The Cursed Prince

Note:

Thank you for gifting a castle last night to "The Cursed Prince" dear Kelly. This chapter is dedicated to you. Muah muahh!!!

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"That's Castilse," Maxim announced as they were flying closer to his hometown. He pointed at the valley in front of them.

Mars looked ahead and saw a huge city, located in a valley surrounded by mountains. It looked a lot like what Edgar and Gewen had described to him.

His heart pounded so hard. Maxim was right! They would reach the palace by lunchtime. It was really perfect timing.

"We'll land on the royal garden," Maxim made a sign so everyone would follow him and Aslain, as they flew toward the biggest buildings in the center of Castilse. That was the royal palace.

Subconsciously, Mars held Harlow more tightly. His heart pounded with excitement. If they were not riding a dragon, so high in the sky, he might already leap down and run toward Castilse.

Even though dragons were definitely faster than humans running, Mars felt anxious, just sitting on the dragons' back and unable to do anything to accelerate the speed.

It was the longest half an hour of his life.

Once the dragons landed one by one in front of the lake, in the royal garden, he jumped down impatiently.

"Where is my wife?" He asked with panting breath.

Maxim who just got off from his ride stayed calm and reached out his hand to show the way. "I will take you to her, but I want you to promise that you will stay calm."

"I will stay calm," Mars replied. "Look, I'm calm."

He was not calm.

Far from it. His body was shaking in anxiety and excitement at the same time. If he was not a guest in this country, he might have dashed through the garden, entered the palace door, and shouted Emmelyn's name to find her.

Horatio and Kira who had heard from the servants that the king just returned with the dragons, had run from the other building, across the garden, and came to them.

"Your Majesty, you are back," Horatio bowed down deeply to pay his respects to Maxim. "Do you want to rest first or have lunch?"

Maxim shook his head. "We have a  guest. He comes here for Lady Emmelyn."

Horatio was surprised but happy when he found out who the guests were. Meanwhile, Kira suddenly let out a loud gasp at the mention of the guest. She looked at Mars with bulged eyes and pointed at him. "You…? You are…."

Mars raised his brows, surprised by the girl's over-the-top reaction. "Hello, Miss. I believe we haven't met."

"Are you… Emmelyn's husband??" Kira finally managed to utter her question.

Gosh.. this man was so handsome, she thought. He was the total catch. No wonder Emmelyn married this one and not Edgar nor Gewen.

Mars also had beautiful features, similar to Gewen, which was understandable because he was said to have elf bloodline, but his ripped body and the way he carried himself were similar to Edgar who was very manly and, in Kira's eyes, very sexy.

Everything about this man exuded power and dominance but, at the same time, also warmth and care. Kira didn't even know how those traits could go hand in hand.

"Yes, I am Emmelyn's husband," Mars replied gently. He could guess that this woman was Kira Grim, Emmelyn's friend. Since he had heard many good things about her from Gewen, Mars decided to treat her well.

"Oh..." Kira's eyes lit up. She pointed at Harlow awkwardly, "And she is... Harlow?"

Mars nodded. "This is Harlow."

"Ohhhh...." Kira gasped again. "She is soooo cute!!! Well... as expected of Emmelyn's child... hehehe."

Harlow who was admiring the beautiful flowers around her, raised her palm to touch the flower petals that were raining down softly from the jacaranda tree nearby.

The baby furrowed her brows when she heard Kira call her name. Harlow  turned to see who it was and when she saw Kira, looking at her with bulged eyes and a wide smile, Harlow sighed and looked away.

She thought the woman was too loud. Her voice totally ruined the serenity of the garden they were in, which was filled with blossoming flowers.

Kira was stunned. She didn't know what she did wrong to be on a baby's bad side today. She turned to look at Mars and asked him with her eyes. Mars coughed softly and changed the subject. "We are here to see Emmelyn. Can we go now?"

"Oh.. definitely..." Kira immediately understood that Mars was dying to see his wife. His helpless expression was mixed with longing and sadness. She didn't have the heart to delay him any longer. "This way..."

She stepped to the side and gave a sign for Mars to pass through. Maxim walked past her and nodded. Mars immediately followed. Both men walked in silence, followed by Kira who kept her distance. 

She really wanted to witness the moment when Mars saw Emmelyn. She was curious to know how deep was his love for his wife. In actuality, Kira was a sucker for beautiful love stories, like in fairy tales.

She wanted to experience it herself, but since she hadn't found a man who could give her such fairy-tale-worthy romance, she was happy to have the second-hand experience through Emmelyn's love story.

They walked through the long corridor in the main palace toward a big and luxurious chamber at the very end. A servant came out from the chamber when Maxim knocked and she opened the door for them respectfully.

"Welcome, Your Majesty," she and her friend bowed down to pay their respect to their king. 

"Please get us some drinks and milk for this baby," Maxim ordered them.

"Will do, Your Majesty."

They left the two men and closed the door behind them. Kira was standing in the corridor, feeling conflicted about whether she should go in or just listen to their conversation from outside.

In the end, she decided to leave them alone. Kira went to the nearest chair in the corridor and sat there to calm her heart. 

Would Emmelyn wake up now that her husband and daughter were here? She clasped her fingers together and silently prayed to gods to have mercy on her friend and granted her health.

Mars's heart skipped a beat when he walked closer to the big bed at the end of the chamber, next to the floor-to-ceiling windows.

The windows had two sets of curtains, the thick one with dark blue color and rich in embroidery, slid to the side, and a thin white layer of the see-through curtain. They made the chamber looked really beautiful, feminine, and really peaceful.

In the big fluffy bed, he could see his wife, lie down with her eyes closed.

There she was... his sleeping beauty.

Seeing her was truly the best feeling in the world. Mars's heart was filled with joy to the brim because he could finally see his wife again, after missing her for over one year.

Emmelyn's lashes fluttered softly and his chest heaved up and down with regular movements, showing she was still alive and breathing. But why did her face look so pale and thin?

"Honey..." Mars suddenly lost his composure and came to Emmelyn's side with tears flowing down from his eyes profusely. He felt responsible for everything that happened to his wife until now.

She shouldn't have needed to fight for herself in order to survive and she shouldn't have gone alone to Summeria and Myreen to get the curse lifted.

It was Mars who should have been the one to do whatever it took to keep her safe.

She was his responsibility to care and to protect, and he had failed her.

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From Missrealitybites:

I'm sorry, it took you 334 chapters to witness Mars finally see his wife again. They were separated in chapter 288. 

Btw, you can consider this achievement too. Congratulations! You have survived such a tumultuous journey to see our favorite main characters' love tested and proven.

I think, if you survive this, you can survive any other love stories, no matter how difficult their conflicts would be.

* Imagine me standing up slowly and clapping in slow-motion.

PS: If you also read "The Alchemists" and "Finding Stardust" (my two other books), which one do you think has the hardest conflict of all three?