Note:

This chapter is dedicated to Kelly Goodwin. Thank you for your support and castles gifted to boost this book. I have two more extra chapters for today ^^.

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Mars reached out his hands and accepted Harlow from Ilma. The baby's face lit up when she saw her father and started making cooing sounds. Mars chuckled and kissed her hair.

Harlow smelled so good and her plump body was so soft in his arms. Having her in his embrace gave Mars fuzzy and warm feelings. Ah... this was the best birthday to date, he thought.

Even though Mars was still sad that Emmelyn was not with him today to celebrate his birthday, he was happy to have Harlow. This baby meant the world to him.

"You look so beautiful today, Harlow. Your mother will be proud," Mars commented. "She will be happy to see I raise you well."

He kissed the baby's plump cheeks and looked at her deeply. Gosh... he didn't see Emmelyn's physical appearance on Harlow, just himself.

This made him wonder why couldn't their child take after both parents? He remembered he took after his mother the most, which worked in his favor because his father was average at best.

However, Emmelyn was stunning and he believed Harlow would look so pretty if she looked like her mother. Sigh...  instead, she copied Mars almost 100 percent.

Just look at her thick silver hair, which Gewen claimed made her look like a grandma, her golden eyes that could see well in the dark, and her aloof expression. They all made her look like his spitting image.

"Welcome, Your Majesty. Your father has arrived," John informed Mars when he saw the king walked toward the ballroom with Harlow in his arms. "He is already seated at your table."

"Thank you, John," Mars said.

His mother, Queen Elara, already said she would finally see her husband at the royal ball and that's what made Jared feel excited to come. In fact, he decided to come as early as possible.

Mars entered the royal ballroom and saw his father sitting at their family table, as usual. Mars cast his glance at their surroundings and took a deep breath.  It's been an awfully long time since the last celebration.

There was nothing to celebrate nor be grateful about in the past several months.  There were only tears and sufferings. 

But tonight, it would change. 

All the guests rose from their chairs when they saw the king entered the room. One by one they bowed down or curtseyed when the king passed by them.

All the female guests looked at the beautiful baby girl in the king's loving arms and they instantly swoon.

Before tonight, only very few people had seen Harlow in person and knew how she looked. Now, all the guests whispered among themselves and commented on how the little princess looked.

She looked so beautiful! They were wondering what her mother looked like. The guests didn't know much about that woman, just the fact that she died during childbirth.

The king was very overprotective of his daughter and never let people come close, but tonight was a special occasion. So, he finally brought Harlow and introduced her publicly.

"Look! Princess Harlow Strongmoor is such a beautiful baby," one woman gushed to her friend. "She takes after His Majesty."

"That's good. Look at how beautiful she is! I am sure many women would not want her to look like her biological mother. The king would keep seeing that woman whenever he looked at his daughter," another one replied.

"I agree with you. By the way, do you know why the king suddenly brought the little princess and showed her to the public? He never did it in the past."

"Sssh... I heard this rumor that he wants to announce his daughter because he plans to find a wife to be the child's stepmother." 

"Really? That is such good news!" 

"Yeah... I heard this rumor from Ilma and Lorian Athibaud who spend a lot of time in the royal palace lately. The king wants to make an important announcement."

"I heard the same rumor from my mother," another girl blurted. "My sister and I were told to wear our best dresses and we also spent four hours getting ready. She said our king is looking for a wife to help him raise the little princess. That's why he held this royal ball."

"Omo... this is so exciting!"

"Who do you think will attract his eyes?" They all talked about the juicy gossip excitedly.

Not only the young ladies were excited about the possibility of getting the king's attention, but the older women were also curious to know which of those girls present, their daughters or nieces, would be so lucky tonight.

"Your Majesty, you have arrived." 

Mars turned toward the voice and found Ellena stood behind him and then curtseyed. She was a beautiful woman without even trying, but tonight she went all out.

Her dress was made of the finest silk in dark blue and decorated with many precious gems. Half of her hair was styled in two cute buns on top of her head and the other half was let down like a waterfall on her back.

Ellena looked really elegant, especially because she wore a small tiara-like hair accessory and two rounds of pearl necklace.

Everyone could see how much she stood out among so many other beautiful noblewomen in the royal ballroom.

The other women who had been gossiping Harlow Strongmoor immediately talked in a hushed tone about Ellena Greystorm.

Many of them didn't like Lady Preston and Ellena because of their arrogance, just because they were close with the late queen and the crown prince who was now the king.

However, they didn't dare to talk bad about those two women openly, because Duke Preston was very powerful and well-connected in the capital. His power and influence almost came second after the king himself.

Now, seeing how Ellena dressed up like a royal princess and could stand so close to the king, those noblewomen couldn't help but talk about her.

"Do you think our king will marry that woman?" One lady asked her group of friends. "Look at her tiara. Does she think she is the future queen or something?"

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