The Cursed Prince

When he heard Horatio call him 'Sir', Gewen wanted to tell Horatio that he was actually a 'Lord' but eventually decided to hold back.

He realized this was not a place to flaunt his title and bloodline. Gewen had to keep telling himself that he was in the enemy's place. His name, his title, and his wealth didn't matter.

It was a bit hard to feel that he was in a dangerous place, like in the enemy's nest, when he was facing a warm meal on the table inside this luxurious room, accompanied by a beautiful sweet woman, and being served by the royal servants.

He almost felt like he was back in the Strongmoor's royal palace. So, for a moment, he almost slipped and revealed his identity.

Gewen cleared his throat and gave Horatio his sweetest smile. "Thank you, Horatio."

For a moment, the butler was dazed.. This man before him was really beautiful, he thought.

Gewen Athibaud was handsome but his appearance made him look a bit like a woman. His face was smooth, his hair looked nice, and his smile was brilliant. Also, he was too clean and neat for a man.

"Lady Emmelyn's friends are always welcomed here, Sir," Horatio replied. "Please have a seat. Our servants will tend to your needs."

Horatio motioned the servants to prepare breakfast for Kira and this new guest. Kira took their seats and waited for the food to be served. Gewen followed her and sat across from her.

As they sat and enjoyed the breakfast, Horatio paid special attention to Gewen. He was wondering about Gewen because the man looked quite different from most men he had ever seen.

Lady Emmelyn surely had some interesting friends, he thought.  First was this young lady, who was rumored to be a pirate princess. Now, this beautiful man, who looked a bit like a woman.

However, Horatio was not nosy and didn't ask Kira anything. He kept his curiosity to himself and just quietly managed the servants to serve food. Then, he left Kira and Gewen alone.

"Please, enjoy your breakfast, Miss and Sire," said Horatio respectfully. "I will take my leave."

"Thank you, Horatio," said Kira with a smile. Before the butler went out, she quickly asked him if he knew any updates about Maxim's and Emmelyn's trip to Myreen. "Have you heard anything about His Majesty's news? When will they return?"

Horatio shook his head. "I am sorry, Miss, I haven't heard anything about His Majesty."

Kira rubbed her chin. "Weird. It's been almost 2 months. Didn't he say the trip would only take two months back and forth?"

Horatio shook his head. "I don't know what happened. General Longfellow is trying to reach our king too. He mentioned something about the enemy spies infiltrating our capital and now our army is getting ready for a possible enemy attack."

"Spies?" Gewen furrowed his brows. "Can you tell me more about it?"

His heart skipped a beat. Did Horatio mean Edgar's men?

Were they found out and now Summerian leaders thought their country was being infiltrated by the enemy?

No wonder Edgar's men left Moon Lover brothel in a rush and didn't even give any lead for Gewen to find them.

"Yes. Our intel found a group of people from Draec who had been spying on us for months. We captured three people but they chose to kill themselves before General Longfellow could question them. The other escaped and now are still being hunted," Horatio explained. 

Gewen swallowed hard when he heard the unexpected news. No wonder they all left in a rush, he thought to himself again. His heart ached for the three knights who had sacrificed their lives to protect their other friends.

The handsome man could only sigh. This was not good. He had not even met Emmelyn, but blood was already shed.

He could imagine Edgar's rage when he found out what happened to his men.

What's worse was... Gewen was now really trapped in the enemy's den.

He stole a glance at Kira and wondered if this General Longfellow found out the so-called spies were from Draec, would they sweep Castilse for foreigners? And if they did, what would they do to Gewen if they knew he came from Draec too?

"Go on, eat. After breakfast, you need to tell me everything," Kira snapped Gewen from his reverie.

"I need to talk to Emmelyn," Gewen blurted. "I have a super important thing to tell her. This can't wait."

He must find Emmelyn and talk to her as soon as possible to prevent the war from happening. He knew Mars was taking his army to Summeria with the intention of bringing his wife back, no matter what it took, if Gewen failed to convince Emmelyn to come back.

However, they were still very far from here. Probably they just reached Wintermere, or they might haven't even reached Wintermere at this point.

If the Summerian people found the 'spies' now, they would be alerted of the big force coming their way and got ready to stop Draecian army before they could go farther inland in Atlantea.

"She is not here," Kira replied. "Didn't I tell you that His Majesty and she went to Myreen?"

"Oh..." Gewen was astounded. He just remembered Kira did mention King Loriel was going to Myreen with Kira's friend. At that time, he didn't know yet that the said friend was actually Emmelyn.

He felt so dumb for not realizing it sooner. 

"Why do you look so distraught?" Kira asked. "Is there something wrong?"

Gewen looked at Kira intently, trying to judge whether he could trust this woman, and told her everything. His stare made Kira feel uncomfortable. So, she smacked him with a big loaf of bread. 

"Ouch..." Gewen rubbed his arm and clicked his tongue. "You are so hot-tempered. I came here to meet Emmelyn and tell her that she has gravely misunderstood her husband. What should I do now? She is not here."

"What misunderstanding?" Kira asked impatiently. "You kept saying that, but you never finish your sentence. If you don't explain it to me now, I will scream and tell people you are a spy from Draec."

Gewen's eyes bulged and, out of reflex, he covered Kira's mouth. "Gosh! Do you want to get me killed? I am more useful alive than dead. Remember, I still owe you and I will need to pay you with my body."

He looked around them and when he saw that there was nobody in the room who could listen to them, Gewen finally explained briefly to Kira what really happened in Draec and why Emmelyn had misunderstood her husband.

"Oh, my gods...." Kira pressed her lips in shock. "So, the second bounty was from her own husband????"

"Yes, yes," Gewen said enthusiastically. "He pretended to hunt her but actually, he was giving so much more reward for people to protect Emmelyn and brought her safely to him... Unfortunately, Emmelyn didn't know this and she thought her husband didn't trust her and wanted her dead."

Kira's eyes were filled in awe when she heard Gewen's explanation.

She muttered, "Emmelyn's husband is so dreamy... She is so lucky to be loved that much."

.

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Even Kira could see how much Emmelyn is loved!