"You choose to point your fingers at me and try to paint yourselves as the victim, however, the test I proposed was just," the king said. "You are my son, Raphael. How can I not worry about you? Did you feel her love during the last month or did she flinch away from what she perceived to be you?"

It made Raphael hesitate as he remembered the several occasions where he was rejected by his wife, where she truly feared him and even caused trouble for others. 

However, how could he pin the blame on Rowena when she was in so much agony? Nobody in their right mind would be prepared for intimacy if they were suffering such horrible punishment as she had. Raphael's father did not understand it at all.

Unfortunately for the King of Cretea, his powers were far greater than anyone else's, and he probably didn't comprehend the true capacity of a mortal mind. What seemed like a simple problem to him was insurmountable to anyone else.

So Raphael didn't want to give in to his father's words, and yet the Seventh Prince didn't think that he would be at odds with his own father. He smiled bitterly at the man who raised him and loved him.

The King of Cretea loved him, yes. 

However, it did not mean his father was infallible.

Far from it.

"When Rowena and I reunite, Father, I will make her love me again," Raphael said. "You told me that she will be reborn and by that time, I will prove to you that she accepts me for who I am."

His father sighed once but eventually nodded. "Fine, let us make an agreement, my son. I will banish you from Cretea and give you a maximum of one thousand years to search for Rowena and prove to me that she truly loves you."

Raphael looked at his father with an unwavering expression. "So be it."

"Then it is done." The King of Cretea waved a hand and made the decision to cast his son out from their realm with a dejected expression. In order for his son to understand the significance of love and life, it was best understood through experience.

"It will not be easy, my son," the king said with concern. 

Unfortunately for Raphael's wife, the magic he cast upon Rowena was not really simply over her eyes. Raphael was capable of releasing the spell if that had been the case, instead, the spell the King of Cretea was actually placed over her soul and difficult to untangle. 

Even if she escaped now and the River of Death took her elsewhere, the magic would remain dormant until she reunited with his Raphael.

"At this point in time, her memories are no doubt washed away by the River of Forgetfulness."

Raphael wanted to cry when he heard the king's words. So, Rowena not only lost her life, but she also lost her memories. If someday, Raphael could meet her again… they would be strangers. However, he had to be able to make her love him, enough to want to sleep with him.

And then... the curse would be truly broken.

But even if he succeeded… he could only have her for such a short amount of time. Her next life would be a short one.

'Don't be greedy,' he chided himself. 'A little is better than none.'

"I understand," Raphael said weakly. "I thank Your Majesty for your grace and compassion."

"Today, I banish you from Cretea," the king said with a hoarse voice. "This is your last day here. Make it count."

"Thank you, father," Raphael bowed down to his father and then teleported to the River of Death again.

He really didn't care about being banished from his homeland.  Without the woman he loved, what's the point of living here anyway?

The only place he wanted to see before he left this world was the River of Death because that's where he saw Rowena for one last time.

In a way, this river was like her grave. Raphael felt the need to see it one more time before he left Cretea for good.

'Oh, Rowena…" he dropped to his knees and watched the calm water with gleaming eyes. He already missed her so much. "Please wait for me to find you…"

He cried in silence as he remembered the good times that Rowena and he had together before all this happened.

"Wifey…" Raphael reached out his hand and touched the water, feeling despondent.  "Please wait for me…"

The man was dazed when the calm water suddenly moved and created ripples. When he turned to look closer, he saw something.

Raphael was a young seer and he could even see events before they happened. He never really thought about that part of him and didn't think it had any use.

However, now that he saw Rowena's blurry image shown in the water reflection, Raphael suddenly felt grateful he had that ability.

"Rowena..." he said with a hoarse voice.

Raphael finally focused his attention on the water below him and tried to see Rowena better. However, after he took a better look, he realized the woman with silver hair that he was looking at now... didn't really look like Rowena.

Who was she?

***

When Rowena vanished into the River of Death and was taken out from Cretea, she found herself swept up in countless waves and tides. Her immortal and beautiful body had perished in the waters, but her soul ended up in its next destination.

Rowena who once knew completely who she was and was aware of her nature finally found something else being taken away from her and she tried to fight against it! This was a part of her! 

However, it was inevitable. 

She had now submerged underneath the crystal clear waters of forgetfulness and saw countless bubbles emerge from her soul. Rowena gazed at them and saw a myriad of memories and events that shaped who she was.

Bubbles of memories that showed her life.

One of the bubbles showed off the image of a dark and lonely tower as Rowena heard the cry of a baby.

Another bubble reflected the image of a brooding and dark man she knew as her father. He still looked like the last time she remembered, cold and distant. Rowena reached out to the bubble pitifully and tried to touch him. He only looked at her with indifference.

'Father...' She could only cry silently as she tried to reach out her hand to the man. However, it was already out of reach from her. 

It popped out of existence and she came to a realization of what death meant.

Rowena was fading away.

.

.

________________________

From Missrealitybites:

NEW BOOKS!!!

Dear all, I am mentoring three young writers to write their stories. I love their talents and the stories they are creating. One story actually became a favorite of mine. It's called "Odette & The Cursed King." It's a story that I wish I wrote because of how wonderful the storyline is.

That's fine though. I love mentoring the writer, Ogi, when she writes it and watching the story unfolding. I can't wait to share the story of Odette when the time comes.

Ogi is a slow writer, so we can not have enough content to immediately publish on Webnovel. Maybe, you will be able to read it in March after we stockpile chapters. If you are impatient, you can go to my P a t r e on to read the early chapters.

In the meantime, you can check another story written by my second mentee, Gigi, called "Loving The Cursed Werewolf King". 

It was already published on Webnovel yesterday with 5 chapters and we will publish 1-2 chapters per day. I helped Gigi write this one and I am very pleased with the result.

You will like Ronan, the male lead from this book, as he makes his appearance. He is a king who was cursed to be a werewolf every full moon, a curse that seemed to slowly disappear after Arielle, a princess from the neighboring kingdom was sent to his palace as a prisoner.

Go search the book by the title, or go to my profile and check my reading list "Missrealitybites Books" to find it.

PS: Yes, I think I like cursed male leads too much XD

PPS: As always, my notes are added after chapter publication, so you don't pay extra coins for the additional word count. ;)

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.