Emmelyn really couldn't believe her eyes.

It's been...

How long had it been since the last time she saw Maxim? The man had changed quite a bit in the 18 months that she didn't see him.

He gained a little weight and looked more buffed than before. His face no longer had that playful smirk that always decorated his face. The man now looked so much more serious than what she remembered.

He was still as handsome as the last time. That didn't change one bit.

Maxim was still the most good-looking man Emmelyn had ever seen. His eyes were bright silver and his short messy hair looked like sand, or as he would call it the color of ash.

His nose, lips, and jaw all looked like they were perfectly sculpted by a talented artist. In Emmelyn's opinion, he was even more beautiful than Gewen.

However, his aloofness and his imposing presence made him look unreachable, unlike Gewen who was warm and a sweet talker.

As Maxim looked at her with an annoyed expression, Emmelyn was dumbfounded in her place. 

Was this really her old friend? Or was she dreaming in broad daylight?

Emmelyn was really worried that something bad had happened to Maxim after she left him and he got affected by the curse that befell her. If this was really Maxim, she was so relieved to see him alive and well.

"Maxim?!" Emmelyn repeated her word.

She called his name, looking doubtful. Even though her heart told her it was really Maxim, but somehow it was so hard to believe her own eyes.

The man looked at her with narrowed eyes and he was obviously surprised to know some stranger knew his childhood name.

He didn't really use that name. It was an endearing name his mother used to call him. Nobody else called him Maxim. Except for...

"Huh?" His annoyed expression changed instantly into surprise. His eyes bulged and he looked at Emmelyn attentively. "Emmelyn?"

The man's voice sounded pleasantly surprised and it finally confirmed Emmelyn's suspicion that he was really Maxim.

"You're not dead??" she asked him in disbelief. She pressed her lips and widened her eyes, feeling surprised and emotional at the same time. "This is really you?"

"You are still alive too?" Maxim asked the same question. 

"..." Emmelyn was truly out of words. She was worried that Maxim was dead because of her curse. However, not only he seemed healthy and well, but he also looked extremely good.

Emmelyn realized he had changed a lot and looked much more mature now.  The next thing she knew, her body felt floating as the man had jumped on her and gave her a bear hug.

Maxim lifted Emmelyn and hugged her so tightly. "Gosh! You scared me to death when you went missing! Silly girl!"

The man was so moved by the sudden encounter that he wiped his eyes that were started gleaming with tears after he let go of her from his hug. Then he laughed and messed up Emmelyn's hair. "You look so ugly! I almost didn't recognize you!"

Emmelyn was crying too. After going through so much hardship in her life, she felt like she finally got something good.

She never thought she could meet Maxim again in Atlantea. This world was huge and he could be anywhere... yet here he was. He was also alive and well.

"Shut up, Maxim!" Emmelyn pouted and then wiped the 'birthmark' from her face using her sleeve. "I have to make myself ugly to cover up my appearance. You have no idea how many people are chasing me, including this weird king from Summeria."

Maxim batted his eyes when he heard her words, uttered in annoyance. A playful glint flashed in his silver eyes. "A king is chasing you? Why? Did you steal from him?"

Emmelyn wanted to say that actually there were two kings who were after her and one of them was her own scummy husband. But she decided not to say it.

The bounty from Draec probably didn't reach Atlantea anyway and it was also insignificant since the reward was only a meager 1000 gold coins.

So, Emmelyn wouldn't worry about it, especially because she had faked her death and Mars should be thinking that she was really dead now.

At least, until Emmelyn found Edgar and the man went home to the Draec's capital and brought news of her survival.

"I have no idea, really," Emmelyn replied with a hoarse voice. She wanted to break down and cry.

Emmelyn had been holding all her sufferings inside all alone. Now she felt like she could finally be open and shared everything with a friend. It sucked to be alone. 

Even though she had Kira as her travel companion, they didn't know each other that well and had only been acquainted for less than one week.

With Maxim around, she felt like she had her best friend, a brother, her confidante, her partner in crime.

"Maybe the king is in love with you," Maxim teased her. "He is smitten by you and wants to make you his queen. I cannot think of any other reasons why a king will send so many people to look for a woman."

"Wait.. do you know about the bounty too?" Emmelyn was surprised to hear Maxim's teasing. She had not told Maxim about the bounty but the man seemed to know it already?

Maxim shrugged. "Yeah, I heard people talk. They said the king will grant them gold, title, and land. The reward is quite attractive."

Emmelyn couldn't help but think her own husband was so stingy that he only offered 1000 gold coins to find her. So, that's how low he valued her as a person? 

The Summerian king seemed to really love that woman who claimed to be Emmelyn that he spared no expenses to find her.

"The thing is, Maxim... I believe the king is deceived," Emmelyn found a fallen tree and sat there, while she freed her leg from the trap. "He must have met a woman who claimed to be me. Perhaps, she was not confident with herself that she used my identity."

"Huh?"

"When they met, the king must know her as Emmelyn since she faked her identity and claimed to be me. So, when she left him and he sent people to search for her, he gave them the wrong information because she lied to him about who she was. Now, everyone is after me."

The corners of Maxim's mouth twitched. He wanted to laugh so hard, but he held back.

"I don't understand why would another woman use your identity. You're not even that special. Unless you are a princess, I cannot imagine someone would claim to be you," he pretended to furrow his brows in confusion.

Emmelyn coughed violently when she heard the man's seemingly innocent words. 

Ahh.. that's right. She didn't tell Maxim who she was. So, the man still thought she was an ordinary woman and became confused when she told him that someone had claimed her identity.

Maxim was right. Usually, only important people would have impostors posing as them. He must still think Emmelyn was a commoner from Wintermere, an insignificant kingdom in Terra.

Who in their right mind would pose as a regular woman from the commoner class?

"I am actually a princess," finally Emmelyn decided to tell him the truth.

.

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From the author:

We know that Maxim is King Loriel Ashborn, but he seems to enjoy teasing her so much that he will not tell her who he is until they reach Summeria. XD

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