"Are you joking?" Ellena stood with her hands akimbo and her expression was filled with disbelief. However, even without the man replied, she already knew the answer to her question.

The henchman was not joking. They did dig the grave and found no bodies in the casket.

So, what on earth happened?

Ellena's eyes accidentally caught sight of the sleeping potion on her cabinet and suddenly realization dawned on her.

Could it be that... Emmelyn ACTUALLY FAKED HER OWN DEATH?

Whoaaa!

This is was a sheer coincidence that made Ellena think she was really lucky. She was out of ideas on how to destroy Emmelyn's reputation further after she died, so Mars would really hate her and move on from her.

Yet, Ellena was always struck with ideas and coincidences that worked in her favor.

"Emmelyn, you are too unlucky," Ellena muttered to herself. Her eyes glint wickedly and her lips curved up in a smile on her face.

She didn't know that Emmelyn was cursed by the Leoralei to have unlucky life. If she did, Ellena would send the family flowers and thanked them, obviously, for making things easy for her.

But she didn't know. So, Ellena thought heavens were on her side and blessed her wicked plans, to get what was rightfully hers: the crown prince and the position as the future queen of Draec.

"So, there is nothing in the casket?" She asked the henchman again to make sure she heard him correctly.

"Yes, my lady. It was empty. It looks like whoever was buried there didn't stay there long. We didn't see any traces of decomposition. So, if they took the body, they did it not long after the burial."

"Okay, good." Ellena smiled more broadly. She reached out to a wooden box on the table and took several gold coins from it. She tossed them to the floor, next to the man. "Take this and wait for my next order."

"Thank you, my lady." The man didn't care that the coins were tossed rudely at him. He only thought he could use the money to buy a lot of things for his family.

"You may leave," said Ellena. With a wave of her hand, she dismissed the man.

The henchman bowed down to show respect and took his leave.

Ellena closed her eyes and smiled to herself. This was such a good day.

After imagining her sweet victory, she opened her eyes and laughed out loud. She would tell her uncle about what happened and asked his opinion on what she should do next.

Well.. Duke Preston was not really her uncle. Ellena knew people talked about it behind her back. They said she was actually the duke's illegitimate daughter from a mistress.

She never asked the duke about it, but she could tell that it was true.

Duke Eli Preston didn't have any other children. His legal wife couldn't conceive and had accepted the fact that her husband needed an heir to continue their family line.

He had many mistresses, but only one gave him offspring who could survive to adulthood. That was Ellena's mother.

It looked like Duke Preston was not so good at producing offspring. So, seeing that he couldn't have any more children, he took good care of Ellena.

When Ellena's biological mother died, she was taken in to live with the Prestons in the capital. Lady Preston was actually very nice to her.

She saw Ellena as the young version of herself, and since Ellena's mother passed away when she was 4, the lady took it upon herself to raise the little girl. She became the mother figure to Ellena.

Therefore, even though in public Ellena kept calling the duke and duchess as Aunt and Uncle, she considered them her own parents.

They were the ones who raised her and they all supported her to get what she wanted. Especially the duke.

He didn't have a son. So, for him, it was important to marry Ellena to a man from a respectable aristocratic family, from the same level or higher to elevate their family's status.

Since Ellena was growing up with Edgar, Gewen, and the crown prince, the duke was eyeing one of those boys to be Ellena's husband.

His first choice was Gewen since he was the only male heir to the Athibaud's massive wealth.

Edgar was not a good option because he had had several older brothers and wouldn't inherit all his family's titles and land.

Duke Preston loved his daughter, so he didn't want her to marry Mars, the crown prince whose life was wretched by the curse cast on his family.

Being with him would mean a lifetime of suffering for Ellena.

Once the prince ascended the throne, Duke Preston thought there would be a power struggle in the capital since he couldn't marry and have children.

The throne would become fair game. Being his wife would be the worst position to be in.

If that happened, Duke Preston would support any man who was married to Ellena to be the next king. If it's not Gewen, perhaps one of the prince's cousins.

King Jared had four sisters and they all bore sons that could fight for the throne with the right amount of support.

Athos was already married, so maybe Ethos and Landon Greenan would be good candidates. There were also several other cousins who were more power-hungry than them.

However, Ellena was stubborn. She wanted Mars and only him. She didn't budge when Duke Preston told her to date Gewen, or other princes from the capital.

She even left home suddenly with the mission to make the witch lift her curse from the Strongmoor family.

People in love was extremely foolish, the duke thought in annoyance.

However, since Ellena seemed to have put her mind into it and she insisted that she wanted to marry the crown prince, as a father, Duke Preston could only support her.

And that's how they ended up where they were now. Ellena went to see him in his study to report her findings.

"So, she really faked her death?" Duke Preston repeated his question to Ellena. His eyes bulged in disbelief. "That wench is smarter than I thought."

"Yes." Ellena was annoyed when she heard her father complimented Emmelyn. "She is not smart. I found out about her plan, and I will use it to my advantage."

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>>>>>

From the author:

I will give some clues for the story, that will give you hope that there will be light at the end of the tunnel. I also took into consideration some of your ideas and I hope I can incorporate them in the story going forward.

So, here you go!

1. Will Ellena marry Mars? Maybe. But even if she did, Mars will never love her and they will not be intimate. Mars is not interested in any other woman but Emmelyn.

As I mentioned previously, I don't do slow burns and I only write about doting husbands, simps, who are loyal to their wives. This story is no exception.

2. Will the queen be brought back to life? Her body is preserved in the ice cave and she is a half-elf. Can there be a possibility for her to live again? Maybe. I will see how it can be done.

3. Emmelyn will need to leave to achieve 2 things: 1) to make the Leoralei lift their curse on her, and 2) to get evidence that she is innocent.

4. She will kill Roshan before she left Draec.

5. She will meet Maxim and find the connection between Maxim, herself, and the Leoraleis.

6. Ellena will get her punishment so, so severely

7. Harlow will look a lot like Queen Elara and everybody loves her. Gewen will be the one who praises her beauty every freaking time. She will be his favorite niece ever.

8. This story has a happy ending ^^