The Cursed Prince

The journey felt awfully quiet on Maxim's part. He knew Emmelyn was angry at him and refused to talk to him. She also kept her distance and made sure their bodies didn't touch.

The journey was cold and awkward. Maxim didn't blame her for this treatment though. He could sense that Emmelyn felt betrayed. 

The man could only bit his lip and tried to focus on the direction ahead of them. The guard, apparently realized Maxim and Emmelyn were flying really slowly, finally slowed down his pace too.

He, on the ice dragon's back, followed by Eris with Renwyck, flew slowly toward the east, with Maxim and Emmelyn at the very back with Aslain.

Emmelyn could see the land under them was covered in snow and everything looked grey and sad. She didn't expect Myreen to look this pathetic.

Why would the Leoraleis think they needed to protect themselves from neighboring kingdoms by hiding their land? There was not much to take anyway. This land didn't look much different from the wilderness outside, except that it was covered in snow.

However, as they flew further and further into Myreen, Emmelyn immediately changed her mind. Right after they passed a barren-looking hill, they saw a completely different view.

The land under them was so fertile and lush with plants. As far as the eye could see, there was green grass, with horses and animals grazing leisurely, several rivers crossing the land with waters that looked like red and blue snakes crossing paths. 

The birds that were flying around them all had bright colors. One bird, in particular, looked so beautiful, that reminded Emmelyn of peacocks.

However, this peacock could fly and its long feathered tails were golden instead of green. It looked like a magical animal from fairy tales.

Emmelyn suddenly forgot about her misery and the fact that Maxim hid some information from her. The beauty around her touched her heart so much that she felt like crying.

This scenery was too beautiful for words. It felt so surreal, flying above this paradise.

Now, she realized why the Leoraleis wanted to protect their kingdom from outsiders. This place was truly heaven on earth. Emmelyn had visited many beautiful places and could appreciate beauty very well.

She had never seen a place so magical like Myreen. The air also somehow felt much fresher than what she was used to.

This was really strange. How could they have better air here? Did the environment really have an effect on the air quality?

She closed her eyes and took a really deep breath. Her lungs were filled with such pure air that it send the feeling of joy to her brain.

Maybe the healthy nature here did affect the air quality, she thought to herself.

Maxim was feeling the same way. He was impressed by everything he saw and understood why his mother really loved Myreen that she came here often in the past.

The king now regretted the fact that he couldn't remember anything from the trips here. He was just way too young back then.

This place was truly the nicest and most beautiful place he had ever seen in his life, and Maxim had traveled so much. He also noticed how some animals in this land were unrecognizable because he had never seen them before.

The flying peacock-look-alike was just one of them. He also saw some animals that looked like elephants, grazing on the green grass down there but their size was massive.

There were also some animals that looked like horses but they had two horns on their head. Not only those but there were several other very interesting animals that Maxim had never seen before today. He felt like he was transported to a different world.

After they flew above the green land filled with lush plants and animals enjoying life, they slowly reached human civilization in this kingdom.

They started seeing farm fields with horses and cattle that made up the countryside, and some castles here and there. Then, slowly there were paved roads that led to a big city filled with houses, small and big, then bigger buildings, towers, castles, and finally a big palace in the center.

"So, this is Myreen...." Maxim muttered to himself. They were now flying above a big city. Size-wise, it was much smaller than Castilse, and the population was small too. There weren't many people walking on the streets and doing stuff in public places, unlike in Castilse.

In fact... the city seemed  eerily quiet and sad. Did this have anything to do with their king being sick? Perhaps the people were sad by the disappearance of their princess and their king got sick because of that?

"That's the place," Maxim announced when he saw the guard landed in the courtyard of a big palace in the middle of the city. He assumed it was the royal palace.

Emmelyn had seen it too. She furrowed her brows when she realized the place looked familiar. When she saw the red-brick tower near the palace, she immediately knew... this was the place she saw in her dreams.

She had dreamed of a place she had never seen before in her whole life... and now she finally came there in person.

This felt really strange and... creepy.

Aslain followed the other two dragons and landed in the palace courtyard. A group of soldiers consisted of fifty people, immediately surrounded them with swords and spears directed at them.

Maxim jumped down from Aslain and helped Emmelyn to get off the dragon's back. Then, he raised both hands to show them that he was armless. He didn't take out his weapons from Aslain's back. Maxim wanted them to see that he didn't wish to seek a confrontation.

"We came in peace," he said calmly. "I am here to see the king."

The guard who took them there walked closer and said something to his friends in their local language. This made Emmelyn realize that Myreen had its own language. She didn't understand what they said, but from their expression, she could see the soldiers were angered. 

Perhaps the guard just told them about the death of the other two guards.

"They attacked us first, it was self-defense," Maxim walked toward the soldiers and suddenly spoke to them in their own language.

His words made the people look surprised. They didn't expect this man to understand them and could even speak their language fluently.

Emmelyn was impressed. She realized Maxim was more gifted in languages than she thought. She knew he spoke the language spoken in Terra continent because he communicated with her in that language, and he also spoke some other languages from the countries they visited together.

But apparently, he also knew Myreen's?

While Emmelyn was feeling impressed, Maxim was actually pleasantly surprised that he still understood and spoke the language of Myreen since he only learned it when he was little.

This would make communication so much easier, he thought. First, he needed to get past these soldiers and meet the king.

"Look... I don't have bad intentions and my mother was friends with your late queen. I came here several times when I was little, I could even speak your language," he said to them patiently.. "Please, take me to your king."