The Cursed Prince

Maxim was very worried about Emmelyn. Even though he was injured himself, he didn't even think about his wounds while Soren tended to his wounds.

Soren was a young physician that reminded him of Zaff, his family physician back in Castilse.  The man might be only in his late twenties, still younger than Zaff, yet his skills and the way he treated Maxim's head injury made him look like a really old and skilled physician.

He also had a sunny personality and warmly talked to Maxim about what happened to cause his injury.  Maxim didn't feel bothered by Soren at all.

He actually felt relieved to meet someone around his age in Myreen so they could act more casually toward each other.

Wait... Soren was around his age, right?

"Yes, I will be 29 in a few months," Soren replied when Maxim asked his age. The physician was mixing a concoction in a bowl to give Maxim so he could feel less pain from his injury.

"Ahh... I thought so," Maxim nodded. "You must be a genius or something to be taking the role as the royal physician at such a young age."

Soren shrugged and smiled broadly. "I'm all right, not really a genius like you accused me of. My father is the previous royal physician and he had taught me everything he knew since I was five. So, I know quite a bit about medicine and healthcare. When he decided to focus on his mushroom garden, he asked me to take over. I have been in this position for five years now."

"Hmm..." Maxim nodded in understanding. So, he was right. Soren was a regular man like himself and didn't use magic. His youthful looks were due to his young age, not because he was a powerful magic-user.

The Summerian king looked slightly impressed. "That's a really good achievement. To be a royal physician since you were only 24."

"Thank you, Your Grace. I try to do my job well. I am still trying so hard to treat King Alexander's condition. He was badly injured during one of his training. Our kingdom relies on him for our survival."

"Do you know what happened to him?" Maxim asked. He could forget Emmelyn's condition for a little while by talking to Soren, which was a good thing since he had been really distraught earlier by her condition.

"I am not sure what happened. Wizards have their own secrets that we common people couldn't understand," Soren explained. "One day he suddenly passed out and couldn't wake up for one week. Our princess was very worried. She disappeared the next day and has not returned."

"You mean... Elise?" Maxim asked. Soren nodded with a smile.

"Yes, Princess Elise." Soren seemed to be intrigued that Maxim knew Elise even though this was his first time ever visiting Myreen. "Have you met her before?"

Maxim shook his head. He had only seen Elise from the painting yesterday when he entered the Myreen royal palace. She did look beautiful and gentle, but paintings can be deceiving, right?

He knew many women intentionally hired painters to paint their pictures to look much more beautiful than they actually were when there was an arrangement to be made between some princesses or noblewomen with royalties or noblemen from the lesser kingdoms.

His older sister, Mina, actually did the same thing when she was offered to marry the prince from Astland, one of their biggest colonies.

Maxim hated all his sisters, but Mina was especially the one who treated him the worst. So, he despised her the most.

When Mina was arranged to be married to the Astland prince, she and her mother intentionally hired the best artist to make her painting.

She was pictured as a slender and beautiful young woman with long ash hair that fell down her back, when in reality, she was almost bald because she kept pulling her hair. Her jaw was also deformed and her nose crooked, making her look like a sick bird.

This prince was rumored to be really good-looking and he was ambitious enough to someday want to be the monarch of Summeria.

For Mina, who was the eldest of five sisters and thought their father's throne should fall to their hands, the king's children from his first wife, the Astland prince was a catch. So, they made extra effort to make the betrothal go through.

It seemed the tactic worked because the prince was said to be smitten and agreed to the marriage. 

Maxim so wished he was there to see the prince's reaction when he saw his wife-to-be in person, on their wedding day. 

Ah, too bad Maxim was away and busy with his own adventures.  He did find out later that her brother-in-law felt deceived and cheated and he paid back the embarrassment he suffered by taking five concubines. It served Mina right, Maxim thought.

So, no... he didn't trust a beautiful painting he saw of Elise, his fiancee. She could be pretty or average, it wouldn't really matter to him because, for Maxim, a beautiful face was not that important.

As a king and a good-looking man himself, Maxim didn't lack beautiful women. They hovered around him all the time since he was an adolescent and he already had enough adventures with beautiful women before he fell in love with Emmelyn.

Even though she was pretty, her looks were not the reason why Maxim loved her. It was her personality, her zest of life, her intelligence, her kindness... and most importantly the way they could connect really well. She was his kindred spirit.

Damnit, Max. It's time to forget about your feelings for her, Maxim chided himself internally. It was heartbreaking, but he had accepted the fact that his love was the reason why Emmelyn suffered.

So, for her own good, he had to really, really work hard to stop loving her.

"I have never met Elise before," Maxim replied to Soren's question. "But she is my future wife."

"Oh..." Soren looked at Maxim with a surprised expression. Judging from his reaction, Maxim could guess that his betrothal to Elise was not public knowledge. The young physician rubbed his chin and asked Maxim to elaborate. "Does she know?"

.

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From Missrealitybites:

Thank you, thank you so much for so many heartfelt and supportive comments you took the time to write. They mean so much to me and made me feel excited to continue writing this story according to my usual process.

Several months ago, when I stated that the conflict in "The Cursed Prince" was not worse than any other books I wrote previously, it was true when I posted the statement. "The Alchemists" and "Finding Stardust" both have their heartbreaking moments before the happy endings came, which were comparable to Queen Elara's death and Emmelyn being framed.

However, after we took the journey this far, several months later, I can confirm that the conflict in TCP is really the toughest and hardest one. So, you can pat yourself on the back for being so strong and patient. Thank you so much for staying here and enduring the ups and downs.

Reading your comments every day and seeing how you respond to the story play an important part in my creative process in writing. For that, I am really grateful.

PS: I will publish another chapter soon and will reply to your comments again later today ^^. 

PPS: Thank you so much, Harriet Moskowitz for gifting a dragon to this book yesterday.. I am very thankful for your generosity.