The Cursed Prince

Emmelyn suddenly felt scared. Having a bad dream before your wedding was surely a bad premonition, right?

Gosh.. why on earth was she dreaming of such a scary scene?

She couldn't remember exactly what happened, but she saw blood, a lot of it.

Was it war that she saw?

She remembered the blood and shrill scream, and the sound of people fighting. A lot of them.

She felt like she was in the middle of a great war.

Oh my god... What was going on? What war was it?

Why did she dream of it all of a sudden?

Emmelyn immediately remembered the witch's prophecy and King Jared's dream. Mrs. Adler said she saw a great war in the future and Emmelyn was the cause of it.

Emmelyn became frustrated by the prophecy for weeks before finally deciding to brush it off and forget about it. When she came to visit the old witch again, she avoided talking about it.

Mars also told her not to think about the stupid prophecy, even though his father, King Jared, also dreamed about a similar thing every night for a year.

It was easy to brush things off if you were not the one who experienced it yourself, now Emmelyn realized it. She felt so stressed and scared by the bad dream she saw in her sleep just now.

She could imagine how much more awful it must have been for King Jared who was haunted by the same nightmare for a year.

No wonder the king took it seriously and even decided to conquer their whole continent to make sure his country was ready for a big war.

Emmelyn somehow felt more understanding toward Mars's father. She now realized that the king only wanted to protect his country and his people.

Emmelyn knew how much King Jared loved his wife and his son. If the king was convinced that there would be a great war involving Draec in the future, he would definitely try to do anything within his power to make sure his wife and son would be safe.

Suddenly Emmelyn felt an epiphany. Somehow, on the day she was about to get married, she could see King Jared's perspective and understand him.

The attack on Wintermere was part of his plan to unite the whole continent of Terra under Draec Kingdom. Wintermere was just having bad luck for standing in the way of King Jared's grand plan.

Emmelyn knew her own father really well. He would rather die than submit to another kingdom. Maybe Draec had sent envoys to Wintermere like they always did to other kingdoms before Wintemere.

These envoys were sent to offer peaceful agreement. As long as Wintermere was willing to submit under Draec, their small country wouldn't be attacked.

That was what happened to Southberry. The original king was Lily's father. He was smart and knew he couldn't win against a so much stronger kingdom like Draec. So, he accepted the offer to be part of Draec.

His daughter was betrothed to one of King Jared's nephews and they were assigned to rule Southberry. It was win-win for both families.

Southberry had been enjoying protection from Draec and it could focus on developing its industry and made it a country famous for its wine.

There was peace everywhere in Southberry and the people's livelihoods were actually improving after they became part of the empire.

They got so much better trades and cooperation with other kingdoms under Draec. So, basically, joining Draec had been the best decision that the Southberry king made.

However, Wintermere must have chosen the other path and they soon paid the price. Emmelyn's father must never want to accept any proposals to join Draec and exerted all his powers to go to war against the giant.

Now, Emmelyn could only regret her father's foolishness. Things would have been different had his father made a different decision back then.

She sat up in bed and cupped her face with both hands.

Emmelyn was crying silently. It was still dark outside and morning had not come yet.

She was crying for her family.

After her tears subsided, she pressed her chest and closed her eyes. Now, on the day of her wedding, she could finally forgive King Jared.

She opened her eyes and looked around her. There was a feeling of relief to see that she was still in her chamber.

The bad dream was really depressing but, in a way, it gave her peace.

Now that she could understand King Jared, Emmelyn could finally marry the king's son with a clear conscience.

She was still scared about the nightmare and she couldn't wait to see Mars and tell him everything.

She started to think that there must be something behind the dream since so many people had brought it up already.

Mrs. Adler saw it in her divination window, King Jared saw it in his recurring dreams, and tonight it was Emmlyn who saw it.

What if it was true?

What if there was really a great war in the future?

What should they do to avoid it? Or, could they even avoid it?

"Wait.. what if it is just a coincidence?" Emmelyn talked to herself. "Maybe I thought too much about it that my mind subconsciously brought it up in my dream?"

