The Cursed Prince

"What about you?" Mars turned to Gewen.

"I actually have an appointment with some ladies..." Gewen scratched his head, but when he saw Mars raise an eyebrow he quickly added, "But of course I would prefer to spend my afternoon, having tea with you. It's so much more fun than going on dates with beautiful women. Ahem... I can always meet them in the evening."

"Good," Mars nodded in satisfaction. "See you tomorrow."

Mars planned to casually mention how beautiful Lady Georgina was the next time he met Lady Athibaud to get back at Gewen if this man didn't want to come tomorrow.

That should be enough to scare the hell out of Gewen. His mother might chase him to marry Georgina.

Gewen pursed his lips and turned away. He left with Edgar. When they were left alone, Mars talked to Emmelyn about her brother.

"I will call a painter to draw the sketch of your brother. I will use it to get my men to look for him. Can you still remember his face?" Mars asked Emmelyn.

Now, he wished he had paid more attention to the man who came with Ellena to the ball last week. Mars didn't remember what he looked like, and now had to rely on Emmelyn to give Killian's physical description.

"I do," Emmelyn said. She would never forget her brother.

"Very well. I will have a painter come in one hour. Then, I will summon all the spies that work under me to find out the updates from their side. I have been ordering them to tail Ellena and find out what she has been up to after she returned until the time she came with your brother."

"She has been back for months already. Didn't your people find anything interesting about her at all?" Emmelyn asked Mars.

The man shook his head.

"Unfortunately no. She has been spending most of her time home with her aunt. Wherever Lady Preston went, she went there too. They went to the countryside for several weeks during winter to rest. Other than that, there was nothing unusual," Mars explained. "I haven't asked my people about the update after Ellena came with Killian, because we were rushing to depart for Southberry. But I think today they will be able to tell me something."

"Ah, okay. I want to know what they found," Emmelyn said.

She bit her lip and tried to think of ways to convince Killian, if they ever found him, to forgive the Strongmoors for their family's death.

She couldn't think of any.

***

An hour later, the painter arrived and he was immediately told to meet Emmelyn in the crown prince's study.

He was a man in his 60's and looked very thin. He carried a big bag with several drawing equipment on his shoulder.

"Hello, Your Highness, my name is Assai Ato. I am a painter assigned by His Highness to make a picture for you," said the man when he came with Roshan to the study.

He bowed so deeply, that Emmelyn was worried the man would break his back.

"Hey.. thank you for coming. Yes, I need your help to draw someone," Emmelyn waved and motioned him to take a seat. "The crown prince said you are the best painter in the capital?"

"Ahh.. His Highness is too kind. I am just a painter," the old man smiled warmly. "Well.. shall we start?"

"Yes, please." Emmelyn turned to Roshan and asked him to leave them alone. "You can go now."

"All right, Your Highness," Roshan replied and bowed down. He left the study and closed the door behind him.

Mr. Ato asked details about Killian's physical appearance and took notes on a piece of paper. He asked Emmelyn about the eyes, the hair, the shape of his chin, his nose, and many other small details.

Emmelyn had to close her eyes and imagine the scene when she saw Killian back in the royal gala.

Killian did look slightly different from what she remembered. He looked much older, but it must be because he went through hardships for the past two years.

Mr. Ato listened to Emmelyn's words attentively and nodded his head often. Then he started drawing with charcoal on a big piece of paper. He showed Emmelyn all the lines and asked her opinion as he drew along.

While Emmelyn was with Mr. Ato to get her brother's drawing created, Mars met with his spies and get their latest reports on Ellena and the witch.

"Your Highness, we already found the servant that Lady Ellena met five years ago. Her name is Tilda. She used to serve the Bellevar's for over 20 years and she went back to her parents' village after the Bellevars went missing." The leader of the spies was a man in his 50's. He gave his report calmly.

Mars was interested to know more. "So, did you go and see her?"

Somehow, he knew from his man's expression that they didn't get to see Tilda.

What happened to Tilda?

His hunch was right. The spy shook his head. "Unfortunately, she is already dead. When we get to her village, her family said that she died not long after Lady Ellena came to see her."

Mars clenched his fists when he heard the report. Did the servant's death have anything to do with Ellena?

Ellena did mention that the witch made her kill someone. Was it Tilda?

Or... who?

"So, basically you don't get anything valuable?" Mars asked his man, looking annoyed. It's been months and they couldn't get anything that could help him locate the witch.

He became restless. Their clock was ticking. It was only less than five months before their child was born. He wanted to find the witch before then and made sure they could kill her.

"Well.. we found another servant that worked for the Bellevars, Your Highness," said the man quickly. He had seen the impatience on the crown prince's face.

All this time, Mars was always calm and never showed his impatience on the surface. So, seeing how his master looked anxious, the spy knew how important was this matter to him.

"Oh, is that so? Any leads on the Bellevar's whereabouts?" Mars was suddenly interested again.

"Yes..." The spy looked proud when he continued his words. "We used Lady Ellena's tactic and employed a woman, my daughter, to get the information. The servant didn't have any suspicions and told my daughter where the Duke and Duchess Bellevar went."

Mars's eyes glint with excitement. Finally! After working so hard to find their tracks for a long time, they eventually found the Bellevars.

"Are they still in Draec?" He asked the spy urgently.

The man shook his head. "No, they went to Wintermere and hid there for over twenty years, until our army came there to conquer the land."

"What? Wintermere?"

Mars was astounded. He didn't expect that Emmelyn would apparently be indirectly connected with the Bellevars.

There must be a reason why Duke and Duchess Bellevar decided to run away to a country so far away from Draec. Twenty seven years ago Draec hadn't started any conquest missions, so all the other kingdoms in Terra continent were sovereigns.

They could have chosen any other kingdoms, yet they chose Wintermere.

Did they know anyone in Wintermere so that they decided to flee there?