The Cursed Prince

"Do you want to rest before dinner?" asked Mars.

Emmelyn nodded. The girl was indeed a little tired after a long day of going out. She even caught a rabbit and cooked it for their lunch. However, the joy that she felt made all the tiredness worth it!

She was also happy that Mars offered to take her out again. Emmelyn felt that the man was starting to understand her.

Thinking about it made the girl's chest filled with warmth again, even though the temperature was already chilly.

Her feelings became mushy. Ahh.. this is bad. Why was she feeling mushy? Did she waver? 

Uff... Emmelyn chided herself. She must not fall in love with the crown prince of the Draec kingdom.

No matter how well Mars treated her, it didn't change the fact that he was her family's enemy. This put her in a difficult position.

Suddenly a pang of headache hit her. Staggering, Emmelyn walked to the bed and curled on the bed. She closed her eyes and tried to imagine beautiful things to relieve her headache.

Ah .. were there any beautiful things in her life now? Emmelyn didn't know. 

She actually felt that there was no point in living anymore because her whole family was gone. Now, she also didn't really have her freedom.

Emmelyn needed a reason to stay alive, and right now, she only had one, and that was revenge.

"Are you okay?"

Suddenly she heard that distinctive baritone voice from beside the bed. Emmelyn didn't have to open her eyes to know that Mars followed her to the bed and watched her lie down with a frown in pain.

With alacrity, the man asked her if she was okay. His attention made Emmelyn feel more conflicted with herself.

[Don't be so nice to me!]

[I want to keep hating you ...]

[Don't give me a silent treatment, but don't be too nice either.]

[Can you just be a normal enemy? So, I can hate you properly. Thank you.]

[Geez ... What am I doing?]

[Asking him not to give me silent treatment but also not be too nice?]

[I am too demanding. ]

Emmelyn opened one eye and looked at the man.

"I have a headache," she said simply, hoping that by saying that, she would make Mars understand that she didn't want to be disturbed.

"Okay, I'm going to have Roshan call Doctor Vitas," said Mars determinedly. "You wait here."

As Emmelyn's mind went to the very old doctor being forcibly summoned to the crown prince's castle just to check on her headaches, the girl felt pity toward the foss-.. uhm, old man.

Jeez .. she would get bad karma if she gave that old man a hard time. After all, she knew what caused her headache. This was not caused by any illness. It was all in her mind. She would be able to relieve the pain after calming down.

Once she calmed down, she would be fine. Therefore, Emmelyn spontaneously grabbed Mars' hand and squeezed it. "No need to call that poor old doctor. Don't you have a heart?? I don't have a bad headache. If I rest, it'll subside on its own."

Mars stood for a moment in his place, trying to weigh whether he would comply with Emmmelyn's request not to call his family's trusted doctor, or not. Finally, he nodded and sat by the bed.

"All right, I will not call him. Is there anything I can do to relieve your headache?" asked Mars in a gentle voice. 

Gosh .. Emmelyn was mesmerized to hear the prince's attentive voice.

She felt that their relationship recently was very good. In fact, it was too good that she was afraid she would fall in love with Mars. 

What she actually wanted was for them to be civil or, at most, act friendly toward each other. It was supposed to stop at mutual respect, and nothing more.

However, lately, it seemed to grow into something more. If Mars acting so nice to her, Emmelyn worried that she would waver ... and eventually fall in love with this man. 

Ah ... she really had to try her best to prevent that from happening. Not only was Mars her enemy, but the man had made it clear that their relationship was merely as 'partners or coworkers' working together on a project to produce offspring for Mars. Nothing more and nothing less.

After all, Mars already confessed that he didn't want to get married. He would only consider marriage when he was old and bored. He said he would look for a meek and obedient girl to be his wife.

Emmelyn was anything but meek and obedient, so of course, Mars wouldn't consider making Emmelyn his wife. She was only needed to bear the prince's children.

"Hmm ..." Emmelyn massaged her forehead and wondered what else she could do to reduce the pain in her head. "I don't know."

"Maybe I could try the method my mother used whenever I was sick," Mars said after thinking for a moment. He then climbed into bed and pushed Emmelyn's body slightly into the middle of the bed. He then sat back against the headboard, then turned the girl's body so that her back was facing him.

Emmelyn, who was having a massive headache, didn't have the energy to argue with the man. So, she just let Mars push her body and do whatever his mother did to him when he was sick.

"My mother always rubbed my back when I got sick," said Mars. "I was a sickly boy. My parents were always worried that I would not survive my childhood. I was very sad to see their faces filled with sadness and worry."

Mars then rubbed Emmelyn's back affectionately. His attitude and words just now made Emmelyn feel deeply touched.

Ahh, she was reminded of Mrs. Adler's words that the Strongmoor family was cursed. Their children would die before they reached adulthood. Even if he managed to survive, he was cursed that he would never be happy.

Seeing how Mars survived all the illnesses and being so weak when he was a child, Emmelyn became sympathetic toward the man. Mars must have tried hard to stay alive so his mother wouldn't feel devastated.

Emmelyn could imagine how much grief the queen went through each time she lost her children. Perhaps that was how Mars felt too so that because of his love for his mother, he survived the best he could and became strong.

Emmelyn kept her eyes closed while enjoying the man's big hand rubbing her back. 

Ahh ... what sorcery was this? As it turned out, Queen Elara's method worked like magic to reduce pain. Her headache subsided quickly.

Ahh .. it was like a miracle!

Hmmm ... it felt so, so good.

Emmelyn was feeling better, and now she could start thinking clearly. She then decided to ask Mars about the curse that befell him. Emmelyn wanted to know whether Mrs. Adler's words were true or not.

Who knows, maybe that old woman was just talking nonsense, right? Emmelyn couldn't just believe what a stranger said, even though the witch was kind to her and they both came from the same country.

"Thank you, it feels good," Emmelyn muttered.

"Do you like it?" Mars asked with a happy face.

Emmelyn just cleared her throat and raised one hand to sign that she liked it. What's not to like? It felt so good and she also got a heat transfer from their contact.