The box turned into ashes and the spikes were next to burn, they looked like hot red iron before melting away completely leaving you with the sight of a bright object, you took the fireplace poker and tried to get the object before it turned too hot and melted too, and there you saw it a beautiful ring that looked handmade but with much love and care, it had also a beautiful green stone in it’s natural stage, you fell to the floor and cried yourself in repentance, you just wished Jongdae would be able to forgive you when he came back.

Jongdae... he struggled crawling his way to his house’s door, he just collapsed again feeling as if he was chocking not being able to get oxygen in his lungs.

“M-m-other, mother!”

His mother heard him, she couldn’t believe that after almost 6 years he came back, he must of fulfilled his promise, although she didn’t care of what he promised her, she just wanted to embrace him once more.

“Jongade? Chen my baby? is that you?” she came from the back of the house finding her son in the floor rolling unable to verbalise, his hand raised for her to come close.

“My baby! What is wrong? Tell me!” she hugged him with all her force, Jongdae felt at ease again, the love of his mother could heal anything, soon he started breathing again.

“I love you mother”

Jongdae rested in his mother’s bed, his mother couldn’t believe how handsome and strong her son had gotten, he was asleep as she caressed his face peppering him cheeks with kisses, filling her eyes with his sight.

Soon his father arrived and Jongdae woke up from the slam in the door, he stood up dusting his clothes trying to look as decent as possible.

“Father!”

He told them about how he lived these past years, his father was embarrassed that after what he did to him he still was loyal and bore no grudges towards him, he told his parents the encounter with the princess and that today was his wedding and therefore the purpose of his visit.

“Shall we accompany you? We are not fit to be presented to his majesty”

“He knows everything about my past that I am not ashamed of, the shame is that I do not wish to proceed with the wedding as the princess couldn’t keep her promise, my love for her faded as she burned my spines, it wasn’t true love,  she also saw the contents of the box and it was intended for the following day”

“My child you are kind hearted, you forgave me after all I’ve done to you”

“No father, I cannot marry her, please accept me back and I shall make our lives together remarkable for the lost time”

Jongdae’s parents didn’t argue his decision and welcomed him back.

You on the other hand felt a pain in your chest, you felt that this time you did stab Jongdae in his chest and just wished you could make it up to him tonight after the wedding.

The wedding that will never happened after you received a letter from Jongdae:

‘Dear princess,

I apologise but I cannot be your husband today, you didn’t keep your promise and I cannot trust someone that doesn’t keep a promise for less than a day.

I wish you happiness, I will remember the good in you and keep it in my heart.

Remember always to keep your promises in the future, that much advice I can give you.

Kim Jongdae’

Your instincts didn’t lie to you, you deep down inside knew of the outcome, it took 1 promise to break to be away from Jongdae and that is what happened.

You run to your father and told him about what happened and he got upset with you but majorly with your mother, he knew that Jongdae needed to know the truth and he was determined to get Jongdae back.

But in vain, Jongdae was hurt and the king wasn’t a person that used his position into forcing anyone to do anything, Jongdae apologised to his majesty and politely asked him to forget about him and let him redo his life wishing you happiness in your future.

Jongdae started working letting his father rest, he was known in the village as the handyman, he could fix just about anything, he was also a good hunter and in no time he opened a butchery for his father to sell all kind of wild animal’s meat. They made money and they were living a very good life in their new house all the way in the richer side of the village.

As for you things weren’t as brighter, rumours spread about you in the kingdom concerning your sanity, truth to be told you never went back to your cheerful self.

You couldn’t take it anymore and decided to go find Jongdae yourself, you got a horse and simply escaped in the darkness of the night, you knew where Jongdae’s house was situated, he’d told you it was the last house before the deep forest, you galloped and galloped for hours till you found it... what you didn’t know is that Jongdae’s parents had abandoned the house to live in the other side of the village.

It was dark and cold and you couldn’t contain the tears that you were containing, you went down the horse and started sobbing, you were a mess, and just when you thought it wouldn’t get any worst the horse escaped leaving you in the middle of nowhere, you heard wolf howls, no other choice but to break into the house and seek shelter till the morning.

The house was very humble and easily accessible, they had left everything behind, you smelled Chen’s presence in the house and recognised his bed, you didn’t do anything but get under the sheets and hug his pillow, your tears and sobs making you unaware that someone had entered the house.

“What do I owe this royal visit at this unexpected time?”

“Jongdae!” you said pulling your face away from the pillow finding him holding a lantern lighting the room enough to notice that in these past months Jongdae had gotten healthier and very bulky his arms very strong, you didn’t remember his shoulders being as broad.

“My bride-to-be, my loyal bride-to-be, the beautiful princess here? The one who couldn’t keep a promise for a day!”

You got up from bed wiping your tears trying to fix your hair to look decent, you tried hugging him but he stepped back “what do you want?”

“I missed you, I love you”

“You do not love me, don’t fool yourself, all I asked you is to keep your promises and you haven’t, how could I trust you as my wife?”

“You didn’t give me the change to explain to you, that is selfish, still I haven’t forgotten you but you seem to be doing much better, you really do not need me”

“Don’t you dare suggest I used you to get rid of my spines”

“It very much looks like this Jongdae, you... look at you, you live happy, you got your family back, you look like no one in the kingdom, you didn’t suffer what I suffered, everyone spread rumours about me, about how crazy I am because her groom left her on her wedding day”

“You caused this, not me”

“Why are you so bitter towards me? I haven’t done anything wrong, I didn’t promise anything, you said in the letter to promise, but have I? How did you know I promised”

“There were my wishes and yet...”

