Chapter 4 He said he's cupid

DANIKA'S POV

He studied me for a moment, as though searching for something I couldn't see. Then he looked away.

“Come. Let me check.”

I hesitated.

He stood up, beaconing on me to follow him. I followed him inside.

The interior was warm, lit by floating golden orbs that hovered near the ceiling. A long corridor led to several rooms, and the walls were decorated with strange paintings of people, flowers, and creatures I couldn't identify.

I stopped in front of one painting.

It depicted a winged creature holding a bow.

I had questions but it will be for another day.

He led me into a room containing a large bed, a wooden wardrobe, and a chair beside the window.

“Change,” he said, gesturing towards a neatly folded dress on the bed.

I looked at the dress then back at him.

“You expect me to wear your clothes?”

“They're clean or would you prefer to remain in damp clothes?”

“I’m just saying it will be too big for me.”

He turned towards the door.

“Wait!”

He stopped without turning.

“What's your name?” I clutched the dress.

“I told you last night that I'm Cupid.”

I waited for him to laugh saying it's a joke but he didn't.

“Cupid?” I repeated between laughs. “As in the god of love? The little winged baby who shoots people with arrows? Cupid is supposed to be a child, you are a full grown man.” I stated.

“Cupid can take on any form as long as he's doing his job.” He responded.

I said nothing and I didn't think about it because I didn't want him listening to my thoughts.

After changing into the dress he'd provided, I returned to the main room.

He was standing beside the window.

“Cupid is supposed to make people fall in love, am I correct?”

“Do you have someone you desire?”

“If you are really Cupid, make dragon Lord Lucien fall in love with me.” I dropped.

His eyes widened at my request. He scratched his head in confusion.

“What a weird request. Why do you want the dragon lord? It's almost impossible for him to fall in love.”

I clapped my hands together. “See? Of course you are not Cupid.”

“Don't get me wrong, I have to see Lord Lucien to be able to shoot the arrow at him and that's so impossible.”

“Lets leave that, what about your arrows and the bow?”

“They are gone.”

I burst into laughter again.

“Humans are exhausting.” He closed his eyes briefly.

“I'm sorry,” I said, not sounding sorry at all. “I just find it difficult to believe that the god of love has lost all his equipment. How can you prove you are Cupid?’

“Me proving to a mere human with no abilities or powers is funny.”

I comported myself immediately, looking at the ceiling. That hit a nerve not going to lie.

“They’re inside you.”

There was silence for about a minute before I burst into any round of laughter.

What stage of delulu is this?

I know my laughter is annoying but this man here is more annoying.

“I'm serious.” His face darkened.

“So I'm the Cupid now?” I crossed my arms across my chest.

“No. You have my arrows.” His eyes narrowed.

This man seems too serious, he didn't even laugh or smile indicating he’s joking. My laughter died slowly.

“Wait. Are you telling me I have actual arrows inside my stomach? Because if I do, I think we need to find a healer as soon as possible.”

He stepped closer.

“Show me your wrist.”

I immediately pulled both hands into my lap.

Then, with a long-suffering sigh, he caught my wrist gently and turned my palm upwards.

There, on my wrist, was a strange mark I haven't seen before.

A crescent moon and running through it was an arrow.

The symbol glowed faintly beneath my skin, its edges shimmering with a golden light.

“H…how did this get here?” My mouth fell open.

I rubbed the mark with my thumb aggressively hoping whatever this man had drawn on my wrist while I slept would clean.

It didn't disappear.

“Don’t bother. It's the mark of the arrows and bow, it's in you and won't clean until we get it out of you.”

I looked up at him, back at my wrist then up at him again.

“You did this!”

“I did not. I don't even know why it's on you.”

For several seconds, neither of us spoke. Then I stood up so quickly that the chair scraped against the floor.

“You know what? This isn't funny anymore.”

“Does it look like I'm joking?”

“You put some strange symbol on my body, dragged me to your house, and now you're telling me you're Cupid?”

“I'm going to tell my father about this,” I announced.

“Your father?”

“Yes! My father! He's a nobleman, and he has guards. When I tell him what you've done, he'll have you arrested.” I shoved my wrist at his face.

Cupid's expression remained perfectly calm.

“You want to arrest Cupid for having his arrows inside you?”

“Stop calling yourself that! And please remove this thing from my body.” I pleaded.

He reached for my hand again.

This time, before I could pull away, he placed two fingers against the strange crescent moon.

The mark turned red beneath his touch.

I froze.

“What are you doing?” I whispered.

“Watch.”

A thin line of red light emerged from the mark.

It twisted in the air, growing brighter until it formed the shape of a golden arrow.

I stared at it. My heart began to pound.

The golden arrow hovered above my palm, I could actually see it.

The arrow trembled. He then guided my wrist towards the open doorway, dragged his fingers downward and the arrow shot out through the door.

I screamed in horror.

For a moment, nothing happened but then someone outside shouted.

“WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?”

“I SAID I'VE BEEN IN LOVE WITH YOU FOR THREE YEARS!” Another voice answered.

Then several people began shouting at once. I stood frozen, my hand still raised.

Cupid released my wrist, he looked completely unsurprised.

“What,” I whispered, “did you just do?”

“I'm sure you heard the confessions outside.” Cupid tilted his head.

I looked at my wrist. The crescent moon still glowing faintly.Then I returned my gaze to the doorway.

Outside, the commotion grew louder.

I could hear footsteps rushing towards the house, followed by an indignant voice demanding to speak with Cupid.

Cupid glanced towards the doorway before turning his gaze back at me.

“Welcome to your new responsibility.”

“Responsibility?” My stomach dropped.

I stretched my hands as tears filled my eyes.

So the stranger standing in front of me wasn't a lunatic pretending to be Cupid.

He really was Cupid and somehow his arrows are inside my body.

Suddenly, I remembered the fall in the purple pool, the way our lips crashed against each other and the gloomy ball substance that entered my lips.

That had to be the genesis of my problem.

I climbed onto the chair between us, stood on my toes before grabbing Cupid by his shirt.

Then, I pressed my lips against his.