"Waiting for me?" Mars stepped forward and stopped when he was right in front of Thessalis. He was not scared of this witch. She was old and, in his opinion, pitiful.

She was alone while the crown prince had a very powerful wizard and his disciple, and almost two dozens knights. Mars saw on the corner of the room, there were two frightened looking people. A maid and the coachman who must have gone with the witch to town earlier.

So, other than those two people, and Duke Bellevar, there were no one else. The monsters and the gatekeeper had died too.

Thessalis was outnumbered and she realized that this was the day she would die.

However, the witch was one stubborn person. She didn't show any fear or worry. She didn't reply to the prince's question. The old witch waved her hand and pretended as if the fight earlier with Elmer didn't happen.

"Ah... you have come so far. Where is my manner?" She chuckled and walked to the corner of the room where her maid was curling in fear.

"Alma, make some tea for our guests." Thessalis ordered her.

Strangely enough, her voice when she talked to her maid sounded gentle, unlike when she was talking to her enemy.

This didn't escape Mars's observation. He was wondering if Thessalis was born a noble. She was Duchess Bellevar's childhood friend, right?

Would someone from the duchess' status have a relationship and grew up together with a commoner? It seemed highly unlikely.

Mars guessed that Thessalis Morelli must have come from a noble family too. Maybe a lower nobility, but a noble nonetheless. Her behavior showed a well mannered woman.

"We don't need your tea," Mars exclaimed.

"Then.. what do you want?" Thessalis turned to Mars. "You are no longer cursed, so you didn't come here to beg me to lift the curse. I believe, you are here to get your friend's heart. I see that Elmer has got it. So.. what else do you want from me?"

"I want you dead," Mars replied. "To pay for your crimes."

"Do you now?" Thessalis walked leisurely to a big velvet couch by the window. With a wave of her hand, the thick curtain opened to the sides and they could see the view from the big windows.

The mansion was located on the top of a cliff and this part of the house was facing the ocean. From here, they could see the blue sea far away from here and the clear blue sky with several white clouds moving slowly.

It was a peaceful world outside. However, it was anything but peaceful inside the mansion. The knights were on their guards. Gewen got ready with his bow and Bruinen stood beside his master in high alert.

The power imbalance was very obvious, but the witch pretended not to care. The maid quickly disappeared to the kitchen to make the tea.

She looked relieved when she realized all the intruders would not kill her. From their behaviors, it seemeed they only targeted her mistress. She really hoped these people would spare her. She was just a servant and didn't have anything to do with them.

"I have been waiting for you. I know someday you will come," Thessalis spoke again. She looked at Mars deeply. "Now that you are no longer cursed, how has life been treating you?"

Mars clenched his jaws when he heard the witch's mocking words.

"My life has always been good. Your curse didn't bother me," he replied flatly.

"Didn't it though?" The witch then laughed outloud. She covered her lips with the back of her hand and then turned to Mars with a glint in her eyes.

Mars refused to say anything to indulge the witch. He came here to kill Thesalis Morelli, and from the looks of it, she knew her time had come too.

"So, after you met my granddaughter you still don't have anything exciting going on with your life?" Thessalis mocked the prince again. "There, there... I don't believe you."

"Granddaughter?" Mars furrowed his brows. What did the witch say just now?

"Oh... sorry, she is not my niece per se, but Isabelle Bellevar's relative. She called her grandma. So, that made her my... granddaughter too, right?"

"I don't know any granddaughter of yours." Mars suddenly felt uneasy when he heard the witch speak. However, he maintained his cool and nonchalance. "Don't speak nonsense."

"Oh, you do know her. She came to kill you, but I am sure things have changed now between you two?" Thessalis smirked again and this time she looked really wicked. Mars felt his heart skipped a beat.

What... what was she talking about?

His mind went to Emmelyn at the mention of someone who came to kill him. She was the only one who managed to get past his security, because Emmelyn disguised herself as a male servant.

Was Thessalis Morelli talking about Emmelyn...? Emmelyn Rosehill of Wintermere?

They did know each other?

