The Cursed Prince

Emmelyn felt sick to her stomach when she heard from Mr. Vitas about what happened. Anger and deep sadness mixed up in her heart.

All her life, she had never felt emotions as intense as what she had today.  She sobbed uncontrollably and cupped her face with her hands.

Emmelyn thought she had experienced the worst day of her life when she heard about her family's demise. However, she was wrong. She felt even more devastated when Killian died. 

The small glimmer of happiness that she had after she found out that her brother was still alive vanished almost immediately that Emmelyn thought god was playing with her. Killian died on the same day she truly found him again.

And now... the woman that Emmelyn loved as a mother, was brutally killed by Ellena. At this moment, Emmelyn felt so alone and devastated. What would happen to her now?

The king thought she killed his wife... and from the looks of it, he would not listen to Emmelyn, no matter what she said.

Damn you, Ellena... Emmelyn cursed over and over again.

Her mind was filled with deep hatred. If only she was not pregnant, she would fight anyone and tried to escape from this place to chase Ellena and kill her.

Yes, Emmelyn had only killed one person in her life, and it was for self-defense. The thug who attacked her yesterday was the first man she had ever killed. The experience was horrific and it shook her soul in a bad way.

She could never forget the ghastly sight when her sword slashed the thug's head and it rolled on the ground. It had haunted her sleep at night and she knew it would affect her for a long time.

However, she would not hesitate to kill Ellena if Emmelyn could get her hands on that wench. She hated that snake so much.

Ellena was not human. She was worse than the devil. Not only Queen Elara was innocent, but she was also the kindest and most caring person Emmelyn had ever met.

Anyone who had the heart to kill such a pure soul like the queen didn't deserve any mercy or forgiveness. They belonged in the deepest part of hell.

"Your Highness, please drink this tonic so you will feel better," said Mr. Vitas after Emmelyn stopped crying. "After this, you have to eat something. Then you can rest."

Emmelyn didn't cry stop crying because she had finished venting her sadness, but because her tears had become dry. Her throat felt hurt and she couldn't shed any more tears.

She had cried so much in the past few months that her tears now had refused to come out. Ever since Emmelyn came to this wretched kingdom, she kept experiencing suffering after suffering. 

She did have some happy days with her husband, but in comparison, now she felt how few the good days she had were compared to the bad ones.

Why was she so unlucky in life? This was not the life she planned for herself. From being homeless and orphaned, now she was a prisoner in the enemy's kingdom and she was accused of a crime she didn't commit.

Could things get any worse than this?

Emmelyn wanted to say no to Mr. Vitas's suggestion and did a hunger strike, but because of Harlow, she had no choice but to take the tonic from Mr. Vitas' hand and downed it in one go. 

"Now, you have to eat a little and then rest," Mr. Vitas continued.

Emmelyn nodded weakly. She forced herself to eat the food prepared by two maids.  She did feel famished because she had not eaten proper food since yesterday.

"You look so tired, Your Highness," Mr. Vitas observed Emmelyn carefully after she finished her meal. "It will be better if you sleep and gain your strength. Please think about your baby. Your stress level is so high now. You need to calm your mind."

"Hmm..."

Emmelyn didn't refute the old man's advice. However, as she wanted to lie down again and rest, she looked at the chain on her right leg. She looked at Mr. Vitas deeply and asked him if she could be freed from the chains since she would be locked up in this chamber.

"I need to be able to walk so I can keep my sanity and my health, Mr. Vitas," said Emmelyn. "If you keep me chained, my health will deteriorate and something bad might happen to my baby. Please ask the king on my behalf to remove me from the chain."

Mr. Vitas nodded. He agreed with Emmelyn that pregnant women must walk a lot and keep themselves healthy.

"I will talk to His Majesty," the physician said reassuringly. "You are carrying his grandchild anyway. Even though he hates you so much and wants to kill you, he wouldn't do it for the sake of the baby."

Emmelyn bit her lip when she heard the old man's words. She still hated King Jared, but after she saw how devastated the man was when his wife was killed, Emmelyn couldn't bring herself to hate the king as much as before.

King Jared was a broken man who was grieving for losing the love of his life. Emmelyn could imagine how she would feel if her husband suddenly passed away.

Ellena was the one who should receive all her hatred and grudge. Ellena was the one who must pay for Queen Elara's murder.

