"Father," Mars greeted his father. Jared Strongmoor turned to see him with wet eyes.
"Is that true? Did your mother wake up?" Jared asked Mars urgently. "Or did people lie to me?"
He grabbed Mars' collar and pulled him ins frustration.
"Yes, that's true. Mother woke up earlier today," Mars explained. "Please let her rest. She has so much in her mind now. If you truly loved her, you wouldn't want to force your will on her."
His words touched Jared in all the right feels. The old king took a deep breath and let his son go.
"I truly love her. I do…" he muttered.
"Mother was heartbroken when she found out you have punished an innocent woman for her murder," Mars continued. "She has testified that Ellena was the one who stabbed her. She now wants me to punish Ellena Greystorm."
Jared Strongmoor's eyes bulged and he stepped back a little when he heard Mars' statement. His expression was filled with horror.
"She said it was Ellena?" He asked Mars to confirm what he just heard. "It's not Emmelyn?"
"Yes."
"Gosh…" Jared's back slumped and he rubbed his temple in frustration.
Suddenly guilt swept over him and he raised his face to look at his son. His eyes were filled with horror and guilt. The old king's voice was hoarse when he spoke again. "I am such a horrible man… I am very sorry…"
Too little too late, Mars thought to himself. If sorry could fix everything, they wouldn't need law in the first place.
His father was the one who taught him that a king should lead by example, but in every instance, he always showed that his words were law and he could do whatever he wanted.
Mars had had problems with this for years already. What Jared preached and what he did were not the same thing. However, Mars was a filial son and at the same time his father's subject. He couldn't bash his father for his hypocrisy… until today.
"Because of you, Harlow lost her mother and I lost my wife," Mars spoke coldly. "My mother lost her daughter. Your sorry and regret are worth nothing."
Jared was shocked to hear his son talked to him that way. He looked at Mars with widened eyes. "How could you speak to me like that? I am your father—"
"I hate to break it to you father, but I am now the king of this country. Your words no longer carry weight around here," Mars replied. "If you are not my father, I would have sent you to prison for the crime you did to my wife in my absence."
He was referring to the fact that Jared Strongmoor locked up Emmelyn in the Grey Tower and let her suffer for six weeks and had to get into early labor, which he now suspected caused by Ellena, based on Mr. Vitas' findings.
Just because Jared Strongmoor was emotional and blindly accused Emmelyn of Elara's murder, he put Emmelyn in such a vulnerable position, without a proper investigation, and thus exposed her to all kinds of threats and attacks.
And this was where they all ended up now. Emmelyn went so far away from Draec, leaving Mars alone, thinking his wife was dead, Harlow couldn't feel her mother's love and warmth, and Draec was on the verge of war with Summeria.
"I was devastated by your mother's death," Jared tried to defend himself. "I wasn't thinking right. I just wanted to punish anyone who was guilty."
"You were biased because you never liked my wife," Mars chided his father. "You know what? Even after what you did to her, she still cared about my mother. She is the one who has brought back mother to life…"
"Huh…? What did you say? How come?" Jared Strongmoor looked around them in confusion. "Is she here? Did Emmelyn wake up too?"
He had heard how Emmelyn's body was found and she was really dead. Since Jared Strongmoor still thought Emmelyn was his wife's killer, he had no sympathy for her when he heard the news of her death.
However, today Mars said Emmelyn was the one who had brought back his wife??
How was that possible? Wasn't Emmelyn dead?
"Emmelyn is not dead. She went to Atlantea, to free herself from the curse cast on her by the Leoraleis and she met someone powerful who could revive mother. She met Edgar in Summeria and sent him home to help her revive mother," Mars explained briefly. "Our family owes her so much, on top of the debts we have been piling up for all the mistakes we have done."
"Oh…" Jared Strongmoor looked dumbfounded. His mind went to Emmelyn and thought of all the bad things he had done to her in the past. This made him feel so embarrassed.
The little woman, whom he despised and treated horribly, turned out to be their family savior. Emmelyn had brought back his dear beloved wife from the dead. Only gods knew how she did it… but she did.
"So… she is… still alive?" Jared looked at Mars questioningly. "Where is she?"
He wanted to apologize and begged for Emmelyn's forgiveness. Not just for his wife's sake… but for himself. He was given a lesson in humility and kindness by a young woman whom he considered the enemy when she had never done anything wrong.
"She is in Summeria," Mars replied.
"How far is it from here?" Jared asked again. "I owe her an apology…"
"It's very far, father," Mars said. "I plan to go there soon, but it will take me at least four months just to reach that place."
"I will go with you," Jared said urgently. "Why can't we go tomorrow?"
"No. I want to punish Ellena and the Prestons first. Then I will send Gewen to go there as a messenger, to speak to her on my behalf. Then, I will have to consolidate power. We might have to go to war soon."
.
.
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What do you think about Jared Strongmoor's character development? Does he sincerely regret his horrible treatment of Emmelyn? What do you want to see next?
1. The royal ball where Mars exposed Ellena's crime, or
2. Emmelyn and Maxim reached Myreen and find the Leoraleis?