That was also another possibility...

Since she was about to marry the crown prince, Emmelyn was secretly bothered by the fact that she would marry the person who was responsible for her family's demise.

Maybe... that concern sneaked into her consciousness and made her think about the reason why Draec attack Wintermere in the first place: King Jared's dream.

The human's mind worked in mysterious ways.

Now, Emmelyn didn't know what to think.

She yawned and felt her eyes droopy. She had a really bad and restless night with a nightmare. This was not good. She shouldn't have dark circles under her eyes on her wedding day. Darn it!

Emmelyn climbed down her bed and washed her face. She tried to put some moisturizer on her face to reduce puffiness.

She was grateful that Lily prepared her a chamber with everything that a woman could ever need, including some herbs and ointment that could rejuvenate her skin.

"Uff, stupid nightmare.. go away. I want to have a dreamless sleep," she whispered over and over before she went back to her bed and closed her eyes. She kept chanting her mantra, hoping that she could really get proper rest.

Somehow, her determination won. Emmelyn could finally close her eyes and slept like a baby.

***

"Good morning, Lady Emmelyn." Lily's voice could be heard from outside Emmelyn's door. It was so crisp and friendly.

Emmelyn immediately sat up in bed and opened her eyes. She checked her surroundings and immediately remembered that she was now in Southberry.

She was staying in the Governor's castle and his wife was very nice to her. After Lily took her to this wonderful bedroom, she said she would come and get Emmelyn first thing in the morning.

"Ahh.. she is here," Emmelyn said to herself.

She jumped out of her bed happily. She liked Lily and couldn't wait to see her and talked about the wedding preparations.

"Hello, Lady Greenan," said Emmelyn after she opened the door and welcomed Lily into her chamber. She let out a muffled shriek when she saw a cute baby in Lily's arms. "Oh my god! How adorable! Who is this?"

Lily smiled broadly and showed her baby to Emmelyn. "This is Jorei, our youngest son. He is now seven months old."

"Wow.. so cute!!" Emmelyn gushed.

"Mommy..." A boy of the age three years old, and another one around five, peeked from behind Lily and surprised Emmelyn even more.

"Gosh.. how handsome!" Emmelyn pressed her lips in admiration. She was amazed to see Lily, looking so young but already had three children.

She was reminded that Mars initially asked her to produce for him three heirs. Hahaha. Those days felt like centuries ago now. She and Mars had come a long way.

Thinking about it made her curve up a smile on her lips. She would be like Lily now if she really followed through with their agreement.

Gosh.. their children must look so cute and adorable like Lily's chubby children.

Seeing the three adorable Greenan children, Emmelyn now realized that she could never leave her own children behind, no matter what.

This morning felt like an eye-opener for Emmelyn. Her heart was so touched. She could see how much Lily loved her sons and deep inside Emmelyn thought that was how she would love her children too.

She would look at them in adoration, just like what Lily was doing now. And she would treasure them with her life.

Emmelyn crouched down and touched the oldest boy's shoulder. "Hello, my name is aunty Emmelyn. Nice to meet you. What is your name?"

"My name is Louis Greenan," said the boy with a shy smile.

"Oh... Louis Greenan. You are such a smart boy. I like you a lot," said Emmelyn. She then turned to the other one and greeted him. "And what is your name, sweetheart?"

The boy smiled but he hid behind his mother again.

Lily laughed when she saw her second son's reaction. "Hahaha.. he is really shy. Give him time, Lady Emmelyn. His name is Loran Greenan."

"Nice to meet you, Loran," Emmelyn said and she waved her hand to Loran. She then got up and touched the baby's chubby arm. She gushed, "You have wonderful children! I am jealous!"

Inwardly, Lily wanted to laugh. She remembered when Mars came here in autumn for the battle practice, the crown prince also said he was jealous of Athos and hoped someday he could have his own children.

And now, it turned out, Emmelyn also said the same thing.

Lily really thought Emmelyn and Mars were too alike and they were meant for each other.