The Cursed Prince

Meanwhile, in Myreen, Maxim had to make a difficult decision. After he recovered from his injuries, Emmelyn still didn't wake up. It had been one week and nobody could tell him if Emmelyn would ever wake up from her sleep.

Maxim felt so guilty and depressed by what happened. What's the point of sacrificing himself to marry Elise if Emmelyn ended up dying?

Everything he wanted to do was to make her happy, but what happened until now was the opposite. His love brought so much pain and suffering into her life. If Emmelyn never recovered, Maxim would never forgive himself.

"Renwyck, we should go home soon," said Maxim to his trusted man, Renwyck the wizard, after he was deep in thoughts, trying to decide what's best to do in this situation.

Every day, he would visit Emmelyn in her chamber and sat by her bedside, talking to her about whatever.  He hoped Emmelyn could hear him when he talked to her, and responded in any way.

Unfortunately, there were never any responses from her and Maxim finally gave up. Now that one week had passed, Maxim thought they shouldn't stay longer in Myreen.  They must go home.

He hoped he could get better help in Summeria. There were so many other wizards and physicians in his kingdom. They might know what to do to help Emmelyn.

And if they couldn't do anything, maybe Maxim could get someone else's help. His mind immediately went to Raphael and Margueritte the White Witch.

When they went to Mount Tempest, the mysterious ice prince claimed he could bring back Queen Elara from the dead. Emmelyn trusted him and send Edgar to go home to Draec and revive the late queen.

Did it work? Maxim was wondering about the result.

If it did, then Raphael might be even more powerful than the Leoraleis. Maxim decided to come and pay Raphael a visit once he could bring Emmelyn home to Castilse.

"Go home?" Renwyck furrowed his brows. "But Lady Emmelyn is unwell..."

He didn't use the word dying or sleeping, because they made him shudder. Renwyck didn't want to think of Emmelyn, the lively and kind woman, as dying. So, he prefer to use the word 'unwell', which Maxim liked too.

"I know, but there hasn't been any progress after one week. Queen Myrcella also said there is nothing they can do." Maxim sighed. "So, I don't want to stay here any longer."

"Okay, how do you want to bring Lady Emmelyn home in her condition, Your Majesty?" Renwyck asked. "It's dangerous to take her on a dragon's back."

Maxim massaged his temple and thought of it. He knew Renwyck was right. They would only endanger Emmelyn further by dragging her home on Aslain's back.

Well... they could take a carriage, though. Maxim tapped his fingers to the table beside him and continued thinking of all the possibilities. If they got a nice and big carriage that moved smoothly on the road, maybe it would be good for Emmelyn.

Yes, the journey with the carriage would take so much longer, but at least it would be safe.

When Maxim told Renwyck his thoughts, the wizard was supportive. He also thought it was their best solution. 

"We can do it that way," Renwyck commented.

"Good. Now, go find a big carriage with smooth movements and several big healthy horses. We can use it to bring Emmelyn to Castilse," said Maxim. "Money is not an issue. You just pay the asking price."

"Very well..." Renwyck nodded in agreement.

He realized Maxim was right. There was no use for them to stay in Myreen. Maxim already told him what happened between him, Emmelyn, and the Leoraleis and the fact that Maxim's betrothal to Elise was the cause of all this mess.

They had come to Myreen to look for an answer, and now they had found it. It was time to go home. They had gone for so long. Their kingdom needed the king to go back and rule the people.

While Renwyck looked for the carriage they needed to transport Emmelyn, Maxim went to see Myrcella and King Alexander to talk to them over tea.

He wanted to bid farewell before he left Myreen and also to discuss the wedding between him and Elise, now that Elise had disappeared.

"So, you plan to go home?" Myrcella asked Maxim. "By road?"

She and King Alexander exchanged glances.

"Yeah... I cannot risk Emmelyn's safety by taking the dragon. I will use a big and comfortable carriage to bring her home. Renwyck and his dragons will be our protectors from the sky."

"Well, in that case, you can just use our royal carriage," King Alexander spoke. "We barely use it, especially after I got sick. We will also send the coachman and a servant to help you on the journey. They will go home after making sure you all reach Castilse safely."

This offer was generous and showed how the Leoraleis were kind people as Maxim's mother said. Maxim felt grateful and he quickly nodded. "Thank you so much for your kind offer, Your Majesty. I will take you up on that offer."

He continued, "After I sort out everything and make sure Emmelyn is fine, I will arrange for the wedding. Do you know where Elise is going?"

King Alexander nodded. "I have an idea. We already sent some people to go there and get Elise home. Hopefully, they could find her and bring her back."

"Please, keep me updated. I can come back for her, or you can send her to my home in Castilse. I think my mother will be happy to see her. She missed Myreen and Aunt Catalina so much, but she is too frail to travel and come here with me," Maxim said.

Now that he already made a decision to marry Elise, he better arranged everything quickly. His mother must be happy if Elise could come to Castilse and see her.

Then...  Maxim and Elise could get married.

"I will send the news as soon as possible," King Alexander nodded. 

Myrcella just sipped her tea, watching the two men converse. She still didn't know what to think about Maxim's and Elise's wedding. Deep inside, she was not willing to see Elise marry Maxim. 

Myrcella had witnessed how much Maxim seemed to love Emmelyn. So, it was hard for her to see Elise marry a man who was in love with another woman, even though she knew Elise loved Maxim.

Ahh... Myrcella actually would prefer if they didn't marry.

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Thank you so, so much for your continuous support to this book. I was feeling drained the past few days, not sure if it's completely caused by the difficult chapters, or I'm having a burnout. The symptoms were similar to when I was having depression and burnout in 2019. 

Back then, I felt tired all the time, didn't want to leave my room or meet anyone for weeks, and I slept A LOT. Tasks that normally took me only 5 minutes, became hours. Just doing simple things took so much effort. I finally went to see a doctor and got medications for it and after six months everything was well again.

These days, I just feel tired all the time and I also sleep a lot. There is always that fear that my depression returns because it can be debilitating. I hope not though. I'll make sure to see a doctor if this continues. xx