The Cursed Prince

There were so many questions raging in his mind. Mars tried to keep himself calm and collected and asked more questions to get everything his spies found throughout their investigations.

"Did you see Lady Ellena went somewhere suspicious before the last royal ball?" Mars asked his spy again. The middle-aged man shook his head.

"I can't say it's suspicious," he replied. "I just saw Lady Ellena went to their home in the countryside and came back with a man. It looks like they have a good relationship. Maybe they are friends."

It must be Killian, Mars assumed. 

Sure enough, Ellena said Killian Snowden was her friend that she met on her journey.

"Did they seem to be over-friendly?" Mars asked him again. "Like.. do you think they have a romantic interest with each other?"

He did hope Ellena would stop chasing him and find another man to anchor her heart. If that man turned out to be Emmelyn's brother, he would be fine with it.

But first, he needed to get all the facts. Who was the man actually and what was his real relationship with Ellena?

The spy shook his head. "I didn't see such a thing, Your Highness. They seemed close but not affectionate."

"Hmmm..." 

Mars sighed and checked the time. It had been over two hours. Maybe the sketch was now done?

"You wait here," he said to the spy and left the room to get to his study.

Mars was right. The painter just finished brushing the last color on the sketch he created with Emmelyn. The picture was done.

Mars could see the face of a man in his 30's with brown hair and blue eyes, looking extremely cold on that piece of paper. 

His gaze looked striking, and for a moment, Mars fixed his eyes on Killian's face.

If eyes could kill, this might be the case, he thought.

Mars didn't remember the man he saw at the ball looked like this and had this piercing gaze. Perhaps, this was how he was perceived by Emmelyn?

His wife did say her brother threw a disappointed look at her. Maybe this changed Emmelyn's memory of how Killian looked?

"How is it?" He asked Emmelyn.

The woman looked up to see him and smiled wryly. "It's done. Mr. Ato is very talented. He could create my brother's picture just from my description. We can use this picture to find him."

"Hmm." Mars nodded. He took the paper and thank Mr. Ato for his hard work. "Thank you, Sir. I will take this picture and you will get paid handsomely."

"No need to thank me, Your Highness. I was just doing my job." Mr. Asai Ato bowed down so deeply, that Emmelyn cringed and looked away. She was worried the old man would break his back.

Why did elderlies in this kingdom still have to work? She was wondering.

She remembered Mr. Vitas, the court physician and now the painter. Didn't they have younger people to continue their professions?

Draec badly needed regeneration on professional skills, she thought. They had plenty of young soldiers, but why didn't they have young physicians and artists around the palace?

"I will leave you with Lady Emmelyn here. She will give you gold coins as your reward," The crown prince said. He glanced at Emmelyn and the girl nodded. 

Ah.. she felt good that Mars already delegated things to her like making payment, etc. It showed that he trusted her to do whatever she wanted with his money and to be in charge of his household's stuff, just like what a wife was supposed to.

She smiled reassuringly, letting him know that she would do a good job and give Mr. Asai Ato the reward he deserved.

Mars smiled back and took the picture from the desk and left the study. He came to see his spy and gave the picture to him.

"Is this the man you saw with Lady Ellena?" he asked him.

The man took the picture and studied it carefully. "Hmm... I don't think so. They look different. The man I saw with Lady Ellena was younger, I think he is about Your Highness' age."

"Oh..." Mars didn't know what to think.

Were they really two different men or did Emmelyn mistake the man as her brother when he was not?

Mars had heard from Emmelyn about her siblings and he figured Killian was supposed to be around 26 or 27 years old, but the man in this picture was obviously much older. 

"I want you to find this man from the picture and check if they are the same person as the man you saw in the countryside with Lady Ellena. If they are different people, I want to know who they are and where they are now," Mars said to the man. "You can give this picture to our team and reproduce it so they all can have it to do their investigation. I want results as soon as possible."

"Duly noted, Your Highness," the man nodded respectfully. "What about the Bellevars? We have sent some of our people to Wintermere to look for them. Should we stop or do you still want us to find them?"

"Find them. I think they are the keys to everything," Mars said.

He knew, aside from Ellena, the Bellevars were the only people in the world who knew where the witch was. In fact, Ellena might actually trick the Bellevars into giving away the witch's location in the first place.

He quickly added, "If possible, don't use violence. Use the same trick that Lady Ellena used to get information from them. If your daughter can do this job, I will elevate her status and find her a good husband from among the nobles."

The man's eyes were suddenly gleaming with excitement. Having his family's status elevated was one of the most rewarding rewards a pheasant like him could get.

He had a really talented daughter and wished for her to marry up. This opportunity was definitely a once in a lifetime and they shouldn't pass it up.

"We will work so hard, Your Highness.." The man bowed down so deeply, over and over again.

"You can go and start working," Mars said. "Try to get to the Bellevars as soon as possible."

He knew Wintermere was quite far, that's why his people must hurry.

Mars wanted to get the witch within the next five months, before his child was born, so he could have peace of mind.