The Cursed Prince

Elmer The Wizard truly lived up to his reputation. The old man was actually older than Mr. Vitas, the court physician, but somehow, he still looked very healthy and formidable.

The wizard wore a long grey robe and let his white hair grew down to his shoulders. From afar, if people saw him in a glance, Elmer looked like a strong warrior.

Only when people got close, they could see how old he actually was. His face was filled with wrinkles and his white beard made him look like everyone's grandpa.

"Is he really Mr. Vitas's brother?" Emmelyn whispered her question to Mars when she caught sight of him. It was so hard to believe that the old and frail Mr. Vitas was related by blood to Elmer The Wizard.

"Yes. They are brothers and both learned under the same famous wizard more than one hundred years ago. Mr. Vitas was more interested in herbomancy and he is quite gifted in that field, so he has been focusing his studies on medicinal herbs and health-related fields," Mars explained to her. "While Elmer learned to be a powerful wizard like his teacher."

"Wh-what...? They started studying one hundred years ago?" Emmelyn's mouth was agape.

Just how old were those two men actually? She was wondering.

So, she was right when she thought Mr. Vitas looked like a foss- uhm... looked like he was centuries old. At least two hundred years.

"Well.. Mr. Vitas is already 110 years old, and Elmer is 114 years old," Mars replied.

Well.. 110 years to 200. Close enough, Emmelyn thought.

"So.. they started studying when they were ten and fourteen?" Emmelyn asked again.

"Something like that, more or less," said Mars. "I think I've heard Elmer said to me once that he and Mr. Vitas started their training after their parents passed away when they were at the tender age of eight and twelve."

"Oh.. they are already so old.." Emmelyn muttered. Now she realized that Mr. Vitas looked frail and old because he was truly... old.

She was impressed that such an old man was still working hard to serve the royal family. Also, looking at how strong Elmer looked, his power must have something to do with his fit physique.

However, there was something that she was still wondering about. "So, if Elmer The Wizard and Mr. Vitas are brothers, does this mean, Elmer's name is also Vitas?"

"Yes," Mars replied. "His name is Elmer Vitas and his brother is Euclid Vitas. Since the younger brother is more well-known as the court physician, people started calling him by his family name, and the wizard is known by his first name. You know how most wizards use only one name, right?"

"Ah, that's true," Emmelyn nodded.

Many powerful witches and wizards that she had ever heard of usually went by their first names. Just look at Elmer The Wizard, Gandalf The Grey, Morgana from Shiree, and Myrtle of Glasswell to name a few.

They only used their family name if they wanted to live among the commoners, to avoid suspicions.

That's why Mrs. Adler used her family name. She was a witch but mostly focused on medicine and herbomancy, like Mr. Vitas.

"Your Majesty," Elmer The Wizard stood in the middle of the meeting hall, accompanied by a much younger man, that looked like he was in his 30's. This other man was wearing a blue robe and his black hair was cut short.

He had a calm demeanor and looked wise for his age. Maybe it was his eyes that seemed filled with wisdom? Emmelyn didn't know.

Her heart was suddenly racing when the man looked up and saw her. Their eyes locked. Somehow, Emmelyn saw a confused glint in his eyes, before his expression changed into pity, and then disbelief.

Why? Why did he look at Emmelyn with pity? Or confused...? Was anything the matter?

Did this man know something about Emmelyn? Did he know Emmelyn just lost a brother so he looked at her with pity?

Did that mean, this man was a mind reader?

Gosh.. so many questions!

"This is my disciple, Bruinen, Your Majesty. I hope someday he could serve the kingdom after I become too old to serve Your Majesty," Elmer motioned the man beside him to introduce himself to the king. "Bruinen, this is King Jared Strongmoor and Queen Elara Strongmoor."

"Your Majesty," Bruinen quickly dropped himself to his knees and gave his respect to the monarchs. "My name is Bruinen. I am very happy to meet you, and I will do anything within my power to serve this country."

"Thank you, Bruinen. You may rise..."  said the king.

King Jared looked very pleased that Elmer came with his disciple. It meant that the wizard took this mission seriously.

The king was also glad that Elmer seemed to prepare his replacement as the royal wizard to help the king in the future when Elmer finally couldn't do it anymore.

This was really a good arrangement. Today, since Elmer would go with Mars and his little army to Wintermere to defeat and kill the witch, he intentionally brought one of his disciples with him.

Elmer would show Bruinen how to do things, so next time if the king summoned Elmer again, Bruinen could come to replace him.

"Good afternoon, Your Highness," Bruinen bowed down in respect to the crown prince. "You look healthy. I hope everything is going well with you..."

"Thank you, Bruinen, for coming all the way. Yes, everything is well," said Mars. He tapped the other man's shoulder. and pointed at Emmelyn. "This is my wife, Princess Emmelyn."

When Bruinen turned to Emmelyn. His face now slowly showed that pity expression again. His gaze made Emmelyn feel insecure about herself.

What did she do? She was wondering.

Emmelyn didn't know who Bruinen and Elmer were until Mars told her. So, it was confusing to see Bruinen's gaze toward Emmelyn now. Did Bruinen know who she was?

"Your Highness," Bruinen bowed his head to Emmelyn. "Good to see you."

"Good to see you as well," Emmelyn replied.

She fixed her eyes on Bruinen and soon she realized the man seemed to be observing her closely. Emmelyn was curious to know why Bruinen looked at her that way. 

"Is there something wrong with my face?" She asked Bruinen in her melodious voice.

The man looked at her deeply and forced a smile that looked weird on his face as his expression obviously seemed worried.

"Uhm.. I am just surprised to see Your Highness surrounded by a really dark aura. I have never seen such a thing before in person, but I've heard about it," Bruinen replied politely. "Do you know anyone from Myreen?"

Emmelyn furrowed her brows. Myreen? She didn't know anyone from Myreen. She didn't even know Myreen was a place. And...

What did it have to do with her?

Also.... damn! So, it looked like Mrs. Adler was right the first time when she said Emmelyn had such a dark aura. She was not the only one! Bruinen also said the same thing.

Emmelyn was very sure Bruinen didn't have any reason to make things up about her since they didn't know each other.

So... if two unrelated people said the same thing about Emmelyn... did this mean that they were right?

She shook her head. "No. What about Myreen?"

Bruinen seemed to be thinking of something and then he shook his head. "Nothing. I am sorry, I must be mistaken. It's a place, really, really far away from here. I don't think you have anything to do with them."

That's when Emmelyn remembered where did she hear about Myreen before.