Marcel and the Cursed Prince

Chapter 38

In the other room, Lester is being assisted by Ricardo and Elliot in dressing up.

However, the two servants can't erase the fact that tonight was the last night, before the magical calendar expires, and the spell becomes completely irreversible.

"Your highness, doesn't it occur to you that even though it is Christmas Eve, it's also the last night of the curse?" Elliot mentions to the prince.

"You know, I don't want to think about that anymore."

"But your highness, you know that all of us are going to be affected by this right?" Ricardo points out.

"I don't want to force him to fall in love with me. And I definitely don't want to set him up just so I can 'save him from distress'. But I will do my best to try and do something about this. 

"Marcel and I have been bonding for the past several days. I have to say that we already have a connection."

"But a connection isn't enough your highness! You do remember that you need to save him, and he has to be in love with you at the same time, right?"

"I know that but, what happens will happen. I just want to go forth with this night for him."

With the prince being all dressed up, he exits his bedroom.

Marcel walks out as well, now wearing the red dress that Jared made for him.

They both approach each other at the middle of the staircase, and escort each other to the ballroom.

There's a banquet prepared in the dining room, and the servants are eating.

Meanwhile, the pair decided to have a dance first.

As they dance through the flow of the music, they begin realizing their greatest feelings for each other.

After dancing, they proceed to the garden.

They begin conversing.

"Hey, isn't it tonight the last night of the curse?" Marcel asked him.

"It is."

"And we haven't figured out how to break it." Marcel added.

"You know, I don't want that to be a concern anymore."

"But Lester-"

"What matters to me is that we're happy, the both of us. You made me happy during these past days."

"Well, that's great to hear but-"

"But?"

"I can't really say if I'm actually happy."

"Why so?"

"I mean by looking at where we are right now, this is reminding me of my mother."

Lester contemplates for a moment.

"How about you go home?"

Marcel's eyes widened.

"Wait, are you serious?"

"I mean it's Christmas Eve. You deserve to visit your mother."

"But, but what about the curse?"

"You can come back, right?"

"Yes! Yes I can! I'll visit her for a while, and come back here as soon as I can. We can all work together to lift the curse! Before midnight right?"

"Yes."

"Okay. It's just 7pm. If I go now, maybe I'll be back here either by 10 or 11."

As Marcel was about to leave, Lester stops him.

"Marcel, wait. I need to give you something."

They both go to the prince's room. Lester hands him a magical compass, which could help him find his way back to the castle.

"Here, this will help you go back. I'll also let you ride a magical vehicle, which could take you back to your Barangay as soon as you can."

"Okay, thank you."

Lester is teary eyed.

"I'll be back okay? We'll fix all of this."

And with that, Marcel takes the compass, and rides the magical car that Lester provided.

Lester however, suddenly felt blue.

Charlotte and Scarlett enter the prince's room.

"Your highness, we saw Marcel leave. What happened?" Scarlett asked.

"I let him go back to his mom."

"Why?" Charlotte asked.

Lester is silent for a moment.

"I want him to be happy." He eventually answers her question.

The two ladies gave off a surprise look.

"But don't worry, he said he will come back. I just wanted to give him a way to go back to his mother just in case things don't go the way as planned."

"But why would you go out of your way to do that?"

"Because I love him."