Emmelyn mourned the queen's death by herself for one whole week. It was truly the lowest point in her life. She had never felt so sad and hopeless as she was this time.

When she lost her family and her kingdom, she felt so much rage and hatred toward the enemy. But now... her sadness was coupled with guilt. Emmelyn finally understood that their demise was caused by the curse that befell her.

Everyone she loved would die and there was nothing she could do. Nothing. She now understood that the worse feeling in the world was helplessness. This was what Mars experience almost all his life, and now, Emmelyn experienced it too.

The queen's death was what opened her eyes. Queen Elara died she was related to Emmelyn and Emmelyn loved her.

Even though Ellena was the person who stabbed her with the knife, Emmelyn was the reason why the murder could take place.

If only Emmelyn didn't bring bad luck with her, the loving queen would still be alive to this day. Queen Elara didn't deserve to die. Mars had suffered so much.. he didn't deserve this.

Both Mars and Queen Elara were very nice people. They suffered because they were related to Emmelyn. Knowing this was truly heartbreaking for Emmelyn, and she kept blaming herself for not staying far away from them.

***

"This is all my fault..." Emmelyn kept muttering to herself over and over again. "I should have left them when I had the chance. I shouldn't have inflicted this bad luck on them..."

"If I died, no one else would have to suffer..."

Emmelyn grabbed the railings on her windows and looked outside. That was the only thing that kept her sane during her imprisonment. Her prison, the chamber at the top of the Grey Tower felt so bleak and cold.

She could see what happened around the palace from her windows.  Those windows were barred with iron railings and even though Emmelyn tried to break the railings, she finally realized that all her efforts were futile. 

Her mind was in a mess and she thought she would go crazy. She needed to find out if they had heard from her husband.

She also wanted to know what happened to the thug that Mrs. Adler treated. And, surely the king's guards could find the other thug, the one that she killed in the woods, to prove her claim that she was kidnapped, right?

However, none of them came to her. No one from the royal palace asked Emmelyn what happened to hear her side of the story. She only knew from Mr. Vitas that the king blamed her and didn't even want to investigate further.

"Is there any minister or general I can talk to?" Emmelyn asked Mr. Vitas on his third visit. "I am innocent. It was Ellena who did it. I am sure she killed the queen and framed me. I can prove it!"

Mr. Vitas shook his head weakly. He looked at Emmelyn with pity and said, "Nobody in the capital will go against the Prestons openly. Duke Preston just took charge of the royal palace yesterday after the king had a mental breakdown... As the new prime minister, he is in charge of the royal affairs until the crown prince returns."

"What??" Emmelyn was so shocked to hear what happened. "What happened to the previous prime minister?"

"He had been sick for a while now, and after the queen's death followed by King Jared's mental breakdown, Lord Acton said he is too ill to handle royal affairs on behalf of the king. So, he handed over his title to Duke Preston," Mr. Vitas explained. "To be honest, the capital is in chaos right now."

Emmelyn was in a panic. So, Duke Preston was now in charge of the capital? This was really unexpected. She and Mars had been truly blindsided. 

When she heard Ellena and the Prestons moved to the countryside and being monitored by General Frey and his Golden Knights Team, Emmelyn thought finally they would see the end of Ellena.

She foolishly assumed Ellena finally had given up on chasing her husband. Apparently, she was dead wrong.

The wench and her family had been planning this meticulously. After Ellena killed the queen, they must have expected the king would be devastated and couldn't do his role properly. That's when they will pressure Lord Acton to give up his title as the prime minister to Duke Preston.

After Duke Preston took over power in the royal palace in place of the king who was having a mental breakdown, they must plan to do something else.

Emmelyn's heart skipped a beat. Were they planning to kill her?

Her chest felt so heavy and she couldn't breathe. This sudden knowledge was so shocking that for a few moments, Emmelyn felt her body shaking and cold sweat ran down her back.

She knew Ellena would want her dead. That bitch wanted Mars for herself, and the most guaranteed way to get the man was by removing Emmelyn from his life.

So.. if Ellena wanted her dead.. this would mean, Harlow would die too.

"Your Highness, please drink this tonic for your health," Mr. Vitas quickly pour a black liquid into a small cup and gave it to Emmelyn. "This will help with your breathing problem. I have consulted several other herbomancy experts and created this tonic for you."

Emmelyn closed her eyes and tried to take a deep breath. She pressed her chest while trying to instill only happy thoughts in her mind. She had tried this method in the past and it helped a bit.

Nothing bad would happen to Harlow.

They wouldn't dare to hurt the crown prince's child. They are not that stupid.

She kept telling herself those words over and over again. After a while, her brain started to accept it as the truth, and slowly the pressure she felt on her chest subsided.

They would never hurt Harlow. 

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