Dinner was quiet and pleasant. Again, the cooks served Emmelyn's favorite dishes. The girl enjoyed her meal heartily.
"I heard you were summoned to the palace today?" asked Emmelyn. "What happened?"
Hearing Emmelyn's question, Mars's countenance immediately changed. He cleared his throat before answering.
"My mother said she will throw a ball in three weeks after I get back from Southberry. She said it's to celebrate my twenty-seventh birthday, but ..." The young man massaged his forehead. "I guess that's just her excuse so she can meet you. She has been asking about you and eager to meet, but I kept telling her that we are busy and not ready."
"Oh ..."
"Yeah.. so, by throwing a ball for 'me', she could invite you to the palace."
Emmelyn was momentarily stunned when she heard Mars' explanation.
She would be invited to the palace? So.. she could meet the king too?
The flame of revenge that she thought she had succeeded suppressing in her heart, for some reason, suddenly flared up again.
The Draec Kingdom was an oppressive country. The king, Mars' father, King Jared Strongmoor was greedy and wanted to rule the small kingdoms under his thumb.
Under the pretense of uniting all the kingdoms on the continent of Terra under one government, he strengthened his army and began attacking the other kingdoms around Draec.
Emmelyn remembered the war on their continent, Terra, started after King Jared took the throne. She wasn't even born then.
Within 20 years, the Draec kingdom had defeated half the continent and was now the strongest empire on Terra. By waging wars to rule the whole continent, King Jared was the person responsible for every war that happened on Terra, including one that took place in Wintermere and claimed many lives.
Wintermere, which was very far from Draec, close to the sea, was one of Draec's royal army's latest conquests. It fell after being attacked violently last year.
When war broke out, Emmelyn was on an adventure with her teacher to see the world. She didn't hear about the attack until it was too late.
Imagine her shock when she returned home to find that the Wintermere royal family was gone, and the beautiful kingdom was now a mere province under Draec, ruled by King Jared's distant relative as the governor.
Emmelyn remembered how devastated she was when she learned of the incident. She vowed to avenge her family's death.
Since she was alone and unable to assemble an army to fight back, the only way she could avenge her family was by infiltrating Draec and then look for an opportunity to kill the king.
So, in truth, Emmelyn's main target, the person she wanted to kill, was King Jared Strongmoor. However, after learning that the king's security was ridiculously strict and impenetrable, she lowered her target to be the crown prince, Mars Strongmoor.
She justified her decision because she heard that the attack on Wintermere was led by this scummy prince. So, if she killed Mars, at least Emmelyn could still get her revenge.
Coincidentally, Mars had a strange condition that made him unable to touch any woman other than Emmelyn. This gave her a huge advantage. She miraculously could stay alive after the failed assassination attempt.
She could keep her head by lending her womb for childbearing. After Mars realized that he could touch the girl, he forced Emmelyn to become the mother of his children.
He did it because the man was desperate and didn't have any other choice. The prince had been pressured to produce offsprings to be his heirs when he couldn't even touch women.
The stress and frustration were tough because there were so many things at stake.
If his family line died with him, then there would be a power struggle once Mars was older. Everyone would want to be his successors to lead Draec. He also had to work extra hard just to keep the peace in his empire.
All those reasons were enough to make the man desperate and took the most logical actions by forcing the only woman he could have sex with to bear him children.
The smart Emmelyn managed to trade her freedom with Wintermere. She could get her kingdom back from the prince. She only needed to stay here for a few years and give birth to the children that the prince needed. Once they were done, she would leave.
Wintermere would be the only kingdom on the Terra Continent that would have its independence. The rest would stay as Draec's colonies.
Come to think of it, this sacrifice was worth it because Emmelyn would save her kingdom and the people of Wintermere from oppression.
Even if she couldn't take the life of the Draec king or a prince, at least she got something.
Now, she was already content with how her life would turn out.
However, tonight, when she suddenly heard that she would get the opportunity to be invited to the palace and meet King Jared in person, her heart raced as she thought of the possibility to finally penetrate the king's security.
Her heart was tempted to try to kill King Jared and end it all. If the opportunity really came, even if she had to die, she would die satisfied.
If that happened, she would be happy to know that she died trying. No regret.
Another bright side was she wouldn't need to spend so many years in Prince Mars' castle.
Last but not least, if they killed her for the assassination, she could have her revenge in another form.
She would take away the Strongmoor family's only chance of getting an heir. Their family line would end with Mars.
Wouldn't it be sweet, sweet revenge?
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Please let me know which cover do you like best? You can see them in the paragraph comment.
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