The Cursed Prince

"I don't trust him," suddenly Gewen whispered. "He is too handsome to be an honest man."

Edgar coughed violently when he heard Gewen's remark. He patted Gewen's shoulder and shook his head. "Not everyone is like you, Gewen. I have met and conversed with King Loriel before. I think he is a man of honor."

"What do you mean, not 'everyone is like me'?" Gewen raised an eyebrow. He thought Edgar's words didn't sound right. "I was telling the truth. We cannot trust him because Kira said this lousy king has a crush on Lady Emmelyn. He doesn't see himself as just a friend. So, why would he help a competition to get back with Emmelyn?"

Edgar knew Gewen was not wrong this time. When he met King Loriel and Emmelyn in Castilse months ago, before he went home to Draec, Edgar saw the king's affection for Emmelnyn was clearly on display.

King Loriel seemed to do anything to please Emmelyn, including lending a dragon so Edgar could go home and reached Draec faster.

Even though back then Emmelyn didn't show any signs that she treated King Loriel in a special way, Edgar could feel that the Summerian monarch was a persistent man. Sooner or later, he would start pursuing Emmelyn openly.

And when that happened, Emmelyn should make a decision if she still wanted to be only friends with the king, or if she would give him a chance and ditch her husband.

To be completely honest, Edgar didn't know if Emmelyn would reject King Loriel's love. They seemed really close, the man was powerful and he treated her well. Seemed like a dream husband for many women.

At the same time, Emmelyn's and Mars' relationship was rocky, to say the least. She currently hated her husband and thought he betrayed her love by sending people to hunt her for a crime she didn't commit.

It was a very complicated situation.

"Didn't King Loriel go with Lady Emmelyn to Myreen?" Edgar asked Gewen. "If he is here now, that means Emmelyn is back from Myreen too. Do you think Kira kept her promise to tell Emmelyn the truth about the second bounty? Can you trust her?"

Gewen bobbed his head. "Yeah. I trust her. She was very sympathetic when she heard of what happened and she promised to tell the truth to Emmelyn."

"But how could you trust her that much?" Edgar furrowed his brows. "Didn't you say she is an evil and scary woman, the daughter of a famous pirate lord?"

Gewen coughed and pretended not to hear Edgar's words. He turned to Mars. "I am sure Kira had told Emmelyn the truth, and that's why now King Loriel invited you to go to Castilse with him. Emmelyn knows. So, I think you should just go."

Edgar rolled his eyes and then turned to Mars too. "Even though I normally don't trust Gewen's judgment, this time I actually agree with him on this matter. You should go."

"Hmm..."  Mars rubbed his chin.

He thought about their opinions and realized both his friends supported him to go with Maxim to Castilse for different reasons. Edgar trusted the Summerian king and thought he was a man of honor, while Gewen trusted Kira.

However, Mars had never met Maxim and Kira before, unlike Edgar and Gewen. So, he couldn't know if he could trust them.

Mars lowered his face to see Harlow and thought about how feasible it was to bring an 11-month-old baby with him riding a dragon to Castilse.

It must be really hard.

He also had to take care of all his baby's needs by himself because he couldn't bring servants on this trip to Castilse.

"What do you think, sweetheart?" Mars asked Harlow haltingly. "Should we go with him to see mommy?"

Usually, he could make decisions easily, but this time, it involved Harlow... So, suddenly it was no longer easy. He could risk losing his life by going alone to the enemy's den. He wasn't afraid of death.

However, he couldn't possibly risk the same thing when it came to Harlow. She was the crown princess of Draec. Her life was precious.

If they both died, Mars would be written in history as a negligent father and an unwise king who took an unnecessary risk and sacrifice his and his daughter's life.

"Mommy..."

Suddenly, Harlow spoke.

The baby pouted her lips and patted her father's cheek. She could see Mars was feeling distraught. So, she repeated the last word he uttered to show that she cared about him.

However, Mars took it as a sign that he should take that risk this time. He believed in his best friends' judgment of character. Edgar trusted Maxim and Gewen had faith in Kira.

He should listen to their advice to go and get his wife to Castilse, shouldn't he? Wasn't it the whole purpose of his journey, to come all the way from Draec to Summeria?

"Very well..." Mars took a  deep breath and walked toward Maxim with Harlow in his arms. "I will go with you."

"Noooooo!!" King Stevan of Astland suddenly shrieked, shocking everyone in the courtyard.

Well, everyone but Maxim .

Stevan was the only person who objected to Mars leaving them to go with Maxim to his palace. He kneeled down before Mars and begged him. "Your Majesty, please don't trust him. He is my brother-in-law and I have known him for a long time. He is very cunning and dishonest."

Maxim groaned angrily when he heard King Stevan's agitating words. He walked briskly toward his brother-in-law and immediately grabbed his collar.

He was a head taller than Stevan and bigger.  Easily, he lifted the older man with one hand, demonstrating his physical strength, and scolded him.

"I haven't even started with you, and you dare incite my anger? Is having my sister as a wife that bad, so you chose to court death???"

King Stevan suddenly felt his throat choked mercilessly.. He was gasping for air while his hands tried hard to free himself from Maxim's clutch to no avail.