"Who is Ellena Greystorm?" Emmelyn repeated her question. "Do you love her? I know she loves you."
Mars's hand, which was rubbing Emmelyn's back, stopped moving. He didn't expect Emmelyn to be so blunt with her question.
Well... she didn't beat around the bush, did she?
The man cleared his throat. "I love her as a friend. Just like I love Gewen and Edgar. We have known each other for a long time."
"Oh..." Emmelyn opened both eyes and tilted her face to look at the man and check his expression. She didn't see any lies on his face. Emmelyn narrowed her eyes and asked him in a probing tone. "Why did she hug you earlier? Didn't she know about the curse?"
Mars let out a long sigh. He knew everything he said at this point would determine how Emmelyn saw him and decided on her own feelings. He must tread carefully. "She knew about the curse... and she thought, the curse is lifted."
Emmelyn held her breath. So, her guess was right!
What if the curse was really lifted??
"Is that true?" she asked him, feigning calmness on her face.
"I don't know. I guess I have to wait until tomorrow to find out." Mars replied honestly. "What do you think?"
"What do I think about what? Her? Or the curse?" Emmelyn asked back.
"Both, yes,"
"I am sorry, but I don't like her," Emmelyn replied curtly. "It's nothing personal. Of all your friends, I think only Edgar is the decent one."
Mars almost laughed when he heard her. "Well, I can understand if you don't like Gewen. He is a... how to put it... Yeah, if I were a decent lady, I wouldn't like him too."
"As for Ellena... I don't like her because she looked at me in contempt the moment we were introduced. I cannot pretend to like someone who treats me that way." Emmelyn rolled her eyes. "I was so tempted to introduce myself as a prostitute to her to spite her even more."
"Gosh.. please don't." Mars massaged his temple. "My mother is a saint. She could take you no matter what, but other people won't be so kind. You will only invite trouble on yourself if you intentionally did it to spite others."
Emmelyn didn't reply. She knew the queen was really kind. She thought Mars was lucky to have such a mother.
Maybe, the experience of losing children made the queen more empathetic and kind towards other women? Especially since she knew Emmelyn was the only woman who could be with her son...
Or so she thought.
Emmelyn was wondering if the queen would treat her differently if she knew that Mars was no longer cursed. Would she prefer Mars to be with Ellena?
Queen Elara seemed so joyful when she saw Ellena tonight. She said she missed Ellena so much and was very happy that she returned.
"Okay, I won't. I don't think I will meet those people anyway that I can say such things in the future," Emmelyn replied.
She was deep in thoughts. Mars was wondering what was going on in her beautiful head. However, he was patient and waited for her to say what was on her mind.
"We need to revisit our agreement if you are no longer cursed." Emmelyn finally decided.
"Do we though?" Mars was in a panic. "Why?"
"You wanted me to give you three heirs, and in exchange, you will return Wintermere to me. However, we only made that agreement because you couldn't touch other women," Emmelyn explained. "Now, you are no longer cursed. You can pretty much have any woman to bear your children."
Mars tried to keep calm and explained his side. "One, we don't know if the curse is really lifted. And second, do you think I can just sleep with any woman and make them bear my children? I am a human and I have feelings. Have you now thought of me as a breeding bull again?"
Emmelyn remembered their conversation six weeks ago when they first entered into their agreement. She realized that the pressure on the crown prince to produce heirs was really high, and that was what started her sympathy to grow.
She felt embarrassed that she thought of him that way just now.
"I am sorry. I don't mean it that way. I am just saying... now you have unlimited options. You can court any lady and then marry her if you want her to bear your children. They will be your legitimate heirs because they are born inside wedlock."
"What if I'm too busy to court other women? You know I have so much to do and don't have time for such trivial matters..." Mars responded.
"Courtship is not a trivial matter.." Emmelyn protested. "You need the heirs."
"Aye.. that's right, I need the heirs and you will give them to me. So, I don't understand why we are even talking about it." Mars touched her chin and looked at her earnestly. "Are you going back on your words now, woman? Are you planning to use the lifted curse as an excuse to not keep your end of our deal?"
"..."
"I am honestly disappointed. I thought you are just a carefree girl who sometimes forgets her manners, but I thought you could at least keep your words," Mars said, pretending to be disappointed in Emmelyn. "Are all girls from Wintermere untrustworthy like you?"
Emmelyn pouted and looked away. It seemed futile to talk to him about her concern. He seemed adamant that they kept their original agreement.
"I no longer want Wintermere," was all the girl could say.
Mars was surprised to hear her. Did he hear her correctly?
Wasn't her freedom and Wintermere the only two things Emmelyn wanted right now? Did she finally give up on Wintermere?
"Why?" Mars asked urgently. "Do you want anything else, other than Wintermere?"
Emmelyn didn't know what she wanted. She was silent and didn't reply to Mars' question.
"Would you like to have Draec as the exchange, instead?" the prince finally asked her that all-important question.