"Let's go home," Mars told Emmelyn after he ended their kiss.

He turned to his mother who pretended to focus her attention on the teacup in her hand. "Mother, Emmelyn, and I will go home now. We will come back in two days. I will bring Emmelyn's stuff so she could stay in my old chamber before I leave for Wintermere."

The queen smiled and patted her son's shoulder. "Yes, Emmelyn already told me how she wants the chamber to be redesigned and made nicer. I think John will be able to finalize everything tomorrow. Your chamber will be ready for Emmelyn when you come here again."

"Thank you so much." Mars kissed his mother's cheek and bid goodbye. "We have to go now."

"Queen Mother." Emmelyn hugged her mother-in-law and kissed her cheeks too.

The queen looked very pleased and patted her back. "You two should rest and enjoy quality time tomorrow."

She knew the journey that her son would take was going to be long and arduous. It would be very hard for both Mars and Emmelyn. However, she understood that they didn't have any other choice.

This matter should be resolved as soon as possible. That was the only way to ensure that they would live in peace and build a happy family together.

Mars also had convinced the queen that he would be home in time for the birth of Harlow. So, the sooner he went and took care of the witch, the earlier he would be reunited with his wife and child.

"My father is still busy talking to Elmer," Mars said as he draped a big wool scarf over Emmelyn's shoulders. "We don't have to see him before we go."

"Hmm.. okay," Emmelyn said in relief. She was not in the mood to talk to the king anyway. She thought seeing King Jared would only ruin her evening.

So, she was glad the king seemed too busy to talk to her again.

"Let's go."

They walked hand in hand crossing the big garden in front of the main palace and got onto their carriage. Mars got in after Emmelyn and he told his coachman to immediately go.

On the way home, Emmelyn only leaned her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes. There were so many things that she wanted to discuss with Mars, but she didn't want their coachman to listen to their conversation, so she held back and kept them to herself.

So, she just tried to rest and closed her eyes, enjoying Mars' presence around her. Emmelyn counted every remaining hour she would have with him until Mars left the capital.

"Here we are," Mars said when the carriage stopped. Emmelyn opened her eyes and looked around her. It was already dark outside the carriage window.

Mars got out of the carriage and help her get down. 

"Thank you," Emmelyn said with a smile. She rubbed her belly and complained. "I am hungry. Let's go inside and have dinner."

"Ahahah.. sure." Mars walked with her inside the castle and immediately called Roshan who was sitting by the front hall, reading a book. "Roshan, we would like to have dinner please."

The butler quickly rose from his seat and bowed down. "Right away, Your Highness."

He went inside and informed the cooks and servants to prepare food and the dining table because their master and lady had arrived and wanted to have dinner.

"I'm so tired..." Emmelyn threw herself to the soft mattress as soon as they reached their chamber. She closed her eyes again and spoke coyishly, "Can you please wake me up when dinner is ready?"

Mars chuckled when he saw her like that. He came to the bed and sat beside her. "What happened? Did my mother tire you? You look exhausted."

Emmelyn shook her head and smiled faintly. "No, not at all. She was wonderful. I just feel tired even though I didn't do anything physical. I only spent my afternoon admiring your paintings, drinking tea, and eating cakes. Nothing hard."

"Hmm.. I think Mr. Vitas warned me about this in the past. He said it's quite normal for a pregnant woman to feel tired easily," he said dotingly. "Do you want me to massage your feet? Maybe it can help"

Emmelyn opened her eyes one by one and turned to him with a big smile on her face. "Would you do that?"

"Sure. Why not?" Mars said. "That's the least I could do."

Emmelyn raised her arm, "Then you can start with my arms. I feel like I lose strength in my arms too."

"Ahahaha.. no problem," said Mars. He took her left arm and started massaging it gently, while Emmelyn looked at him with a happy smile. 

She did feel lucky to have this man in her life. Maybe this was the compensation for all her bad luck in the past? She closed her eyes again and enjoyed his massage.

