The Cursed Prince

Mars and Emmelyn Strongmoor hosted dinner for the first time for their close friends and family. They finally used the banquet hall that could accommodate many people.

Among the guests were the whole Greenan family with Athos and Lily bringing their three children, Edgar and Clara, also Gewen and Kira. Harlow sat between Gewen and Louis, Lily's oldest son. Both males, young and adult seemed to adore her very much and Harlow loved basking in their attention.

"I hope it's okay if I brought my younger sister to dinner," Lily said when she arrived. "She just came yesterday and I don't want to leave her alone while we are having fun here."

From behind her, a beautiful girl with brown curly hair popped up and gave the hosts her biggest smile. She looked a lot like Lily, only younger, and seemed more carefree than her older sister. She immediately curtseyed and showed her respects to the Draecian monarchs.

"Your Majesty, it's an honor to meet you tonight," she said. "My name is iris Granger, I am Lily's sister."

Emmelyn and Mars exchanged glances. It looked like Lily's parents took inspiration from flowers in naming their daughters. The names were very fitting because the girls both looked pretty like flowers.

"Nice to meet you, Lady Iris," Emmelyn nodded at the younger woman. She could guess from Iris's youthful looks and her baby fat that she was younger than 20. Perhaps she was only 18, or the same age as Clara, Edgar's fiancee.

This made her feel happy for Clara because there was a good possibility that she would click with Iris and find a friend in her. Emmelyn understood how hard it must be to start a new life in a completely new country and had no friends.

She thought she was lucky to have met Lily and became fast friends with her. Now, their children even looked like they would enjoy growing up together.

It's true that Clara could rely on Emmelyn to help her settle and adjust to her new life in Draec, but they did not come from the same social status. So, Clara might feel hesitant to become friends all out with Emmelyn.

She was the daughter of a noble family in Wintermere, while Emmelyn was a princess,. Clara would be married to a young lord without his father's title while Emmelyn was married to the monarch of this empire. The difference was too big.

Not only the difference in status, but they also had a big age gap. Emmelyn would be 26 soon and Clara just turned 18. They had different mindsets and maturity levels. Even if their husbands were best friends and their family could grow close together, but it would be hard for the two ladies to become best friends too.

So, having another female friend around would be really good for her. Emmelyn just hoped that would be the case, that Clara and Iris would get along well together.

"Is this your first visit to Kingstown?" Mars asked Iris politely.

He remembered seeing Iris from afar when he attended Athos's wedding to Lily but at that time he was still cursed and had to keep his distance from everything female. Also, Iris was only ten years old back then.  So much had changed over the course of eight years. 

"This is my first time, Your Majesty," Iris replied. "I am missing my sister and my nephews. So, I begged my father to let me come here."

"Ah, I see." Mars nodded in understanding. "I am sorry for taking away Lily and Athos from Southberrry. I need Athos here in the capital to help me with the royal affairs."

"It's okay, your Majesty," Iris replied with a big smile. "Actually I am happy that my sister moved to the capital. Now I have an excuse to come here whenever I want... hehe. I can just tell my parents that I want to visit my sister and her family."

Emmelyn chuckled when she heard Iris's explanation. She immediately liked the young girl. Iris seemed adventurous and fun, reminding her of her old self before she got married and have children.

"Sounds really good," Emmelyn said. "Our door is also open if you are visiting the capital. We can have tea together with Lily and Clara."

Right at that moment, Clara and Edgar arrived, holding hands. Mars grinned when he saw his usually cool best friend looked so lovey-dovey with his fiancee. He could see that Edgar was truly in love. 

When he saw Edgar dance and talk with Clara for the first time in Wintermere, the man was still a bit shy. He looked enamored by Clara but, of course, since they had just met, he didn't show his affection openly. However, now that they were engaged and soon-to-be-married, he was holding her hand so tenderly.

It was such a foreign concept to Mars, seeing Edgar this way. He usually associated affection and holding a female's hand as Gewen's thing, not Edgar's. However, what happened tonight was the opposite.

Gewen came without a woman in his arms and his usually happy demeanor, this time looked very serious and even somber. After Ellena's death in his hands, Gewen took the time to gather his thoughts and not seeing anyone.

Even after he said he was ready to talk about it, he still didn't talk about the incident. Mars understood his conflict and decided never to bring up the issue, at least when that happened, it would be from Gewen and not him.

After Ellena died and the Prestons were punished, he and Emmelyn didn't want to dwell in the past and keep thinking about the pain and suffering they went through because of those people.

They would prefer to live for the moment and think about the future. Especially because Emmelyn was now carrying their next child. Mars already promised her that she would have the most relaxing pregnancy. So, the last thing he wanted her to have was another reminder of the suffering and separation they had to endure for over a year.

"How are you doing, Gewen?" Mars asked his friend. "I missed seeing you. Edgar is busy with Clara and you don't really come and visit us in the palace for a good while."

Gewen only smiled. He didn't give a clear response to Mars' question and the king was understanding enough not chase him for an answer. They welcomed Edgar and Clara who came with special dessert she made herself, a special cake from Wintermere which Emmelyn really liked.

After Edgar and Clara sat down, Gewen took a seat between Louis Greenan and Harlow who immediately chatted her favorite uncle about the fish pond that was now frozen and the wintermere flowers that just bloomed earlier that day.

After Harlow chatted him, Gewen seemed better and he started smiling again. However, his smile immediately vanished when a woman entered the dining room with casual steps and immediately came to Emmelyn and gave her a hug.

It was Kira. Gewen had such conflicted feelings whenever he met Kira. After they became intimate and even spent one week going on a supposedly romantic getaway to Southberry... but Kira rejected him, he was not sure how he should handle encounters with her.

Their last meeting was actually the worst ever. He was traumatized by Ellena's death in his own hands and the fact that Kira casually said she would sell Ellea to a brothel to become a sex slave to pay for her crime.

Gewen was not a weak-hearted man because he was used to leading an army and going to war. He was not scared of blood, and killing people was something that came with the job.

However, he couldn't accept ruthlessness in the time of peace. He thought it was unnecessary. He couldn't object if it was Mars or Emmelyn who were pushing for such cruel punishment for Ellena, because they were the victims and they were directly affected by Ellena's crimes.

However, other than them, he couldn't accept someone like Kira to enjoy punishing a prisoner, especially a woman with such cruelty. So, he really didn't know what to think.

That moment made him reevaluate his feelings for Kira and he asked himself many times if he could accept Kira's background for being a member of a cruel pirate gang. He still didn't know the answer.

"Welcome, everyone," Emmelyn greeted her guests with a beaming face. "I am so happy to have all of you here with us. We have so many things to celebrate and be glad about."

She and Mars had agreed on announcing Emmelyn's pregnancy to their closest friends. It was already time. Emmelyn would soon show her baby bump and they would know eventually. So, they thought it was better if their beloved friends would know this news from Mars and Emmelyn themselves.

"Thank you for having us," said Lily with a big smile. "We should do this more often."

"I agree," Emmelyn nodded. "Perhaps, dinner together once a month. What do you think?"

"That is such a great idea," Lily said happily.

"Well.. let's have a drink for the monthly family dinner then," Emmelyn offered to raise their cups together. "Mars and I have something to tell you and we are very excited."

She looked at her husband and Mars smiled back at her. The king motioned the servants and they immediately filled their cups with wine, except for Emmelyn because she preferred glow wine.

Now, they were ready to raise their cups for the good news Emmelyn would share with them soon.

"Well.... Harlow will have a sibling."