The Cursed Prince

Emmelyn freaked out when she saw all men were ready with their swords. She was scared to death, thinking that she would witness her brother being murdered in front of her and it immediately triggered the trauma that she thought she had got over.

"Stop!! Drop all your swords!" She shouted frantically. "Or else..."

Mars was shocked when he saw Emmelyn suddenly took out her knife from under her dress and pointed it to her chest, ready to stab herself. Tears were streaming harder from both corners of her eyes.

"Emmelyn..." Mars felt like his soul was yanked out of his body when he saw the glistening knife in her hand.

He was utterly shocked because he didn't know Emmelyn carried her knife within the castle.

Did she intentionally bring her knife because she suspected there would be an altercation?

"Lady Emmelyn..." Mars quickly dropped his sword. It fell to the floor with a clanking sound.

He immediately did as she said because he didn't want to scare her.

Mars actually didn't mean to kill Killian. He just wanted to arrest the man and force a confession out of him.

However, Emmelyn assumed the worst. When she saw Killian was also ready to defend himself with his sword, Emmelyn was scared that there would be bloodshed.

She didn't want to see her last family member died before her if she could stop it.

"I will kill myself if you killed my brother..." Emmelyn talked through her gritted teeth. She looked at Mars with a murderous glare. Right now, she no longer cared about anything else. If she had to die, for defending her last family.. so be it.

At that moment, all her rationality had flown out of the window. It didn't help that her pregnancy hormones made her mental state vulnerable.

Emmelyn realized she could never recover if she had to witness Killian being killed right in front of her.

This time... she wouldn't be able to get over it and forgive Mars.

He had the choice to spare Killian's life, for Emmelyn' sake...

So, if he didn't do it.. it was all on him.

"Honey.. please, drop your knife..." Finally, Mars raised his hands and walked slowly toward Emmelyn. His eyes locked with hers, trying to make sure she kept looking at him to get her trust. "I won't hurt him. You have my word. Please... don't hurt yourself...""

"Honey? What did you call her?" Of all things that happened around her, with three men raising their swords and Emmelyn threatened herself at knifepoint, the only thing that Ellena caught was the fact that Mars called Emmelyn 'honey'. 

Her knees turned weak and her eyes glared with hatred. Right at that moment, her suspicion was confirmed. Mars and Emmelyn were not just together because of the baby in her womb. 

The 'agreement' that they made was most likely fake and Mars only said he didn't love Emmelyn to fool everyone. Ellena could now see that Mars actually was in love with that woman.

This didn't shock her too much, but still, it hurt her feelings more than she already knew.

Since the situation was quite intense, Mars didn't have time to think about Ellena. He only wanted to calm Emmelyn down and coax her to drop her knife and let him handle Killian.

"I will not drop my knife until I see my brother out of this place in one piece," Emmelyn was so stubborn. She bit her lip and pressed her knifepoint on her dress to show her seriousness.

Mars felt his heart drop to the floor. He was scared to death that Emmelyn would act irrationally and hurt herself because she was not in a good mental state.

Blood started seeping through her dress and Mars immediately shouted at Gewen and Edgar to drop their weapons.

"Drop your swords and let him leave!" As he shouted his order, Mars grabbed the knife from Emmelyn's hand and pulled it, hurting his own hand in the process.

He didn't care. He tossed the knife on the floor and hugged Emmelyn tightly so the girl couldn't hurt herself further.

Emmelyn tried to get away, but the prince was so much stronger than her. Her effort was futile.

Mars held Emmelyn tightly and whispered in her ear, "Ssshh... Honey, I will not hurt Killian. You have misunderstood me. Please don't ever scare me like that ever again..."

"Let me go!" Emmelyn still tried to struggle, but Mars didn't want to let her go. He was scared she would do the unthinkable.

At that moment, he couldn't trust Emmelyn to use her reason. What if she really hurt herself again? What would happen to the baby?

Emmelyn looked like she was possessed when she pushed the knifepoint on her chest earlier to save Killian.

Mars couldn't go through the same thing again. It was too scary! 

Edgar and Gewen dropped their swords right at that instant, when Mars ordered them.

However, they both moved closer and now protected the crown prince with their bodies.

The two men looked at Killian with fierce expressions, as if threatening him if he dared to come closer and attack the crown prince, they both would make him pay.

"You may go... I am letting you go for Emmelyn' sake," said Mars firmly. "Please put away your sword so my guards wouldn't try to kill you."

Killian shook his head in contempt and finally sheathed his sword. "I regret coming to this tea. You all act like barbarians with no manners."

He turned to Ellena and chided her. "I can't believe you let your friend treat me this way, after all the help I gave you to find the witch and get his curse lifted."

"Killian!" Ellena grabbed his arm and pleaded with him. "There must be a misunderstanding. She thinks you are her brother. If you are not really her brother, then she must be lying for whatever reason. Please explain to His Highness what actually happened back in Wintermere..."

"What happened in Wintermere?" Mars asked immediately. He looked at Killian intently.

Mars wanted to know everything. His heart was palpitating, he didn't want to miss any single word from Killian's mouth.

"I found the Bellevars in Wintermere and they told me where to find the witch after I convinced them to forgive your family..." Ellena said with a hoarse voice. "The witch lived on a mountain filled with monsters, so they asked Killian to help me. Without him, I would have been dead by now."

Mars stood still in his place. His expression was murky after he heard Ellena's words. He hated the fact that he owed Killian something.

"So, the Bellevars just gave you the location of the witch?" Mars asked Ellena probingly. "You do know that it is so hard to believe, right? How could they easily sell the friend that they had been protecting for years, just like that?"

"You are wrong about Duke and Duchess Bellevar," Ellena replied. Her face looked contorted with so much hatred when she saw Emmelyn was held tightly in Mars's embrace. "They NEVER wanted your family to be cursed. They are very good people."

"I don't understand..." Mars stared at Ellena, trying to make sure he didn't mishear. "If they never wanted my family to be cursed, why didn't they ask the witch to lift her curse? And why did they have to flee Draec and live in exile if they really were good people?"

Mars felt that the more Ellena answered his questions, the more questions he would have.