Note:

This chapter is dedicated to Harriet Moskowitz. Thank you so much for gifting a castle to "The Cursed Prince" yesterday. Sorry, the chapter came sooo late. Thank you for your support. xx

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"Em... honey, my love.. wake up..." Mars put down Harlow on the bed next to Emmelyn and gently cupped his wife's face. His tears flowed down profusely when he realized Emmelyn still wouldn't wake up.

What had happened to her? Did she get hurt in Myreen? Were there any bad people during her journey who hurt her? Was it the Leoraleis??

Mars turned to Maxim and looked at him with fire in his eyes.

"What happened to my wife??"

Even though he was really angry, Mars had to keep his voice down. He didn't want to scare Harlow or startle Emmelyn.

Maxim could see Mars' eyes narrowed dangerously, and his whole body showed that he was ready to kill.  The king of Summeria sighed.

He didn't take offense when Mars was venting his fury at him. Maxim would do the same if the woman he loved was hurt by other people.

Heck, he hated himself for what happened to Emmelyn. He hated the fact that he was the cause of all her sufferings. He would die for her, sacrifice whatever to give her back what was taken from her. Her family, her peace, and her life.

Maxim walked slowly toward Mars and replied with a gentle voice. "She was so tired because she had suffered so much. One day, suddenly she gave up on life..."

Mars was dumbfounded by this answer.

So... nobody hurt Emmelyn, but the pain and suffering she had experienced in life were too much for her to bear. 

"Oh... honey..." Mars pressed his hands hard on his face, let out a long sigh. He could imagine she must be lonely and sad all this time.

And what's worse, she was also feeling betrayed by the man she loved, because she didn't know the truth. Emmelyn didn't know Mars was actually doing everything he could to keep her safe.

She didn't know he had suffered for months because he thought she died. Then he took the long and arduous journey for more than five months to reach Castilse when he found out she was still alive.

All because he loved her so much.

She didn't know he repelled every single woman who tried to get his attention even when he thought she died. She didn't know he tried so hard to lead his kingdom and raised their baby daughter alone.

She didn't know all his sacrifice and his devotion to her.

She didn't know he loved her so deeply, and he bore those cold and lonely nights alone, missing her.

She must not know all those... because if she did... she would never give up on life.

She would never leave Harlow.

She would never...

No... this couldn't happen.

Mars was crying despondently. He buried his face in his hands to hide his sobs so Harlow wouldn't see him cry... but to no avail.

"Daddy...." Harlow pursed her lips, looking shocked and frantic. She had never seen her father acting this way.

What happened? Her little mind didn't understand what was going on. She didn't know who this woman lying in bed was, and why her father cried so much after they arrived in this new place and saw this woman sleeping.

She reached out her hands and touched Mars' hands, trying to remove them from his face. "Daddyy..."

Mars closed his eyes and tried to calm down his heart. He realized Harlow was feeling very confused right now. He lowered his hands and tried to fake a smile. "I am all right, honey. Everything is all right. Some dust entered my eyes..."

Maxim watched the scene of the little family and felt pity. He no longer hated Mars Strongmoor. Even though the man was his competition and he used to blame Mars for taking Emmelyn away from him... Maxim no longer harbored any resentment for him.

He could see how much pain and suffering Mars had been through. He realized, Emmelyn's husband loved her so much, maybe even more than Maxim ever did.

"Did you bring the scarf?" He came closer to Mars and pointed at his pocket where he said he kept the scarf from Raphael.

"I-I do..." Mars held his breath. He took the scarf out of his pocket and showed it to Maxim. "Can this work? What should I do?"

He still wanted to ask Maxim about the origin of the scarf, but then decided it was not important. What mattered now was it could heal Emmelyn. That's it. 

"We got it from a mysterious man in Mount Tempest. We thought he was some sort of wizard. Anyway... Emmelyn traded it with her most valuable possession, the necklace given to her by a witch she was friends with." Maxim involuntarily explained a little bit about the scarf origins, because he wanted Mars to trust him.

