The Cursed Prince

Myrcella touched Emmelyn's shoulder gently and looked her in the eye. She spoke in a gentle tone, seeing how much distraught Emmelyn had become after she broke the crystal ball. So, she didn't wish to make Emmelyn feel worse.

"You should sit and calm down. I will get a maid to clean up the shards."

Emmelyn looked at the shards on the floor and sobbed. She managed to utter another "I am sorry..."

"Don't worry about it, sweetheart. Accident happens," Myrcella said gently. "Don't blame yourself. I understand you must be feeling upset. Please sit down and we can talk later."

Emmelyn finally went back to her chair and buried her face in her hands. Myrcella called her servants and two maids immediately came and cleaned up the room efficiently. Nobody said a word.

After the maids finished cleaning and left the queen's chamber, Myrcella poured wine into a cup and gave it to Emmelyn. "Please drink this, so you can feel better."

Emmelyn accepted the cup gratefully and drank the wine. After several minutes, she finally felt calmer and she slowly could think about the situation better.

Emmelyn thought she had passed the lowest point of her life when she had to fake her death twice and fled Draec, leaving behind the daughter she loved with all her heart.

However, now, she realized... those moments were not her lowest. Tonight was.

She was faced with a dead-end and realized, no matter what she did, she couldn't escape from the terrible fate she had.

She knew what was waiting for her in the future, just heartbreak and sadness one after another.

Knowing that she had tried everything and fought so hard to free herself from the bad luck, only to find an answer that all her efforts didn't matter... Emmelyn felt a strange feeling of sadness but at the same time... relieved.

At least now she knew the answer, she thought. No more mystery about how she ended up getting into this state. It was not her fault, and there was nothing she could do about it.

Now that she had this knowledge, she had to decide on what to do with her life.

The future looked so bleak.

Feeling helpless and defeated, Emmelyn realized this was truly the lowest point of her life.

When she faked her death and fled to Summeria, she still had hope of going to find Myreen and the Leoraleis. Back then she had something to do and something to look forward to.

Now there was none.

They said people need someone to love, something to do, and something to look forward to, in order to have a meaningful life.

Emmelyn had all three before today. She had Harlow that she loved so much, she had her mission to do, to free herself from the curse, and she was looking forward to a future where she would be reunited with Harlow and lived happily together after she was freed.

Now, she only had her love for Harlow. There was nothing more to do, and nothing to hope for. Her life was now meaningless.

As she sipped her wine slowly, her mind wandered to the moment when she saw Mars talked with Lorian. The woman was so beautiful and gentle and she was really good with Harlow.

Emmelyn was upset, seeing another woman looked so close and intimate with her husband AND her child. She could see Lorian's eyes were filled with love and adoration when she looked at Harlow and Mars.

However, after she thought about it deeply, Emmelyn realized that sooner or later she had to let them go and see another woman took her place. No matter how much she hated it, she knew Harlow needed a mother figure. So, Emmelyn shouldn't be selfish.

Emmelyn did ask Maxim to promise her that he would help her get Wintermere and Harlow back when they met in Lakeshire, but that was before she knew she was cursed forever.

She thought, if she and Maxim could make the Leoraleis break their curse, Emmelyn would be able to see Harlow again and reunite with her.

Emmelyn would want to redo her life after she survived this nightmare of being a cursed woman.

However, that was not an option now. She had decided not to let Elise and Maxim suffer in a loveless marriage, just for her sake. That means, she would have to live with the curse all her life.

So, why would she insist on getting back her kingdom and her daughter?

Maybe she should just die and be done with it. Problems solved.

"Thank you for the wine," Emmelyn put down the cup on the table and forced a smile. "Thank you for giving me the chance to see my daughter. It means a lot to me... And... I am very sorry for the crystal ball."

Myrcella smiled too. "It's nothing compared to what you have suffered because of my daughter-in-law. No words of apology can compensate for your sufferings. Don't feel bad about the crystal ball. There is nothing we can do about it and we shouldn't beat ourselves because of the things that we can't control."

After seeing Myrcella and King Alexander in person and interacting with them, Emmelyn could understand why Queen Maude kept saying the Leoraleis were kind people.

With Catalina as an exception, Myrcella and Alexander seemed to be kind and understanding.

After Emmelyn calmed down and tidied her disheveled appearance, they went back to the dining room. Maxim sensed something was not right the moment he saw Emmelyn entered the room.

She was not smiling.

After she was supposed to see her daughter, shouldn't she feel happy? Did she not like what she saw?

Maxim assumed something bad must have happened during the session to make Emmelyn look so defeated and sad.

"How was it?" he got up from his chair and approached Emmelyn. "Did you see Harlow?"

Emmelyn nodded. "Yes. She has grown so much. It was amazing."

"Oh... is anything the matter? Are you okay?" Maxim asked again. "You don't look excited after you saw her."

"Oh... I don't?" Emmelyn batted her eyes and faked a chuckle. "I am sorry, I am just sad because I miss her so much. I am okay."

Maxim looked at Emmelyn deeply, trying to read her mind, but he couldn't. Finally, he nodded and patted her back. "Do you want to rest now? We haven't got proper sleep for one month."

"Yes. I would like that." Emmelyn nodded.

She did want to lie down and curl up in bed, maybe cry her eyes out, and then thought about her life.

Maxim bowed down his head slightly to Myrcella and King Alexander. "Emmelyn is tired, so we will call it a night. Thank you for having us for dinner, and for giving us honest answers. We will decide on what to do next."

Maxim didn't mention anything about his decision to marry Elise in front of Emmelyn, and neither did King Alexander. They had a tacit understanding to discuss the details later, in private.

"Good night. Rest well." Myrcella smiled. "See you tomorrow."

Emmelyn was so tired mentally that she forgot to curtsey. She only nodded at them and absentmindedly went out of the dining room, following Maxim.

The man took her to her chamber, no longer needing Tides' guidance to find their chambers because he had a great memory. Once he made sure Emmelyn was safe in her room and got ready to rest, he left her to go to his own room.

"You must rest well, and tomorrow we will talk about our plans," Maxim said before he left.

He looked at her dotingly and was tempted to rub her hair to soothe her. He finally assumed Emmelyn was feeling sad because she thought they had come to Myreen for nothing.

Maxim really wanted to tell her that he had decided to accept the betrothal and marry his fiancee and that Emmelyn shouldn't keep feeling worried.

After he told her the truth, he knew Emmelyn would feel upset because Maxim gave her his word but still broke his promise.

However, Maxim was sure Emmelyn would eventually realize it was for the best and accepted his decision. Then, she would feel happy that she was finally free.

Maxim held back and didn't say anything. He thought it would be better to talk about it when Emmelyn was feeling better after a good night's sleep. She had gone through a lot in one day.

This was a decision that Maxim would deeply regret because the next day when he came to see Emmelyn... she didn't wake up.

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From Missrealitybites:

I know it's another cliffhanger and it's annoying, but I have to publish this chapter as is and work on the next chapter later (after I get a decent sleep - it's 6 am here) so I can write it well.

I will make it a long chapter and there you can read the turning point of this story.

Mars' and Emmelyn's reunion is already around the corner, so... yeay!

Thank you for your patience and for pulling through so many ups and downs that Emmelyn went through.. We are almost at the end of the journey.