Emmelyn was all ears when the two burly men talked. She pretended to sip her wine, but her sole focus was on the two men and their words.

She knew they must be talking about her. It's almost twelve and they seemed to get ready to welcome someone.

Since she was told to come at noon, then these two thugs must think she would be here at twelve.

Ha. Did they really think she would just comply with their demand without at least try to do something? Before she left the carriage, she also told Roshan to get help if she didn't return within two hours.

"It's twelve," the first man with scarred face growled. "That wench is late."

"Do you think she wouldn't come?" asked his friend.

"Our lady said she would definitely come because it's about her brother."

"So, she is just late. Let's wait some more."

Emmelyn winced when she heard the two men talk about their lady. So, their boss was a lady? Who might that be?

Her mind immediately went to Ellena. It must be her!

Emmelyn couldn't think of anyone else who would have such a sinister motive toward her. Ellena also knew Killian personally. So, she would know Killian's secrets if he really had a child somewhere.

Emmelyn's ears perked up, as she kept pretending to sip her wine leisurely while listening to their conversation.

Ahh, she was right. These were really the thugs who told her to come here. Now, she would just see what they would do if they thought she didn't come as per their demand.

Since they didn't have any boy or baby with them, Emmelyn felt a bit reassured since they wouldn't do anything to the boy IF he did really exist.

She still didn't believe them about the kid.

"Dammit! It's already half an hour late. Should we give another half hour?" asked the scarred man to his partner.

The other guy, who was wearing black, rubbed his chin and finally shook his head. "Let's not wait and just report this to our lady. That woman might be too scared to come alone."

"Yeah... we'll be doomed if she instead came here with some soldiers..." said the scarred man.

After saying those words, he got up from his chair, went to the barman, and handed him some money. "Thanks for the wine. We're leaving now."

The barman nodded and accepted the money. Emmelyn's heart palpitated. She needed to decide soon if she should follow those men or stay put.

Why would she go and chase them if there was no kid? She didn't believe them when they said Killian had a son, and today they still hadn't discussed the child.

Just when she was about to decide to leave and returned to the castle, she heard the man wearing a black robe commented with a mocking tone.

"Too bad, that kid is going to die because his aunt apparently doesn't care about him." He scoffed and spat on the floor.

Emmelyn's heart skipped a beat. Gosh..!

SO, THERE WAS A CHILD!

Right at that instant, Emmelyn felt her cheeks heated and her eyes were wet with tears. She batted her eyes, pretending to get something in them, to get the tears out of her eyes.

Her heart was pierced by the memory of her loving brother who passed away not long ago. If Killian really had a son... it was her responsibility to take care of the child and raise him in a loving home.

That was the least she could do.

The two thugs went out of the tavern. Emmelyn quickly rose from her seat, paid for her drinks to the barman, and walked briskly to follow her enemies.

She tried not to attract any attention to herself by pretending to walk leisurely and looked here and there at the merchants all around her as if looking for stuff to buy, while her eyes sneakily glanced at the two people she was following.

She thought she was safe since this market was quite crowded with people. So, she kept following the two men as they walked crossing the market, and then went to a warehouse at the end of it.

Was this where they kept the boy? Emmelyn was wondering.

She slowed down her steps and hid behind some barrels stacked in front of the warehouse. She needed to make sure that this was where the thugs hid.

Later, she could come back here with some guards from the castle. She could ask them to investigate, and then...

"AHHHH!"

Emmelyn was too focused on the warehouse, she didn't see two big and scary men were sneaking from behind her and suddenly pulled her arms, jolting her in surprise.

"HEY!!" She tried to let go, but she could only pull one arm free. The other one was gripped tightly by a man who looked like a giant. Seeing him sent shivers down her spine.

This man was huge. He was probably almost eight feet tall. Perhaps, even taller. His face was expressionless and his eyes bloodshot red. Emmelyn had never met anyone this intimidating before.

The other man, was the opposite. He was short, much shorter than Emmelyn, and bald. He smirked mockingly and rubbed his hand that was brushed off by Emmelyn earlier.

