The Cursed Prince

"What are you doing here?"

Emmelyn was startled when she heard the man's voice. Her face paled when she saw Mars was standing in front of her, but her brain quickly came to her senses.

Emmelyn tried to look calm and nonchalant to dispel his suspicion. He must not know that there was someone in the ballroom that Emmelyn knew.

If Mars became suspicious, he would immediately investigate what happened and found out about Killian's identity.

If that happened, even if the crown prince loved Emmelyn, Killian's life would be in danger when Mars found out that he came to wreak havoc in the capital.

After thinking about it for a good while, Emmelyn realized her brother must come to get revenge, even though she was not really sure how he would do it.

If Killian didn't have any bad intentions toward the royal family, he wouldn't pretend not to recognize Emmelyn.

Uff, this situation gave her a massive headache. She must be able to convince Killian not to do anything rashly.

There was another way to get back at the Strongmoor family.. revenge was not the only answer.

Gosh.. why didn't he come out and look for Emmelyn?? If he wanted to, surely he would know that Emmelyn left the ballroom earlier by herself, right?

But he didn't even try to follow her. Now, Emmelyn had no choice but to find Killian herself. That meant she would have to talk to Ellena and found information about his whereabouts.

Emmelyn really hated Ellena and wished to have nothing to do with her, but at this point, she was left with no choice.

"Oh.. I needed some air. That's why I stayed out here for a while." Emmelyn faked a sweet smile when she saw Mars, and touched his arm. She decided that she must distract Mars' attention and pretended that she was okay. "Do you want to go back inside? I have enough."

"Yes, I came out to look for you because you took a long time. I was worried that you cannot find your way back," Mars said with a smile. He didn't press on the matter, thinking Emmelyn did need some air.

They held hands and walked back inside the ballroom. People were still dancing with their partners accompanied by the royal musicians. Once the song ended, they all clapped merrily and went back to their respective tables. 

Ten beautiful dancers came and started performing a really beautiful dance routine to entertain the guests. All their attention was now focused on the dancers' formation.

Emmelyn tried to look like she was enjoying the show and the other entertainment provided, but secretly she tried to see what Killian was doing.

Gosh.. she missed her brother so much!

Killian was the one who was closest to her. They had the same interest too. If it wasn't for him being sent to his fiancee's kingdom to secure some trading agreement, Emmelyn would have asked him to join her to go on adventures across Atlantea.

When Emmelyn received the news that Wintermere was attacked, she stopped by in Glasswell, where Princess Llewelyn was from. She wanted to see Killian and asked him to go home together.

However, the king of Glasswell and his family all told her that Killian was already long gone, back to Wintermere. Feeling distraught and alone, Emmelyn crossed the sea to go home

Come to think of it, what happened between Killian and Princess Llewelyn? They were betrothed by their parents when they were young to secure the trade alliance between the two countries.

Both kingdowms were located by the sea, Wintermere was in the Terra continent and Glasswell was in Atlantea, only separated by the vast ocean.

The idea was to become the most important trading ports that connected both continents under one big family. Emmelyn liked Llewelyn and thought she was a perfect girl for Killian.

How come he ended up with Ellena tonight?

Gosh.. why didn't Killian look at her even once?

Emmelyn became frustrated.

She must talk to him. But how?

"You keep looking at Ellena," Mars whispered to Emmelyn's ear. "Do you think she looks suspicious tonight? I wonder who that man is."

Emmelyn turned to him in shock. She batted her lashes, pretending not understanding what he meant.

"Uh? Why do you think she looks suspicious? I think they both look quite normal," she quickly brushed off his suspicion. However, she still needed to provide an excuse for her own behavior. "I just thought the man looked familiar. Like, I've seen him somewhere, but I can't remember where. Ahahhaa... I didn't know being pregnant will affect my memory."

"Ah.. it's possible that you met him," Mars said. "You've been to so many places and met so many people."

He uttered the words in a proud tone. The prince was truly impressed by Emmelyn's adventures and how she had seen the world.

"Maybe you are right," Emmelyn smiled.

