The corners of Mars's lips curled up, holding back his laughter. He thought Emmelyn looked adorable when she was like this. Her pouting red lips were so kissable!

However, although he felt entertained by Emmelyn's behavior, the prince cleared his throat. He pretended to look offended because Emmelyn made his two friends think he was into men.

"Then how do you think I should behave toward them now that Edgar and Gewen think I am attracted to men?" asked Mars. "Gewen even asked me, why am I not attracted to him since he is the most handsome man in Draec kingdom. If I was really gay, I should have been attracted to him, shouldn't I?"

"Eh...?" Emmelyn pursed her lips and stared at Mars in astonishment.

The girl opened her mouth several times, trying to say something, but no words came out of her lips. She was too shocked and amused by Mars' statement.

Geez ... Gewen .. said that?

BAHAHAHAHAHAHA

After opening her mouth a few times and unable to utter any words, Emmelyn finally let out roaring laughter. She even hugged her stomach and rolled on the floor. It was the funniest thing she had ever heard in her life.

Mars was surprised to see the girl laughed so hard. At first, he felt upset toward his narcissistic friend, Gewen, and Emmelyn, who had damaged his reputation as a real man.

However, now that he saw Emmelyn laugh out loud, and she rolled on the floor, Mars began to see what was so funny about the whole incident.

Finally, he started laughing too.

The servants waiting outside the dining room could only exchange glances. They did not understand why the prince and his woman could laugh so hard like that. Was there anything particularly funny?

"Crazy! Your friend is so full of himself..." Emmelyn commented between her roaring laughter. "Muhuahahahaha ..."

"Hahaha ... well, he has always been a narcissist. But you can't blame him. He is really popular with women, and he is very handsome," said Mars. "I think he is the most handsome man in the whole Draec."

Emmelyn pursed her lips. "He's indeed handsome, but I'm not interested in him."

The girl's laughter gradually died down, and she returned to her chair and sat down gracefully. Emmelyn felt a little embarrassed because she had forgotten her manners to act like a lady. Gewen was too funny... annoying, but funny, she thought.

Mars' eyes gleamed when he heard Emmelyn say that she had no interest in Gewen.

Ahh .. he knew Emmelyn had better taste than just a pretty face. He knew Emmelyn liked him. The girl admitted it herself when she was drunk.

Ahhh .. Mars was so happy! His concern that Emmelyn would fall in love with Gewen was unfounded.

Emmelyn took the wine cup and sipped her wine with a mocking smile. "Gewen is too puffed up. He has to see the world, so he would know that there are men more handsome than him."

Mars's happiness immediately evaporated when he heard Emmelyn's words.

What did she say just now? Had Emmelyn met a man who was more handsome than Gewen?

It was so hard to believe!

Even though Mars was very good-looking himself, and he had an elf bloodline from his mother's side, he had to admit his friend's excellence in physical appearance. If Mars could acknowledge Gewen's good looks, it meant that Gewen was really ... handsome.

"How can anyone be more handsome than Gewen?" Mars asked incredulously. He thought Emmelyn just disliked Gewen so much that she would be biased toward the womanizer.

"It's up to you to believe me or not. I don't care. But, I did once meet a man who is so handsome that he always makes women go crazy wherever he goes. His name is Maxim," Emmelyn said, lifting her nose.

She was offended that Mars didn't seem to believe her, even though Emmelyn had actually seen the world during her trip to various countries. So, she knew what she was talking about. "He's much more handsome than Gewen. I swear to God."

Mars looked at Emmelyn with a probing gaze. "This Maxim guy... who is he?"

Emmelyn glanced at Mars with an indifferent expression. She raised an eyebrow and asked back, "What does that have to do with you?"

"I need to know who he is because ..."

Mars fell silent. He felt very jealous to hear Emmelyn mention another man's name and say that he was very handsome.

However, what right did he have to force Emmelyn to tell him who the man was and what was his relationship with Emmelyn?

Mars was neither Emmelyn's boyfriend nor husband, so he had no right to ask personal questions if she didn't volunteer to share them.

Ugh ... the ambiguous status between Mars and Emmelyn was indeed very bad for him.

How badly he wanted to make her his wife and announce his 'ownership' to the world. That way, he would have the right to feel jealous.

However, alas, he could not force their relationship as long as Emmelyn was not ready to accept his love.

"Because...?" Emmelyn repeated Mars' words. Her arms folded across her chest. Her pair of blue eyes stared at the man sharply. "Are you jealous?"

"Eh ... what? No! How could I be jealous," said Mars, pretending to look offended. "I just wanted to know where you met someone like that. Gewen and I have explored 22 kingdoms in Terra continent, and in all of them, we've never found anyone more handsome than Gewen."

"Oh ... that's because I met Maxim in Atlantea. We become travel buddies for several months," Emmelyn replied casually. "You don't know this, but before I came to Draec I spent a year on the Atlantea continent."

"..." Mars was astonished and could only stare at Emmelyn with a pair of round eyes. His admiration for this girl grew even more intense.

Mars knew the continent of Atlantea was across the ocean from Terra. Due to the location of Wintermere which was at the end of the continent, by the sea, of course, Emmelyn could easily travel to Atlantea.

However, Mars did not expect the girl to actually do it.

Mars had never crossed the ocean, but he heard from many of their merchants who made business trips to other countries; on the continent of Atlantea there was a large empire that ruled over most of the small kingdoms on the continent.

The kingdom was called Summeria. Mars suspected that his father was inspired by the Summerian monarchs' political strategy where they unified most of Atlantea under their rule with either political marriage, trade, or colonization.

After he learned of what the king of Summeria did, King Jared decided to conquer other kingdoms in the continent of Terra and rule over them.

In addition, given Summeria's tendency to expand their colonies, King Jared Strongmoor had concerns that Summeria would think about going across the ocean and invade the kingdoms on Terra continent, including Draec.

If that happened, King Jared was not sure that their strength combined would be able to face Summeria's attack.

That was why King Jared Strongmoor insisted on carrying out expeditions to other countries and even waging wars to control their own continent and made Draec really strong to prepare the possibility of being at war with Summeria.

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From the author:

I decided to publish 1 chapter now because there won't be a new chapter until February 1 late at night (I'm still stockpiling for Privilege). I hope you enjoy this chapter. And if you DON'T LIKE SPOILER, don't open the author's note!