The Cursed Prince

"Thank you so much, Your Highness!" 

One by one, the cooks dropped to their knees and thank Emmelyn profusely. The girl had to force them to rise several times before they finally got back on their feet.

"There, there.. it's all right. I just want to let you know that I am grateful," she said with a smile. "Well, then. That's it. I better leave now. Enjoy your gold. Keep it safe and spend it wisely."

"We'll do, Your Highness..." they all said in unison, between their cries.

"Thank you." Emmelyn nodded in satisfaction and then left the kitchen.

Gosh, she knew they would be happy to receive her gift, but she didn't expect their reaction to be so over the top. Did they never get any gift or thanks before?

She decided to visit Mrs. Adler and brought her some wine, apple pie, and gave her two gold coins as well. She thought the old lady could use it to buy something nice and warm for herself this winter.

Emmelyn was determined to not talk about the prophecy or anything as such with the witch.

She thought every time she and Mrs. Adler talked about it, she became sad and frustrated, and she didn't even know if the prophecy was accurate.

Why trouble herself with things that would only make her stressed?

So, Emmelyn decided to just come and meet Mrs. Adler to have a light chat about Wintermere. If Mars could spend time with his friends, then Emmelyn could consider she was spending time with her only friend in Draec.

She was not into shopping today. Maybe next time, when the weather was good, she could go out again and went to the king's town and buy some things. 

"Roshan, could you prepare the carriage for me?" she asked the butler after she summoned him to see her in the dining room.

"Yes, Your Highness. It will be ready in fifteen minutes," he replied after he bowed down in respect to her.

"Good. Let me change into something practical. I will see you soon," Emmelyn said. She went up to her chamber and changed her dress into a men's outfit and was ready in fifteen minutes.

She found the carriage was ready for her outside the castle door. Like always, Roshan was very efficient.

Emmelyn wrapped her coat tightly and took a basket with all her gift for Mrs. Adelr and got on the carriage.

After going there a couple of times, she had come to memorize the route. She enjoyed looking out the window and admire the view.

There was snow on tree branches along the way and they reflected the sunlight really nicely. She felt grateful for the good weather. Even though it was freezing cold, but at least it was sunny and beautiful.

She actually used to hate snow, but somehow today she found it beautiful. Ah.. Mars was right. Maybe love can really change people. Emmelyn found even mundane things beautiful now.

The carriage arrived in Bydell Village after half an hour and she immediately got off and walked toward that familiar hut.

KNOCK

KNOCK

"Grandma, are you home?" She knocked several times.

She regretted not letting Mrs. Adler know that she would come to visit like she said she would. However, she didn't plan to come here. It was done out of impulse because Mars was leaving to see his friends and the weather was good to go out.

She hoped Mrs. Adler was home, but if she wasn't, Emmelyn would just leave her gift basket on the porch so the old woman could enjoy it after she returned.

CREAK

The door was opened and the old witch showed up from behind it. Her wrinkled face looked surprised to see Emmelyn.

"Hey.. young lady, what are you doing here?" she asked with he croaked voice.

Emmelyn shrugged. "The weather is good to go out, so I decided to come here."

"Oh.. don't you have anywhere else to go?" the witch asked.

Emmelyn pursed her lips. She didn't have any friends in the capital. However, it was embarrassing to tell this witch that Emmelyn came to visit her because Mrs. Adler was her only friend.

It sounded really pathetic, didn't it?

"Nah... I just happened to be around the area, cough cough..." Emmelyn decided to lie. "I thought why not pay you a visit. Can I come in?"

"Yes, sure." The witch opened the door for her and let her in.

Emmelyn was stopped in her track as she smelled a delicious fragrant wafted in the air. She loved this smell. "Are you making ginger tea?"

The witch nodded. "Yes, I am. Would you like a cup?"

"Yes, please...!" The girl became so excited. Wintermere had this special drink for winter. It was ginger tea with several other herbs. She felt like she was in Wintermere whenever she smelled it.

Ahh.. she should ask the cooks in the castle to make this drink for her too. It would be nice to enjoy this with Mars while cuddling near their fireplace.

She had introduced her favorite dishes and her apple pie, now, she could also start introducing her hometown's other specialties.

She had told the crown prince about Wintermere flower. Someday if they could visit her kingdom, she would show him the real thing.

Before that happened, she would want him to try several other things from Wintermere too, like this ginger tea!

"I brought you something," Emmelyn gave the basket to Mrs. Adler. "A bottle of wine and an apple pie."

"Ahh.. thank you!" Mrs. Adler accepted the basket with a happy face.

She took out the wine bottle and admired it. She knew it was the best wine on the continent and felt grateful for the gift.

It would surely become handy in this cold winter, she thought. She would only drink a little every time so it could last longer.

"This apple pie is really good. Perfect for our ginger tea," she commented. "I will prepare this for us."