The Cursed Prince

"Is that her name?" Emmelyn asked Tides. "How old is she?"

Maxim translated her question to the butler and  Tides replied, "Our princess is nineteen."

"She is nineteen," Maxim turned to Emmelyn.

Emmelyn nodded. "So, she is much younger."

She turned 24 several months ago during her journey to Summeria, and didn't even remember her birthday. While Maxim would turn 25 in a few months. She sometimes thought her closeness to Maxim was because they were close in age.

"Yeah..." Maxim replied. His eyes were looking at Elise. So... this was the girl that his mother wanted him to marry?

She was really beautiful and looked gentle. Even until today, he was never curious about how she looked and what she was like.

He couldn't care less about her personality and appearance ever since he heard from his mother that he was betrothed to a girl who was the daughter of his mother's best friend.

Maxim immediately despised her just because of the arrangement. He felt his rights as a free human were violated. He didn't want to know about her even one bit. And if it wasn't for Emmelyn, he would never have come to Myreen and ended up seeing her picture like this.

"Are you coming here to pick up your fiancee?" Tides asked Maxim curiously. "She always talked about you and how much she was looking forward to seeing you."

This question made Maxim hiccup.

This Elise girl sounded like a lunatic, he thought. Maybe behind her pretty appearance, she kept a dysfunctional brain? How could she talk about him and look forward to seeing him? They didn't even know each other because they had never met. How could she love someone without ever meeting them?

Perhaps this Elise kept an unhealthy obsession with the man she was betrothed to?

Emmelyn furrowed her brows when she saw Maxim's reaction. She could tell that Tides just said something that made Maxim surprised. What was it?

"Are you okay?" she asked Maxim. The man shook his head, but he refused to elaborate. Emmelyn stopped in her tracks and looked at Maxim deeply. "I can't do this if you would keep things from me."

"Sorry... He said something about the girl which I found weird, but I don't want to tell you about it since he might assume I insulted their princess." Maxim said tactfully. "Don't worry about it."

"Ah, okay." Emmelyn nodded. "She is very beautiful though. I am not sure how can they think you insult her."

Maxim didn't respond to that. He was thinking of the best way to reveal everything to Emmelyn. But first, he needed to get all the information. They could be wrong. Emmelyn's curse might have nothing to do with the Leoraleis in the first place.

Maybe the whole thing was just a coincidence.

They walked again and followed the butler's steps toward the end of the big hall. He opened the grey door to the left and continued walking. This time, the hallway was short and they soon arrived in a beautiful flower garden.

It seemed Tides was right when he said Myreen only had spring and summer for seasons. The flowers in this garden were all blooming beautifully in all sorts of colors and sizes. It reminded Emmelyn of summer in Wintermere.

It was quite weird because the world outside of Myreen was in late autumn and most plants were yellowish or orange and some were starting to become grey and bald, getting ready for winter.

In the middle of the garden, they could see a beautiful and tall woman sitting on the gazebo. She looked sad and didn't pay attention to her surroundings. 

Emmelyn was wondering about who this woman was. Was she the queen dowager? She looked too young to be one.

Tides bowed down so deeply when they reached the woman. "Your Grace, we have guests. This is..."

"Loriel Ashborn..." The woman had seen Maxim and immediately called his name. "You're here."

Maxim could only guess that this was Queen Dowager, Myrcella Leoralei. Just like Emmelyn, he was also not sure since the woman before him looked so young to be Elise's grandmother.

"Your Grace," he greeted her politely. "I just arrived."

Tides turned to Maxim and explained who she was. "This is the queen dowager."

Maxim was stunned to hear this. So.. this woman was really the king's mother. If Elise was now 18 and her father was close to 50, like Maxim's mother, then... shouldn't Myrcella be close to or around 70ish?

However she looked like she was slightly younger than Queen Maude, Maxim's mother. How could a seventy year old woman looked like she was in her thirties? 

Ahh.. Maxim suddenly remembered Renwyck and Margueritte the white witch. They also looked much younger than their real age. It was because they were powerful wizard and witch. 

So, maybe Myrcella was like them. She could defy aging with her power. Maxim was impressed.

He turned to Emmelyn and explained to her who Myrcella Leoralei was. 

"Oh.. Hello, Your Grace. My name is Emmelyn Rosehill. I came here to ask for your help." Emmelyn curtseyed and greeted the queen dowager politely.

"Emmelyn is my friend," Maxim said to Myrcella in her language.

"Hallo, Emmelyn," Myrcella spoke to Emmelyn directly, much to both Emmelyn's and Maxim's surprise.

"Oh... So, you speak my language?" Emmelyn's face lit up. She was so glad to know that Myrcella understood her. It was good for them to be able to communicate properly.

She felt dumb, not knowing what was happening around her and had to rely on Maxim to translate for her. She didn't like to burden him too much.

"I do, yes. My name is Myrcella Leoralei. Welcome to Myreen." Myrcella spread her arms and motioned them to sit on one of the chairs nearby. She was enjoying tea in her garden when they came. So, now she asked Tides to bring more cups for her guests.

Emmelyn and Maxim exchanged glances. They didn't expect Myrcella to be this friendly.

"Come sit down and tell me the purpose of your visit."