The Cursed Prince

Emmelyn and Kira traveled more leisurely after they left the town. Their destination, Lakeshire, was not too far away and they wanted to enjoy the scenery too. For Emmelyn, it was a much-needed distraction.

She had been thinking about Harlow a lot and it made her so sad. So, as they travel through cities and villages, seeing beautiful farms, rivers, hills, valleys, and lakes on their journey, she could forget about her suffering temporarily.

When they entered towns and stayed in a big inn, she would make time to use Edgar's picture and ask the innkeeper or fellow travelers if they had seen him. She got lucky again when they entered a small kingdom called Elrend and spent the night in the capital, a city called Foust.

A group of knights for hire told her they saw Edgar and his men one month ago in Summeria. This made Emmelyn feel relieved. She was glad to know that Edgar was still alive and seemed to be doing okay.

She also felt moved because Edgar was still working hard to do what she asked of him. Emmelyn really hoped she got to meet Edgar and thanked him in person for his help.

It sucked to think that once Edgar returned to Draec, he would tell Mars that Emmelyn was not actually dead. Maybe Mars would be mean and chase Emmelyn all the way to Atlantea? That could happen if he was dumb enough to be influenced by Ellena.

'Stop it, Emmelyn. You're not doing yourself any favor by thinking about it,' Emmelyn chided herself.

"Thank you for your information. I am glad to know my friend is okay. I hope to meet him in Summeria," said Emmelyn to the group of knights after they answered her questions.

"Where do you come from if I may ask?" The group leader suddenly asked Emmelyn.

At this moment, Emmelyn no longer wore her 'birthmark' and just disguised herself as a young man from a noble family. It was easier to get responses and good treatment from the people she met on the road if they thought she was a nobleman.

"I came from Draec," Emmelyn replied. "It's across the ocean from here."

"Ah... so you crossed the ocean to get here?"

"Yes, I did. Why? Is there anything I can help you with?" Emmelyn asked back. She was grateful for their help earlier by sharing the information that they met Edgar in Summeria, and now she wanted to repay them if they needed information about her continent.

"Well, we are going to Wintermere and wondering how far is it from here," said the leader. 

"Wintermere?" Emmelyn looked at them attentively. "Why do you want to go to Wintermere?"

"We are looking for someone," the knights' leader replied. "There is a big bounty offered if we can find a woman that our king is looking for."

"Your king?"

"Not the king of Elrend, but our supreme ruler, king of Summeria," said the leader with a chuckle. The king of Elrend was a sixty-year-old man. He had no business looking for a young woman.

"Ah... King of Summeria?" Emmelyn just realized that the city they were staying in now was already part of Summeria.

After leaving Glasswell, they had traveled through 2 other kingdoms that were not yet colonized by Summeria. So, it looked like she had gone far enough and now she had entered the biggest kingdom in Atlantea's territory.

"What bounty?"

Suddenly, Kira's cheerful voice could be heard from behind Emmelyn. The woman had just finished washing her face and changed her outfit in her room and came down to the tavern to eat lunch with Emmelyn.

She heard the knights were talking about a bounty for a woman and quickly came closer to ask for more details. As a pirate, she loved the idea of getting a lot of money from doing a quest. Her father had countless ships and his men operated in the seven seas. If they wanted, they could find anyone.

The knights looked up to see who was asking the question. When they saw a stunning young woman stood behind Emmelyn with a smirk on her face, they gasped.

"Hey... beautiful! Do you want to marry me? I will give you a good life after I accomplish my quest and find the woman the king is assigned us to search," said one knight with a broad smile. 

"I have a good life, thank you very much," said Kira flatly. Her smile turned into a crooked smile as she looked at the man from head to toe. "But I am interested in the bounty. Tell me about it."

Emmelyn's heart skipped a beat when she heard Kira's question. She didn't know if Kira would want to hunt her as well if she knew Emmelyn was wanted by three different people.

Gosh.. pirates were evil people. Emmelyn should know that just because she could convince Kira to be her travel companion, it didn't mean the pirate princess was suddenly turned into a good person.

Emmelyn decided to be more careful. She must not let Kira know she was the same woman that these knights were looking for.

"Nah, I cannot tell you..." the knight chuckled. "It's not like you can go find the woman and bring her to the king and get the reward. It's a man's job."

"Is it though?" Kira narrowed her eyes. "Why is it a man's job? I don't understand the logic."

Then, she slowly rolled up her sleeves to show the round snake tattoo on her arm. The five knights who were sitting at their table with wine cups in their hands suddenly gasped, and two people even dropped their cups to the floor out of shock.

"Y-you....?!" The leader's eyes bulged when he saw the snake tattoo and he looked up to Kira with a look of disbelief. Emmelyn could guess that they knew who Kira was.

"Ah.. so, you've heard of me?" Kira smiled sweetly and crossed her arms on her chest, showing her tattoo even more clearly. She looked pleased to know that her group's reputation had spread far and wide.

"Are you related to... The Grim Serpent?"