The Cursed Prince

The old man was overjoyed when Maxim called him to come closer. His small bowl still had half of the wine left. Emmelyn assumed he left it for his wife. This sight made her heart filled with warmth.

"As promised, we would like to give you something," Emmelyn took one basket of bread from the wagon and gave it to the old man. "We have extra bread and I don't think we will be able to finish them all. Please take this basket for you and your wife."

The man's eyes bulged when he saw the really nice-looking bread on the basket. He gulped and his body trembled slightly. He looked up and saw Emmelyn in the eyes, "That's a lot of bread."

"It's quite fresh, less than a day old. You can eat it for three more days. You can also share some with your neighbors," Emmelyn explained.

The man looked around them and smiled broadly. "I do know many people who need food. Thank you very much."

He accepted the basket of bread with a happy heart. Carefully, he placed his bowl in the middle of the basket, surrounded by the bread to keep it stable. He wanted to bring wine home for his wife too.

"Wait a minute," Maxim stopped the man before he lifted the basket to carry. He motioned Lysander to bring a jug from the wagon and filled it with their wine. "Give him some more."

"Yes, Sir," Lysander did what Maxim told him,  while the old man was in awe at the strangers' kindness. He wanted his wife to taste this good wine too, but he was too ashamed to ask for more. So, he left half from his bowl to give his wife.

He didn't expect the kind merchant would give him more. He wiped his wet eyes with his sleeves.

"Here you go," said Lysander as he passed the wine jug to the old man. "Be careful when you carry them. They are quite heavy."

"Why... thank you so much," the old man bowed down so many times to show his gratitude that Maxim felt awkward. He patted the old man's back and told him to go home. He turned to Lysander. "If it's too heavy for him, you can help carry his stuff. What do you think?"

Lysander nodded. "Yes, Your Maj—my lord... I will help him."

The old man quickly shook his head. He looked so embarrassed that these people would go out of their way to help him. "No.. no,  need, my lord. I am still healthy and strong. I do manual labor for a living. Carrying this basket is doable for me. Especially because it contains food. It feels so light and I only feel joy when I carry it."

"Ah.. okay, if you said so..." Maxim felt touched. He could see this old man was a hard worker and honest. He nodded and let him go. "Very well. You may leave now."

"Thank you, my lord."

The old man bowed down again and walked with his basket of food. His steps were light and he was obviously happy. Emmelyn couldn't help but smile too.

"I put money in the basket," Maxim whispered to Emmelyn. "He seems like a hard-working man who just needed some support."

"That's very nice of you," Emmelyn hit Maxim on the shoulder. "I like that."

"Well, nice is my middle name," Maxim said smugly.

Emmelyn chuckled when she heard his smug reply. She leaned on a little and whispered to him, "I also put some money in the basket. I thought he could use the money to take his wife to see a physician."

"Why, Emmelyn Rosehill! Why are we always thinking alike?" Maxim raised an eyebrow and shook his head as he clicked his tongue in awe. "Maybe I should marry you, like what Kira said."

Emmelyn laughed out loud and rolled her eyes. She was happy they had talked about their relationship after they left Mount Tempest. So, they could joke about this without having to feel awkward.

Lysander and the other knight could only watch their banter and secretly shook their heads. The king was like a very different person after they saw him being around Emmelyn.

He was an aloof man and very often sarcastic when he spoke. However, he turned into a happy-go-lucky man who laughed a lot when he was with this woman.

Ahh... maybe King Loriel was really in love. Only love could make people change this much.

"Let's find a nice inn to stay the night. We can get a nice rest and sightsee a little bit before we continue our journey," Maxim said to Emmelyn. Then he turned to Lysander. "By the way, where did Kira go?"

"She went that way," said Lysander, pointing to the right. "I think she mentioned something about exploring the market and canal."

"Okay, one of you can look for her and bring her to our inn. We will wash up and then get ready to explore."

"Will do, Your Majesty," said Lysander. He told the other knight to look for Kira while he got their wagon ready.

Maxim, Emmelyn, and Lysander went to the nicest inn at the end of the canal. The building was really nice with windows overlooking the busy canal.

Kira and the other knight arrived shortly after. They put their stuff in their room and decided to explore Red Bean together. Emmelyn could finally enjoy sightseeing with her friends because she now no longer rushed herself to get things done.

After making a decision to give the scarf to Edgar and ask him to bring it back to Draec, Emmelyn felt such huge relief. She only needed to get her curse lifted and she was already close to the source.

Once she could sort it out, she would start thinking about her life. After living on the road alone for weeks before she met Kira, Emmelyn was always feeling on the edge. It was very stressful and tiring.

Now, she just wanted to be kind to herself and took a well-deserved break, and enjoyed her time with her friends.