howl x reader / the curse

4: the deal

"Ha" Howl let out an amused sound under his breath "So... the princess is quite a rebellious lady?"

embarrassed, y/n felt a small rush of regret take over her body, as she just explained the situation to howl. She made it feel like a super secret meeting by speedily dragging him into a more secluded part of the garden, right near the castle's fountain. The scene ironically was quite familiar to the one they had first met in.

Ignoring his question y/n took it upon herself to ask the wizard the question she's been waiting to ask "So, will you accept it? The deal, i mean"

"I would say sure, but i still have a little urge for revenge, which led me to ask for something" howl scanned y/n's serious face which was starting to get paler and paler as he continued "What's it for me, my lady? I mean, why should one help, if one won't be given any compensation?" Howl got closer to y/n, to which princess responded with a step back.

"The only thing i'm asking for, is for you to stay quiet about our meeting" y/n made a slight pout to show how dumbfounded she felt "what kind of compensation do you expect from that?"

"Maybe a date?"

Y/n didn't even notice how her mouth opened from shock "Pardon? Did i hear mister Howl right?" Y/n asked once she recovered from the shock

"Jokes aside, my lady, i do truly wish to get to know you better. That is, of course, for practical reasons."

"May mister wizard enlighten me, how would that be practical?"

"Well, first of all, you may call my Howl, not mister wizard" howl chucked while hiding his slight smile with his knuckles "and second of all, wouldn't everyone love to have an honour of having a princess as a friend?"

"A friend?" Y/n raised an eyebrow to signal disbelief.

"Is princess mad that i called her a dear friend? Oh. I see, your grace should've said that she was expecting us to be something more than friends"

"The only thing i was expecting, good sir, was for you to be reasonable, but i guess i was hoping for too much"

Princess sprinted off deep into the castle's garden. Thoughts that occupied her head sounded something like 'YES y/n, good comeback' and 'oh man i really went off didn't i' and all while taking pride in her responses she remembered she had to make peace with the wizard, not war.

All of y/n's self-boasting went straight to self-deprecation, once she realized her mission and had to turn around and come back, only to find Howl standing still in the position she had left him.

"Please just forget what i said, my...uh, dear friend" y/n went right by calmly standing howl and made a face, that only could be described as service worker font. "If there is anything that you can gain from being king's daughter's friend, i can assure, i'll try to cooperate and give you that"

"king's daughter's friend?" Howl couldn't control his smile that slowly turned into a light laughter. "Y/n" wizard lowered his voice and called out y/n's name to steal away her attention to him.

Princess' heart made a slight thump by hearing her name being mentioned in such manner. Y/n made a small fake cough noise to get rid of a strangely intimate atmosphere.

"Y/n, don't think that i only want to exploit the title" Howl continues while still refusing to shift the atmosphere.

Howl's soft words almost made y/n forget the matter at hand, until she caught herself make a tender expression "yes, yes of course. You have a right to a friendly favour from me" princess took a big breath before finishing "if you'll have one, ask me any time"

"But i already made a request about the da-" howl's chatter gets interrupted by y/n's raised voice "i mean, when you'll have a serious one, one joke is enough"

"Alright, but once i have one, my grace...no, my friend, you better be ready" wizard made a confident smile and reached out his hand for a shake that will signal the start of the deal.

Y/n looks up, shakes the stretched hand, bows her head in unison with Howl's, and leaves the place with a quick pace.

Just as the princess reached the castle, her father, the king, was already walking around, searching for her.

After seeing the princess, king stopped in his track, sighed in relief and made his best effort to proudly ask his daughter "Y/n! Are you ready to meet the wizard?"

[If you want more, please dont forget to vote, it lets me know that you enjoyed reading my story and encourages me to write more] ALSO!! sorry for a short update and uuh updating once a year lol!