The Cursed Prince

"How is Edgar doing?" Mars asked Gewen. He remembered that Edgar was injured earlier today when trying to arrest Killian. "Where is he now?"

"Ah, he is fine," Gewen replied. "Mr. Vitas has treated his wounds and sent him back to his family estate. He is recuperating there for several days. He will be okay."

"Hmm.. that's good." Mars let out a long sigh. His mind went to his father. He remembered the king gave him a disapproving look, as he carried Emmelyn inside and he passed by his father.

King Jared must be disappointed that Mars showed people that Emmelyn was his weakness. That's not how his father taught him. The king always told him that he should give people the impression that he was mighty and heartless.

Well, he was mighty, but he was not heartless. It's not his character.

Suddenly, something came to mind as he remembered the scene from today.

"Gewen... get all the men who were present during the incident today and immediately send them to Southberry," Mars said after thinking about what his father might do to the 'witnesses'.

He patted Gewen's shoulder and repeated his words. "My father might not want them to spread the news about what happened today and eliminate them. I don't want my loyal men to be killed, so I will have Athos take care of them and station them in his province."

"Oh... okay," Gewen replied.

Slowly, realization dawned on him too. King Jared Strongmoor was really ruthless, he thought. The king never wanted to show any signs of weaknesses.

That's why people who attended the event where he introduced his newborn baby 27 years ago were either silenced or kill, so they wouldn't spread the secret that The Strongmoor family was cursed by a witch.

King Jared led his kingdom with an iron fist and gained the reputation of a ruthless and unforgiving king. This was an image that he also tried to instill in his only son, Prince Mars Strongmoor. And it worked... until he met Emmelyn.

Now, at least a few dozens of people who witnessed today's incident already knew that the prince loved his woman deeply and would do anything for her. Emmelyn had become his weakness and he let his people see it.

The king must not like it. So, he would try to keep it a secret by... eliminating witnesses.

Well.. Gewen was a witness too. Did this mean the king would also want to eliminate him?

Gosh...! It was such a scary thought. His brows twitched as he thought about what could have happened to him had he not been the son of a duke. His life would have been worthless because he would be considered expendable.

"I will do that tonight so they will leave tomorrow for Southberry," he said. His face looked grim.

"Good. Come with me to my study. I will write a letter to Athos so he will know what to do," Mars said.

He motioned Gewen to follow him to his study. When they went inside, he sat on his desk and wrote a short letter to his cousin to explain the situation.

He trusted that Athos would know what to do to his men. He would wait until his father's anger subsided and talk to him about his decision to protect his people.

Uff.. he couldn't wait until he could take over the throne so he could do things according to his own wisdom. In all honesty, he thought his father was too ruthless and created a lot of enemies within his own circle. 

That's why his son had to be wary of backstabbers, and people who were lurking in the shadow, ready to overthrow their family from power whenever they could get a chance.

"Here, give this to the captain to bring to Southberry. Athos will know what to do with them," Mars said as he rolled the paper and put his own stamp on it. He then gave it to Gewen.

"Hmm.. okay." Gewen kept the letter inside his pocket and got ready to leave. "Is there anything else you need from me?"

The crown prince shook his head. "No."

"Very well. Then, I'll take my leave."

As Gewen turned around and ready to open the door, Mars's voice was heard from behind him.

"Gewen..." the prince uttered his words so sincerely. "Thank you so much for today. You are my loyal friend and I am grateful to have you in my life."

Gewen turned to him and smiled. "Nah.. don't mention it. That's what friends are for."

With that, he opened the door and left.

After Gewen left, Mars was deep in thoughts in his study. There were so many things raging in his mind. He needed to hold a proper funeral for Emmelyn's brother. Even though Killian was their 'enemy', he was still his brother-in-law and had to be treated with respect. Beside, he only did what he did because of the Strongmoors' fault.

They started the war by invading Wintermere. Killian was only trying to take what was his. Since he no longer had any power and army, the only thing he could think of was to get his revenge by trying to kill Mars.

Hmm... his motive was obviously to avenge his family's death, but what was he doing with Ellena? And when did he know that Emmelyn was in the capital and lived with the crown prince.

Had he been spying on them before he showed himself? Or, did Ellena tell him about Emmelyn?

And what did he plan to do by showing up to Emmelyn? Did he plan to involve Emmelyn in his revenge plan? Or did he not know about Emmelyn at all and was surprised to see his sister in Draec capital?

These were all the questions that only Ellena could answer now since Killian was dead.

However, Mars wouldn't want to bother Ellena with them until she recovered. Who knows what the Prestons would make out of it. In their eyes now, Ellena was the victim. And they would protect her at all cost.

Mars decided to send some people to keep watch of The Preston's castle. As long as he could make sure Ellena stay in the capital, he could control the situation. Once Ellena recovered, he would force her to talk.

Things had escalated this far. If Ellena refused to tell him where the witch lived, he would arrest them for treason. He really had no choice.