Suddenly, there was silence in the room.

Nobody expected that answer.

And for a few moments, nobody reacted.

The witch made Ellena kill someone? How horrific!

"I'd rather not talk about the details, if you don't mind."

Finally, the silence was broken by Ellena. She spoke with a hoarse voice, clearly trying to look unaffected by not completely successful.

The men were all used to seeing blood and killing people on the battlefield, but even they understood that it was extremely difficult for a woman, a respectable lady, to kill another human.

Killings in the warzone were completely different from regular murder. Especially if it was planned. The psychological pressure must be so hard on her.

"Why?" Mars couldn't help but ask. "Why did she want you to kill people?"

"Because she knew it would wreck me," Ellena replied with tears streaming down her cheeks. Finally, her defenses collapsed. "She wanted to know how far I would go to get the curse lifted from you."

Mars was dumbfounded. He could guess the price must be so high, but he didn't know it would be this atrocious. The witch forced Ellena to be a murderer.

"I'm... I'm so, sorry that you went through that..." he muttered his response. Mars was really shocked to hear the truth from Ellena.

"Thank you," Ellena lowered her head and sighed. Then she took the wine jug and poured more wine into her cup. "I need more drink."

After she told them what happened, Ellena became visibly shaken and she kept drinking. Her tough facade was gone as her tears kept dripping down from both corners of her eyes.

Mars actually wanted to know the details. He needed more information. Who was the victim and how Ellena was made to kill the person?

However, he didn't have the heart to do so when he saw her condition. His family owed Ellena for lifting the curse and now he felt bad about forcing her to talk.

Hmm... maybe, once things got better and Ellena was calmer, he could probe again. In the meantime, he had to feel satisfied with what she gave him.

"Do you still have any more questions to ask me?" Ellena looked at Mars with a tired expression, after she downed her third cup of wine.

Mars shook his head. "I am just happy to see you back. I hope you can find peace after what you experienced at the witch's home.

Ellena forced a smile when she heard him. "Well... what about all of you? What have you been up to while I was away?"

Edgar and Gewen exchanged glances and shrugged in unison.

"Nothing much," Gewen finally replied. "We have conquered six more countries after you left. So, you can see that we work hard."

"I see." Ellena smiled. She poked on Gewen's chest and threw him an accusing expression. "Have you finally committed to a woman?"

Gewen pretended not to hear her question.

"Your mother begged me yesterday during tea with the queen to talk to you and put some senses into your big head," Ellena said. "She thought you would listen to me. Tsk... she must have thought I'm an angel or something that I could change you."

Gewen laughed sheepishly when he heard Ellena's words. His mother was really desperate for him to get a wife, that she would ask anyone for help. Gosh...

"I will talk to my mother," he replied, taking the wine jug and poured wine to his cup almost to the brim. "I will tell her that if you're not marrying the prince, I will marry you."

His words managed to lighten the atmosphere and they all chuckled.

Ellena rolled her eyes and muttered in annoyance, "Over my dead body."

They finally talked about other things, mostly their families, and caught up on each other's news. The atmosphere in the tavern became light as they kept pouring wine and drinking while talking, just like in the old days.

***

When the crown prince came home, he was surprised to find Emmelyn was not in the castle. Roshan was also gone.

He could only assume that Emmelyn really decided to go out and Roshan accompanied her like what he told her.

Did she really go shopping? He wondered what would she buy and how she would spend all that money. Mars decided to wait for Emmelyn in his study. He read many state reports and took notes of things. Basically just kept himself busy.

KNOCK

KNOCK

He looked up from his documents when he heard the door knocked.

"Come in," he said. He thought it must be one of the servants. He asked them to report to him when Lady Emmelyn came home.

He guessed right. The servant, who opened the door, poked his head inside and in a solemn manner reported that Emmelyn just arrived. Mars nodded and dismissed him.

He went out of his study to welcome her. He wanted to know what she was doing outside and if she did buy many expensive things.

"Hey, honey." His voice was crisp when he greeted her. "Where did you go?"

Emmelyn smiled broadly. "I was visiting a friend from Wintermere in a village not far from the castle. We had a good time over ginger tea and apple pie that I almost forgot the time."

"Oh..." Mars was relieved to hear her reply. Emmelyn looked happy and content today. He liked it that she had a friend on her own. He hated to think that she would feel lonely in Draec, having only him to talk to and relied on.

After thinking about it for a short while, he asked her, "Why don't you invite your friend to our castle next time. That way you can still spend time with her, but you won't need to take the trip. It might be too tiring for you once you're pregnancy is older."

Uhm... inviting Mrs. Adler?

Emmelyn was happy that Mars offered the opportunity for her to invite anyone she liked to come here. He even used the word 'our castle'.

However, she didn't think it was wise to invite the witch to the crown prince's castle. She was worried Mars would have too many questions about Mrs. Adler.

"I'll think about it," she finally said, after thinking about it for a good while.