***

Ellena closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She could still smell blood on her even though she had washed up several times and scrubbed her body clean. The pouch of fragrance herbs that she hung on her waist could not help remove the smell.

When she asked them to bring more fragrance herbs, those stupid maids dared to look at her in confusion? They made her feel like the smell was only her imagination.

They kept saying they didn't smell blood on her, even though she clearly did.

Hmm... was it possible that it was only in her imagination? Ellena had even asked her maids to put so many fragrance herbs on containers in her chamber, but she still smelled the blood.

Ellena had never killed anyone before. If it was up to her, she wouldn't shed blood to kill her target. She was an educated woman, after all.

Usually, women would use poison to kill their enemy, but in Ellena's case, she had to use a weapon since the witch wanted blood.

As soon as Ellena heard from her spy how that wench Emmelyn kept a beautiful knife in her chamber, Ellena knew she wanted to use that knife to kill the queen.

It was perfect.

Ellena didn't have much time to practice, but she still did a good job. She was very proud of herself.

Ohh... the look on Queen Elara's face last night when she realized she was going to die and Emmelyn would be framed for it was... priceless.

Ellena was proud that she made the queen suffer until her very last breath.

Dammit. Ellena hated that Queen Elara seemed to love Emmelyn so much, that the queen was devastated when she muttered Emmelyn's name over and over.

"You should have loved ME as your daughter-in-law, not that wench!" said Ellena in disgust as she watched the queen bleed to death. "Now, it's too late."

"N-no... Ellena.. don't do... this..." Queen Elara was struggling to breathe, and even though she tried so hard to hang on, she quickly lost the battle. Her eyes were wide open when she took her last breath. They were filled with horror.

There were multiple stab wounds on her chest and stomach, but the one that hit her heart gave her quick death.

Ellena actually wanted the queen to suffer longer, but sadly, she was running out of time. The queen's guards would feel suspicious if the queen didn't show up for a long time. Plus, Ellena also still needed to escape.

From the crown prince's castle, she would need three hours to go back to the countryside where she was staying with the Prestons. So, she couldn't waste time.

Therefore, Ellena had to feel satisfied with Queen Elara's quick death. At least Ellena kept her promise to Thessalis Morelli to spill blood.

That was all that mattered.

Uff, but now the smell of blood stayed with her. Ellena hated it so badly. She just hoped tomorrow the smell would already be gone.

Ellena tried to close her eyes and sleep. She was very tired. She wondered if they had found the queen and was now chasing Emmelyn.

What would Mars think about this? Ellena knew how much her friend loved his mother. She could imagine how devastated Mars would be when he knew his mother was dead.

Ellena felt sorry that Mars would be sad for losing his mother, but she would be there to console him. It was for the greater good. Sooner or later, he must get over his sadness and pain.

Ellena was sure that the queen wouldn't mind dying in exchange for getting her son free from the curse. Wouldn't a mother do something like that?

That was the only way. That's the price that Thessalis, the witch, asked Ellena.

You see, when Ellena told Mars she had to pay for having his curse lifted by killing someone, she was not lying. The witch made her kill a person. But Ellena omitted the fact that when she left the witch she had not paid the price.

The witch only wanted Elara's life. And for that to happen, Ellena was given a maximum of one year. She had to return to Draed and do her mission. If she failed to kill the queen, the curse would return and Mars would die.

Ellena couldn't let it happen. That's why she worked so hard to accomplish her mission.

It was not easy to find the opportunity to kill the queen. With the help of Lady Preston, Ellena kept several trusted maids in both the royal palace and the crown prince's castle.

So, she could find out everything there was to know about both Queen Elara and Emmelyn.

Ever since Elara saw Emmelyn in the royal ball and recognized her as the princess from Wintermere, she knew she wanted to frame Emmelyn for the queen's murder but, back then, she didn't know how to do it.

Emmelyn would have the motive to be suspected, but would it be enough to convince Mars and his father that Emmelyn did it?

