The Cursed Prince

Note:

This chapter is dedicated to Maude Fluckiger. Thank you so, so much, Maude, for gifting spacecraft to "The Cursed Prince" this morning. I am in awe at your generosity in supporting this book.

PS: I will write more dedication chapters today. Gosh, you girls are making me ugly cry.

.

.

FIRST STOP, IN STONECREST.

"She is really not fussy. Such a great baby," Maxim commented when they took their first stop, in a small town called Stonecrest. He jumped down from Aslain's back and patted him to motion the dragon to go find a resting place for him and the other two dragons.

Meanwhile, Mars jumped down carefully from Sand. Then, he took the bag and fur coat from the dragon's back with his left hand, all while using his right hand to hold Harlow who was sleeping peacefully on his chest.

Maxim's brows winced when he saw the man was struggling to balance his little daughter and the bag. So, he offered to take Harlow, who was asleep, from Mars's hand.

"You can give her to me, while you take your stuff," Maxim said nonchalantly. He reached out his hands.

Mars thought about the offer for a moment, before finally nodded and handed over Harlow to Maxim.

Harlow was asleep. So, it should be okay for him to give her to Maxim temporarily while he got their stuff so he could feed Harlow and make her comfortable when they go to rest tonight.

Maxim didn't like Mars and only kept things civil between them for Emmelyn's sake. However, he didn't have any resentment toward Harlow.

From the beginning, after he heard about Harlow from Emmelyn, he actually had been looking forward to seeing the baby girl someday.

Maxim even thought about adopting Harlow as his daughter if he could marry Emmelyn. Well.. even though it was all in the past now, he still kept a positive feeling toward Harlow. He cared about her and wanted Harlow to feel comfortable too.

Gosh...  this baby is so soft, Maxim thought to himself when he received Harlow's body from her father.

So fragile.

Suddenly fear crept into his heart as he held the baby more tightly. What if he hurt this small soft creature? What if he dropped her?

Emmelyn would surely kill him. And the war would resume again.

Uff... he shouldn't let it happen.

Maxim held his breath and pulled Harlow closer to his chest. He held her more carefully as if he was holding a precious crystal. No, this baby was more precious than even the most expensive crystals or diamonds.

"Welcome, Your Majesty." The mayor of Stonecrest and his wife came out of the mansion, followed by two young children and several knights. Their faces beamed with happiness and pride because the monarch had visited their home twice in the same week.

Renwyck had also got down from Eris and ordered the dragons to fly and found food and a place to stay for themselves, while he and the two kings would rest for the night in the mayor's home.

The people in the mansion's courtyard all looked up and watched in awe the three dragons dashed into the air, flapped their wings, and flew away toward the mountains.

"Hello, Lord Kerrigan," Maxim greeted the mayor. "Good to see you again."

He walked toward them with Harlow in his arms, followed by Mars who carried his bag and coat. The mayor and his wife exchanged glances. They both looked very surprised to see their king came with a baby.

"Your Majesty," Lord Kerrigan bowed down so deeply, while his wife curtsey to pay their respects to King Loriel.

"We need milk and food that a baby can eat," Maxim said. "We will stay for the night here to rest. We will leave first thing tomorrow. Can you make it happen?"

Lord Kerrigan nodded happily, "Yes, Your Majesty. We will prepare everything. Please come in. Our butler will show you the chambers we prepared for you to rest."

The three men walked inside the mansion and followed the mayor and his butler to get to the chambers prepared for them. Maxim and Renwyck was already familiar with this place because it was their second visit this week.

They stopped by in Stonecrest on the way to Astland from Castilse and rested here. Before he continued his journey, Maxim already told the mayor that he would come back in a few days, on the way home.

That's why Lord Kerrigan had everything ready when Maxim and his small group reached his place. 

"This is your chamber, Your Majesty," the butler told them after he opened the door to a really big and luxurious chamber. "Your two guests stay in the rooms to your left and right."

The butler offered to take the bag and coat from Mars' hands and respectfully motioned him to follow him to the next chamber.

"Thank you," Mars said to the butler. He felt grateful because the butler was so attentive and understood his burden of carrying a baby and baby's stuff on this long trip.

