"Hmm ... when the current king was young, still a prince, he left his fiancée to marry the half-elf woman he saved while he was traveling the world," said Mrs. Adler, sipping her tea. "The fianceé was the goddaughter of a powerful witch. She was furious when the girl committed suicide after she was abandoned by Prince Jared Strongmoor. The witch then cast a curse that all children born to Prince Jared Strongmoor and his wife would not live. If a child managed to survive infancy, then he would never be happy."

"Oh ..." Emmelyn was stunned. She remembered Mars saying that he was his parents' only child who managed to survive to adulthood. All his siblings either died while still in the womb or in infancy.

Apparently.. they were all cursed.

Ah.. what a poor family.

Emmelyn remembered Queen Elara's beautiful face and how she treated Emmelyn really well when they met in the palace last week. No wonder the queen and Mars looked so beautiful, Apparently, Queen Elara was half-elf.

When she met Mars's mother in person, Emmelyn found it very difficult to hate her. She looked majestic and kind. No wonder the king fell in love with her and ditched his fiancee.

Now, after Emmelyn heard how the queen had lost many children due to the curse, Emmelyn's feelings for her were now laced with pity.

She could not imagine how much sorrow that woman must have gone through for losing her children while still in the womb or in infancy.

Emmelyn could understand why the queen loved and spoiled her only remaining child to bits.

"How did you know about the curse?" asked Emmelyn, curious. "Have you ever met the witch?"

Mrs. Adler shook her head. "No. I only heard about this from another witch. This incident happened a long time ago. I guess that witch had run away and disappeared because King Jared was after her for revenge. You know, the curse will break by itself if the witch who cast the curse dies. So she was afraid of losing her life."

"I understand, "said Emmelyn in a low voice.

Ahh ... finally she knew more about the prince's curse. Now, Emmelyn just needed to make sure that the curse would not be passed on to Mars' descendants.

Emmelyn became anxious to think that her children might also be born with a similar curse to what Mars had. No matter what, the children she would bear for the prince would be hers too.

Even though Emmelyn would not raise them, she hoped that they would live well with their father.

"Will... the cursed be passed on to his offsprings?" Emmelyn asked in a worried voice.

Mrs. Adler shook her head. "Hmm ... I don't think so. The curse that befell the prince has nothing to do with his children."

"Oh ... thank goodness, "said Emmelyn with a sigh of relief. She didn't know if she would really bear a child for Mars, because she would still try to kill the king at the royal ball.

However, she thought it was better to make sure now with the witch if the curse would affect her children, just in case she would give birth to them.

Emmelyn finally went quiet and finished her tea. Her feelings were mixed after getting all the information she wanted from Mrs. Adler, just like the last time she came here.

"I think I'd better go home now," Emmelyn muttered after a long silence. She needed to think and calm down. So, she decided to return to the castle. After she got up and walked toward the door, she turned and looked at Mrs. Adler closely. "Uhm… can I visit you again?"

The witch rolled her eyes. "You never asked for my permission before."

Emmelyn smiled sheepishly at the old woman's words. "Ah .. I'm sorry for my rudeness by showing up unannounced. From now on, I'll let you know first if I plan to come and visit."

Mrs. Adler waved her hand. "Ah ... it's okay. I'm not rigid. You can come here any time you like. If I'm not at home, that means I'm either in the forest or went out to treat people."

"Very well. Thank you very much, Grandma." Emmelyn breathed a sigh of relief. She then took the package containing her knife and hid it under her clothes along with the ragdoll that Mrs. Adler had asked her to give Lorein.

Emmelyn then came out of the hut and looked out for Roshan. She didn't have to look for long because the butler was waiting beside the hut. He immediately walked over to Emmelyn and bowed respectfully.

"Is Your Highness', uhm.... is your business finished, Sire?" he asked.

Emmelyn nodded. "Yes. Let us go home."

"Very well."

Emmelyn quickly walked toward her carriage and got in. Roshan and the guards followed the carriage from behind on their horses.

It was already dark when they arrived at the castle. Emmelyn immediately took a bath and changed her clothes before she had dinner.

