The Cursed Prince

 "I'm done," said Emmelyn happily. She clapped her hands together with a satisfied expression.

It only took them an hour to prepare the traps and install them. Now, they could continue their walk and come back here later to get the animal that was unlucky enough to be trapped in Emmelyn's device.

The girl put the knife back into her coat and returned to her horse. "Come on, let's keep moving."

Mars nodded. He also got on his horse and immediately ordered his horse to gallop alongside Emmelyn's horse. The two of them rode their horses happily to enjoy the scenery.

Actually, this small forest didn't look special to Mars. He never paid attention to the trees and those yellow and red leaves that covered the ground as he passed through.

However, for some reason, today everything looked beautiful in his eyes. He even just realized that on the edge of this forest there was a small pond.

All this time, he only knew that in the middle of this forest there was a river that flowed all the way to the valley behind the hill over there.

While Emmelyn was in a really good mood, Mars decided to ask Emmelyn what she had done while she was traveling in Atlantea.

"You said you've been to Atlantea," said Mars when they decided to stop by the lake and tie their horses to the nearby trees. "What are the differences between Atlantea and Terra, in your opinion?

Emmelyn took out a waterskin from under her coat and opened the cap before answering Mars' questions. "Hmm ... Atlantea has more races. I saw various kinds of people there. I saw people whose skin colors are different from us. Some are yellow, and some are black."

"Really?" Mars seemed very interested to hear that. He had never seen people with different skin colors than him. "It must be so interesting."

"That's right. There is also a rumor that there is a mysterious little kingdom that no one can ever find."

"I don't understand. Is the kingdom hidden?" asked Mars.

Emmelyn nodded. "That's right. It is said that the kingdom is ruled by a very powerful wizard family. A hundred years ago they decided to hide their kingdom from ordinary people. They did not like dealing with humans who were waging war around them."

Emmelyn took a sip of her drink from the waterskin. Her radiant expression made Mars suspicious. He then reached out his hand towards Emmelyn with an open palm.

"Can I have a sip?" he asked.

Emmelyn pursed her lips and grumbled. "Why don't you bring your own drink?"

However, even though she grumbled, the girl still handed over her waterskin to Mars. The man received it with a beaming face and immediately took a sip.

"Cough cough ... is this wine?" he asked in amazement. "I thought you brought water?"

"Why bring water?" Emmelyn retorted. "It's very cold out here. Of course, it's better to bring wine than water."

Mars shook his head. He had to admit that Emmelyn was very well prepared. Earlier, he found her carrying a knife, rope to make the traps, and now she also brought wine. How awesome!

"You're very smart," said Mars.

He smiled wryly and sipped the wine from the waterskin with a happy heart. After handing the waterskin back to Emmelyn, he then proceeded to ask Emmelyn about the continent of Atlantea.

Emmelyn basically liked telling stories. Therefore she was happy to share everything she knew during her adventures in Atlantea.

"So ... this kingdom is called the Myrin kingdom. There are many folktales that were passed down from generation to generation about this kingdom in ancient times. But, one day, suddenly this kingdom disappeared and no one could find it."

"How long has it been missing or hidden?" asked Mars.

"I don't know. There are various rumors circulating and you won't know which story is true. Some say it's been a hundred years, some say two hundred years. What is clear is that everyone who had seen the kingdom firsthand is now dead. I'm actually not sure whether the Myrin kingdom really exists or not," said Emmelyn again.

Mars suspected a natural disaster took place that destroyed the entire kingdom, but people prefer to spread fairy tales to make the story about Myrin even more mysterious.

However, Mars kept his theory to himself and said nothing to Emmelyn. He didn't want to force his opinion on her.

Seeing Mars was such a good listener, Emmelyn became more excited to share her journey. Mars looked very impressed and repeatedly clicked his tongue when he heard Emmelyn's stories.

While chatting, they shared the wine Emmelyn brought. Talking over wine, while watching the day go by, felt blissful.

Ahh ... Mars thought it was the right decision to accompany Emmelyn on a walk like this. He could hear her talk at length about things that excited her. Emmelyn also looked very happy.

At the thought of this, Mars became saddened when he realized that Emmelyn really didn't like being 'cooped up' in his castle.

"Ahh .. look, the sun is going down," said Emmelyn suddenly. "I feel hungry. We have rested here for too long. We better go back and check the traps."

"You're right," Mars immediately got up and helped Emmelyn up.

Then they rode back to the place where they had set the traps. From the six traps that were installed in several rabbit holes, it turned out that one trap succeeded in getting a prey.

"Ahh .. the rabbit is so fat!" exclaimed Emmelyn happily. She lifted the fat rabbit from the ground with her right hand and showed off her catch.

"Wow, that looks nice!" exclaimed Mars. "The others don't catch any rabbits. I think we better break the branches."

Emmelyn nodded. "Yes, just break them. If we leave it there, a rabbit could get trapped and it will starve to death because nobody takes it."

"How do you want to cook the rabbit?" asked Mars.

"I'll go back to the pond earlier to wash my hands and prepare the meat," Emmelyn replied. "You can follow me there when you're finished here."

Without waiting for the man's reply, Emmelyn had jumped onto her horse's back and headed west. Mars looked doubtful for a moment, but this time he decided to trust Emmelyn.

Earlier when the girl left, he had ordered his soldiers to chase her and block the girl behind the hill. He had thought Emmelyn was going to run away. However, it turned out that his suspicions were proven wrong.

Now, he would trust Emmelyn and would not go after her. Feeling calm, Mars then took all the traps they had set on near rabbit holes and broke the branches. That way, no small animals could fall into the trap.