The Cursed Prince

Emmelyn didn't disagree with the prince. Killing the witch was the only way to make sure that they would be free from her, once and for all.

"So, how do you want to find the witch?" Emmelyn asked. "Your father sent so many people to look for her whereabouts but they failed all these years."

"Obviously Ellena knows where she is. So, I will try to find that information from her," Mars replied. "That's why I would like to ask for your understanding..."

"My understanding how?" Emmelyn looked at the man questioningly.

"I know you don't like Ellena, but I would like to ask for your understanding to treat her well. I need to get close to her and slowly get that information," Mars said with a pleading expression. He took her hand and squeezed it gently.

Emmelyn pouted her lips and look away. "You are right. I don't like her. So, please don't ask me to spend time with her. However, I will not chain you to me just because I don't like your friends and ask you to toss them away. You are free to do whatever you want with them."

Emmelyn remembered that she was close to Maxim before she met Mars. If Mars would forbid her from hanging out with Maxim just because he didn't like Maxim, Emmelyn would be unhappy too.

She realized the prince had a life before she entered the picture. Just like Emmelyn had her adventures and shenanigans before she arrived and stranded in Mars' castle.

"Ah... I see," Mars was happy to hear her words. He didn't expect her to be so mature about the situation. The man sighed in relief. "Thank you. Thank you so much. I feel more at ease now."

"Hmm..." Emmelyn ruffled his hair with her free hand to show him that she really didn't mind.

Seeing how she took things wisely, Mars became bolder. Maybe, he should also tell Emmelyn about what happened six years ago before Ellena went to find the witch?

He was worried that Emmelyn would hear it from other people. The girl might not take it too kindly.

Although he would love to see Emmelyn feeling jealous, he didn't want to lose her if she thought it was too much.

How would she respond if she heard from other people that the man she loved asked another woman to marry him six years ago and hide the fact from her?

"Em, honey... There is one thing that I would like to tell you," Mars finally summed up his courage and opened the conversation. "This happened six years ago, long before you came into my life. I was desperate because of my condition."

Emmelyn's expression stayed flat. She looked at the man intently, waiting for whatever it was that he wanted to tell her. Her heart told her that it must have something to do with Ellena. However, she didn't want to guess.

"Is it bad?" She asked reluctantly. "On a scale of 1 to 10, how bad is it?"

Mars thought about it and slowly said, "Uhm... 9?"

"Wut? Okay, I don't want to hear it. You know I have a weak heart." Emmelyn pursed her lips. She wanted to get up from the sofa but Mars held her waist and kept her in place.

"Please, listen to me. This is bad, but not like what you think. I'm always faithful to you." The man looked at her pleadingly. "I want you to know what made Ellena go to find the witch in the first place. As I said, I don't want you to hear it from other people."

"Fine." Emmelyn finally stopped squirming and let him finish his sentence.

"Six years ago I was desperate about my condition. Many officials talked behind my back that once I ascend the throne and got older, people would start rebellions because I don't have any heirs. You know how they thought I wasn't interested in women and therefore wouldn't marry and have children to continue the throne's succession."

"Finally, I thought the only way I could solve the problem was by deceiving the public. If I could get a nominal wife to pretend that we have a perfect family, I could secretly adopt one of my nephews to pose as my child. It would cool down the public," Mars continued. "I thought it was the perfect cover."

Emmelyn immediately understood where this conversation was heading. "So... you thought, you could make Ellena your nominal wife? Is that what happened?"

Mars was right. This was a problem that was worth 9 on the scale. Emmelyn really felt uncomfortable to think about how this man almost got married to Ellena.

The crown prince nodded. "That's right. She was my friend and I trusted her. At that time I was selfish and only thought about how I calm the public. I would never touch her sexually and she wouldn't give birth to my children, so we can only get someone else's child to be my heir."

"Let me guess... she didn't want to be just a nominal wife to you. She wanted you to be able to have sex with her and so she could give birth to your heirs herself?" Emmelyn suddenly felt like she wanted to vomit. "Because... because she loves you."

Mars touched her cheeks. It ached him to see her looking sick. "We've talked about this. I don't love her. I only think of her as a friend. However, I cannot control how she feels about me."

"Please tell me... if you can touch her first, would she be the one you love?" Now, Emmelyn was staring at the man intently. "I need to know if you fell in love with me because we sleep together."

"What kind of question is that?" Mars shook his head. "Love and sexual attraction are two different things. If I could fall in love with her, I would have felt that years before. But I had spent 15 years of my life being around Ellena and not once did I ever feel romantically attracted to her more than I feel romantically attracted to Gewen and Edgar."

"Wait, are you romantically attracted to Gewen and Edgar???"

"No, no, no... what I meant was, I never see her differently than I see those two men. We are just good friends." Mars massaged his temple. "With you, it's different. I like you from the moment you tried to kill me and I found out you were a woman."

"Really? You like me after I tried to kill you? Is that a fetish of yours?" Emmelyn furrowed her brows. "How weird."

"No, no, no... what I meant was, when I realized that the one who tried to kill me was a woman, I instantly admired your guts." Mars couldn't believe Emmelyn would misunderstand his words. Was it because she was jealous? He added, "I thought you were hilarious. And when I saw you the next day, after you changed into a dress and looked so, so, so beautiful.. I think it was love at first sight for me."