Anna froze, watching Houshao'nao methodically pick through the basket of wilted vegetables, stuffing his pockets with turnips and potatoes. For once, her face lacked its usual mocking smirk.
"Hey, why not take the good food on the table?" she asked, hesitant.
"Can't. Those are counted—missing items get noticed. These are cheap and rotten; no one cares. Two years of thieving taught me that…" he replied, not looking up.
"Two… years?" Anna blinked, holding up two fingers.
*Dammit, why blabber?* Houshao'nao cursed himself, stopping mid-stuff. "This is enough, Miss." He stood, patting his bulging pockets.
Anna blinked rapidly, fighting tears, forcing a stiff smile. "Right. What now?"
"Roast my haul… Miss, are your eyes watering? Dust?"
"Yes—yes. Find your way back. I'm tired." She rubbed her eyes, turning away.
As he vanished into the dark, Anna's tears finally fell…
Unseen, a shadow in the kitchen corner observed, eyes gleaming. "The boy made my Anna cry. Fascinating—fearless Anna, weeping for a boy she torments…"
Houshao'nao returned to the stable, triumphant with enough food for days. The donkey, relieved, resumed chewing hay as he rebuilt the fire.
Night passed, and dawn came with a sneeze.
"Achoo!"
"Ugh, you got snot on my dress." Anna stood before him, crisp in new clothes, brushing her skirt.
Houshao'nao scrambled up, panicked. "S-sorry, Miss! I didn't see you."
Anna eyed the stain, surprisingly calm. "Lazy thing. Dawn's here. Little Darling's hungry. I'm taking him for a ride."
He glanced at the trough. "But there's hay—"
"Hay? He wants river grass. Hurry."
"Yes, Miss." He fetched the saddle, and the horse, now tolerant, let him approach.
"Mount up," Anna ordered.
"Mount? I only ride donkeys—"
"Orders are orders." Her hand glowed with fire magic.
"F-fine." He climbed awkwardly, nearly falling. Anna grinned, grabbing his hand to hoist herself up, nearly dragging him off.
"Hold on, coward." She snatched the reins, kicking the horse into a trot.
The (steward) appeared at the gate. "Miss, who—"
"Out of the way, old man!" Anna yelled. The horse, sensing her mood, charged. The steward yelped, diving aside.
"Yeehaw!" Anna whooped, speeding toward the woods. Houshao'nao clung to the horse's neck, bones rattling.
Abruptly, Anna reined in the horse. Caught off guard, Houshao'nao flew off, skidding into a shallow river.
"Help! I can't swim!" he spluttered, thrashing.
Anna, mid-laugh, paled. "Idiot! I can't swim either!"
"Use the horse!" he gasped, pointing.
She led the horse closer, its tail trailing in the water. Houshao'nao grabbed on, and Anna, panicked, threatened the horse with fire. It bolted, dragging him ashore before fleeing.
"Am I… alive?" he croaked, coughing up water.
Anna, splattered with mud from his exit, stared at a nearby buffalo wading in knee-deep water. "Wait—this river's *shallow*?"
His face paled. "No—"
"YOU TRICKED ME!" Anna roared, summoning fireballs.
He fled, but the open field offered no cover. A misstep sent him tumbling down a slope; Anna, chasing, tripped and fell—lips crashing into his.
Both froze. Houshao'nao squeezed his eyes shut, rigid. When he peeked, Anna's tearful eyes met his, face flushed, breath ragged.
Time stalled. The scent of mud and river water hung thick. Somewhere, a donkey brayed in the distance, a mocking soundtrack to their awkward, accidental closeness.
"M-move," Anna whispered, voice uncharacteristically soft.
He didn't. Couldn't. Not with her weight on him, her warmth, the rare vulnerability in her gaze. For a heartbeat, the tyrannical witch was gone, replaced by a girl—young, confused, *human*.
Then she shoved him, scrambling up, fireballs crackling in her hands—though her aim was shaky, her cheeks still pink.
"Idiot! Pervert!" she yelled, but her threat lacked bite.
Houshao'nao stood, dazed, a strange ache in his chest. The kiss—accidental, brief—had torn a crack in her armor, revealing something he hadn't expected: a flicker of humanity beneath the fire and fury.
"Run along, Miss," he said quietly, bowing. "I'll fetch your horse."
Anna hesitated, fire fading. "Don't… mention this," she mumbled, turning away.
He watched her march off, muddy, shoulders stiff. The donkey's bray echoed again, darker now, as if laughing at the absurdity of it all—two cursed souls, bound by magic and malice, yet somehow drawn closer by every clash, every accidental touch.
*Some curses,* he thought, *are trickier than others.*
And as the sun rose, casting long shadows over the riverbank, neither noticed the figure in the distance, smiling faintly—the same shadow from the kitchen, now humming an old mage's tune, a glint of recognition in his eyes.
"Gris," he murmured, "so you've found your dragon, and she her phoenix. The prophecy stirs indeed."
But for Houshao'nao and Anna, the moment was just a blip—a stumble, a kiss, a secret. For now, the curse remained, the future unwritten, and the only certainty: more fire, more folly, and the unshakable bond of two souls adrift in a world that had forgotten their names.