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The princess’s ????th day in the demon castle! A lovely day in winter. Snow is falling, cocoa is being made, the regularly shirtless monsters have been covering their tits and the lava zone is a popular post again. 

Warm beds have been the last several plans, but at this point she's running low on ideas for them.

And well... she thought Harpy might have some ideas, but...

On their walk, her feathery ally has grown quieter and quieter, she started focusing more and more on wrapping her sleeves around those exposed patches of skin her uniform provided.

Why were those open at all?

Clearly, all her facilities of eloquent diplomacy are needed to get to the bottom of this.

“You’re shivering.”

“Y-yes.”

A successful admittance. The princess will give herself a gold star later. “This can’t do. You need warmth to live, don’t you?”

“Yes, princess! I did in fact die the last time we were in the cold, yes.”

“Well we can’t have that.”

Princess Syalis began disrobing. Harpy protested, naturally, and the princess paused to think of a compromise. She herself would be quite cold while undressed, yes, and Harpy’s limbs are regularly just...bare. 

To her room!

---

The problem with the Princess’s cell, she reflects after dragging Harpy all the way there, is its ventilation. Namely, on one side the room is exposed to all elements of the castle, and on the other, there is a massive open window. This cannot do either. 

“Put these on.”

Harpy blushed, for some reason. “TH-THE PRINCESS’S ROBES? PAJAMAS? OH, I couldn’t possibly-- even between friends, that’s a little too intimate for me to handle... you know?”

The princess does not, in fact, know. She considers piling other peoples’ mattresses against the bars and windows. ...no, that’d take too much time. 

Piling blankets? Hm. Princess Syalis strolled to the chest of ghost shroud sheets and whipped several out. The problem with them is they’re...silky. Can they hold heat well?

She took four and wrapped Harpy in them. 

“PRINCESS?? Wha”

“Are you warm now?”

“N-no, not really. I’m squished but these things are kind of cold...”

Cold. Of course. Curse that ethereal coolness. They could provide some proper weight and heat beneath a larger blanket... did she have one?

Ah yes. The red guard capes… the drapery… and some of her comforters.

Hm.

“Harpy, do you know how to make a nest.”

“…what”

“A nest. Birds make them. You are a bird?”

“Oh. Y-yeah I can make a nest! It’s usually just. It’s just. It’s kind of a thing for couples???”

“Yes. We are a couple of women. Let’s make one.”

It may as well have been a proposal.

—-

The drapes that she had taken were completely fine, Princess would like to note. The spare food-warmers, campfire, and the weighted blanket she’d purchased from Human Shopping Channel was as well. All of them were approved, or at least not protested too loudly! How was she supposed to know that the furry blanket she’d picked out specifically for Harpy’s comfort was a ceremonial cape?

Or that a ceremony was happening very, very soon. 

But Harpy was asleep! Princess could-- no she couldn’t forgive being awoken. But especially not like this!

“PRINCESS SYALIS I AM BEGGING YOU TO UNHAND MY CAPE!”

“I politely refuse.”

“Mmm...did the nest get bigger?” her sweet friend groaned.

“FINE! I’ll continue to take it by force! You can’t just keep stealing fabric!”

The two stood their ground. Hands on each side of the cape; hopefully it wouldn’t rip.

“I can obtain fabric legitimately. For Harpy’s sake.”

“For Harpy’s s-- SHE HAS A BED! A COMFY ONE!”

“Is this really all for me?”

“Hm.” The princess paused to think, and Demon King gained significant ground. “Not entirely. I like sleeping with you.” He tripped, and Princess dragged it back to her side as Demon King Twilight struggled to regain his footing.

“But I’d say it is largely to help you keep warm while we sleep. I can do things for others at times. Especially my best friend.” Demon King adjusted his grip. Syalis needed to pull harder.

“I didn’t know I was your b-*best* friend!”

Ah. 

Syalis collapsed.

“WHY WOULD YOU SAY SOMETHING LIKE THAT?!” Demon King Twilight shrieked, making it almost all the way to the door before Syalis regained herself and hooked a foot around one of the bars.

“Syalis…why are you so considerate to me?”

