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Awesome. So it was going to be one of those days. Looking at Mercutio accusingly, she said, “This is your fault, you know. What are you doing running around tripping people?” But he just looked back at her with no regret on his face as if all was going according to plan. Sighing loudly, she sat down next to Corvus’ prone body. It always amazed her how peaceful people looked when they were sleeping. She had already done a cursory examination of the book and knew that only a kiss from someone he loved would rouse Corvus from this slumber. It had been a hilarious curse in theory, but was vastly annoying now that she had to figure out how to wake up the lord of the manor. She could only imagine how she was going to explain this if someone walked in. Feeling Mercutio’s paw on her arm, she gave him her attention and watched as he trotted over to Corvus and put a gentle paw on his lips.

Mouth agape in outrage, Pearl chastised her familiar. “I am absolutely not going to kiss him. Is that why you tripped him? Did you plan this?”

Mercutio gave her a look that said, I am merely a fox. How would I plan an elaborate scheme designed to throw you into the arms of this man?

Pearl fretted for a good half hour about who she should call. She certainly wasn’t going to call his mother - she wasn’t even fully confident the woman loved him even if she could stomach asking her for help. But she hadn’t been around Corvus in almost a decade - she didn’t have any idea who loved Corvus enough to wake him from a stupid sleeping beauty slumber. Mercutio kept oh-so-helpfully attempting to nudge her closer to Corvus until she finally snapped, “Why don’t you kiss him if you want it to happen so much?” Mercutio gave her an affronted little bark and went to lie in the bed Corvus had given him, which he’d never deigned to touch before.

Finally, after giving up on her fretting and worrying that someone would come to find the master of the house lying comatose in a room with her as the only culprit, she called the person who could handle a crisis better than anyone she knew.

Sneaking Pru into the library went more smoothly than she could ever have anticipated. When she’d been here years ago, Corvus had brought her directly to the library because of the abundant staff, but in her recent time here, she’d seen very few staff members. Pearl didn’t know why, she was just grateful it worked in her favor.

Of course the first thing Pru did when she saw Corvus was cackle. “I cannot thank you enough for allowing me to see this. Isn’t this just perfectly romantic for Valentine’s Day? All he needs is a little bouquet and a coffin, and he’ll really be the prettiest princess at the ball.”

“Pru, Snow White was the one with the coffin. This is a Sleeping Beauty curse.”

“I love how you say that like it matters at all in this situation. Blimey - has he actually gotten that much hotter in the last ten years? I can see why you wanted to take this job now.”

While Pearl agreed with much of this statement, she found it deeply unhelpful, and settled on glaring at Pru rather than responding.

“No, no, I know. Ok - fill me in on the curse. All I know so far from your frantic phone call is that he fainted and you can’t wake him up.”

“Well, I mean…I might possibly be able to wake him up.”

“And? Have you tried it yet?”

Sighing, Pearl glanced at Mercutio as though he might help, but he was still giving her the cold shoulder. “He needs someone who loves him to kiss him and wake him up.”

Pru’s eyebrows went up to her hairline. “My last question still stands, Pearl.”

Pearl was tempted to stamp her foot in frustration. “I’m not going to kiss some poor, defenseless, comatose man.”

Giggling, Pru flopped onto one of the couches as though she owned the place. “We both know this man isn’t poor, and couldn’t you just kiss him on the cheek? And I think he would much rather be kissed than remain in a magically induced coma. Did you drag me out of my incredibly boring job just to come and tell you something you already know? Cause if that’s the case, I’m honestly fine with that. Kiss the man, Pearl. This will be an excellent test to determine if you’re over him.”

It was certainly a thought that Pearl had considered. If she kissed him, would he wake up? Did she still have feelings for him that could be classified as love? Did she even want to know?

Pru watched as her friend started drowning in her thoughts, and she took pity on her.

“Look, I think I still have Fred’s number saved in my phone from our stupid fling forever ago. Why don’t I call him and see if he can resolve this for you?”

Relief washed over Pearl at the thought of another solution. But there was something else there - a deeper emotion she didn’t want to look at too closely. So, she focused on the relief and put the emotion she didn’t want to name on a high shelf where she hoped it could be forgotten.

As she pressed the call button, Pru reminded Pearl that this number was almost ten years old so it might not work, but as she finished her statement, Pearl heard a masculine voice pick up on the other end. Pru refused to use speaker phone when other people were in the room on principle, claiming it was the worst invention ever created intended to give people who were already irritating in public another way to irritate everyone within a 20 foot radius. So Pearl couldn’t hear what was being said on the other end, but it didn’t take much sleuthing based on what Pru was saying.

“This is Pru. I’m calling on behalf of your friend.”

“What do you mean Pru who? My mother didn’t give me a stupid, puritanical name like Prudence so that someone like you could forget it.”

“Yes, that Pru - like you know so many.” This was accompanied by a large arm wave as though Frederick could see her.

“What friend? Like you have more than one. It’s Corvus. He’s gotten himself in a spot of trouble.”

“Of course I’m not ransoming him, you idiot.” Pru paused and put her hand over the mouthpiece. “You know that’s not a bad idea - how much do you reckon we could get for him?”

After a withering look from Pearl, Pru said, “Right, maybe another day,” and resumed her conversation. “Just come to the Winterbourne Library, and we can explain it all.”

“No, I’m not going to give you any more explanation than that. Life is more fun with a little bit of mystery.! Ta ta, Frank. Oh, it’s Frederick? My mistake.”

Hanging up the phone, Pru gave a dramatic full body shiver. “Obviously, I already know Oliver is superior, but if I needed reminding, that would do it.”