Queen Elara listened to the explanation from her husband and son with an aching heart. Even though she liked Emmelyn as her daughter-in-law, she couldn't help but feel sad for Ellena.
The queen had seen the girl grow up together with her son throughout the years. She remembered Ellena used to be a shy girl. She became an orphan when she was very young and was sad for a long time.
She only started opening up to the boys, after their mothers made them play and study together. Lady Preston was very smart and she taught the children important knowledge before they engaged another teacher once she had nothing else to teach them.
Seeing the children turned into wonderful adults was a pleasant journey on its own and the queen loved them like she would her own children. Now, she wished things didn't have to go like this.
Just like Mars and Gewen who wondered how did things turn out this way, she also wondered the same. She didn't know the answer.
If only Ellena was not in love with Mars, she would not choose death when her heart was broken like today. They might still be friends and nobody needed to die.
But then again... Mars would still be cursed if Ellena wasn't in love with him. And that meant, Emmelyn would have died months ago when she touched the prince for the first time.
This looked like a really awful paradox.
Now, the queen didn't know what was the best thing that should happen. If Ellena didn't love Mars, she wouldn't have gone out and searched for the witch. It was only something that a woman did out of love.
But Ellena's love was unrequited and it was not fair that she had to see the man she loved marry another woman. And it must be so hurtful that the man even suspected her of being involved with the witch.
Queen Elara understood how Ellena's heart must be broken and that's why she wanted death. The queen wished things could have been different.
However, there was no crying over spilled milk.
"Please.. don't let her die," Queen Elara begged her son. "There must be a way to negotiate with the witch.. or kill her by attacking suddenly and save Ellena's heart. You will carry guilt your whole life if you let her die."
King Jared looked at his despondent wife and his heart ached for her. The king loved this woman with all his heart and her tears were his weakness, even though outside of their personal space he made sure no one would know this.
"Honey, don't worry," he said to his wife dotingly and took her in his arms. "I will summon several powerful wizards to help us handle this matter. Everything will be okay."
Mars turned to his father and slowly he felt the burden on his chest become lighter. That's right. His family knew several wizards that they had engaged in the past to help with several matters.
In fact, the most powerful wizard in Draec used to work for his family when he was a child.
The only problem that those wizards couldn't do was locate the witch because she removed her tracks expertly. Now, if they go to Shadowend and attack the witch with the help of the wizards, surely they would have a chance of saving Ellena's heart.
"When can we see the wizard, father?" Mars quickly asked King Jared. "I want to take care of this problem as soon as possible."
King Jared nodded. "I will send pigeons later today to Elmer The Wizard. He will know what to do."
Mars knew the elusive Elmer was the most powerful wizard in Draec who served the king for decades. He had withdrawn from public life ten years ago and moved to the mountain.
Now, the royal family only had his brother, Mr. Vitas, helping them as the royal physician. Draec had not needed a wizard's help in many years, so Elmer could retire peacefully.
Now, maybe it was time to bring him back from retirement for one last time.
"I hope Elmer can help us." Queen Elara sighed.
"He can. I believe in his power. At least we can discuss with him what is our best option," said King Jared. He rubbed his wife's back and advised her to rest so she could feel calmer. "Honey, why don't you rest in our chamber and drink some wine. I will join you soon. And then, we can all have dinner together. Right now, I will need to discuss something with our son."
Queen Elara realized there was nothing she could do to help them, so she nodded in agreement. "Okay. I will wait for you in the chamber."
She rose and walked outside the king's study. After she disappeared from view, King Jared crossed his arms on his chest and looked at his son seriously.
"Mars, I need you to think about what Ellena said carefully," he said without further ado. "I know she was emotional and angry, but everything she said hit me hard. I can't trust that woman you just married."
Mars was stunned when he heard his father's words. The prince looked at his father, questioningly. He couldn't believe that after he vouched for Emmelyn earlier today and his father accepted it, suddenly King Jared was suspicious of her again.
"Father, we have talked about this," he said.
The man sounded very tired. So many things happened the past two days and he felt emotionally drained. He wished he could go home and hugged his wife and rested his mind.
"We did, but I still don't feel at peace," King Jared looked disappointed. "You love her too much that you become blinded by her charm. I can't forget the fact that you kneeled down to someone for her sake. What next? She really has you around her fingers and it's something that a king shouldn't do."
Mars remembered the moment that his father referred to. Yes, he dropped to his knees when Killian threatened Emmelyn. Mars did it out of love, yes. He was worried Killian would really hurt Emmelyn and his child.
He would do it again in a heartbeat. To him, their lives are worth more than his honor.
Maybe.. just maybe, if his father didn't have his pride back then and begged for his late fiancee's forgiveness, not caring for his honor, his children wouldn't be cursed with death. So many lives could be saved.
Lowering yourself for the right reason was not shameful. That's what Mars thought.
But apparently, his father, the king disagreed.
.
.
>>>>>
From the author:
I just published my new book for ReadNovelFull Spirity Award. If you haven't already known, it's the biggest writing competition held by ReadNovelFull this year. Among the rewards is the opportunity for adaptation into movies or TV series.
The book title is "The Cursed King", and it's actually the sequel to "The Cursed Prince". If you want to see the book (and probably this one too) get the chance to be shown on TV (probably Netflix), please support "The Cursed King".
Go search the book by the title, it is not yet visible on my profile, add it to your library. Give reviews, comments, or anything. Let me know what you think. :)
xx
PS: This announcement is written AFTER I publish the chapter and it doesn't cost you extra coin.