"He told her that she could revive her mother-in-law if she covered her with the scarf for twenty-four hours," he added. "Because of that, she was determined to find Edgar and sent him back to Draec to do the job, while she continued going to Myreen with me."

Mars looked at Maxim attentively. He had to calm down his feelings. Harlow was anxious and confused, so he took her and carried her in his arms to calm her down.

"Did the scarf work?" Maxim asked Mars. "Did your mother wake up?"

Mars nodded. "Yeah, she did."

"Then, you can try using the scarf on Emmelyn," Maxim said. "My grandmother-in-law told me that Emmelyn accidentally received a magic crystal shard after she broke it... and that thing had been keeping her alive all this time. She just doesn't want to wake up."

"Magic crystal shard?" Mars couldn't understand what happened because he was not a magic user.  However, he decided to trust Maxim and did what he said.

Even though he didn't like Maxim, but Mars realized that the reason he could now be by his wife's bedside was that Maxim opened the door for him.

Maxim officially invited him to come to Castilse, practically ending the unnecessary war, and even provided them with dragon for faster transportation. 

The king of Summeria also took care of Emmelyn well by providing a really nice place for her and countless support from physicians and servants to make sure she was taken care of.

"Thank you, I will try this..." Mars let out a long sigh. He kissed Emmelyn's forehead and covered her face with the scarf. He remembered it worked almost immediately with his mother. It only took half an hour.

So, he hoped the same thing would happen to Emmelyn too.

Both men looked at the sleeping woman with pounded chests. Mars held Emmelyn's hand with one hand and held Harlow with the other. He squeezed her hand gently. Trying to instill the energy of life into her.

"Honey... this is me, and Harlow..." Mars whispered. "We come here for you. Please wake up."

He bit his lip and prayed silently to any higher beings who could grant humans' wishes.

He promised to devote his life to his wife and their family. He promised he would never leave her, no matter what.

He promised to pay back everything he owed to her. He promised to be a good person and a good king. He would act like a saint to make up for this one wish, so that his wife would be returned to him.

He prayed for a second chance that he could be given another shot at being Emmelyn's husband. This time, he would do things right.

One hour.

Two hours.

Nothing happened.

BAM!

Maxim suddenly punched the wall in frustration after waiting anxiously to see Emmelyn wake up but nothing happened.

Maybe he was wrong. Maybe Margueritte only talked without facts. What if the magic in this scarf had all been used and it could only work once?

What if they were deceived into thinking that this stupid scarf could heal Emmelyn?

Mars didn't turn to see Maxim, but he understood how much the king of Summeria was frustrated. He was feeling frustrated and helpless too...

However, he could not show his negative emotions around his daughter. Harlow would cry and think he was angry at her. Mars never even raised his voice around her, and he would not start now.

"Can you...  leave us?" Mars muttered softly, but enough to reach Maxim's ear. The king of Summeria took a deep breath and nodded.

"I will give you privacy," he said. "Servants are right outside if you need anything."

Maxim turned around and left the little family. He got out of the chamber and closed the door behind him. When he saw Kira and several servants waiting for him outside, he waved at them and gave them an order not to disturb Mars and Emmelyn.

"Let them rest," he said to them. "Someone stay here if they need anything. They are my guests. You have to treat them as you would treat me."

"Understoood, Your Majesty," All the servants replied, bowing down deeply. Kira bowed down a little. She was still not used to bowing down to this young king.

Maxim left them with long strides. He went to his study and buried his face in his hands and cried there.

"Oh, Emmelyn... please wake up," he muttered despondently. "I have brought your husband and child. Please wake up for them... I will do anything.. anything to see you wake up and smile again..."

***

Mars wiped his tears and pretended some dust got into his eyes again. He put Harlow on the bed next to Emmelyn, and then he climbed up on the bed too. He wrapped his arms around them and hugged them lovingly.

"I love you..." he whispered and then kissed his wife's lips. "I love you so much."

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From Missrealitybites:

I'm sorry for my slow chapters. We got an earthquake this morning and it was quite a scare.. I promise Emmelyn will wake up in the next chapter.  xx

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