The Cursed Prince

"Gosh...!!! You are back! I miss you so much!!" Queen Elara cried a bucket of tears when she finally saw her daughter-in-law, looking healthy and fresh. She immediately ran toward Emmelyn and hugged her tightly. "My lovely daughter is back! I am so happy...."

Emmelyn felt so moved when the old queen pulled her to her embrace. Queen Elara was the mother she dreamed of having and the last memory she had of her was that the queen died a horrible death in Ellena's hands.

It was also the start of another round of tragedy in Emmelyn's life. Ahh.. she was glad that it was all behind them.

"Mother, I am happy to see you again," Emmelyn gushed. She hugged Queen Elara tightly and both cried together. Kira who was standing behind her could only watch the scene with a heavy heart.

One of the reasons why she and Emmelyn could become friends fast was that they both didn't experience the warmth of a mother. So, seeing how much Emmelyn shared affection with this older beautiful woman, Kira felt left out.

Well, she thought Emmelyn was lucky to have such a loving mother-in-law. So, even though her biological mother was cold to her, at least she got compensated by a sweet mother-in-law like Queen Elara.

Now, Kira understood why Emmelyn really cared about her mother-in-law and tried to do anything within her power to make sure that Elara could be revived. If Kira was in her shoes, she would probably do the same thing.

"Kira... I would like you to meet someone," Suddenly, Gewen's voice rang softly in her ear. Kira turned around to see the man standing behind her, looking his best, wearing such a big smile on his face. He looked... really handsome, that Kira was dumbfounded.

She just realized this was how Gewen looked like if he tried. His good looks were blinding and for a moment, Kira was at a loss for words.

When Gewen was in Castilse, he couldn't find the time and means to care for his appearance. And it got worse when they took the long journey from Castilse to Draec.

Now, he was back home. He could wear his favorite clothes and his favorite perfume, eat well, and get plenty of beauty sleep in his comfortable bed. They all helped to rejuvenate his physique, and now the man was back to his old charming self.

When someone felt good about themselves, they also would look good on the outside. And that's how Kira was mesmerized by Gewen's stunning appearance tonight.

His long blonde hair was combed nicely down his back, his black leather coat wrapped his tall and sturdy body perfectly. A sword hung from his waist made him look like a valiant knight ready to save a damsel in distress.

"This is my mother," Gewen gushed. He pulled a beautiful middle-aged woman from behind him and presented Lady Rose Athibaud to Kira. "Mother, this is Miss Kira Grim. She is the queen's best friend."

Gewen intentionally mentioned Kira's friendship with Emmelyn to increase Kira's social standing before his mother. If Lady Athibaud thought that this young woman was just a mere commoner without anything special to her, she might not even give Kira a second glance.

"Oh... you are?" As Gewen's expectation, his mother was smiling and reached out her hand to Kira. "I am Gewen's mother. It's nice to see you."

Kira didn't know how Gewen got his looks. Lady Rose Athibaud was beautiful but appearance-wise, she didn't look like her son. So, maybe it was from his father?

The pirate princess nodded awkwardly and shook Lady Athibaud's hand. "It's nice to see you too, uhm..."

"Lady Rose Athibaud," Gewen introduced his mother's name. "You can call her Lady Athibaud."

"Oh.. It's nice to see you, Lady Athibaud." Kira smiled. She felt relieved because she started to know how to implement her etiquette training. Having Gewen beside her like this also helped boost her confidence. "My name is Kira Grim. You can just call me Kira."

"Ahh... so, you are Kira. My son told me a lot about you," Lady Athibaud chuckled. "He said you helped Her Majesty during her journey. You also have seen the world. Sounds really fun."

Lady Athibaud could see some changes in her son after he returned from the mission and he started chirping about a certain woman called Kira. This was something that made the duchess feel so happy.

She realized Gewen was FINALLY attracted to a woman. This was such good news. She couldn't wait to meet this Kira girl to see what her future grandchildren would look like.

After they were introduced and started talking, Lady Athibaud was pleased to see Kira had childbearing hips and she was very healthy. Now, after Gewen and Kira got married, the duchess would demand them to have many children as soon as possible.

She had been waiting for grandbabies in her life and after being mocked by those other duchesses and countesses in the capital, for not having grandchildren at her age, now she could show off to them.

Gewen grinned uncontrollably throughout the feast, where the king and his wife welcomed the people closest to them and shared what happened to them the past year.

He loved seeing his mother talking to Kira. He knew his mother was charming and could make people feel drawn to her if she wanted.

Meanwhile, Lily could finally vent her longing for Emmelyn after Queen Elara let the young queen go from her embrace. Lily pursed her lips and wiped her tears before Emmelyn.

"How could you go without telling me...?" Lily said with a hoarse voice. "I was so devastated..."

Emmelyn had no words. She felt guilty about not letting Lily know her plans when she wanted to escape Draec, but she knew she didn't have a choice back then.

If she told Lily about her plans, and Duke Preston forced a confession out of Lily by... for example, taking one of her sons as a hostage... she would be put in a difficult situation.

Emmelyn didn't want to make Lily choose between her and the boys. Knowing how cruel Ellena could be, she didn't think Ellena and her father would spare little children to get what she wanted.

"I am very sorry, Lily," Emmelyn shook her head weakly. "I just couldn't."

Lily stepped forward and hugged Emmelyn tightly. "I forgive you. But... please, don't ever do it again. You will make my hair white and I will go to the grave early."

Emmelyn found Lily's words funny, but she couldn't laugh it off. Instead, she was crying harder. She could feel how much Lily cared about her. Emmelyn felt moved by the love and friendship that Lily Greenan had been showing her all this time.

This reminded her that she was not close to her older sisters. They actually always competed for their parents' affection and didn't treat each other well.

Lily's presence made Emmelyn think that she was compensated for her lousy sisters by having Lily in her life. She found a sister in Lily and Kira, just like she found a mother in Queen Elara.

This made Emmelyn feel extremely grateful.

.

.

***************

I like this saying, "Friends are the family we choose."