogation here, which is not going anywhere!" Rayan glared at Erina as his sword touched her skin slightly.