The Cursed Prince

"But you are supposed to get good money from the king," Emmelyn insisted.

She felt really uncomfortable owing something to people. So, she had calculated how much money she could afford to give while still keeping some for her needs in case she needed to travel for much longer.

"Please just take it," she pushed the gold coins toward Lysander and put the pouch back inside her coat pocket, unwilling to hear any more objection. "I will not take the gold back."

Lysander suddenly felt shivers ran down his spine. This was a really unfortunate situation. He didn't want to accept Emmelyn's money, but how was he going to reject it?

What excuse should he give her? The king would punish Lysander greatly if he took Emmelyn's money.

The king was sitting right there and even though he looked nonchalant about the whole thing, he was paying attention like a sharp eagle.

"No. I never take money from a woman!" Finally, Lysander spoke firmly. He had no choice but to use such an excuse. "It's against my belief. Men should be the provider, the giver... not the taker. My mother will be very disappointed in me if she knew I accepted your money, my lady."

"Huh?" Emmelyn was stunned by Lysander's rejection.

She started to doubt if Lysander was really Lyla's son. Didn't Lyla love money? Why did this man act the opposite?

She said, "I am not giving you money. I am paying compensation because your mother has helped me."

Emmelyn was telling the truth. The reason why she wanted to give money to Lysander was that Lyla had been helping her with many things.

Not only did Lyla give Emmelyn and Mrs. Adler a place to stay in her brothel, fed them with good food and the best wine, but she also gave them new clothes and a carriage to take them all the way to Wintermere. 

Lyla provided her coachman and two of her girls to go with Emmelyn. They were worth a lot of money in terms of the service they provided.

And not only providing those things, but Lyla also helped Emmelyn bury her tracks by using her ring to put on a cadaver she bought from the physician, so people who were chasing Emmelyn would think she was dead and stopped pursuing her.

So, based on all these considerations, Emmelyn thought she owed Lyla and her son at least 20 gold coins. However, Lysander didn't want to accept her money?

"Please, just take it..." she said to Lysander. "You will make me feel bad if you don't want to take it."

"No, I will not take it," Lysander replied stubbornly. "You can keep your money."

Having said that, he pushed the money back to Emmelyn.

His actions made Emmelyn feel exasperated. She started to get annoyed.

"I don't want to owe you anything..." she said to Lysander with gritted teeth. "You should use the money to invite your mother to come and see you. If you are really such a filial son who would listen to his mother's teaching, you will give your mother a chance to see you after ten years."

"No. You don't owe me anything, my lady," Lysander replied. Beads of sweat fell on his temples. "I am a filial son. In fact, I will send a letter to my mother tomorrow to invite her to visit me in Summeria. I don't want your gold."

Kira looked at the scene with widen eyes.  She thought these two people were so weird. Who didn't want money? Twenty gold coins was a lot. People could use it to live a good life for one or two years.

However,  both Emmelyn and Lysander seemed to fight over who should take the money back, none of them wanted it. This was ridiculous!

"You guys don't want the money?" Kira looked at Emmelyn and Lysander alternately. Then. she said with a chuckle, "I can solve your problem and take this money on your behalf."

"Jeez... Kira, it's not yours to take," Emmelyn scolded the girl. She looked at Lysander exasperatedly, trying to see if she could change his mind. She saw him clenched his jaws, looking very determined to keep his stance.

Finally, Emmelyn could only scoff and took her money back. She thought Lysander was really stubborn.

Emmelyn had never met anyone who would say no to money. She took out her pouch and put the money back inside. She didn't notice Maxim smiled beside her when the man saw her argument with Lysander over money.

Maxim understood the reason why Lysander rejected Emmelyn's gold and he liked Lysander even more because the knight was smart and able to read the situation. The king finished his wine and patted Lysander on the back as if to show his appreciation.

"You did the right thing," he said casually to the young knight. "A real man shouldn't take a woman's money. It's embarassing."

Emmelyn had no idea that the beads of sweat on Lysander's forehead disappeared and his countenance became so relaxed after Maxim talked to him. Emmelyn grumpily put her pouch of money back into her coat pocket.

People at her table could hear her mutter, "Unbelievable..."

"All right, I feel full. Shall we head back to our inn and rest?" Maxim got up from his chair. He turned to Emmelyn and reached out his hand to help her get up. 

The girl furrowed her brows. "We haven't talked about our plans. I only told Lysander that I won't be going to see the king. We haven't discussed our trip to Summeria."

"Oh, I already discussed this with Lysander earlier, while you and Kira were taking a nap. Lysander will join us to go home to Castilse. It's the capital of Summeria. I think, the merrier, the better, right?"

"Oh, you did?"

"Yeah."

Emmelyn was happy to hear this. It looked like Maxim really knew her so well and he already made plans on her behalf. She felt heard. She already expressed her desire to leave as soon as possible, when she and Maxim were talking across the lake.

"Yes. You told me you want to reach Myreen quickly, so I figured you want to depart first thing tomorrow. I already asked Lysander about his plan since we will be going in the same direction. He said he wants to go back tomorrow and join us," Maxim explained. "What do you think?"

"It's perfect," Emmelyn took Maxim's hand with a broad smile. "Thank you."

.

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