The Cursed Prince

"Maxim?" Kira stepped forward and looked at the man from head to toe. Normally, people would think it was a rude thing to do, sizing up someone openly like what Kira was doing. However, Maxim didn't mind.

He had heard from Emmelyn that Kira was born and raised among pirates. So, he cut her some slack and didn't show any signs of feeling offended.

His ego was not easily bruised by trivial things like this because he was a carefree man himself who hated formalities in the past. He would still prefer blunt people who spoke their minds than those who only talked in sweet words but would stab your back when you were not looking.

Another reason was, Maxim wanted to be on Kira's good side so he could get connected to her father should he need to rule the seven seas too in the future. In his book, having 1000 friends was too few, but one enemy was too many.

At the moment, Summeria's power extended throughout Atlantea, but who knows if he wanted to expand his reach to another continent.

He might need to work together with Grim Serpent. It would be good to keep Kira on his side.

A true leader should always think big.

"Maxim, this is Kira." Emmelyn introduced the two of them to each other. "Kira, this is Maxim."

"Kira," Maxim reached out his hand to shake Kira's. "Pleased to meet you."

"You are as handsome as what Emmelyn here told me," said Kira bluntly. Her words made the man grin uncontrollably.

"She said that?" Maxim turned to Emmelyn and gave her a wink. "Thank you."

Right at that moment, Emmelyn felt like she wanted to jump and choke the pirate princess to shut up.  Of course, along their journey, she had often gushed about how good-looking her male friends were to entice Kira.

She told her about Edgar, Gewen, and Maxim. Kira had seen Edgar's picture and she had to admit that Emmelyn really did have a good-looking male friend.

Now, that she met Maxim, she realized Emmelyn was telling her the truth about her other friends. Maxim here, not only look handsome, but he also looked dignified. 

Gosh... Kira had missed out on a lot by only hanging out with pirates!

Those men only knew how to fight, drink, and argued among themselves. Kira always admired those scholarly-looking gentlemen she saw on land and wished she could get acquainted with some of them.

However, being from completely different world, she found it hard to relate to those men. They didn't understand her and she ended up having to fight and even killed some of them when they treated her like a criminal or tried to harass her.

She envied Emmelyn who seemed to have the best of both worlds. Emmelyn was carefree and adventurous. She knew how to carry herself well in the outside world. She also seemed to have well-educated friends who came from good families.

"I met Kira in Glasswell and she is looking for adventures. So, I asked her to travel with me," Emmelyn explained to Maxim. Then, she turned to Kira. "Maxim here is from Summeria. We will go with him to see his mother. She knows how to get to Myreen. I hope with her direction, we can find the place."

"Sounds good. I am all for a new adventure," said Kira with a big smile. She pointed at the rabbit in Emmelyn's hand. "Where did you get that?"

"Maxim caught it," said Emmelyn. "Now, let's make fire and grill the fish. I will skin the rabbit and prepare for cooking."

Maxim dropped the firewood he brought and reached out for the rabbit. "It's okay. Let me skin the rabbit. You just grill the fish. I can work faster than you."

Emmelyn didn't argue. She gave the rabbit to Maxim and sat down to prepare the fire. "Sure. Take this."

"What should I do?" Kira asked her. 

"You can help me with the fish."

"Okay."

They worked together and in no time the three of them were already enjoying grilled fish and rabbit meat while watching the calm lake. The wind blew gently and made the atmosphere feel so relaxing.

Emmelyn felt so warm and happy inside. The scene reminded her of her travels in the past before all the bad things happened in her life.

If only she could have stayed in the past forever. It would be really nice.

"Okay, now that we are full, let's continue to Lakeshire," said Emmelyn after she tossed the rabbit bone and wiped her lips. She looked happy and in a really good mood. The rabbit meat tasted so good.

"Yeah. Good idea. I came here on a boat though," Maxim said. "The town is just across the lake. I was bored in my inn, so I decided to sightsee by getting into the boat and I ended up here."

"Oh, don't you have a horse with you?" Emmelyn asked.

"I do, but I left it in town. I wasn't feeling like riding today," Maxim said.

He had dashed his horse for weeks almost without rest because he really wanted to reach Lakeshire immediately to see Emmelyn. 

So, after he got there earlier than expected, he decided to give a well-deserved break for his horse and his men who came with him. That's why he only sightsee using the boat.

However, now that he had met Emmelyn by accident, he realized the girl would continue her journey to Lakeshire on a hose back.

"We can't take the boat with our horses," said Emmelyn. "You can take the boat and we'll meet you there with our horses. What about it?"

"Or... I can take your horse together with you," said Maxim with a smirk. "If... you don't mind. Not only it is faster, but we won't risk getting separated again in case you got lost or something unexpected happened to either of us."

Emmelyn thought it was a good idea too. "Okay. You have a point then. Let's all get ready."

They put off the fire and cleaned their waste before they got on their horses and continued the trip.

"Emmelyn, why don't you clean up your ugly 'birthmark' and just appear as a woman?" Maxim asked before they got on the horses. "We have two 'men' and one girl here. People will think you are my gay lover if I rode the horse with another man."

"..."

While Emmelyn was speechless, Kira burst out laughing when they heard Maxim's remark. Emmelyn realized the man was right. They would attract unnecessary attention if Maxim was to share a horse with a man, an ugly one at that.

"But... I don't want those bounty hunters to notice me and find out I am the woman they are looking for," she said worriedly. "I am doing this to avoid getting their attention."

"In my opinion, it will actually get the opposite effect," Maxim explained. "You don't want people to take a second look, but I am sure two men in one horse will attract people's attention."

"Sigh... I am in a difficult situation here..." Emmelyn bit her lip. She knew Maxim was right. However, she really didn't want to show her true appearance, considering there were so many people who were after her.

"Don't worry. I'll protect you if they find out who you are." Maxim smiled reassuringly. "You have  my word."