Out of reflex, Emmelyn pulled out her knife from inside her oversized coat and stabbed it on the giant's arm, to force him to let her go.

"Fuck!" Emmelyn cursed when the giant didn't even seem to feel pain from her knife stab. Blood flowed from his wound and the knife was still there, stuck halfway, yet the man didn't show any expression.

"Let me go, you prick!" Emmelyn tried to hit and kick but to no avail. The giant turned to his partner, the bald guy, who then nodded and make a sign. Emmelyn now thought the giant was a mute.

She was wondering what the bald guy asked the giant to do, but before she could think of something, the giant had slapped her so hard.

And then it was dark.

***

Mars felt uneasy since morning. He was finally in Wintermere. It'd been a while, he thought to himself as he recognized the familiar roads, towns, and colors.

The last time he was here was more than two years ago after they conquered this land and claimed it as their new colony. At that time, he didn't really care about this country. It was just another conquest. One that his father gifted to his cousin, Ethos, to rule.

Now, seeing the country again after marrying its princess, gave a different feeling in his heart. He started to appreciate small things he noticed here and there.

He realized that Wintermerians were generally relaxed and happy people. After two years of being colonized by Draec, life had resumed to normal. Buildings were rebuilt, and they lived their lives like usual. As if the war never happened.

The farmers farmed, the fishermen went to sea to get fish, the merchants traded, and the port had gone back to life.

They had resumed most of the trades with other kingdoms under the new government. Things were looking good.

"Your Highness..." Elmer repeated his words and cleared his throat to get the prince's attention.

He had been saying something to Mars several times, but Mars didn't seem to hear him. Elmer could tell the prince had a lot in his mind.

"Uhm.. yes, Elmer?" Mars turned to him. "What do you want?"

"We have arrived at the governor's palace. That's your cousin coming," Elmer tilted his chin toward the coming entourage.

"Hmm..." Mars nodded. He got off his horse and walked forward. A soldier immediately took the reins from him and brought Snow to get water.

"Your Highness," Ethos smiled broadly when he reached the crown prince and his men. This man was Athos' younger brother and he was trusted to rule Draec's newest colony.

Mars had to admit that Ethos did a great job in Wintermere's recovery process. He could see how life had gone back to normal here in only two years' time.

"Ethos, how are you doing?" Mars greeted his younger cousin. He looked around them and admire the new palace. It was rebuilt nicely and Ethos seemed to add some typical Draec's decoration on the wall.

"Everything is good around here, Your Highness," Ethos replied with respect. "I am very busy, but I am enjoying life on this side of the continent. Wintermere surely has better weather compared to Draec."

"It must be the sea," Mars commented.

"I agree," Ethos smiled and motioned them to follow him. "After living here, I picked up a new hobby. Fishing in the open sea is very relaxing after a long week of work."

"Hm... I am glad you enjoy your life here," Mars said. He walked beside his cousin and his men followed him. The soldiers from Wintermere swiftly took their horses to let the animals rest and get some drink.

.

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>>>>

From the author:

Hey... sorry for my delay in publishing the new chapter. Today I went to the countryside with my sister to sightsee and relax. I live on the beautiful island of Bali, but I was mostly cooped up at home to work. Sad life.. ahahaha.

Anyway, today, she wanted to take me to see the villages and get fresh air. Such a sweet sister, right? We were riding a scooter because it was (supposed to be) more relaxing.

Unfortunately, while we were on the way, suddenly a dog ran across the road out of nowhere, and to avoid hitting the dog, my sister had to press the brake suddenly.

Needless to say, we fell and got hurt. Luckily all the other vehicles around us also braked in time. so we didn't get hit by them. As for the dog, it ran somewhere unscathed.

My injuries are not too bad, but hers are worse. She just got an X-ray and CT scan and so far the doc said there are no internal injuries or broken bones.

But we'll know after 2 days if the results would change (some veins might rupture slowly after the accident) or if she'll be okay. In the meantime, she was still under observation.