Seriously? Why did I do that? Promises on the River Styx cannot be broken. If I don't keep my promise, I'll die. That means, if Ivy dies, I die. 

Ivy's gaze darkened, "You shouldn't have said that."

"Why? I won't let you die." I said. 

"Prince Lucian, you've just signed your death warrant." She said, burying her face into her palms. 

I gently took her hand and said, "What do you mean by that?" Though I know exactly what she meant. 

"Since our fates are now, uh, intertwined, you should know this. Remember how my breathing was like irregular and weird? It's because I have Stage 4 Heart Disease. I was supposed to be dead by last month." She looked at my gauging my reaction. 

I widened my eyes and said in a shocked tone, "What?"

"I can drop dead any day now. My heart will just stop working." As she said this, tears formed in her eyes, and they started streaming down her face.

I was still holding her hand. I gently squeezed it, and said worriedly, "Don't cry, please." I didn't know what else to say. 

"I should've t-told you earlier, and now you w-will die if I die. I'm so sorry." Her tears dripped from her eyes, and her chin was trembling. 

I wrapped my hands around her, and stroked her back reassuringly, "It's fine. I won't let you die."

It's not like I didn't know I was signing my death penalty when I said that. And because Ivy didn't know I knew, she feels horrible for not telling me earlier. 

"I won't let you die." I repeated. That's when I realised that I was hugging Ivy. My face felt hot, and I felt flustered all of a sudden. I won't let you die because I like you too much for that. I have my own selfish reasons. 

Ivy didn't try to pull out of my hug, we stayed like that for a long time. I also felt increasingly aware about how close Ivy was to me, and I felt more flustered every second. 

She finally pulled away, and her cheeks looked rosy, though I wan't sure if it was because of the tears or she was blushing. 

Her eyes weren't silver, they were like what I had seen after she had regained her consciousness. They were beautiful. The swirls of colours in her eyes entranced me, and I couldn't help but stare at them. 

I pulled out my phone, and  searched for the bill of adding her name to the heart transplant list. 

I pretended to make a couple of calls, and then I showed her the that I had gotten her name added to the list. 

"You only feel obliged to help me because you accidently tied your life to mine." She said quietly. 

I threw my hands up in defeat. "It's not like that!"

"Tell me, would you have helped me if you hadn't sworn on the River Styx?" She challenged. 

I already added your name before that. "I would."

She scoffed, "Sure."

"Trust me, please."

I stared deeply in her eyes, trying to convince her that I was genuine for telling her the truth. 

She took a deep breath, "Alright."

We contemplated in silence... again. 

I tried to lighten the mood by chuckling and saying, "Now that our lives are literally bound together, do you have any more things that I need to know about?"

She thought for a second and said, "I told you that you inspired me to try different types of magics, right? I thought you were cute back then." She also jokingly said. 

Ivy had no idea what effect those words had on me. "R-Really?" I pushed, "What about now?"

"I didn't know back then what a disappointment you'd grow to be." She shook her head. 

I was sad again. But I couldn't let her know that. Remember Luke, you're an egoistic prince. "Then why do you still like me?"

She narrowed her eyes, "What the hell are you talking about?"

"You know exactly what I'm talking about- the blush in your cheeks (there was no blush), the pinkish swirls in your eyes (there were no pinkish swirls)." I said with the confidence of a dunce. 

As I said this, her cheeks flushed and pinkish swirls appeared in her eyes. I smirked. 

"The question is, Luca, why do you like me?" She reverted with the confidence level I had. 

She called me Luca. That melted me faster than butter on a burning pan. My face felt hot, and I had to remind myself again, that I was an egoistic prince. I really need to find something to be egoistic about. 

"Who exactly said that? I need to behead the spreader of rumors immediately." I said. 

She raised an eyebrow, "You didn't deny it."

"Then why don't you find the truth yourself?" I challenged. 

She cocked her head to the side, and pretended to be oblivious, "What truth?" Ivy very clearly knew what I was talking about. wa

"Whether I like you." I answered, a little too quickly.

She didn't seem like she noticed it, and said, "How?"

"That's up to you." I shrugged. I was supposed to say by kissing me.

Ivy seemed indifferent, "I'm going to be the one surviving this anyway, so you might as well drop it."

But I was in the zone. "Really? You'll kill me without kissing me first? Ouch."

"I know what I'll do" She said playing along, "I'll kiss you, marry you, then kill you."

"Let's start the game now." I suggested a little too eagerly.

She laughed at my impatience, "You asked for it."

It was getting too much for me. I wanted to kiss her so bad. I expected her to kiss me on the lips. Her face got close, and she pecked my cheek.

"Really?" I said, annoyed. 

She imitated me, "Really?"

I forgot that we're just fifteen years old. This is just puppy love, Luke.

"Luca, I need you to think of strategies to defeat the Rank 2s and 4s. We also need to make sure that they have teamed up." Ivy said, pulling away. 

"First, don't call me Luca, it does not make me feel like an egoistic prince, it makes me feel like a overly cheerful princess." I grumbled, "Second, you should know that you can tell me anything, and ask for my help anytime." 

She giggled, "Alright, my little egoistic prince." 

I should have never said 'egoistic prince' out loud.

I groaned and smiled. I never thought I'd be having this conversation with Ivy so easily. 

She went back to having the work-relationship with me. Our fun talk was over. "Let us focus on winning this first. Then I'll decide what to do with you."

I got the feeling I was overstaying my welcome, so I fake bowed, and left her room. My face was flushed as I returned to my own room, and I punched the pillow. Why was I falling in love with Ivy, more than I thought possible?!