maybe in the cursed princes au the reason Mirage doesnt just tell Cliffjumper that the curse demands his death is because, as his only companion, Mirage is afraid telling him so will make Cliffjumper leave.
Actually maybe Mirages curse prevents him from ever physically leaving the tower. Like, theres literally an invisible force field that keeps him from going beyond a certain point. He's quite literally trapped.
Cliffjumper on the other hand may have been cursed to be some sort of "monster" but he is otherwise freely able to leave the tower. Its just that he was told that the only way for his curse to lift is if Mirage is "rescued" from the tower. So he stays to fulfill what he thinks are the requirements of the curse.
So not only is Cliffjumper Mirages only companion in the tower, hes also the only one who can go out and get, like, food and stuff. If Cliff were to leave Mirage would quite literally die alone. (Slowly)
Course, again, then Hound enters the pictures and things start to change. Cliffjumper becomes very close with Hound, and encourages Hounds clear infatuation with Mirage. However Mirage is less enthused.
Mirage, he thinks, is a certain threat. If he doesn't kill Cliffjumper to break the curse and take Mirage from the tower for himself, then he might convince Cliffjumper to leave Mirage for good.
While hes studied for years (sending Cliffjumper out periodically for magic tomes and things) to try and find a way to break the curse, deep down Mirage has lost all hope. He's resigned himself to his fate, and on some level actually wants things to continue as they are.
Cliffjumper can't live amongst normal people without a disguise, and the nature of the curse has reduced Mirage to some possession to be stolen away. In Mirages eyes, even if Cliff hates him for it, its much better for the two of them to live together for the rest of their lives.
The real question is the how and why they were both cursed.
Maybe someone had a grudge against both their families? Cliffjumper being a long lost son of OP whose like a king or something works with his curse being a kinda petty revenge thing.
Mirage is where it gets interesting because I can see his situation also being the result of desiring revenge. But it feels way more sadistic and personal. Not only more or less placing Mirage under house arrest for years, and hinging his freedom on the death of his only companion, but also guaranteeing Mirage is only ever sought after by glory seekers and greedy adventurers. LIke maybe there was a bit of a lie that saving mirage had a huge treasure reward, or got you half a kingdom, or something. Or maybe that promise is actually true. I dunno. Just intersting to think about.
Regardless in the end Mirages spell is broken via a kinda loophole. It can only be broken if the beast of the tower (cliffjumper) dies and Mirage is saved from the tower.
So when the tower is on fire or crumbling or something and Mirage is obviously still trapped inside, Cliffjumper risks (and temporarily loses) his life to save him. Thus the monster dies and Mirage is, quite LITERALLY, saved from the tower? And then somehow the loophole removes Cliffs curse but also saves him? Cause hes technically the hero here?
Hound is more of the emotional hero bolstering the two and getting them to reconsider things.
Poor cliff … but also mirage thats kinda messed up lol