Everyone paid attention to their young king. Nobody spoke nor ate and drank. All eyes were on him. Mars gave Harlow to Gewen and the former womanizer's eyes immediately lit up. He accepted the beautiful chubby baby and happily put her on his lap.

"Good evening, everyone. Thank you for coming to my birthday celebration. I know we haven't got any reason to celebrate in the past half a year. Too many horrible things happened and my family was busy mourning for my beloved mother."

Everyone in the ballroom held their breaths. This was the first time they witnessed the king spoke openly about the queen's death.

The old king, Jared Strongmoor, refused to acknowledge his wife's death and there were many concerns among the public over it.

Everyone knew Queen Elara was dead, but her husband still refused to hold the funeral. The case of her murder became the source of so much gossips and speculation.

Ahh... did King Mars plan to announce Queen Elara's death? Was this the big announcement that he was preparing?

If so, then it was finally time for the funeral and the people would be able to mourn the passing of their beloved queen, and everyone could find closure.

The guests were feeling sympathetic that their king had to announce this sad news on his birthday, of all days.

"You might have heard about what happened to my mother. She was schemed by someone to come and enter her trap. With the help of my treacherous butler, the person tried to kill my mother."

The atmosphere in the ballroom became so intense. If someone would drop a needle, everyone could hear it. Ellena looked at Mars attentively, listening to his every word. She was wondering where his words were heading.

Was he going to share about his mother's murder and told everyone about Emmelyn? She couldn't wait to find out.

Mars continued his words. "My father and I were devastated. It took a long time for us to process our grief. So, we thank you for your understanding and support all this time."

He cast his glance around the room and saw all the guests were on the edge of their seats, waiting to hear his next words.

"Today, I have two good news that I would like to share with you all. I have my lovely daughter with me today. Her name is Harlow Strongmoor and I love her very much. I have been keeping my personal life private because I wanted to protect both my wife and my child during a difficult period in our lives."

He added, "However, this has caused so many rumors to spread out there and now I have come to a point where I need to address a few things. Tonight, I would like to introduce my family to you to address the rumors and answer so many questions."

Ellena knitted her brows in confusion. Why did Mars act like he wanted to introduce his wife? He didn't have any. There was only Harlow here.

Did he maybe make a mistake in his wording?

She looked up to see Mars' expression better. Her heart felt pain when she saw his face was filled with love and longing as he continued speaking... about a woman called Emmelyn.

"I married a wonderful woman last year and we have a daughter together. My wife is a princess from Wintermere and her name is Princess Emmelyn Rosehill." Mars voice sounded proud when he told the guests about his family.

The girls who had been gossiping about him before suddenly all became wide-eyed. This information came to them as a shock.

So... the king was already married?

For real?

The people in the capital thought Mars had a daughter from a surrogate or just some woman who was tasked to give birth to the royal baby since Mars had a reputation as a woman-hater.

But, apparently... it was really his wife.

A few girls chuckled and didn't hide their joy when they heard that Mars Strongmoor already had a wife. The shocked expression on Ellena's face was priceless and they couldn't help but throw her a mocking gaze.

Meanwhile, Ellena thought she suddenly forgot to breathe. Her chest heaved up and down in shock and anger.

Why was Mars talking so fondly about that woman? Didn't he think Emmelyn killed his mother? He already agreed to hunt her down for the crime. So, why did he still showed that she meant a lot to him?

Was Mars out of his mind? Did he love Emmelyn that much that he had lost his sanity when she died? Was Mars in denial and refused to acknowledge her death, just like what his father did with his mother's death?

Ellena hated this situation. She pressed her hand to her chest, trying hard to calm herself down.

Mars was satisfied by the reactions he received from the guests. From the corner of his eyes, he could see Lady Preston sat in her place, frozen, while Ellena looked very uncomfortable.

"If you are wondering about my wife, I apologize on her behalf. She couldn't make it today to see you all because she is currently on an important mission. So, she couldn't be here tonight to celebrate this joyous occasion with all of us, but I promise as soon as she returns, I will introduce her to you publicly."

Now Ellena was convinced that Mars must be out of his mind.

Grief had turned him this way, she thought sadly.

"Mars..." she whispered and touched Mars's arm. "What are you talking about? Emmelyn is dead."

Mars didn't pay her any heed. He raised his right hand and continued his words. "The second good news that I would like to share with you all is the fact that my mother has finally recovered."

GASP

Except for Edgar and Gewen, everyone in the ballroom gasped in unison when they heard from Mars that his mother had recovered.

They all had the same question in their mind. Recovered from what? Queen Elara was dead and there was no amount of recovery that could bring someone from the dead, they thought.

"My mother was gravely injured when she was attacked and we had been working tirelessly to nurse her health back in a safe place. And finally... she recovered completely," Mars said with a big smile on his handsome face. "Tonight, my mother will join us for dinner."

He intentionally lied about his mother being injured, and not dead. Mars didn't want people to know that Queen Elara was revived with magic. It was better to hide the truth and said she was recovering from her injuries in a secret place.

Now, Ellena was really convinced that Mars had lost his mind. How could he say Emmelyn and his mother were still alive?

Dammit. He must have loved them so deeply that he still couldn't accept their deaths even after months passed. Ellena hated it to see how much Mars loved Emmelyn.

He must be in great denial and couldn't accept the fact that both Emmelyn and Queen Elara had died.

So, how long would Ellena have to wait for him until he could move on from his sadness and accepted Emmelyn's and Queen Elara's deaths??

Or was this condition permanent?

"Your Majesty...." Ellena whispered to the king urgently. Her face was filled with sadness and confusion. "Please pull yourself together. You are in public now. Stop speaking nonsense... Emmelyn and your mother are dead. You will only embarrass yourself if you continue... Please... stop it..."

.

.

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

Ahaha... I know you must be on the edge of your seat, waiting for Queen Elara to appear. Please be patient, I will continue writing that part after I wake up in the morning, my time.

It's now 1 am in my timezone and I want to keep my now-improved sleeping pattern by sleeping early XD.

Note: Thank you, Jen Taylor, for gifting this book a dragon!! You are so kind and I am grateful for your generosity.

To the others, thank you for showering this book with so many gifts and golden tickets. You are amazing and so supportive. I am grateful for your support.