"Who is Ellena Greystorm?" Emlyn repeated her question. "Do you love her? I know she loves you."
Mars's hand, which was rubbing Emlyn's back, stopped moving.?He didn't expect Emlyn 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 ti."
"Oh..." Emlyn 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. Emlyn 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 Emlyn saw him and decided on her own feelings. He must tread carefully. "She knew about the curse... and she thought, the curse is lifted."
Emlyn 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?" Emlyn asked back.
"Both, yes,"
"I am sorry, but I don't like her," Emlyn 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 in contempt the mont we were introduced. I cannot pretend to like soone who treats that way." Emlyn 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."
Emlyn 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 won? Especially since she knew Emlyn was the only woman who could be with her son...
Or so she thought.
Emlyn 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 seed 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 et those people anyway that I can say such things in the future," Emlyn 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 agreent if you are no longer cursed." Emlyn finally decided.
"Do we though?" Mars was in a panic. "Why?"
"You wanted to give you three heirs, and in exchange, you will return Winterre to . However, we only made that agreent because you couldn't touch other won," Emlyn 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 as a breeding bull again?"
Emlyn rembered their conversation six weeks ago when they first entered into their agreent. 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 an 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 won? You know I have so much to do and don't have ti for such trivial matters..." Mars responded.
"Courtship is not a trivial matter.." Emlyn protested. "You need the heirs."
"Aye.. that's right, I need the heirs and you will give them to . 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 sotis forgets her manners, but I thought you could at least keep your words," Mars said, pretending to be disappointed in Emlyn. "Are all girls from Winterre untrustworthy like you?"
Emlyn pouted and looked away. It seed futile to talk to him about her concern. He seed adamant that they kept their original agreent.
"I no longer want Winterre," was all the girl could say.
Mars was surprised to hear her. Did he hear her correctly?
Wasn't her freedom and Winterre the only two things Emlyn wanted right now? Did she finally give up on Winterre?
"Why?" Mars asked urgently. "Do you want anything else, other than Winterre?"
Emlyn 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.
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