"And then….?" His voice was hoarse when he asked the question. Maxim couldn't take it anymore. He wanted to know what happened between Emmelyn and that other man. "Did you kill him?"
'Please tell me you have killed the man and now people are after you for his murder…'
'If that's the case, I will protect you. I will protect you with my life, with my power, with all my kingdom…'
He looked at the woman intently, waiting for her next words.
"I entered into the agreement with him because I didn't plan to keep my word. I just wanted to stay alive so I can kill him, but…" Emmelyn let out a long sigh.
Telling this story to Maxim brought back so many memories from the past. She was reminded of the good days when Mars and she spent so much time together and how she slowly fell in love with him.
She loved the man deeply that she had to be at war with herself for a long time. Emmelyn finally gave in to her feelings for him and forgave his sins and his family's sins toward her family.
Because of her love for him, she finally let go of her revenge and started a new life with him.
However… now they ended up like this? Mars chose to believe that snake Ellena that Emmelyn was the person responsible for his mother's death and he now wanted to punish her?
Why couldn't he trust his own wife? Was his love for her not real? Why couldn't he take her side?
This thought aggrieved her deeply.
"But…?" Maxim asked Emmelyn. He unconsciously held his breath. This suspense was killing him.
"But after we spent so much time together… I realized that he was a really good man. He was remorseful for what happened to my family and he always tried to make up for his mistakes."
Emmelyn added, "One day, he confessed his love to me and asked me to marry him, and in return, he will give everything he has to compensate for my losses. He said not only he would give me Wintermere back, but he would also give Draec, his kingdom to me. By marrying him, I will become the queen not only of Wintermere but also of Draec. I thought it was fair."
Maxim clenched his fists to the sides.
"Snake," he murmured in annoyance. He realized that other man was good with words that he might be able to convince Emmelyn to marry him.
But was Emmelyn swayed by his sweet words?
"I loved the man. He was very loving and he treated me so well…" Emmelyn confessed. "So, I said yes. I thought I have nothing to live for anyway. I don't have anyone in the world after my family was killed. And I sincerely loved him. When I got pregnant, I considered it a sign that we were meant to be together."
Every word that Emmelyn uttered felt like a sharp knife, stabbing deep into Maxim's heart.
So… not only Emmelyn really got seduced by that man, but she was also pregnant with his child?
He looked at Emmelyn's flat tummy and her thin physique. Had she given birth to the baby? Or did she lose her pregnancy?
"We got married in secret because his father was against our union. He considered me the enemy and he was so suspicious of my intention toward his son…" At this point, Emmelyn started sobbing again. "My mother-in-law was a wonderful woman… She treated me like her own daughter and I felt loved. But one day…"
Maxim let Emmelyn cry again to her heart's content. He suspected that something really terrible must have happened to make Emmelyn this devastated. Even though he was curious and dying to know the complete story, he held back and let Emmelyn take her time.
She wiped her tears with his handkerchief again and slowly explained the queen's murder. She told him about Ellena, how Ellena framed her for murder, and how their butler conspired with Ellena to put all the blame and suspicions on Emmelyn.
She told Maxim how she was captured and kept in the Grey Tower that served as her prison until she gave birth prematurely to her daughter.
Emmelyn explained briefly and clearly how she tricked the royal physician into thinking she died and faked her death so she could escape from execution.
Finally… she ended her story by telling Maxim what happened to her after she left Draec and arrived in Atlantea.
"So… your husband, the new king set up a bounty of 1000 gold coins to capture you?" Maxim asked Emmelyn to confirm what he had just heard. "Is Draec really that poor?"
"Huh? What do you mean?" Emmelyn asked Maxim. "It's not poor. It's the biggest kingdom in Atlantea and they colonize 35 other lesser kingdoms. I have never been to Summeria, but some people who have been to both countries said Draec is not less than Summeria."
"Really?" Maxim furrowed his brows. He, too, thought the bounty was quite small.
If the king of Draec was really wealthy and powerful, why did he only spare such a little money to catch the person who allegedly killed his mother? Was he really that stingy?
"I don't know what to think…" Emmelyn pressed her chest in annoyance. "It looks like I have offended so many people unknowingly, or some weird woman claimed to be me and did something… now many people are after me."
"Who else are after you?" Maxim asked Emmelyn.
"Well, that family from Myreen, they cursed me with bad luck. My own husband set up a bounty for me, and this stupid king of Summeria too. Oh.. there is also another bounty. You won't believe this. There is a second bounty in Terra for me. There was a mysterious client willing to pay 50,000 gold coins to bring me to him."
"Huh? Another one? Do you know who he is? What does he want from you? Does he also want you dead?"
Emmelyn shook her head dejectedly.
.
———————-
From the author:
More updates on the Golden Tickets:
So, this is how you will be getting golden tickets that you can use to vote on the books you love (wink wink):
1. If you spent >300 coins last month, you will get 1 golden ticket on the 1st of the month.
2. If you have a membership you will get another golden ticket.
3. You will get another golden ticket for every 500 coins spent on the unlocking chapters and purchasing privilege. So, if you purchase 2000 coins tier privilege, you will get additional 4 tickets.
4. Every 300-coin gift you give a book will automatically give that book a golden ticket. For example, a sword (500 coins) will give the book 1 golden ticket, a magic wand (1000 coins) will give the book 3 golden tickets, a crown (2000 coins) will give the book 6 golden tickets. Etc.
Unfortunately, smaller gifts cannot be combined to give a golden ticket for the book.
FYI: Starting August 18, we will have a new app update that will activate the golden ticket features and the names of the gifts will also change. We will have dragons, magic castle, etc, instead of magic wand and crown. I personally love the new names.
