The Cursed Prince

"Oh my god... These are..." Emmelyn was truly at a loss for words. The paintings looked so adorable.

Seeing Mars as a baby made her feel curious to know how Harlow would look like when s/he was born.

She really hoped Harlow would take after her husband in appearance. Emmelyn honestly thought Mars was better-looking than her, so their children should take after him.

It would be better.

[They could take after my wonderful personality.]

[That way, they would get the best of both worlds.]

"What do you think?" Queen Elara turned to Emmelyn when she heard her gasp. "He is handsome, right?"

"Very..." Emmelyn nodded vigorously. "If I met him when I was a child, I am sure I would have fallen in love with him right on the spot."

"Hahaha.. you are so funny," said the queen with a hearty laugh. "I am sure he would feel the same."

Queen Elara showed Emmelyn many paintings made from the time Mars was just a child until he turned 20. After that, he no longer wanted to get his paintings made.

"Ahh.. he looked so adorable here..." Emmelyn gushed as she admired one painting that showed the crown prince when he was five.

He was wearing a white shirt with lace collars and black pants. His hair was shoulder length and he already looked so good-looking from such a young age. Queen Elara smiled broadly when she saw it.

"He was so adorable indeed. He was sick a lot when he was young, so he looked thin in most pictures," the queen said. "He slowly gained strength and health when he turned into adolescence. As you can see in this painting, he looked so healthy and strong."

She pointed at another painting where Mars was shown standing in front of his black horse, which Emmelyn assumed was Snow, wearing his regal outfit. Oh, he looked so stunning that Emmelyn became dazed.

"Was it Snow? His horse, I mean..." Emmelyn pointed at the black horse behind the teenaged Mars Strongmoor.

The queen shook her head. "No, it's not Snow, but the father. His favorite horse was called Illumine. When the horse died of old age, Mars took Illumine's first son. That is Snow. And they had not been separated for almost six years."

"Oh..." Emmelyn nodded. She was happy to know more details about her husband. She felt like she got to know him from when he was young as if they grew up together.

It was so good! Finding out everything about Mars from his own mother was a really nice experience.

Now, Emmelyn couldn't wait to compare how Harlow would look like when s/he at the same age as the father.

"I am so happy, Queen Mother preserve a lot of memories from when he was young," Emmelyn commented. "Now, I can compare how Harlow and our other children would look like to their father. It would be fun."

Emmelyn didn't need to see King Jared's childhood paintings to know that Mars looked nothing like his father. He must take after his mother in all aspects. Their good looks, their hair, and their eyes were identical... 

Ah, even the personalities seemed similar too. Emmelyn turned to look at her mother-in-law in awe and feeling grateful.

"Yeah.. seeing those paintings makes me realize that time flies by so quickly. You have to treasure every moment with your child. Gosh... It felt like it was only yesterday that I gave birth to him," the queen said in a sad voice. Her mind seemed to wander to the past in nostalgia. Then, she turned to Emmelyn and reached out her hand. "Now... he will soon have his own children. Ahh.. this is so amazing."

Emmelyn smiled and took the queen's hand. Both women were in awe of each other.

"I will make many paintings for Harlow too," Emmelyn whispered. "I will follow your way."

The queen chuckled. "Yes, you have to do that while Harlow still listens to you..."

"Ahaha.. why wouldn't Harlow listen to me?" Emmelyn asked.

"Well, Mars no longer wants to get his pictures taken after his 20th birthday," the queen complained. "As you can see, that's the last painting we have of him. We need to update the royal documentation, but he is not into it anymore. Sigh. I can probably force him to have another painting made when he ascends the throne."

Emmelyn smiled when she heard her mother-in-law's complaint. It's true. Mars didn't seem like someone who liked his portrait taken. She also couldn't see Edgar have his pictures taken.

Perhaps, Gewen was the only one who would be into that type of thing.  Emmelyn was wondering how many paintings his family had made for Gewen. She could imagine the beautiful man gladly pose every year for his mother.

"You should have your paintings made too." Suddenly, the queen suggested. "We can call the royal painter to make one while you are still pregnant with Harlow. And later, we can make another one after Harlow is born. We can make so many new paintings to decorate the palace walls. What do you think?"

Emmelyn coughed violently when she heard the queen's enthusiastic words. It looked like, Queen Elara finally found a new 'victim' for her hobby.

Since Mars refused to have his paintings made, now the queen thought Emmelyn and Harlow could replace him. 

"Well... our castle walls are quite empty," Emmelyn said in agreement. "It would be lovely to have family paintings and many new paintings of Harlow there..."

"Ah.. I know you will agree to it," said Queen Elara with a laugh. She liked Emmelyn more and more.

The two beautiful ladies spent all afternoon relaxing in the lounge while talking and enjoying tea together after they admired the paintings. The men were discussing their mission until nightfall.

Mars came to the longe and picked up his wife right after sunset.

"Are you done?" Emmelyn asked Mars when she saw him enter the lounge. His face looked tired but determined. It looked like they had made a good plan to get the witch and defeat her.

"Yes. How are you doing with my mother?" Mars asked her with a smile.

"Oh.. we were talking about you when you are young. I saw many beautiful paintings," Emmelyn commented.

The queen had asked John and the servants to put the paintings back to the library and family hall.  So, Mars didn't see the evidence when he arrived at the lounge. 

The prince furrowed his brows and gave his mother a side-eye, "Mother...  please tell me you didn't show my skinny pictures to my lovely wife?"

Queen Elara and Emmelyn laughed out loud when they saw his annoyance. Mars hated how he looked when he was a child and a teenager. He thought he was too sickly and thin. Those pictures didn't look impressive enough to be shown to his wife.

"No.. you are wrong, you look handsome in every picture," Emmelyn gushed. She came to her husband and clung to his arm. "I told Queen Mother, if I met you when we were children, I would definitely fall for you right on the spot. You are so good-looking and adorable."

Mars looked at Emmelyn deeply, trying to see if she was teasing him or lying... he didn't find it. It looked like she was honest.

A warm smile curved up on his face when he realized Emmelyn was truly in love with him and didn't even mind his young and sickly appearance in the past.

"I think.. if I met you when we were children.. I would also fall for you right on the spot," he admitted.

The queen coughed and looked the other way as the two lovebirds kissed.