The Cursed Prince

Note:

Thank you, dear Maude, for boosting this book AGAIN by sending another castle. I am so, so touched to know you think this book deserves to be in the #1 Golden ranking and has been boosting it so many times.

That is one of the kindest things someone has ever done for me. You make me feel so appreciated and loved. To be honest, I am already dumbfounded and happy being in the Top 3. Thank you so, so much.

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"You have to tell me everything," Mars sat back and looked at Edgar urgently. "I am sorry, you are supposed to rest after such a long journey, but I just can't wait... I thought my wife died... Please tell me how did you meet her and what happened to her."

Edgar didn't feel his fatigue anymore. He was pumped up by the wine and seeing Mars's face was filled with a glimmer of hope.

He could imagine how much Mars must have suffered too for all this time when he thought Emmelyn had died.

Now, Edgar just wanted to spill everything he knew and help Mars reunite with his wife. Gosh... their adorable daughter needed her mother. Emmelyn was so broken when she talked about Harlow. This family needed to be together again, as soon as possible.

"When I first landed in Atlantea, I have heard about a bounty set by King Loriel Ashborn of Summeria for a woman called Emmelyn from Wintermere. Everything seemed too much of a coincidence, that I suspected the woman in question was Lady Emmelyn, your wife," Edgar explained what he knew.

He added, "Based on that information, I decided to go as far away as Summeria to find out what did the king have to do with Lady Emmelyn. She sent me to find information about Myreen and the Leoraleis that was rumored to be the ruler. I had a hunch that the two things might be related. And it looked like... I was right."

"I finally reached Summerian capital, a huge city called Castilse and found out that the king was quite young and just recently took the throne. I was very curious to know why he was looking for Lady Emmelyn. After staying in Castilse for two weeks and gathering all the information we could get, suddenly... I was summoned to the royal palace."

"Huh? Their royal palace?" Mars was very surprised to hear this.  Was Edgar invited by King Loriel?

This made Mars unconsciously clench his fists. He remembered hearing the Summerian king bounty from Gewen. Now, he realized, perhaps, Loriel got to Emmelyn first.

Why? Why did he look for her? What's their relationship? What right did he have to keep Emmelyn in Castilse? Shouldn't Emmelyn go home together with Edgar?

"Yes, I was invited to the royal palace," Edgar replied. "I was very shocked. Not only they knew about me, but they also invited me to come. My men and I were to fight to our death in case they have bad intentions. Fortunately, that was not the case. I was welcomed and treated well."

Still, even though Edgar was treated well... Mars didn't want to trust King Loriel so easily. 

"And then... what happened?" he asked again, looking very impatient. "Was he holding Emmelyn in his place? When you saw her, was she under duress or pressure? Was she trying to ask for help secretly?"

"No... no, it's nothing like that," Edgar replied. "She and the king actually looked... close."

Edgar already suspected that this information would trigger his friend, but he wanted Mars to stop worrying about Emmelyn because the fact was she was not a prisoner in the Summerian king's castle.

He quickly added, "I asked Lady Emmelyn about what happened to her and what's her relationship with King Loriel. She said they were old friends."

"Old friends?" Mars furrowed his brows. He didn't know Emmelyn had a guy friend name Loriel Ashborn. Shouldn't she tell him about her friends if she had any?

After Emmelyn and he got involved, his wife had only told him about one friend she had when she was traveling in Atlantea.

Mars remembered he was often jealous whenever Emmelyn talked about her adventures and the guy's name came up. But Mars was sure his name was not Loriel Ashborn.

It was... Maxim.

Wait... 

"What does he like?" Mars asked Edgar. He wanted to know what kind of man was this other king who claimed to be Emmelyn's old friend. Emmelyn once said that Maxim was so handsome, that he was even better looking than Gewen.

So, he was wondering to know if this King Loriel Ashborn was also handsome and... ugh... His fists clenched more tightly.

Edgar cleared his throat. He understood why Mars asked this question. He must be feeling jealous. Edgar wondered if he should tell the truth or not. Because, even he, a man couldn't deny how the young Summerian king was very handsome.

He had the good looks, and charm of a bad boy that usually made women fell in love. And men would admire his built and charisma. He looked like a true leader.

So, if Edgar spoke honestly, he was worried Mars would be burned by jealousy and couldn't think straight to take his wife back.

At a moment like this, he should keep his head cool and act calmly because they were on the verge of going into war with each other, for a woman.

Edgar remembered clearly how King Loriel directly threatened to take back Emmelyn, Wintermere, and Harlow. If he told this to Mars, he could imagine the young king would immediately make preparation to attack Summeria.

Finally, Edgar tried to find the most diplomatic ways to share his opinion. "King Loriel Ashborn looked like a good man. He treated me well, and Lady Emmelyn too. She looked like a guest of honor in his palace. He also lent me one of his dragons because Lady Emmelyn asked him to help me reach Draec faster..."

Mars waved his hand impatiently, "I was asking how did he look like? Is he handsome?"

Finally, he had to voice his question in specific words. Was King Loriel Ashborn handsome?

Edgar was cornered and he didn't know how to avoid this direct question. He looked at Mars and shrugged. "Yeah. he is. He is a really good-looking man."

"More handsome than Gewen?" Mars asked again, to probe more information. He stared at Edgar seriously.

Edgar Chaucer nodded weakly. "Yeah. You can say that."

"Maxim..." Mars muttered under his breath.

Suddenly things started to make sense.

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From the author:

Mars is so smart. He made an intelligent guess and realized King Loriel Ashborn is actually Maxim. Do you think he will go to Summeria on the back of the dragon to get his wife back as soon as possible? Or would he send Gewen?

Appreciation Post:

Thank you so much, Harriet Moskowitz for gifting a dragon to this book earlier. Also, thank you to Kelly, Ivy, Mamabird, Joanna, Mina, Jolene, Lois, Margaret, Brittany, Lucy, Kristin, Rose, I am sorry I can't mention everyone one by one ...

OMG... you all never cease to amaze me! Your gifts, golden tickets, and so many other supports have made me feel so touched and think that my book is good.

I have been writing for years and have many books on this platform, they were not popular. This is the first time I experience so much support and love for my work. You have no idea how happy this makes me feel, and how it boosts my confidence in my writing.

Thank you so much for making my 2021 a great one.

PS: If you want to change your username from Daoistxxx (a generic name provided when you sign up with Facebook) but didn't know how, you can see my comment with pictures.

PPS: I posted some pictures I made for Emmelyn and Mars in the comment. I hope you like them,