“I am very considerate,” the princess explains as she attempts to wedge Twilight’s horns between the bars. “I consider you one of my favorite people and maybe the only person here who audibly wants to be my friend, and I just, would like to cherish someone like you.”

The demon king seemed wounded.

Ah, it didn’t matter.

Because between the ruffled feathers and the rosy blush, Harpy was so, so adorable.

“I... wow. Golly. I’d love to cherish you too.”

—-

“You seem on edge,” Princess muttered, despite both the blindfold and the restraints holding her mouth open.

“How can you tell-- I may be somewhat on edge, yes,” Cursed Dentist admitted. “Family matters do that to me.”

“You have a family?”

“YES! In fact, I do! One of whom you have been... actually, you’ve been treating her quite well.”

“...Bussy?”

“No????? Harpy. She’s my elder sister.”

The tools in her mouth made laughing a terrible decision. She resolved to not speak til the end, whereupon she was released from her emergency procedures, spat some mouthwash into the sink and brushed her teeth.

“Please, for the love of the gods, floss. I can’t imagine you kissing my sister with that mouth.”

Ah. Perhaps she should...

Hm.

Hm?

“Pardon? Come again?”

“Kissing her.” The flightless birdman cracked his back and did a few warm-down stretches. “Are the two of you taking it slow?”

“I...suppose. We aren’t in a relationship, though?”

His dedication to his own teeth remained admirable; despite falling facedown, the Dentist flipped over so he’d land on his back. A true professional.

“B-BUT YOU MADE A NEST FOR HER??? Ohhhh my gods is this why harpy was so confused when I congratulated her, OH my GODS AND DEVILS *PRINCESS WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU’RE NOT TOGETHER???*”

“Abwabwabwabwa,” the princess said, because it’s hard to form words when one is being shaken like a cupful of dice. “Whaaaawat does the nest matter?”

“Princess... right, you’re human. It’s easy to forget.”

“Thank you.”

“It wasn’t meant as a compliment. Anyway, making a nest together is...” Cursed Dentist blushed, hid his face behind a mirror. “It’s...um...w-well, when a couple love each other v--”

“I know sex. I’m twenty-eight.”

“YOU’RE-- okay. Hooookay. That’s extremely good news for Harpy, HOW are you older than me, and. So. A bird demon, like me and her, we’d make a nest...when we want to have children . It’s a ritual of courtship.”

“A courting ritual…”

If it’s a courting process for harpies, then Princess had to have been the one who proposed.

And loveless betrothals are extremely unfortunate for royalty. Why else has Syalis always avoided D-whatsit— no she has a million and one reasons for that. Better not to think of him before she gets too worked up.

Is she in love with Harpy? Hm. 

Harpy is authentic. Blunt, and direct. Maybe the only person in this castle who doesn’t dance around her and hide their real motivations.

Harpy is the kind of person Princess Aurora Suya Rhys Goodreste needs by her side.

 So she has to make it clear that she is in love with her.

“Thank you, Cursed Dentist. I will secure you a duchy somewhere if you desire.”

“Oh, it’s nothing. ...Wait, what does that mean-- PRINCESS! YOUR TOOTHBRUSH!”

Of course, the princess made sure to pocket all the dental requirements provided. She had people to impress now, not her own low-but-staggering standards.

---

Preparation time, before she came back from patrols.

A dish of Harpy’s favorite hot pot, arranged in (something vaguely resembling) a heart. 

The princess’s best suit, as her best dress was much more difficult to launder and also an entire country away. 

A rose between her teeth. 

Extra brushing for the teddy demons, in exchange for a series of decorative ribbons.

And about twenty minutes of pinching herself to ensure she does not fall asleep.

Finally, the moment arrives. The gentle talons clacking against the cobblestone, the sound of flapping wings, the cranberry-scented conditioner and...

And Harpy’s beautiful, beautiful face.

She gasped.

The rose fell from Syalis’s mouth. 

The words came naturally:

“Harpy. I am in love with you.”

And our humble harpy heroine could do nothing but faint.

~   Q U E S T   C O M P L E T E D   !   ~

~ { Very good work! } ~