The Cursed Prince

Emmelyn was sad again when Lily and her kids left. So, the queen decided to let her invite whomever she wanted to invite to the royal palace. After she thought about it, Emmelyn decided to invite Mrs. Adler.

She had not seen the old witch for weeks after her brother's death. However, Emmelyn didn't feel comfortable hosting a village witch in the royal palace, since she was a guest there herself.

So, she asked the queen's permission if she could return to her castle for one or two days. She missed her home anyway...

Queen Elara understood this. So she let Emmelyn go home for a few days. She thought Emmelyn also needed time for herself. 

"You can take all the time you need," she said. "I plan to invite Lady Chaucer's daughters here. Would you like to meet them?"

Emmelyn nodded. "That will be lovely, Queen Mother. When do you plan to invite them to come?"

She realized that now she was ready to meet more people. So, it would be nice to spend some time with Edgar's sisters and their children. Maybe Emmelyn could also become friends with them?

She hoped so.

"Well, it's really up to you. If you still need time to visit your castle, I can invite them after you return," said the queen. "What do you think? You can meet them while Lily is visiting her inlaws."

"That sounds great," said Emmelyn happily. "I will be back to my castle for just three days. So, maybe we can have the Chaucer sisters in four days?"

"Okay. That works. I will send an invite to them tomorrow," said the queen.

Emmelyn suddenly remembered that she had asked Edgar to accompany her to Mars' castle. She thought it would be better if she sent the invite through Edgar.

"Lord Edgar is assigned by my husband to protect me, Queen Mother," said Emmelyn. "So, he will be the one taking me back to our castle. I think I can just send the invite through him to give to his sisters."

"That's wonderful. Tell Edgar I said hi when you see him today," said the queen.

"Will do, Queen Mother," Emmelyn nodded meekly.

Her mood was bright today. She could go back to her castle, and she also could meet Mrs. Adler. She really liked Mrs. Adler even though the witch was an old, lowly villager, that had almost nothing in common with her.

The only thing they shared was the fact that they came from the same country. However, Emmelyn felt an attachment to the old woman.

She thought, seeing Mrs. Adler would be good for her morale. Especially because Mrs. Adler was also a witch who specialized in taking care of pregnant women and could help with labor.

Emmelyn was thinking of getting the old witch's help when her time came to give birth to Harlow.

Yes, having Mr. Vitas was great and all, but he was a man. Emmelyn still felt more comfortable getting her delivery assisted by a fellow woman.

Mr. Vitas could stay there and supervise, but during the delivery itself, she hoped Mrs. Adler could be the one to handle her and Harlow. She planned to talk about this to Mrs. Adler today.

Emmelyn prepared some of her personal stuff to bring back to her castle. The most important items were her husband's unwashed shirts.

Sadly, even though she wanted to preserve his scent for as long as possible, after two weeks, the scent was gone entirely.

They helped her a lot during the first two weeks she was in the royal palace as they helped make her feel calm at night and slowly drifted to sleep while hugging one of the shirts.

Now, they were basically useless. So, she wanted to bring them back home and let the servants washed them. Emmelyn would just try to get whatever scent of him that was still available in their chamber.

She also brought the brooch that the queen gifted to her. She liked it very much and often wore it since it looked nice with almost all her dresses.

"Your Highness." After lunchtime, Edgar came to the front hall and bowed down to Emmelyn. His attitude was so respectful, that Emmelyn felt awkward being treated as such by the young general.

She wanted to tell him to treat her like usual, but after a second thought, she realized she shouldn't embarrass Edgar that way. She should just accept his respect since she was the crown princess.

She remembered, Edgar and Gewen always called Mars 'Your Highness' when they were in public. The two men only acted casually in private and called Mars by his first name.

So, Emmelyn, too, would try to adjust her attitude and the way she interacted with Edgar.

"Lord Edgar," Emmelyn greeted the man. "Thank you for coming."

"It's my duty, Your Highness," said the man. He cast his gaze at the bag on Emmelyn's side. He pointed at the bag. "Is that your bag, Your Highness?"

"Yes, I only carry a few items," said Emmelyn. "I will be back to my castle for three days."

"Okay, let me carry the bag for you," said Edgar. He took the bag easily and motioned Emmelyn to walk toward the carriage. "We can go anytime you are ready, Your Highness."

"Thank you..." Emmelyn rose from her seat and walked outside. She got on the carriage with Edgar's help after the man put the bag inside.

Once Emmelyn was seated properly and the carriage door was locked, Edgar made a sign to the coachman to move and bring Emmelyn home.

Then, he jumped on his horse and led the way to the crown prince's castle. There were around 50 other soldiers following behind the carriage.

Emmelyn took a deep breath as the carriage started moving. She opened the window and enjoyed the beautiful spring outside.

Even though the royal palace was really beautiful and everything she needed was provided, but still.. it was not home.

It was great that the queen treated her so well, but today Emmelyn felt happy that she would be going to her own home and spend some time alone.