She prayed inwardly that her brother wouldn't do anything reckless before they could meet and talk. Now, she had to rake her brain to find ways so she could talk to Killian in private.

She stole another glance and hoped her brother would try to give her any signs. Unfortunately, until the night was over, Killian didn't do anything strange and he didn't try to get close to Emmelyn.

He never gave her any signs that he recognized her. This made the girl really confused and distraught.

"Want to go home?" Mars touched her arm.

Emmelyn looked up and furrowed her brows. "The event hasn't ended."

"Yes, but we have to travel tomorrow first thing in the morning. Remember?" Mars winked.

Emmelyn suddenly remembered that they planned to go to Southberry tomorrow to get married. 

She turned to the right and saw that Gewen and Edgar were already gone. They too probably had called it a night because they had to get ready to travel. Their families were still at their tables, so were Ellena and Killian.

Emmelyn nodded. "You are right. Let's go home."

She decided to distract the man from investigating Killian, at least until they returned from Southberry. In the meantime, Emmelyn hoped Killian wouldn't disappear from the capital. She would have to find a way to see him.

Even if she had to ask for Ellena's help, she would lower her pride and do it. No amount of pride was worth her brother's life.

They rose from their seats and asked the monarchs for permission to go home early. Queen Elara, who knew that her son was leaving for Southberry the next day, didn't ask him why they decided to go home now.

Besides, Mars was never big on parties. He didn't usually come and if he did he would leave early too. The queen just wished Emmelyn could have stayed longer, so she could see her future grandchild in her tummy longer.

"Why don't you stay in the royal palace while the prince is going out of town for his duty?" Queen Elara asked Emmelyn.

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your generous offer. Unfortunately, because of my pregnancy, I become very particular about my bed..." Emmelyn replied sheepishly, giving the perfect excuse. "I can only sleep with His Highness's scent around me."

Mars couldn't hide his happy grin when he heard her excuse. Ahh... he knew Emmelyn just made it up, but he still felt overjoyed by it.

The queen seemed happy too. It was such a heartwarming answer to give a man's mother. Queen Elara could feel how much her son was loved and desired by the girl beside him.

She smiled broadly and then hugged her. "Very well. I will let you to it. However, please come to me anytime you need anything. Just send your butler to the royal palace. I don't want you to lack anything."

"Thank you, Your Majesty. I will do as you said," After Emmelyn was let go from the queen's embrace, she curtseyed to the king. "Your Majesty, thank you for having us. We will take our leave now."

King Jared nodded and patted his son's shoulder. "Safe travels tomorrow, Son."

Emmelyn took another casual look to the right before she walked.

Right at that moment, Killian was observing the scene at the king's table, just like many other guests, and suddenly his gaze met Emmelyn's.

It was only half a second, but Emmelyn could swear that Killian threw her a disappointed look.

Her heart skipped a beat. When she did a double-take, Killian was enjoying his wine with a flat expression. He wasn't looking in her direction.

Emmelyn knew she was not dreaming!

Killian recognized her and only pretended that they were strangers. He looked disappointed in her.

Now, so many thoughts were raging in her mind.

What did Killian think of her? Was he disappointed that Emmelyn seemed friendly with the enemy?

She pressed her chest and walked out, tried so hard not to look back.

***

"I think we can skip the bath and go straight to bed," Mars commented when they were on their way to the castle, riding the carriage. "It is already late."

Emmelyn turned to him and batted her eyes. "You always need to soak in warm water to relax so you can sleep. I don't want to change your routine. You won't be able to sleep."

Mars laughed softly when he heard her concern. "Hmm.. I think I'll be fine. I have you."

Emmelyn bit her lip when she heard him.

He said he'll be fine because he had her...

Such a wonderful thing to hear.

Emmelyn thought they had a good life together. Lately, Mars could even sleep without his sleeping potion and now he said he might not need to take his night bath just to get sleep?

He must feel so comfortable and relaxed around her. She loved that her presence meant that much to him.

Ugh... why couldn't they be happy together without any problems and grudge?