Suddenly, Emmelyn was reminded of Bruinen's reaction when he first saw her in the royal palace. The young wizard said she was surrounded by a dark aura and she would bring bad luck.

Gosh... why did he have to say exactly the same thing as Mrs. Adler? Emmelyn had forgotten about that stupid prophecy and how Mrs. Adler said she was followed by dark clouds that would bring bad luck to everyone around her.

Emmelyn intentionally pressed down that memory and kept it at the back of her head, with the intention of never to think about it again.

She had convinced herself that Mrs. Adler was just a village witch who only knew how to treat pregnant women and light ailments and had no real magic power, that her words were not to be taken seriously.

However, today, she met another wizard who was educated by Elmer himself, one of the most powerful wizards in this continent.

Bruinen didn't know her personally and he also said exactly the same thing, that he saw dark aura and bad luck surrounding Emmelyn.

She could brush it off if it was uttered by only one person, but this was already the second person telling her that she was bad luck and probably cursed as well. Now, it was so hard not to think about the possibility.

Mrs. Adler couldn't know for sure what exactly happened, she just kept saying that the reason Emmelyn was able to touch the crown prince was because she would bring him bad luck and many sufferings.

That was actually in line with the curse that was cast on him. Mars was cursed that he would never be happy.

So, Emmelyn was immune to his curse NOT because she was special, but because she was cursed too and her presence in his life would make the prince suffer.

Until now, Emmelyn couldn't see the truth in this prophecy, so she turned a blind eye and forgot about it.

She couldn't possibly make Mars suffer. She  loved him and would do anything to make him happy.

Mars already said that he was so happy after he met her. So, the prophecy was wrong, right? He said so himself, how much Emmelyn brought him so much happiness.

And now, she even brought Harlow into his life. Everything seemed to be going in the right direction.

However... suddenly Bruinen destroyed her picture-perfect image of herself and Mars.

Now, Emmelyn couldn't help but think about it again.

Mars noticed Emmelyn's distraught expression and paused his massage. He touched her shoulder and asked Emmelyn what was bothering her mind.

"What are you thinking about?" He asked Emmelyn gently. He could kind of guess what happened, but he wanted to hear it from her own lips.

"Hmm..." Emmelyn opened both eyes and sat up on the bed. Her face looked tired and sad. "I am just thinking about what the young wizard said earlier today."

"Oh.. you mean that nonsense about the country which has been missing for over a century?" Mars furrowed his brows. "I remember you mentioned something about Myreen months ago."

"Yes..." Emmelyn let out a long sigh.

The prince shook his head and spoke firmly. "I don't want you to dwell on it. Please, forget about what Bruinen said. It will only make you sad. I honestly didn't want to say this before, because I was worried I would offend you and you think I don't believe your stories... But, to be honest, I don't think Myreen still exists."

"What do you mean by that?" Emelyn asked. "Even Bruinen has heard about Myreen."

"No, what I meant was, the country didn't disappear because the wizard family wanted to hide their kingdom, I actually think it was a superstition spread by people who loved good stories. When a country disappears, usually it is because there is a big natural disaster that wipes it away from the earth. So, I believe that's what happened to Myreen and the kingdom no longer exists."

Emmelyn bit her lip. Mars seemed so sure. But he could be wrong. The legend might actually be the truth and Emmelyn really had offended someone from Myreen and now she was cursed.

But who was it that she had offended? She didn't know anyone from Myreen.

"There is no Myreen, there is no curse, and there is no bad luck," Mars said firmly. "Please stop thinking about bad things. You must focus your attention on Harlow. Remember, in less than four months, we will welcome our first child to this world. As long as I'm with you, I will always feel lucky and happy."

Emmelyn lowered her head. She tried hard to brush off that thought again. She repeated Mars' words like a mantra in her head.

So what if Bruinen and Mrs. Adler said the same thing? So far, she and Mars were good. They were happy with each other. She shouldn't dwell on this stupid matter.

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From the author:

Have you read "The Cursed King"? I think you will be pleasantly surprised to know a little bit more about Myreen. xx

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