The Cursed Prince

Emmelyn cried without a sound for a good while. She felt so angry and sad at the same time. If it was up to her, she would have continued sobbing for longer, but soon, she wiped her tears and steeled her heart.

She realized she had to go if she didn't want the thug to think she was weak and crying. This was not the time to linger and cry about her life. There were so many things that she had to take care of.

But first, she needed to get out of here.

She stood up and looked around her. She was currently in some sort of forest. Where was she? Which area was this? 

She didn't remember how long did she pass out and how far had they traveled from the capital.

Were they actually still in the capital?

She looked up to the sky and judging from the position of the sun, they might have traveled for almost three hours. Well, that was if they immediately left the warehouse.

What if they stayed longer in the warehouse and only left half an hour ago?

Ugh... she needed to ask the thug.

She walked toward the carriage to talk to the wounded thug to ask him where they were and how to get back to king's town. From there, she hoped to meet the king's guards and let them take care of this thug and reported Ellena and the Prestons to them.

When she walked, she almost stumbled upon the other thug's lifeless body. Emmelyn winced in disgust and had to hold back her vomit. The scene replayed in her mind like a nightmare.

She actually killed the guy in cold blood.

She had never killed anyone before. She had never been in a life-or-death situation like what she experienced just now, and had to kill people to defend herself.

The only person she ever thought about killing was the crown prince who was now her husband, and the king... who was now her father-in-law.

Sigh.

Emmelyn pressed her chest. She had trouble breathing again because of the stress.

She hit her chest several times to force her to breathe. After escaping death and attempted kidnapping, she must not die from this stupid ailment.

She closed her eyes and tried to focus on her breathing.

She must be stronger for Harlow's sake.

She must get them both out of here and get help.

After she focused on getting better, Emmelyn took a long deep breath and went to the carriage. She used the sword to knock on the carriage door.

"Hey! How long have we traveled from king's town?" she asked the man. "Where are we now?"

There was no reply.

Emmelyn furrowed her brows. She hit the door harder with the sword. "Hey! Hey.. answer me!"

Still, there was no sound.

Did the thug intentionally keep quiet so Emmelyn would open the door to check on him? If Emmelyn did open it, there was a possibility that he would attack Emmelyn, just like what she did earlier to them.

But maybe.. the thug passed out or even dead. Emmelyn didn't really check how bad were his injuries. She only remembered that his face was beaten to a pulp since Emmelyn used excessive force with the wooden block.

Emmelyn was so mad and at the same time scared. She had to defend her life, so she only focused on how to get her opponents down as quickly as possible.

"Heyy!!"

Emmelyn was contemplating whether she should open the door or not. Ugh. She looked around her again and realized she really didn't know where they were. She was also not really knowledgeable of this area.

When she traveled to Draec to get her revenge, she didn't really pay attention to her surroundings. She only wanted to get to the capital and she wanted it fast. Everything that she passed by felt like a blur in her mind.

Now, she regretted not studying this kingdom while she had the chance. The crown prince's library had so many books about Draec, its cultures, the people, and the regions.

If she had known a little bit about this country, at least based on the direction and the time passed, she could kind of predict where she was right now and found the right direction to go home.

Finally, seeing that she had no other choice, Emmelyn slowly unlocked the carriage door and opened it. The thug could try to ambush her, but she would be ready with a stance and her sword.

She was grateful that she learned to wield a sword when she was younger. It had proven to be really useful in a situation like this. She was not the weak woman they thought she was.

CREAK

The carriage door opened with a creaking sound. Emmelyn was ready with the sword pointed at the door, ready for any possibility.

However, there were no movements nor sounds.

She came closer and checked what happened, still in a very alert stance. Once she could see inside, she let out a disappointed sigh.

The thug passed out.

She patted her sword point at the man's body and when she didn't get a reaction, she grazed his arm. Surely, if the man pretended to be unconscious, he would shriek from the sudden attack.

He was still lying motionless, even when his arm bleed and blood started dripping.

Great, now this thug passed out, Emmelyn complained inwardly. She finally climbed onto the carriage and checked the man's condition. She needed to know how bad were his injuries and if the man could make it until they reached king's town.

Dammit! Emmelyn muttered under her breath. It looked like, this thug's wounds were quite severe. He was losing a lot of blood and his face looked so pale.

Emmelyn took a deep breath and tried to think about what she would do. They were now in a forest. If she continued driving this carriage in a straight line, she would definitely reach the end of the forest and got out of here.

Once she was out, she could find people to ask for direction. Maybe she could also ask to find a healer or local doctor to help treat the thug's wounds to save his life.

At this moment, Emmelyn needed him to stay alive to be her witness when she reported Ellena for her crimes.

Emmelyn finally made the decision to do as she thought. She took a waterskin from the coachman seat and put it inside of the carriage so the thug could drink water when he woke up. He might be parched and needed a lot of water because he lost so much blood, so he could survive.

Emmely would find water for herself on the way to get out of this forest. 

Once she locked the carriage door again, she went to the coachman seat and control the horses to take them out of there. As she planned previously, she moved in a straight line, hoping that she could get out of the forest as soon as possible.

While the carriage was moving, she paid attention to her surroundings to see if she could find a water source like a river or a small lake.

The sun was slowly setting to the west and after one hour, she still didn't see anything. Emmelyn's spirit started to dim. What if she was stuck in this forest when night fell?

It would be harder for her to find a way out.

Her heart sank.

The beautiful woman bit her lip and tried to hold back her tears. 

At this moment, she really wanted to be a damsel in distress who was saved by her knight in shining armor. 

All her life, she had been strong and put up a tough exterior. She had to protect and care for herself. She couldn't even get her parents' love without competing with her older siblings.

Her life was so hard and she just wanted someone to share the burden with her. Now, that she found that person, he was not here when she needed him the most.

Emmelyn felt really sad.

"Stop it! Stop crying..!" She muttered and scolded herself for being so weak. Now was not the time to be weak.

She must be strong for Harlow. If she died here, Harlow would die too.

She couldn't let it happen.

Emmelyn wiped her eyes and clenched her jaws. She looked up to the sky and saw that soon the sun would be gone and she wouldn't be able to find her way. She had not eaten anything and she was very thirsty.

Maybe she should stop going in a straight direction and instead focus on finding a water source. Right now, her top priority was to stay alive.

What's the point of getting out of the forest if she was to die of thirst and hunger?

Finally, Emmelyn stopped the carriage. She got down and walked around to find a Y-shaped branch from the ground. This would be helpful for her to locate the source of water. Her teacher taught her how to do it.

"Found it!" she breathed a sigh of relief when she saw one such a branch not far from where she stooped the carriage. Emme picked up the branch and closed her eyes.

She raised the branch to her chest level and pointed the single point in a random direction, then she let her instinct guide her.

When she opened her eyes, she noticed the branch was pointing west.

"That's where I can find water," she muttered happily. "All right. I will go there."