Once his hands were free, Mars came to Maxim, to get his daughter back. Before he could touch Harlow, the baby fluttered her lashes and then let out a big yawn. She looked so adorable and the four male adults around her were amused to see her.

Maxim was surprised when Harlow stretched her limbs and yawn again, so wide. The king of Summeria didn't expect the baby who was sleeping peacefully in his arms to suddenly wake up...

Harlow opened her eyes one by one and then narrowed them when she caught sight of the non-familiar face within her peripheral vision. Slowly, she remembered that this man was trying to hurt her father in a duel earlier today.

She looked at Maxim with bulging eyes. Maxim looked at her in surprise. Their two pair of eyes locked. Maxim looked amused, while Harlow looked hostile.

She reached out a hand to touch the man's cheek. Since Maxim had no experience with Harlow, he smiled and tilted his face closer to her.

Such a cute kid, he thought.

SCRATCH!

"..." The king of Summeria immediately regretted his action because Harlow had scratched his left cheek mercilessly.

Mars looked at the scene in horror. He immediately snatched Harlow from Maxim and scolded her for being rude to someone who had helped them.

"Don't do that, Harlow. It's rude," he whispered to Harlow exasperatedly. Mars turned to look a Maxim apologetically. "I am sorry. She sometimes does that when she sees strangers."

Maxim waved his hand and brushed it off. Meanwhile,  Harlow pursed her lips and looked at her father in annoyance.

"Daddy...!" she whined, pursed her lips, and suddenly cried her lungs out in protest.

Harlow felt unappreciated because she had defended her daddy from the enemy just now, only to be given a scolding.

She thought it was truly not fair.

Maxim looked at the father-daughter scene with his mouth agape and conflicting feelings. On the one hand, he felt jealous to see their closeness, and on the other hand, he felt pity for Mars who had to handle his rebellious little daughter on his own.

Maxim could imagine, life must have been really challenging for Mars, having to care for and raise his daughter without Emmelyn and led his massive country at the same time. Both responsibilities were equally hard.

"Well.. apparently this baby could be fussy," Maxim muttered. "I spoke too soon."

Renwyck chuckled when he heard his king grumble. He personally loved seeing Harlow's and Mars' dynamic. This made him think about his unborn son and his late wife. He missed them so badly.

The wizard knew fatherhood was truly a blessing, not every man was fortunate enough to experience it. He was glad to see Mars appreciate his daughter and took on the fatherhood role in a stride. 

"Does it hurt, Your Majesty?" Renwyck asked Maxim gently, handing him a small bottle of ointment. "This can help to ease the pain."

He saw Maxim's cheek bled a little and there was a clear scratch mark from right under his left eye down to his chin.

"I'm fine," Maxim grumbled. "Let's wash up and meet soon for dinner."

He entered his chamber and closed the door behind him. Renwyck could only sigh and went to his chamber on Maxim's left side. 

***

Mars was happy because the first day of traveling with Harlow with a dragon went so smoothly. It definitely was not as stressful as he thought it would be.

Except for the incident between Harlow and Maxim, everything seemed to go well.

Now, he looked forward to continuing the trip and reached Castilse in a few days.

.

.

**********

From Missrealitybites:

I hope you like this long chapter.

PS: Mars will arrive in Castilse in the next chapter and meet Emmelyn. Get your tissue ready. xx

NEW STORY ANNOUNCEMENT:

I suddenly get an inspiration to write a new story. Since good ideas very rarely come, I decided to immediately write that story so I don't lose the inspiration.

At the moment, I am only publishing the chapters on my Patreon. I plan to post 3 chapters per week for the new novel, with long chapters, and make the comic together.

I already talked with the comic team today and they will start working on the episodes next week. Hopefully, the first comic episode will be ready in November.

You can support me on Patreon from as low as $2 per month to read the exclusive content there (the new novel and later the comic version).

What's the story about? Well... it's a fantasy romance inspired by Cinderella (just like The Cursed Prince is inspired by Beauty And The Beast) and Romeo + Juliet.

The setting is in the year 1850, in a fictional kingdom in Europe. The story will have two male leads, a lovable female lead and lotsa fantasy elements.

You can read the first chapter now on Patreon. Just google "Patreon Missrealitybites" and you will find it.

- love, Vina (Missrealitybites)