“Mother convinced me that this is for your own good, she burned the box and I found this” you showed him the ring decorating your finger “Jongdae, how could you forget me me like this?” you steeped a step closer touching his arms as he questioned whether to forgive you or not.

“I loved you in all ways, I accepted you and gave you my everything without questioning anything, I didn’t care about your look or your background, how is it possible that your heart has bitterness towards the one that loves you, hum? Tell me Jongdae” you added cupping his chin with your thumb and your index finger making him lower his face to look at you.

You saw it, he blinked avoiding looking at you, he gulped he was nervous, you still mattered.

“I-I wanted to do that with you, burn the spines together, so you could hold me as they burned becau-”

“Because when they burned you were weak and needed my love, I know Jongdae... I am sorry”

“How did you know?”

“Because it stung my heart too, because I needed you too, I am just as weak without you too”

Jongdae softened his face expression and looked at you like he did before “I really wanted to give you the ring on our first morning... I thought”

“Will you marry me Kim Jongdae? Will I ask your hand in marriage from your parents?”

“Oh princess”

“Do you forgive me Jongdae?”

He lifted you and placed you in bed hovering on top of you his signature smile made an appearance and that was when your pain was all forgotten.

“Do you really love me princess?”

“I made you a promise, I love you more than before becuase I know that I really can’t live without you, it’s you who broke his promise”

“How is so?”

“You said that you loved me and... apparently you didn’t, isn’t that kind of breaking a promise? You broke the commitment of loving me”

“Who said I stopped?”

“Then I loved you more”

“No you don’t, I was hiding my feelings, princess how can you say that?”

“I’m upset you need to make it up to me so”

Jongdae lowered himself and landed his lips on yours, your toes curled immediately, you were afraid of bitting him as you couldn’t get enough of the feeling of his tongue in your, his lips that were on your, you broke the kiss pushing him lightly “Jongdae do you love me?”

“You know what?” he said pulling himself away “I have to go somewhere” now fixing his attire.

“What? Where? Now?”

You got up in panic what was he doing? “Jongade, Jongdae wait!” you took his hand and pressed tightly.

“Come on we need to go”

“Where?”

“Shhh” he said getting out of the house jumping on his horse bringing you in front of him, he wrapped his arms around your waist sending you to heaven, how warm his chest felt in your back, you almost forgot that he didn’t tell you that he loved you, this was enough for you.

You galloped till you got to the other side of the village stopping at a nice cottage, Jongdae went down the horse pulling you down, he walked in front of you knocking the door.

“Chen my boy is that you?”

“Yes mother I’ve got company”

You shyly moved from behind Jongdae showing yourself to his mother.

“Mother this is the woman I love, this is the princess”

His mother brought you into an embrace “thank you princess for bringing our Chen back to us, we owe you our happiness, he is the way he is because of you, but you know how much he loves you don’t you? Don’t you ever doubt that” she said looking at your face as tears formed in her eyes, you looked back at Jongdae now arms crossed over his chest, a beautiful smile decorating his face a proud wink escaping him.

You looked back at his mom and finally you could breath again “I love him too mother, can you please tell your son to marry me?”

“Alright mother we should head back my house to spend the night, I’ll bring the princess back to palace tomorrow”

“What? No ah ah, no spending nights alone with the princess before the wedding”

“Oh gosh coming here was a bad idea, mother be reasonable”

“No! Chen dear, now go to your room I will take the princess to the guest room”

Jongdae huffed in discontent kicking the air as he watched you walk with his mother, but not all was frustrating, the sight of you together with his mother was better than any dream he could of ever had, Jongdae was happy.

You stared at the ceiling for hours, you were way too excited, you were at Jongdae’s family home, you were welcomed by his parents, Jongdae loved you, you couldn’t be happier.

*Soft knock on the door*

You got up from your bed on your tiptoes and opened the door slowly meeting with a dark eyed Jongdae, you saw his chest heaving.

“Yes? CHEN?” you giggled “I like that nickname mother has given you”

He pushed the door open lifting you off the floor slamming you up against the wall attacking your neck with big open mouth kisses “angh Jongdae, stop, I don’t want to upset you mother”

“Upset me then? I knew this was a bad decision, you were beneath me just hours ago”

“Well I still don’t want to upset your mother”

“I love you” he said his voice sounding cracked and low, your legs involuntary wrapped around his waist “we have some unfinished business don’t we princess?” he walked and slowly placed you over the bed, immediately getting rid of his top displaying his strong torso.

“Let me see your back Jongdae”

He sat down in bed displaying his muscly back, there were no scars and it was just smooth skin.

“You are softer than me Jongdae, you are so beautiful, you always were but now you are so out of my league you are a work of art”

“Enough talking princess because this work of art is at your mercy, I just want to feel you again and love you as you love me back”

“Don’t tell me these things Jongdae I’m too weak”

Jongdae pushed your back to the bed and like magic you found yourself completely out of your lower clothing, you were lost in his eyes and his lips, those lips that now you felt in your core, in bliss you lost yourself you couldn’t take it.

“Jongdae I want to see your face”

He was in top of you, you felt his nakedness and his throbbing manhood brushing on your core, he tore your upper garments and buried his face in the valley between your breasts as he got a hold of them. Your legs crossed at his back and your fingers felt the muscly smooth skin of his shoulders, when you caressed his back he lifted his face and looked at you before attacking your neck again.

“Jongdae I can’t see you like that, left me fill my eyes with you, I missed you so much”

“Princess I promise I will love you forever” he said lifting his face as he sank in slowly making you gasp “I promise, and a hedgehog’s promise is sacred”

“Angh~~~ you~~~ are not a hedgehog anymore”

“I will always be your hedgehog”

_______________________

A/N: I hope you liked it, if you did I really recommend you to read the original story by the Grimm bothers.