"Hey, welcome back, Your Highness.." said the old witch with a smile. She had seen blood splatter on Emmelyn's clothes, but she didn't say anything. As long as Emmelyn looked fine, Mrs. Adler wouldn't ask her too many questions.

"What are you making?" Emmelyn asked. She looked into the pot and saw the soup. Suddenly she felt hungry again after not being able to feel hunger for weeks.

This was a good feeling, she thought. After she went to stay in this hut, she had to force herself to eat so that she wouldn't die and her recovery process could go well.

If it was up to her, she wouldn't eat anything because she didn't have any appetite. But now, she was craving the simple soup that the old witch was making. It smelled good too. 

"I am making soup, Princess," said the old witch. "Would you like some?"

"Yes, please..." said Emmelyn. She put the money bag on the floor and got ready to eat. She took a bowl from beside the stove and waited for Mrs. Adler to scoop some soup for her.

It tasted good. Maybe this was what peace of mind could bring to her. Now that she knew her baby would not be in danger from having the treacherous butler around her, Emmelyn could feel relieved.

Now, she only had to think about how she could find ways to meet her husband. She had seen him being surrounded by soldiers and other people. It was so hard to get close to him now.

It was very different from back then when he was still cursed. Emmelyn could disguise herself as a male servant and hover around him. Now, he was grieving and the security measure around him was tightened. 

It was so much harder to even get closer to him, let alone doing it without arousing suspicions. Well.. she could think about it tomorrow. Now, she better ate and slept well to regain her strength.

Mrs. Adler was so happy to see Emmelyn eat a lot. This showed that the princess was feeling better. Maybe it had something to do with the blood on her clothes?

Without being asked by Emmelyn, she boiled water and prepared warm water for her to wash up. 

"Your Highness, you will feel better if you washed up before sleep," she said, handing out a small clean cloth and the warm water in the basin to Emmelyn.

The princess accepted them with a grateful heart. They now had a lot of money. She promised herself that their trip to Wintermere would be comfortable. No more staying in abandoned huts and find food from the forest.

And before she left for Atlantea, she would make sure to leave the old witch enough gold to have a good life in her home. She was old and shouldn't have to work so hard in her later years.

"Thank you," Emmelyn said with a smile. She wiped herself clean and changed into a fresh outfit. She decided to buy new sets of clothes tomorrow in the nearest town. They would need them for the trip and also to disguise themselves.

***

"Your Highness...." John bowed down so low when he saw the crown prince enter the royal palace. His face looked happier than he was today when Mars left him and this made the prince feel intrigued.

Did something happen while he was away?

"Do you have something to tell me?" Mars asked him.

John nodded. "Yes, Your Highness. I am happy because, after so long, His Majesty finally returned to the palace."

John was aggrieved to see his masters in their current condition. The family that he had been serving faithfully for decades was in a wreck after the queen was killed, and it broke the butler's heart.

He was happy to see the crown prince returned, but when the king finally could overcome his grief and made an appearance in the palace, John felt so relieved. He had seen King Jared came.

Aside from his sorrowful expression, the king didn't do or say anything that a mad man would do, unlike what happened weeks ago, when he ordered so many people's execution for even the most trivial reasons.

Maybe.. finally, the king's grief had subsided a little, so he could become himself again. Or, maybe the prince's arrival had that effect on King Jared. The monarch had been waiting for his son for so long, so they could share their grief together.

"Where is my father?" Mars asked John.

The butler pointed respectfully at the king's study. "He is waiting for you in his study, Your Highness."

"Okay."

Mars walked briskly in that direction. Suddenly the sorrow he felt for his mother's passing filled his mind when he thought about his father.

So, this was how it felt like to lose a parent, he told himself.

Somehow, his mind went to Emmelyn. He imagined how shocked and aggrieved she was when she found out that not only her parents, but also her brothers and sisters, and basically her whole family were gone.

What she experienced was far worse than what Mars was having now. Emmelyn went from having a big family to suddenly becoming an orphan, and a homeless one at that.

He could see how her anger and grudge were justified. Truly, the war had taken so many victims, that Mars felt his stomach churn just from thinking about it.

Before he met and fell in love with Emmelyn, he didn't see the kingdoms they conquered and the people from a personal level. They were all just numbers.

He only thought about how he could please his father who wanted to rule the whole continent.

Now that he was the one who had to experience losing a family member, a mother he deeply loved, Mars's sympathy went out to those people who had suffered under their invasion.

KNOCK

KNOCK

He opened the door to his father's study after knocking and didn't hear a response. 

"Father..." Mars stepped inside the study and found his father sitting like a statue on his chair. The king looked twenty years older than the last time Mars saw him.

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