The Cursed Prince

Maxim nodded. "Understood."

"Very well...." King Alexander finally smiled. "Then you have my blessing."

"Thank you."

Maxim felt one burden had left his shoulder and his chest now became so much lighter. The man closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

He hoped his sacrifice wouldn't be all for naught. 

"If you would allow me, I need to get some air," he said politely to King Alexander.

The older king nodded and so Maxim went outside. As he cast his glance around him, he was wondering where Myrcella took Emmelyn. Where did they go?

Maxim could only hope Emmelyn would really get what she wanted and she would feel happy. It's been an awfully long time since he saw her smile.

Maxim went out of the building and took a walk to the massive garden in the middle of the palace compound. The deeper he got into the garden, the more he believed that his mother designed their garden to look like this garden in Myreen.

Maybe she really liked this place and decided to have a garden built that would remind her of Myreen royal palace?

Maxim didn't understand how much his mother missed this place until today. Queen Maude almost never talked about her experience in Myreen and her relationship with the Leoraleis.

When he looked around him, Maxim felt a sense of familiarity. It almost felt like home.

Perhaps this was a good thing, he thought. When he married Elise and took her to live with him in Castilse, she wouldn't miss home that much because of this familiarity.

She would feel the same way when she went to Castilse and saw Maxim's palace and his garden.

Ahh... why did he think about her?

***

Emmelyn looked around her in awe. Myrcella took her to a huge chamber on the highest floor of Blue Tower. They took a special lift to get to this floor. When the door closed, one servant pressed on some knob and the lift went up leisurely.

Emmelyn's mouth was agape. Myreen was so full of amazing things, she thought.

This kingdom only had spring and summer and nature here was truly beautiful. Not only that, but Emmelyn also saw there were many rare animals that she didn't know to exist before.

The Leoraleis themselves were another enigma to her. The royal family looked much younger than their age. Now she didn't dare to guess their real age.

Were they even humans who just hid their kingdom from the naked eye? Or were they actually some sort of fairy or elf kind? Being in Myreen made Emmelyn feel like she was transported to another realm.

"H-how does this thing move?" She finally asked Myrcella the question.

If Myreen had some sort of technology that enabled them to transport people from the ground to the higher floors so easily like this, she would love to know and learn about it, maybe have it replicated in her home in the future.

Emmelyn remembered how she had to move out from her favorite chamber on the third floor to the ground floor when she became pregnant with Harlow because going up and down three floors every day was so damn tiring.

When she heard Emmelyn's question, Myrcella smiled broadly and raised her right hand. She said, "I use the wind to lift us to my chamber. I like privacy. So, only I or my son can use this lift because we are powerful enough to move it. Other people have to use the stairs."

"Oh..." Emmelyn's eyes bulged when she heard Myrcella's explanation.

Ahh... she should have guessed it. This was all magic, not really a sophisticated technology.

So, was Myrcella able to control the wind? How fascinating!

"Are you surprised?" Myrcella asked Emmelyn.

Right at that moment, their lift had stopped on the highest floor and a servant opened the door from outside. She stepped out of the lift and motioned her guest to follow her.

Emmelyn nodded shyly. "Yeah... I am surprised. I have never seen anything like this before. Myreen has so many magical things."

"It's true because we are magic users," Myrcella explained. "My whole family is."

"Is Elise too?" Emmelyn became curious to know more about Elise. This family seemed very interesting. She wondered how much Maxim knew about them before he came here.

"Yes, Elise too," Myrcella confirmed. She opened the door to her chamber and invited Emmelyn to enter. "You will soon see your daughter."

Those words were enough to lift Emmelyn's mood. Her eyes lit up and a smile immediately curved up on her face. Gosh... she missed Harlow so badly!

She couldn't wait! She couldn't wait!!!

Myrcella's chamber was beautifully designed and was really spacious. One side was designed as a sleeping quarter with an elegant four-poster bed, light blue silk sheets, and curtains, while the other side was used for work.

Emmelyn saw several wooden cabinets filled with books and comfy sofas to read them. There was also a special cabinet filled with many bottles and jugs of similar sizes in grey.

She assumed they were used to store herbs or medicine. She saw a similar cabinet in Mr. Vitas's workplace once. Maybe Myrcella did herbomancy in her spare time?

There was a black table in the middle of the room with two comfy chairs on each side of it. Myrcella motioned Emmelyn to sit on one of the chairs. So, she did.

"Have you ever seen a divination window before?" Myrcella asked Emmelyn while she went to one of the book cabinets and took an orb the size of her head from the top shelf. It looked like it was made of crystal.

Emmelyn nodded, "I have."

She explained how she saw Mrs. Adler, the village witch, used a bowl of water as her divination window. Myrcella smiled when she heard that.

"Well... a seer could use such medium with their magic to get a vision, but they would never be able to share the vision with other people," she explained. "This crystal ball is different."

"Oh... is that what we are going to use to see my daughter?" Emmelyn asked curiously.

"Yes," Myrcella replied. She added, "This is actually a magical artifact, so it has magic in itself. You don't have to be a seer to see the vision from this crystal ball. That's why I can show you what you wish to see... even though you are not a  magic-user."

Emmelyn's heart fluttered when she heard that. So, she would be able to see Harlow from the orb???? How amazing!! She couldn't wait to see what her daughter looked like after so long.

"Let me turn on some light. It's getting dark here," Myrcella said after she placed the orb on the table. The sky outside the windows had now turned so dark. It was time to light some candles.

With the wave of her hand, suddenly all the candles by the windowsill, on top of the cabinet, and on the table were lighted. Now there was enough light in the chamber to even read a book.

Emmelyn gasped when she witnessed the scene. It was really too amazing!

Myrcella Leoralei was not only able to control the wind, but she was also able to control fire? 

Too impressive!

Emmelyn couldn't wait to see what Myrcella could share with her when the queen said she would help Emmelyn see Harlow.

After she turned on the light, Myrcella took a seat across the table from Emmelyn. Now, they were ready to see.

Her voice was gentle when she asked Emmelyn to think about Harlow. "To see your daughter, you need to focus. Think about her and call her name over and over. We will be able to see her soon."

"All right."  Emmelyn was so excited.

She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and thought about baby Harlow when she was holding the baby for the first time.

Emmelyn remembered Harlow was tiny and weak and red, but she had so much hair already. She also drank her milk voraciously.

"Harlow... Harlow my love... I miss you so much..." Emmelyn whispered hoarsely. "I want to see you."

"Open your eyes," said Myrcella softly.

Emmelyn took a deep breath and slowly opened her eyes. She gasped when she caught sight of the crystal ball before her. It started glowing and she could see some blurry image in the middle of the ball.

.

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I know it sucks because we still haven't seen Harlow in this chapter.. So, I am writing the next chapter and will publish it soon. You will definitely read that part today where Emmelyn saw Harlow!