"Emmelyn, when we attacked Wintermere, I never thought that I would fall in love with a princess from that kingdom," Mars confessed. "If we met before the war, maybe I would never have attacked your country. I will come to see your parents respectfully and propose to you."
His voice was full of regret.
"You would be perfect if you could turn back time," Emmelyn said suddenly. "If you could reverse time and prevent war and prevent my family from dying .. then I will want to marry you …"
"Really?" asked Mars earnestly. "If our countries are not hostile, will you be able to accept me as your husband?"
Emmelyn rolled her eyes and gave a big yawn. "Maybe."
"Maybe? Why? You're not sure?" asked Mars. "What do you feel about me?"
"Me? I don't know …" said Emmelyn. Her voice sounded sleepy. "What is clear tonight, you make me very angry. Very. Angry."
She stressed the last two words.
Mars got it. She was angry with him. He needed to find out exactly why.
Emmelyn picked up the pillow that had fallen on the floor and beat Mars with it mercilessly. The prince only held back with his two hands, neither dodging nor retaliating.
"Why are you angry?" Mars asked as he endured Emmelyn's pillow blows. "Tell me."
"You pissed me off because … because you are making my position difficult … You bastard …" Emmelyn kept scolding him. "I am terrified that you will really fall in love with me and decide to keep me in your kingdom. I am not your prisoner. I am a free human …"
"I will not hold you down … and you are not my prisoner," Mars said in response to Emmelyn's words. "If you become my wife .. you will become the queen of the Draec kingdom. QUEEN. Not a prisoner."
"What's the difference between a queen and a prisoner?" said Emmelyn. "Why do I feel like they are the same?"
"If you become the queen .. your position is the same as mine .. this country will be yours too … it will belong to our children…" said Mars. "What is mine will be yours. You know Draec ruled almost the entire continent of Terra .. All of that will be yours too …"
Emmelyn shook her head. "I don't know, okay? You make me depressed. Do you think you can treat me as you like? Ha? You treat me well for a week, make me accustomed to your sweet attitude and so on … then with the excuse you're afraid to fall in love with me, you immediately change your attitude and treat me so coldly …"
"What? Do you think I have no feelings???" she blurted again.
"Rocks don't have feelings!"
"Do I look like a rock to you???"
"Do you think it's fair if you change your attitude towards me? Why are you so inconsistent as a prince? Aren't you the one who made an agreement with me and agreed to work as a team on a project to produce heirs for you?"
"I do consider myself renting my womb to you.. but in this case, you are a client. Our position is equal. I am not your prisoner, and you cannot change our contract one-sidedly."
"Just because you're afraid of falling in love with me, you can treat me badly, is that so? Then how badly will you treat me if you end up hating me? What if someone slandered me to you … or if I made a mistake that made you angry … how much worse would you be treating me?"
"Just because you are the crown prince, then you feel you can do whatever you want? Then, what is the point of making an agreement in the first place??"
Mars fell silent to hear her barrage of words. After a few minutes of silence, he then took a deep breath. "Emmelyn, how could you see me that badly? You make me sound like I'm the big bad wolf. I will not mistreat you. I could not possibly hurt the mother of my children. No matter what, you are their mother."
"How can I believe your words if you treat me like this …" Emmelyn complained, crying again.
"How can you say I treat you badly?" asked Mars, confused. "I was just avoiding you, because seeing you all the time pains me. I wasn't mean to you, nor did I give you the silent treatment you accused me of."
"I gave you a lovely chamber for yourself. Roshan worked hard with 12 servants working all day to prepare this chamber for you. Okay, maybe he doesn't have good taste, so he got you the wrong stuff."
"The sheet is ordinary, and the four-poster bed is dangerous for you. After all, he is just a servant, a person from the lower class, so he cannot choose the classy and exclusive items that suit you."
"I can change all the sheets, the bed, the curtains, the table, and the ugly wooden flooring so you can have a comfortable room. What more could you want? "
"What? Noooo. How could you do that to me??? I love this room. The sheets are very soft, the colors are beautiful, the materials are very expensive. These are the best sheets on the whole Terra Continent. The bed is also of the highest quality. Don't you know old teak is the most expensive timber in the world?"
"Wait.. what?" Mars massaged his forehead. "Didn't you say the sheet is ordinary? So, do you like ordinary items?"
"My taste is not ordinary, gosh. I was lying earlier …" Emmelyn said, stomping her hands on the bed. "I was complaining about everything because you pissed me off… And I am really bored."
"Bored? I don't understand."
"I'm bored because I don't have anyone to talk to …" complained Emmelyn. "Apart from the royal tailor and Roshan, I didn't talk to anyone today. My head was about to explode because I had to keep things to myself."
"But all this time, you haven't talked to anyone either. Why are you only protesting now?" asked Mars. "You've only been talking to me."
Emmelyn didn't answer.
