Emmelyn was speechless. She didn't know what to say about this very unfortunate situation.

She wanted to get mad at Maxim for being the cause of her sufferings, but after she saw how much he also suffered... because of guilt and helplessness... she didn't have the heart to say anything.

She could only bit her lip and hold back whatever curses she had in her mind. Maxim was innocent, she thought. 

It was all Catalina Leoralei's doing.

"I didn't know Catalina would do something like this..." Myrcella spoke softly. She sounded embarrassed and guilty. Catalina was her daughter-in-law and she felt responsible for whatever it was that Catalina did before she died.

Myrcella looked at Maxim and Emmelyn alternately, and she pressed her chest. She felt sorry for the young woman before her. Emmelyn looked devastated.

Emmelyn's mind was in a mess. Today, she finally found out the truth.. that she was cursed with bad luck because Maxim fell in love with her.

She was not ready for this answer.  It was too heartbreaking.

"Is there a way to cancel or break the protection spell?" Emmelyn finally pulled herself together and asked Myrcella. She thought, if anyone would know the way to break the curse... it would be one of the Leoraleis.

So, she was hoping Myrcella could give them an answer on how they could break the curse.

Sadly, Myrcella shook her head weakly. Her voice was sympathetic when she replied to Emmelyn's question. "I'm sorry... the only person who can cancel the spell is Catalina herself..."

To Emmelyn, the answer felt like a stab wound in her chest. It was harsh and painful.

For a moment, she could only stay still in silence, too shocked to say anything.

Catalina Leoralei had died eighteen years ago. That means... nobody could do anything about the curse she cast before she died.

Emmelyn immediately thought about Raphael and how he could promise to bring back Queen Elara from the dead. Did it work? Had Edgar reached Draec and revived her mother-in-law?

Maybe Raphael could also help bring back Catalina from the dead? If that happened, they could ask Catalina to cancel her protection spell.

Ahh... Emmelyn quickly got rid of that thought. Raphael and Margueritte knew the Leoraleis. If Catalina could be saved, they would have done it years ago.

Right?

"Can't King Alexander cancel whatever spell his wife cast?" Maxim stood up and asked Myrcella sincerely. "Or.. maybe we can revive Aunt Catalina from the land of the dead and ask her to cancel her spell...??"

Myrcella shook her head. "If we could bring back Catalina from the dead, don't you think we would have done it by now?"

Emmelyn bit her lip. She knew she was right. Asking Raphael's help was not an option.

"What about King Alexander?" Emmelyn repeated Maxim's question. "I know Tides said His Majesty is currently sick, but... is there a way?"

"No... nothing." Myrcella looked so distraught. "There is no other way but..."

"No other way but...?"  Maxim looked at Myrcella deeply. " But what? Tell me..."

Suddenly, Margueritte the white witch's words came to his mind. Maxim remembered when they were in Mount Tempest, Marguriette asked him if he would do anything to free Emmelyn from the curse and he said yes without batting an eye.

Then, Margueritte said Maxim had to sacrifice himself in order to free Emmelyn. Maxim immediately said yes. He didn't need to think twice.

Because he loved Emmelyn so much, he would do anything for her.  Even if he had to die, he wouldn't mind, if that could bring her happiness.

Maxim didn't really have a reason to live if he didn't have Emmelyn in his life. His only family was his ailing mother. Soon, after Queen Maude passed away, Maxim would be all alone. He didn't want to live alone and lonely.

His empire? Yes, he was born to rule Summeria, but it didn't mean he liked it. Maxim even tried to run away from Summeria for years because he didn't want to be a king. To him, Summeria was a burden.

Maxim only took the throne two years ago because he needed the power and resources of being a king to look for Emmelyn and help her get her kingdom back. That was the truth.

Without Emmelyn, he couldn't care less about Summeria.

Emmely was everything Maxim had ever wanted. Emmelyn was the only reason for everything he ever did in his life.

He would sacrifice himself for her, so she could be happy.

But... apparently, the only way for him to help Emmelyn was worse than death.

To free Emmelyn from the damn curse... Maxim had to marry the woman he didn't love.

To him, it was a life worse than death. A life without Emmelyn was not the life he wanted.

Maxim looked at Myrcella deeply, hoping to hear a different answer from what Margueritte had hinted in the past. He asked her in a hoarse voice, "Please tell me how we can stop Emmelyn from suffering..."

"I have a young daughter..." Emmelyn muttered. "I love her so much. I would do anything for her and give her a good life... If she had to experience a tragic life because of me, I would rather die and spare her from the suffering...."

"You... have a daughter..?" Myrcella looked at Emmelyn with furrowed brows, then she turned to look at Maxim with a disappointed expression. "Is it your daughter?"

Maxim looked away.

Harlow was not his daughter. She should have been his, but Emmelyn met the other guy and got entangled with him... It was all because of the damn curse.

Myrcella immediately understood that the relationship between Maxim and Emmelyn was not like what she had suspected. 

"Is she not your lover?" Myrcella asked to confirm. "You said you love her."

"Loriel is my good friend," Emmelyn explained on Maxim's behalf. She thought it was better to let Myrcella know that she had no intention of stealing Maxim from her granddaughter. "We met three years ago and immediately become the best of friends. He has been helping me a lot."

Myrcella now looked at Emmelyn with a gaze filled with sympathy. She could see how this young woman had suffered so much in her life... and it was because of Catalina.

Now, Myrcella realized she had misunderstood. The love on Loriel's part was one-sided. 

Emmelyn only considered him as a good friend. She already had a child with another man.

With this realization, Myrcella finally confirmed Maxim's suspicion.

"There is no other way to help you friend..." She turned to Maxim and looked at the man seriously. "You have to marry Elise."

.

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***********

From Missrealitybites:

What do you think about this chapter? I know some of you hate Loriel/Maxim for his poor treatment of his wife in "The Cursed King"..... ahahaha, but maybe you can understand why he became such a person?

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