Edgar left with so many thoughts raging in his mind. Who would have thought, the old king's premonition about the great war started because of Emmelyn...

While the reason why Emmelyn came to Mars' life in the first place was that her kingdom was attacked by Draec because King Jared Strongmoor wanted to get his kingdom ready for the great war.

This was a strange cycle if he thought about it. Like asking between which one was first, chicken or egg?

Did Emmelyn enter Mars's life to be the cause of war first, or was the war the reason why Emmelyn entered the prince's life?

This was a confusing paradox.

***

Edgar immediately gathered his men and explained to them that he would leave Castile by himself and he asked them to stay around in Summeria, but keep themselves hidden.

"I don't understand, my lord. Why can't we go home with you?" One of his trusted knights asked him. "And how are you going to go home alone? It's a darn long journey... Let us go with you to protect you."

The burly general shook his head. "No. You all stay here. I will be fine. King Loriel lent me a dragon to bring me back to Draec. I can cross the continent and the sea in less than one month. But you... all of you must pretend that you leave Castilse and return soon after under disguise."

His voice was very serious and his men all listened attentively. They could tell something happened in the royal palace when Edgar went to see the king. Did something bad happen?

But if so, why did the king lend a dragon to help Edgar go home faster? All this didn't seem to make sense.

"My lord, did something happen?" The tall knight with a scar on his right cheek asked Edgar curiously. "What do you want us to do in Castilse while being undercover?"

"I want all of you to be my ears and eyes while I am not here. Our country might go to war with Summeria at some point."

Everyone present held their breath. They were used to going to war. In fact, most of them grew up on the battlefield. King Jared had started the invasion plan two decades ago and they had conquered many lesser kingdoms in Terra continent over the years and made them into Draec's colonies.

However, Summeria was on a totally different level. This kingdom was actually an empire with its power extended throughout almost all Atlantea. Draec could easily beat those lesser kingdoms in each war, but Summeria...?

This would be like two giants fighting against each other and nobody would be able to easily predict who would win the battle.

"W-why?" The knight asked again. His face was clearly distraught. He could imagine a long and intense battle ahead if Draec would really go into war with Summeria. "May we know why you can think there might be war between Draec and Summeria, my lord? I thought you just said that the king will let you use one of his dragons... So, I thought everything is fine between you."

"For now... yes," Edgar replied. "I have no personal problem with King Loriel, but once I arrive in Draec and tell King Mars Strongmoor that his wife is here in Summeria with King Loriel, I believe he would immediately declare war to get her back."

The knights all looked at each other. This was something totally unexpected. Didn't they come here to Summeria because Lady Emmelyn sent them? So, what was she doing here? And how did it end up like this?

"So, Lady Emmelyn is here?" Another knight asked Edgar. "Is that right?"

Edgar nodded. "Yes. I saw her earlier today."

"What??? How come? Why did she come here? And isn't it quit difficult to get here? We took nearly five months to reach Castilse and do our investigation..."

Edgar let out a long sigh. He could imagine how hard the journey must have been for Emmelyn, going on her own and had to protect herself on the road. Even though he already had such high respect for Emmelyn, he couldn't help but admire her even more.

He could see why Mars and Loriel fell for her.

Sigh... Edgar didn't want to see Emmelyn leave Mars and end up together with Loriel. No matter what happened, he believed Emmelyn belonged with Mars. Especially because they both already had a daughter together.

He wished he could just rush to go home today and reached Draec as soon as possible so he could tell Mars what happened.

Unfortunately, since King Loriel was already kind enough to help him with a dragon, which Edgar now believed was done because Emmelyn asked for it, he couldn't force his way. He shouldn't be ungrateful.

"I am not sure what happened and how she ends up here, but I am worried that she will be the cause of animosity between the two kings. That's why I want you all to stay behind and keep an eye on her. Protect her and make sure she is fine. I will go home and get the king to take action immediately. You should wait for my next instruction."

They all nodded respectfully. "Understood, my lord."

"Good!"

Edgar discussed more details with them and made plans on what they should do while they stayed undercover in Summeria. He couldn't wait to go home, see his friends, revive the late queen, and of course to see Baby Harlow. He wondered how she looked.

***

Maxim knocked on Emmelyn's door. He wanted to ask her to go for a walk. After Edgar left, he spent some time on his study to reflect on what just happened.

He had openly challenged Edgar and told him to send a message to Mars Strongmoor that he, Loriel Maxim Ashborn, would take everything back from his hands: Emmelyn, Wintermere, and Harlow.

Did he just indirectly declare war on Draec?

.

.

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

From the author

Thank you, thank you so much for supporting this book and give your golden tickets to Mars and Emmelyn. We are at #4 in August. So, I will publish 3 bonus chapters today (a total of 5).

Hopefully, Webnovel will see how much this book is loved and cherished by the readers, and maybe they will give it more features. The top books here are advertised on Facebook and Google, that's why they could keep getting so many new readers and eventually earn a lot.

"The Cursed Prince" is not advertised outside of WN (it was for a brief period in April but not now), so its achievement on getting to #4 on Trending and Golden rankings is purely from YOUR SUPPORT.

You made this happen, and I can't thank you enough. I will keep writing, and working hard to justify your support.

Let's aim to end this book by October. x

PS:

Per today, "The Cursed Prince" has received a total of 1367 golden tickets and I would like to thank the top 3 contributors who had robbed Willy Wonka and shared their loots with Mars and Emmelyn. Maude, Kelly, and Lucy... You're rockstars.

And to everyone who has contributed their golden tickets, I am sorry I cannot mention you one by one, because the app didn't allow me to see past Top 3 contributors. But please know, I am very grateful for your support and I love you. xx

- Vina (MRB)