That's why, Ellena decided to find Killian to help her mission. Before she left Shadowend to go home to Draec, she happened to meet the man at the Bellevar's house.

Ellena came there to steal something that would prove to King Jared and Mars that she did meet Duke and Duchess Bellevar.

Ellena knew the duchess kept the necklace that belonged to the late Lady Marrielle, her daughter.

If Ellena could steal the necklace and brought it to Draec to show King Jared, they would believe her. The necklace was a gift from the king to his late fiancee on her seventeenth birthday.

However, when Ellena arrived at the Bellevar's home, she found out the duchess just passed away and her husband went mad. Killian came for a few days and stayed behind to take care of the old man.

With Killian around, Ellena couldn't find the opportunity to steal anything. So, she left empty-handed.

However, the short meeting wasn't at all useless. When she saw Emmelyn in the capital and found out how that wretched princess had stolen her man, Ellena knew she had to use Killian to help her kill the queen. So, she sent a letter to lure Killian to the capital.

With Killian present, it would be easier to put the blame on Emmelyn since both siblings clearly had the same intention to be in the capital, and that was for revenge.

Even though Killian died before he could kill the queen, he was still useful for Ellena. She and her parents managed to stir gossip in the capital about Emmelyn after Killian's attack on the crown prince, followed by his death.

It was easy to stir the heart of the king who had always been paranoid about secret attacks from his enemies. Ellena just needed to sow the seeds of doubts and suspicions and watched them grow from afar.

To free herself from suspicions, Ellena intentionally pretended to feel hurt by the crown prince's treatment of her and broke off their friendship to move away to the countryside.

She must be far away from the capital when the murder happened, so no one would even think she had something to do with it. Everything would be blamed on Emmelyn and Ellena would make sure of that.

Ellena waited patiently for months, plotting for everything to perfection. And finally, the time came. Mars was away to chase the witch, and Emmelyn was alone.

She even stupidly sent Edgar away for some reason, leaving her in the most vulnerable position without any protection.

Ellena almost thought heaven was on her side, seeing how easy things had been for her lately. However, she knew better. Heaven wouldn't favor her since what she did was evil.

But she didn't care.

Who needed heaven's blessings anyway?

As long as she could keep the prince, she didn't mind doing whatever it took. And soon... all her sacrifice and her patience would pay off. It was all worth it.

Ellena's mind drifted to the event that happened last year. She had been working for Thessalis for almost four years.

Thessalis Morelli, the witch who put the curse on the Strongmoor family, smiled broadly when she returned home that day. She took off her hat and shawl and put them on the table. Then, she sat on the chair next to it.

Ellena came to her and took the hat and shawl from the table and hung them on the wall. She wondered what could possibly make the witch happy today.

Ellena quickly boiled water and made tea for Thessalis. She wanted to coax the witch while she was having a good mood. Maybe... Thessalis would finally let Ellena go and keep her promise to lift the curse?

"You look happy," Ellena smiled as she put the teapot and one cup on the table. Then, she poured tea into the cup.

Thessalis was old, she was almost 80, but her spirit and health were still very good. Sometimes she would visit her old friend, the Bellevars to talk about trivial things and she would always come home in good mood. But it was never THIS good.

So, something special must have happened, right?

"I am happy," said the witch. She raised her teacup to her lips and sipped her tea. "You have no idea."

"Care to share?" Ellena asked again. "Did something good happen at the Bellevar's home?"

Thessalis nodded. "Yes. I saw their niece. She just came back from Atlantea."

Ellena waited for Thessalis to continue what was so good about seeing Duchess Bellevar's niece who just returned from Atlantea. However, the witch didn't say anything else. She finished her tea with a big smile plastered on her face.

What happened exactly on that day still became a mystery to Ellena. She only knew that two weeks later, Thessalis finally relented and gave Ellena what she wanted.

The witch said she would lift the curse on Mars, as long as Ellena promised that she would kill Queen Elara.

So, of course, Ellena said yes. Thessalis took Ellena's heart as collateral before letting her go. The witch said, once Ellena became the queen of Draec, she could return and get her heart back.