"The trip will be so much slower..." Edgar said.

"I know."

"We have to make a lot of stops and—"

"Not really," Mars interrupted his friend. "We will use the new carriages. They are much bigger and designed to have smoother movements. We will move in day time like usual and rest at night time. Many nomad tribes live like this and their children are okay with it. This would be slightly unusual for Harlow, but children adapt fast."

He didn't want to bring Harlow with him and expose her to hardships and danger, but Mars couldn't stay at home and do nothing while his wife was going further and further away from him.

What if Gewen failed to reach the destination and cleared the misunderstanding between him and Emmelyn? As the king, Mars knew he shouldn't rely on just one plan. There should always be Plan B, Plan C, and so on.

So, after thinking about all possible options, Mars decided to just bring his daughter with him. Maybe it would even work in his favor. If Emmelyn knew Mars came all the way with Harlow to get her back, she might forgive him more easily and came to get their daughter.

Mars knew this was low, to use their daughter to bait Emmelyn... but all is fair in love and war, isn't it?

"But... what about her food? How will we feed her?" Edgar asked again.

He wanted to make sure that his friend was not being emotional and made irrational decisions by taking his daughter with him. He wanted to be the voice of reason that would help Mars make good decisions.

Edgar didn't have children of his own, but he had nieces and nephews and knew they were not easy to handle, especially when they were as little as Harlow.

"She is big enough to eat soft food. We can also get cow's milk from the cities we pass by. Feeding her wouldn't be a problem," Mars explained. "Ilma and Lorian will go with us to take care of her, in addition to several maids. They are actually excited to go."

Edgar was surprised to know that the Athibaud sisters were not as spoiled as he thought they were. They were actually excited to go?

Well... maybe they thought being asked to go with His Majesty on such a long journey would mean they got to spend more time with him and so they could get his attention. Edgar couldn't think of other reasons why Ilma and Lorian would want to go.

Seeing the determination on the king's face and how he really didn't have any other feasible options, Edgar finally nodded and patted Mars on the shoulder. "Very well. I think we can make it work."

"Thank you, Edgar," Mars smiled. "I know I can rely on you."

Edgar held his breath and hoped for the best. If Harlow could really adapt and they could travel with her, it would be an unforgettable experience for everyone involved.

***

KNOCK KNOCK

Emmelyn was moved from her reverie and she quickly opened the door for Maxim. The man was standing in the doorway after Emmelyn opened the door. His face looked clean and fresh, but his expression was murky.

"Come in," Emmelyn motioned Maxim to enter. She intentionally let the door open, not sure why. Maybe to let the Leoraleis know that she and Maxim didn't do anything frowned upon while they were together in a closed chamber?

Maxim noticed this and pretended not to feel bothered by her attitude. Ever since they arrived in the Myreen's royal palace and Emmelyn found out the relationship between Maxim and the Leoraleis, she had been distant to him.

She was still polite but it was not the same. This situation ached his heart, but Maxim couldn't do anything. He knew he was at fault. He covered up the fact that he and the Leoralei's girl was betrothed from birth.

He did it because he was... worried that Emmelyn would quickly connect the dots and blame him for everything that happened to her.

"Did you get any rest?" Maxim asked gently. Emmelyn shook her head. She was being honest with him. How could she rest with so many things bothering her mind like this?

"You?" She asked him back.

Maxim also shook his head. After he washed up, he took the time to reflect on his choices and tried to find the solution if Myrcella was right.

What if the only way for him to free Emmelyn from the curse was by marrying Elise. Would he do it?

After searching his soul for hours, Maxim finally came to a decision.

If that was the only requirement... maybe he could just do it. He could take Elise as his wife. It didn't mean he had to love her.

His love was reserved only for Emmelyn.

Elise Leoralei might have him in flesh, but his heart and soul... would never be hers.

"They have good tea," Emmelyn changed the subject. She pointed at the teapot on the small table near the window. "This pot is delivered just now by a maid after I asked for it. Would you like a cup  of tea?"

Maxim nodded. "Yes, please."

Actually, at a time like this, he would prefer wine or something stronger. He wanted to get drunk and drink away his sorrow, but he didn't ask the servants to bring him wine because they would have dinner with Myrcella and Alexander soon.

He didn't want to come to dinner drunk. It would be bad for Emmelyn.

Maxim watched longingly as Emmelyn poured tea into two cups and gave one cup to him. Maxim mouthed his thank you and accepted the cup. He took a sip and cast his gaze outside the window, to look at the garden below.

Emmelyn did the same thing. For a few moments, there was only silence. Nobody said a word.

After Maxim finished his tea, he turned to Emmelyn and smiled. "I will do it."

"Do what?" Emmelyn didn't understand what he meant by his words.

"I will marry that girl," Maxim said nonchalantly, to hide the sorrow in his heart.

.

.

*************

From Missrealitybites:

Sorry for the delay in publishing the previous chapter... ahaha. My morning was a bit stressful because my daughter lost access to her Roblox account. It's a popular game company. Somebody hacked her account, even though she used a strong password and 2-email verification.

We tried to complain to the company but it didn't go through despite numerous attempts. Roblox doesn't even have emails that we can reach, only an online form that crashed after each attempt. 

Please, protect whatever online account/identity you have with as many verification methods as possible to avoid losing your account and avoid identity theft. Use phone verification, email verification, and 2-FA authenticator. There are so many bad people out there.

I lost a lot of money when my credit card was skimmed 2 years ago and it was too late to cancel all the transactions because I could only refute the last 5 transactions and the thief already made dozens (maybe hundreds) of small transactions over the course of three months so I didn't notice them.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.