The prince took Emmelyn's hands in his and squeezed them gently. "That's when I knew... I want to have you. I never felt anything like that in my whole life. Call me crazy, but I just know. Even though I couldn't touch any women back then, I had seen countless beautiful women, and never once I felt attracted to their beauty as I did to yours."
Slowly, Emmelyn's expression turned soft. Who wouldn't like being coaxed like this? The man was basically saying that she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen and he was attracted to her and only her.
"And then....?" Emmelyn looked at the man with twinkles in her eyes. She had heard his love confession, but they never talked about how their feelings blossomed and when it actually started for them.
Emmelyn knew that she fell for this man after the tea in the royal palace a few weeks ago.
It was the moment when the prince strongly objected to the idea of checking his curse status by sacrificing an innocent woman.
At that moment, Emmelyn felt touched and swooned. She thought the man was actually very kind and valiant. Suddenly, she could no longer deny her feelings for him.
"And then..." Mars smiled sheepishly when he heard her question. "... we slept together. It was the best night of my life. It was then, that I no longer felt like the most unfortunate man in the world. You give life to me. I could finally understand what it's like to live life completely."
"Ohh..." Emmelyn smiled too.
She remembered their first sexual intercourse. It was very painful in the beginning but soon was replaced by pleasure and more pleasure.
And now, it had become part of a wonderful routine for the both of them.
Ouch, she did pretend not to enjoy it in the beginning, though, by suggesting that they should only do it once and waited to see if she was pregnant, and NOT do it every day.
She mentioned some bullshit about project management's PDCA. However, this scummy, but adorable, prince schemed her by making the royal physician prescribe them to have sex every day to ensure they would conceive.
Talking about their early encounters suddenly brought a less than pleasant memory to Emmelyn's mind. She pouted and pulled her hands from his grip, then crossed her arms on her chest.
"Wait... now I remember you said you want to make me the mother of your children but you didn't want to marry me." She squinted her eyes dangerously. "Was it because you only wanted children from my womb but you were still thinking of marrying Ellena?"
"Wait.. no, that's not what happened," Mars quickly corrected her. "Ellena had been gone for years and I thought she had died. No.. that's not the reason why I said I didn't want to marry you."
"So?" Emmelyn was displeased. "I was very offended by your words back then, actually. I felt like a breeding cow."
"When I said you would be the mother of my children, you shouted so loudly, 'I don't want to be your wife! I don't want to marry you, you devil!'" Mars cleared his throat. "Do you remember that?"
Emmelyn looked away. She now remembered she did say those words fiercely. "Cough cough... I remember."
"Well, I am a man and I have my pride. You have rejected me even before I proposed, so of course, I have to show that I am not interested in making you my wife," Mars explained. "I do understand your reasons, but it didn't make it less hurtful. I have feelings too."
"Oh, I see... So, that's why..." Emmelyn looked back at him again and pursed her lips. "Hmph... If you asked me now, of course, I would say yes."
"You would?" The man was beaming with happiness when he heard her. Emmelyn nodded.
"Well then..." Mars quickly rose from his seat and went on one knee, not letting this opportunity pass. "Princess Emmelyn Rosehill of Wintermere... I love you! I have loved you since the first time I saw you. I love your guts, your wonderful personality, your beauty, your courage, your way of making me laugh and feel good when things are bad, and every single thing about you."
"I would love to build a family with you and raise our children together in a happy home, filled with love, warmth, and joy. I would love to grow old together with you - even though I know you will never look old."
"Your face is the first thing I want to see in the morning when I wake up, and the last thing I want to see in the evening before I close my eyes to sleep. It would make me the happiest man in the world to call you my wife."
"So.. Em, sweetheart..." Mars reached out his hand and grabbed hers lovingly. "Will... you marry me?"
Emmelyn was dumbfounded. She didn't expect the prince to speak so many words to ask her to marry him.
Mars was a man of a few words. Even though he was not as aloof or quiet as Edgar, but usually he didn't talk this much. He was more of a listener and Emmelyn did most of the talking.
But today, it was the opposite. After Mars poured his heart out and proposed to her, Emmelyn was at a loss for words. She didn't know how to respond.
Of course, she would say yes. However, her heart was in a mess.
It was a simple proposal, he didn't even have flowers with him, but his words were sincere and beautiful.
"Actually... I wanted to propose to you properly," Mars added in a hoarse voice. "I have prepared a surprise for you. I have this perfect scene where you open my surprise and you will feel moved and cry and then I will be on one knee and propose..."
"But..?" Emmelyn finally found her voice.
"But it will take too long... So, I hope this one will make do for now..." he smiled. "I want to rectify my mistake in the past when I made you think that I didn't want to marry you."
"Oh...."
"So, Em... would you marry me?" Mars repeated his question.