When she finished, Emmelyn went up to her chamber and sat there contemplatingly. Everything Mrs. Adler told her earlier was very shocking. She needed time to process the information and decide what she would do with it.

Of course, the thing that worried Emmelyn the most was the future. Somehow, a great war would happen, and it would have a connection with her.

***

"His Highness has returned!"

Emmelyn, who was nodding off on her windowsill while sewing a handkerchief, immediately jumped up in surprise when she heard a soldier cry from the castle grounds to announce Mars's arrival.

His Highness has returned? Was he referring to Prince Mars Strongmoor?

Spontaneously, she threw her sewing equipment on the floor and ran down to the first floor and then out the castle door.

In the castle courtyard, she saw Mars just getting off his horse. The man looked surprised to see Emmelyn come out to greet him.

However, a broad smile soon appeared on his face as he handed his horse's reign to a soldier and walked over to Emmelyn.

"Hey ... how were you doing while I went to Southberry?" asked the man in a cheerful voice.

His joyful attitude surprised the soldiers behind him. The prince had been ruthless and demanding throughout their time in Southberry, and they were terrified of him because usually, he was not that demanding in the past.

However, in an instant, his devil-like attitude changed 180 degrees as soon as he saw that beautiful woman.

Emmelyn just shrugged and answered nonchalantly. "I had so much fun while you weren't around. There were so many things to keep me busy. How about the war games?"

"We won," said Mars proudly. He refrained from hugging Emmelyn and swinging her into the air and kissing her lips to his heart's content.

He remembered that many of his soldiers were watching them. He must not lose his cool in front of them. Besides, if he showed Emmelyn how much he missed her, this girl might be worried that Mars was falling in love with her.

It was better for Mars to continue his pretense for a while. Anything to keep Emmelyn by his side.

"Oh, you won? You guys are not bad then," said Emmelyn.

"I told you we were going to win," said Mars with a smile. He then took off his coat and draped it over Emmelyn's back when he realized that the girl had left the castle without wearing her coat and began to shiver.

"Tss ... why did you come out without wearing a coat? Are you too excited about meeting me when the soldier announced my arrival? Do you miss me?" the man looked at Emmelyn with a smirk.

He could guess that this was what really happened. Ahh ... he was delighted to know that this girl really missed him.

All right .. tonight, he would satisfy Emmelyn's longing for him.

"Tch .. who missed you? I miss you my foot!" Emmelyn snorted and was about to remove the coat from her back, but Mars had pulled her hand into the castle.

"I'm hungry. I hope you haven't had dinner," said Mars as he took Emmelyn into the castle and immediately walked to the dining room. "You can tell me how you kept busy in my absence while we have dinner."

It was still not dark, and Emmelyn usually didn't eat dinner until two hours later. However, she understood that Mars must be exhausted and hungry from the long journey, so he would want to eat as soon as possible.

That was why she didn't protest when the man took her to the dining room. When they entered, Roshan and several servants immediately greeted the prince with respect.

"Roshan, please prepare dinner. I already miss our cooks' cooking," said Mars giving orders. "My cousin Athos really needs to get better cooks in Southberry."

With alacrity, Roshan and the servants immediately did what their master ordered. Before long, various delicious dishes and wine were already served on the table for both of them. Mars immediately ate ravenously while Emmelyn watched the man.

Ahh... she was so happy to see this man back. He looked a bit disheveled, but it only added to his charm.

Emmelyn didn't feel hungry, so she just watched him eat while wrapping his coat tighter to her chest.

Hmm... it had his smell all over it. It was so nice.

Mars finally realized Emmelyn was not eating, after a while. He turned to the side and asked the girl. "Are you not hungry?"

Emmelyn shrugged. "It's too early for me."

"Ohh... I am sorry, I am just starving. I will eat now, and I will keep you company when you eat your dinner later," Mars said in an apologetic tone.

Emmelyn nodded with a smile. "I'd like that."

Mars stared at the girl and narrowed his eyes. He thought there was something different with the girl today, but he couldn't really pinpoint what it was.

Emmelyn was nice to him today.

Well.. too nice.

This didn't seem like her. Why did she treat him nicely?

Did she do something wrong?