The king wanted to look away and not respond to his wife's question, but how could he? Finally, he downed his wine and put the cup back on the table before he replied flatly.

"It's our disobedient son," he said.

Queen Elara was shocked, so much that she stood up from her chair, pressing her lips.

So, her suspicion was confirmed. Her son would never be disrespectful to her by not saying goodbye when he was about to leave the palace. Apparently, the king locked him up in the tower?

"Why did you do it???" The queen was immediately in tears. She couldn't believe her husband would be so heartless to lock up his flesh and blood like that.

Wasn't Mars their only surviving child? Why did the king have to be so harsh to him?

The queen doted on Mars endlessly because she had so much love to give, but only one child to receive it.

King Jared looked at his wife and her words struck something in his mind. The queen didn't ask what did their son do to warrant such punishment from the king, but she asked WHY the king did it, not caring whether Mars was guilty of anything or not.

He realized, Queen Elara's love for their son was a blind one. Much like the love he saw from Mars for Emmelyn. They seemed not to care about who was the other person and what they were doing. It was totally unconditional.

"I did it because he insulted me, his father, the king," King Jared replied. "I have to set him straight. I think we spoiled him too much because he is our only child that he dared to talk back to me and insult me."

"Oh my god..." The queen suddenly staggered and fell limply to the floor.

Her expression was filled with horror and distraught, even more than earlier today. King Jared immediately crouched down to help her get up, but she brushed his hand.

She started sobbing, "How could you do this to your own child... Hasn't he suffered enough??"

King Jared was stunned by his wife's action. This was the first time she showed hostility toward him.

What now? Not only his son, but his wife also treated him this way?

"Elara," he spoke gently, trying so hard to not sound angry. "I don't plan to lock him up for a long time. Just a few days to make him understand that what he did is wrong and I will release him soon."

The king was confused. Why did his wife mention how much their son had suffered? Wasn't she the one who suffered the most? Why did she act as if their son was the victim and suffered more than her?

"Please, release him now," the queen begged him. "It's not too late to do it. If you wait for several days, he will hate you. That's not how you talk to your son."

If it was somebody else, King Jared would definitely lash out when he heard them utter such words. But it was his wife, the woman he loved so much. Even though he disagreed with her, he wouldn't get angry at her.

Queen Elara looked at her husband pleadingly. Seeing that the king wouldn't budge, she finally got on her knees and begged him to release her son.

"Your Majesty, please do it for me, even though you don't want to release him. I will kneel down here until you let our son go," she said stubbornly. She looked at the king with teary eyes, and hands on her knees.

She was his only weakness. Yes, he never let people see this outside of their personal space, but here, he couldn't help but comply with what she demanded.

"Elara..." The king could only let out a long sigh. His wife never did this before. His son also never talked back to him.

They had changed since that homeless princess came into their family. Mars had dared to defy him, the king, to stand up for Emmely, and his wife, the queen, now defied him to stand up for Mars.

The king was reminded of the scene when Mars got on his knees this morning to vouch for Emmelyn, and now, his wife also did the same thing. Mother and son were truly alike.

Now, King Jared realized his only son apparently took after his wife, not only in appearance but also in personality. Were the crown prince's qualities suitable to be the king of this empire?

Prince Mars was too soft-hearted like Queen Elara.

He was indeed fierce in battles, and he had the reputation out there as being ruthless, thanks to the rumors that the royal palace help spread, to hide his curse. But in private, he was actually such a nice person. Too nice to be a king.

An empire this big, with enemies lurking on every corner of the continent needed a strong and ruthless leader. He needed to instill fear to secure his power. Strong and kind didn't cut it.

King Jared sometimes regretted the fact that he didn't have other surviving children. This country was stuck with a soft king in the future, he thought.

"Fine. I will release him. You can have my word," the king finally said. He rose from the floor and reached out his hand to help the queen stand up. She refused his hand and got up on her own.

"I will see with my own eyes that Your Majesty release him," said the queen who suddenly became stubborn. "I hope Your Majesty don't mind."

Again, if it was other people, King Jared would be angry because his words were doubted. But he could never get angry at Elara. He only nodded and motioned her to follow him.

"You can see for yourself that I will release him," he said flatly.

When Mars saw his mother walking behind the king, as King Jared entered the room he was locked up, he immediately knew that it was the queen who negotiated his release.

He bowed down really low to the queen as his way of thanking her when he greeted his mother. "Mother."

"Honey, you can go home now and rest. You need to calm your mind," the queen said dotingly. She took his arms and led him out of the door, not caring about her husband.

Mars turned to look at the king, but King Jared looked away. He was obviously displeased, but he couldn't say anything that would upset his wife, so he let the two of them walk out of the room and went down from the Grey Tower.

***

It was already past midnight when the prince finally reached his castle. He felt so guilty that he came home really late without telling his wife. Emmelyn must have thought Mars would be home around dinner time or slightly later.

Was she worried about him? Mars was determined not to let her know about what happened in the royal palace. She had had enough stress these days. She was currently pregnant with their first child and was very fragile emotionally and mentally.

She also had just lost her brother. It would just add to her stress if she knew her husband had offended the king and that she was not welcomed in Draec.

When Mars reached their chamber, he saw Emmelyn was already asleep, and her pillow was wet with her tears, again.

He let out a long sigh and took off his clothes to lay down beside her. He did it gently so he wouldn't wake her up. Then, he slipped his arm under her back and hugged her.

All the stress and distraught that he had been feeling all day, slowly dissipated.

She was his home, and he was so glad tonight he could return.

.

.

>>>>>

From the author:

I should say that Mars Strongmoor is the nicest male lead I have ever written. Although the others are mostly doting husbands, but this man is a total 'simp' to his wife. What do you think?

Simp = someone who does way too much for a person they like/love