"Uhm... that's not actually a fair bet, don't you think?" Mars chuckled when he heard her. Emmelyn was too cunning, he thought. 

"Ahahha.. so, what do you want to bet on?" Emmelyn asked him. "What about... who would be the girl he sleeps with tonight?"

Mars glanced to the side and saw the shadows of the two Milot girls who were walking before them to quickly tidy their beds.

He thought Gewen would want the prettiest if he decided to sleep with one of them tonight. So, it had to be Lori.

The prince leaned over and whispered to Emmelyn, "I bet 10 gold coins that it's going to be Lori."

"Why Lori?" Emmelyn asked.

"Because Lori is the most attractive one among the sisters," Mars explained.

"Hmmph! So, you think she is attractive?" Emmelyn gave him a side-eye.

Mars suddenly regretted that he even replied to her question. He should have watched his words when he talked about other women's beauty in front of his wife-to-be.

No women liked to hear about how beautiful other women were, even though it was true.

He should have kept his mouth shut, especially now that Emmelyn was pregnant and her emotions and hormones were all over the place.

"Hm.. what did I say? I don't remember," Mars quickly feigned ignorance. "Anyway... Let's not bet on anything. You're setting a bad example to our children if you keep gambling like this."

Mars had heard how Emmelyn got her freedom and was allowed to travel when she turned 21 because she gambled against her father and won, probably by cheating.

Now, to save himself from trouble for calling another woman attractive, Mars tried to stop Emmelyn from continuing the bet. Better if they just forgot ever talking about it, right?

"I agree with you, though. I think she is beautiful... hehehehe," Emmelyn suddenly said with a smirk.

She pretended to be angry earlier so she could tease him. His expression when he backpedaled, thinking Emmelyn was angry because he called another woman beautiful, was priceless!

"Gosh.. don't play with my heart. I was nervous earlier, thinking you are mad at me," Mars scratched his head. "You are the most beautiful woman in the world, but loving you doesn't mean I become blind and cannot see that other women could look nice too."

"I know, I know... hahaha," Emmelyn said playfully. "I was joking."

Their conversation stopped because Emmelyn had arrived in front of her chamber. Myrtle had opened the door for her and swiftly started working to tidy the bed, etc.

"Okay, rest well, Your Highness. I have arrived in my chamber," Emmelyn tapped Mars' shoulder and went insider her chamber.

"Good night, Lord Aldrich!" Mars waited until the door was closed before he continued his journey.

His chamber was the biggest and located at the end of the hallway, to give better privacy.

Behind him, Gewen and Edgar also had arrived at their respective chambers. Klara and Annabelle opened the doors for them and went inside to tidy the chambers. Edgar and Gewen followed them in.

Finally, Mars arrived at his chamber. Lori had already gone inside and seemed to work hard at closing the windows, turning down the curtains, smoothen the creases on the bedsheet, and finally lighted the candles on each side of the bed.

Mars sat on the sofa, lost in his own thoughts while Lori was working. The beautiful girl stole glances at him several times, trying to see if the prince noticed her or not.

However, she had to swallow her disappointment, because Mars didn't seem to care about her in the slightest.

Why did he treat her like air? How annoying!

"Your Highness, your bed is ready," Lori came to Mars and curtseyed. She smiled broadly, still hoping to get something out of the prince, but Mars didn't even look at her.

"Thank you, you can go now," Mars said with a flat expression.

"Good night, Your Highness. Sleep well," Lori hid her disappointment behind her sweet smile.

The man rose from the sofa and got ready to climb up the bed, but suddenly he remembered that Emmelyn was not sharing his bed tonight.

He needed his sleeping potion so he could sleep without her. He quickly turned around and called the girl who was just about to go through the door.

"Miss?"

Lori turned around with a beaming face when she heard him call her. Her heart skipped a beat.

"Yes, Your Highness?" she asked him with her melodious voice.

"Could you please bring me a cup of water? I need it to mix a concoction prepared by my physician to help me sleep. I forgot to take it during dinner earlier," Mars explained.

"Oh, definitely, Your Highness. I will immediately come back with the cup and water."

Lori quickly left the chamber with light steps. A smirk decorated her face as she thought of the perfect way to get the prince to sleep with her.

Ha. The goddess of luck was on her side tonight!

She went to see her mother in the kitchen and whispered something to her. Lady Milot's face immediately turned bright.

They worked quickly and soon Lori was walking through the hallway on the second floor with a tray filled with a cup of water.

"Your Highness, this is the water that you asked for." Since the door was still opened, Lori just entered without knocking and put the tray on the table.

She found a small glass bottle with black liquid on it and assumed it was the sleeping potion that needed to be diluted. Lori turned to the prince and smiled. "Let me mix the potion for you so it will be ready-to-drink."

She quickly opened the lid and poured a little bit of the potion, but her movement suddenly halted when Mars's voice rang in the air. "DON'T TOUCH MY POTION."

"Oh.. I-I am sorry for being presumptuous, Your Highness," Lori quickly dropped herself to the floor, begging for forgiveness. "I've only poured a little bit. Please forgive me."

Mars walked toward her and checked the cup. Sure enough, only a little portion was poured. Most of it was still in its original bottle.

He turned to Lori and waved her to leave.

"You can go now. I don't need you anymore," Mars said. "Please close the door behind you."

"Thank you, Your Highness..." Lori got back on her feet and bowed down several times and dashed through the door. She closed the door behind her.

After he was sure that Lori was gone, Mars took his potion bottle and lifted it. He calculated how much more he needed to pour into his cup and mixed it with water.

He then poured around two spoonfuls and stirred the cup. Once the potion was ready, he downed it in one go. Mars closed the lid to his potion bottle and stored it carefully in his coat pocket.

Mars took off his outer garment and climbed the bed, ready to sleep.

Ahh.. he wished Emmelyn was here, sleeping in his embrace. He wouldn't need this stupid potion.

He yawned and pulled up the blanket to his chest. Drowsiness immediately engulfed his entire being.

Ah, it looked like he took too much potion this evening, Usually, he wouldn't feel so sleepy this fast.

He yawned again. He was sleepy, but somehow, he couldn't close his eyes. His body started feeling hot under the blanket.

Wasn't it still early spring? The temperature was supposed to be cold, right?

So, why was he feeling hot?

He kicked the blanket away from him and sprawled in bed, half-naked.

Wait...

Why was he slowly no longer feeling sleepy?

And his temperature was going up?

Gosh... he started feeling something was so uncomfortable down there...

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