"Thank you, Mr. Vitas," said Emmelyn weakly. "I will sleep after the chain is removed."

"I will talk to His Majesty now," said Mr. Vitas. The man rose from his seat and bowed down a little to Emmelyn. "I will be back very soon."

"Thank you, Mr. VItas."

***

Emmelyn didn't know that Mr. Vitas mixed sleeping potion with the tonic he gave her earlier. After the physician left the chamber where she was detained, Emmelyn felt so sleepy.

She ended up sleeping all day and woke up when night fell. When she opened her eyes, Emmelyn saw that the chain had been removed.

So, she assumed Mr. Vitas did meet King Jared and manage to convince him to let Emmelyn be free from the chains. She felt grateful that the physician cared about her. At least it showed that not everyone in Draec seemed to hate her and wished her ill.

Now, she must know what happened to the thug that Mrs. Adler was treating. If Emmelyn could get the thug to come to the royal palace and testify, she might be able to convince the king that she was innocent.

Once she proved her innocence, she could make plans to punish Ellena. However... now that she thought of it again, Emmelyn was wondering if Ellena was the only one responsible for Queen Elara's death?

Emmelyn suddenly remembered what Bruinen and Mrs. Adler said about her when they saw her for the first time respectively. They both said she was surrounded by a really dark aura that brought her bad luck. 

Did this... have anything to do with it? Did Queen Elara's death was caused by her curse???

Gosh...

She just realized that last week Mrs. Adler had said she saw blood in her vision when she came to see Emmelyn in the castle. 

Oh... she was truly cursed.

After Mrs. Adler saw blood... the queen died. So, maybe this was what the old witch saw in her divination. The queen died because of Emmelyn's bad luck.

Just like her parents and siblings... now Queen Elara became the victim too because Emmelyn loved her.

Gosh... This was all her fault. The realization hit Emmelyn so hard that she started sobbing again. However, she couldn't shed any more tears. She had cried so much that her tear glad had refused to produce tears,

She cupped her face and sobbed despondently. This was all her fault. If only she was happy and content with staying home in Wintermere and didn't leave for adventures... she wouldn't be cursed like this.

But... how did she end up like this in the first place?

Emmelyn's brows furrowed and her sobs instantly stopped. Her brain went to work.

She did not know exactly how, but she encountered someone from Myreen on her journey in Atlantea, and that encounter led to her being cursed by the Leoraleis, the ruler of Myreen.

Even though Emmelyn didn't even know where she did wrong, the Leoraleis still mercilessly punished her with such a horrible curse. She was not given any chance to defend herself and get protection from their magic.

Emmelyn saw the Leoraleis as a cunning and evil wizard family who abused their power to bully the weak and treat other people like trash.

She hated them. So fucking much.

Now that Emmelyn thought about it, her bad luck apparently started after her teacher's son was captured by the pirates and her family was killed in the war waged by Draec, until today when Queen Elara was killed.

So, from two years ago, Emmelyn had been surrounded by the deaths of the people she cared about.  They died one by one and she was left alone to pick up the little pieces of her broken heart.

How long could she live like this?

How many more deaths could she take before she died of a heartbroken herself?

Emmelyn should have known better and left... before her bad luck took another victim.

Now she remembered what Mrs. Adler told her when they met the first time. The old witch told Emmelyn to leave Mars as quickly as possible 

She said the reason why Emmelyn could touch the crown prince was because Emmelyn would bring him bad luck. Mrs. Adler had advised her to leave as quickly as possible.

However, she was so dumb and she lingered. So dumb that now her beloved mother-in-law paid the price.

If only Emmelyn took her curse more seriously, she would have left Draec and stayed away from anyone she held dear to her. Killian might still be alive now and so did the queen. She could have faked her death back then to escape from the crown prince.

But she didn't do it because she was so selfish. The truth was, Emmelyn had unknowingly fallen in love with the prince and she didn't want to leave. And then it had become too late.

Emmelyn had bound herself to Mars in marriage and she was now carrying his child. 

[Why...? Why didn't I leave before it's too late?]

[The queen's death is my fault.]

[I bring bad luck to this family...]

[Why didn't I listen to Mrs. Adler's advice when she told me to leave?]

[Now, my selfishness had caused another life taken. This is all my fault]