And I'm here again. Many thanks to my lovelies Jeff, Aiko & Aiko. Much Aiko references as I completed this chapter.

Her brown orbs fluttered open and twitched as they met the piercing sunlight from the glass-paned window. She groaned and dragged herself off the bed to close the curtain.

She washed up afterwards and changed into a striped hoodie and jeans. Tying her hair up into a ponytail, she got ready to go out. She could take a breather or something. Being indoors for so long was never quite up to her taste. Especially when she would have to face the brooding prince.

When she reached out for the doorknob, a voice called out to her, stopping her trail of thoughts or whatever she was thinking of doing. Belphegor, that bastard.

"Say, what do you think you're doing?" He did not sound the least amused. Did he hear her?

"...What does it look like I'm doing? Out, obviously," She replied bluntly, not bothered to turn and face him.

"You're not going anywhere, young lady. Not till I say it's fine for you to be going out. In fact, you should not even be standing up and moving around. Get back to bed," He sneered, grabbing her arm to which she pulled away immediately.

"What is it to you?" She turned to face him, narrowing her eyes at him. "Didn't you say you don't care? Don't you remember a word you said yesterday? Don't even try to act like you care, cause you don't!"

Her chest heaved with irritation and mixed feelings. He clicked his tongue which could be simply deduced as annoyed with her, her choice of words, or that she was right. But truth is, it was because he was right, well the prince was and always will be right. She was having trouble breathing, and he noticed it.

"Who's going to help you when you faint on the street? What if you get mobbed? Or worse, another attack from the enemies you made and refused to let me know the details?" He exhaled loudly, trying to swallow his intense irritation towards her lack of for her own health and safety.

"Definitely not you," She said, matter-of-factly and within seconds a fist flew past her face and hit the door behind. Her eyes widened in shock. He was right in front of her face, a deep, visible frown on his face. He did not know, he was clueless as what he should be saying right now. She just stared at him with frightened eyes. Like he was a beast and her, his prey. But, it was not the truth, at least to him, she was not, she would never be - well she might have been in the past. He truly wanted her to be well.

Why was that so hard for the thick headed maiden to understand?

They stood for what seemed like eternity, just staring at each other, listening to each other's breathing. And then, her eyes softened and his frown was gone. "I'm fine, truly I am," Mireille whispered, as if realising his concern for her or at least that was she hoped was - if only she could see his face under that long fringe. "Trust me, Belphegor."

"How can I trust you to be fine? If you could actually do that, you wouldn't have became like this in the first place. Look at you, you look almost ready to return to the hospital. So, tell me, Mireille. How can I trust you when you can't even trust yourself enough to not get killed?" He shook his head and his usual chesire grin was back. Looks like the prince regained his composure. "So, no, you're not going out, princess. And that's final~ Ushishishi~"

No matter what she did, no matter how many words they exchanged, she could never get him to acknowledge her. One mistake and poof, the Prince comes cornering you with his poison-laced knives. Not literally, but you get the meaning. Was she to blame for getting herself hurt? Well, she almost got herself killed but who doesn't make mistakes? Everyone does. Even the Prince.

She clenched her fists and gritted her teeth. It was painful, but deep now, she knew, she was wrong. That does not make the prince only less wrong, though. So, she would never admit it. She let out a loud sigh and pushed Belphegor away. "Fine."

His mouth formed an 'o' and grinned. "So, you'll be a good girl and stay in bed?"

"Nope," She shrugged. That simple and blunt answer stole the grin on his face.

Color drained from his face as he tried to control his temper. Which was a first, since he never let anything or anyone get in the way of his free self-expression moments. "Listen to me. I'm not letting you put a single bloody foot out of this damned house. Who knows what stupid things you might get yourself into if I let you out of my sight."

Mireille shot him a look and then she looked away, sighing in exasperation. "Fine. Come with me then."

"No, stay in bed."

"You do realise no matter what you say or do, I am still going to go out. With or without you. So, wouldn't it be better if you just hush and come with me, making sure I don't get into those stupid messes you mentioned earlier?" She smiled devilishly as she continued, "Unless of course, you are not confident enough with your 'ripper' skills to keep me from dying?"

He clicked his tongue in frustration. She sure know how to temper with his degree of tolerance. Was she trying to compromise with him, the prince of ripper?

What a silly girl, he thought to himself and smirked. "You're lucky, the Prince found you amusing, or you could have very well have been a dead princess by now."

He was truly relieved to see Lussuria, even though the thought of Lussuria usually makes him nauseous.