"You don't seem surprised?" Thessalis asked. "She is beautiful, right? Almost as beautiful as Marielle, my lovely goddaughter. Elroy and Isabelle liked her too."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Mars unsheathed his sword and approached the witch, looking angered. "I will kill you now!"

Thessalis finally found his sore spot and continued to mock the prince for fun. She rose from her seat and stood nonchalantly facing his attack.

"Are you sure you want to kill me?" Thessalis challenged the man. She gently waved her right hand over her face and suddenly the prince's steps halted. The witch whispered, "Are you that heartless?"

"Y-you...?" Mars was startled when he saw Emmelyn stood on the witch's spot.

The woman he loved repeated her question. "Are you that heartless?"

"Em..." Mars swallowed. His eyes bulged in shock and his body trembled. This couldn't be Emmelyn. She was far away in Draec.

"Your Highness, she is using magic to trick your eyes. It's not Princess Emmelyn," Elmer said calmly. "You can just kill her."

Mars missed his wife so badly. So, seeing her before him now evoked so many emotions that he had pent up for weeks.

"Are you really going to kill me?" The fake Emmelyn pursed her lips and crossed her ams on her chest. "You are so ungrateful. I broke your curse and you are repaying me with death?"

"You didn't break the curse for me, Ellena did, and I am paying her back by getting her heart," Mars replied.

He had to exert all his sanity not to be fooled by the witch. The beautiful woman he saw standing begore him was NOT his Emmelyn.

It was his worst enemy.

"No... you are wrong," the fake Emmelyn shook her head and an angelic smile curved up on her face. Gosh.. she looked so beautiful!

Mars felt like he wanted to pull her to his embrace and carried her in his arms, and kissed her.

"I was the one who break the curse for you. I need to be able to seduce you for my revenge." Fake Emmelyn looked at the man deeply. "Don't lie to youself by telling everyone that your life has not changed after you are no longer cursed. I am very offended."

"You are not Emmelyn..." Mars said with gritted teeth. His mind was slowly swayed by the illussion but he forced himself to stay clearheaded by focusing on the woman's belly.

His mind knew that Emmelyn was pregnant. This woman was not. So, this woman was definitely not his Emmelyn.

This was the witch! He must kill her!

However, it was easier said than done. No matter how much he hated the witch, Mars couldn't pull himself to kill someone that looked like the woman he loved.

The thought of stabbing his sword to the woman that looked like Emmelyn made him shudder.

"Don't you want to know the truth?" The witch asked again. She had seen the confiict in the prince eyes. Inwardly, the witch was impressed to see Mars's determination.

The man must know that Emmelyn was the woman Thessalis had been talking about before she resorted to the the illussion to take Emmelyn's appearance. However, Mars pretended not to know Emmelyn.

This man must love Emmelyn so dearly and pretended he didn't know she was related to the Bellevars and, by association, also related to the witch.

He must intentionally did it to protect her reputation among his men in this mansion.

Well.. poor young prince, no matter how hard you try, it wouldn't work, Thessalis thought to herself. Ellena must have killed the queen by now. Thessalis only gave her one year.

If Ellena didn't do what she was assigned to do, she could kiss her heart goodbye. Thessalis would crush her heart and kill her without mercy. To her, Ellena was a tool, a means to get what she wanted.

For over 28 years, Thessalis had been waiting for this day to come. A life for a life.

Elara's life for Marielle's.

It was only fair.

"What do you mean by the truth?" Mars was finally swayed. There were so many questions that needed answers. If he killed the witch without ever knowing the truth, then he might live with regret for the rest of his life.

"If you tell me the truth, I will make it a clean death," he added. "But I will not spare your life. Your crimes have been mounting and you must pay for all the lives you have taken."

"Indeed," Thessalis smirked. "A life for a life."

The maid had come with a pot of tea and two cups only. Thessalis had told her to bring tea for her and the prince. And now she put the two cups on the table next to the witch.

"Shall we.. talk over tea?" Thessalis sat on the chair and poured tea into the cups. "I promise I don't put poison or anything in it."

Gewen gasped when he saw Mars walked toward the witch and finally sat next to her. He walked to stop the man, but Elmer held his arm. The old wizard shook his head and made a motion for Gewen to step back.

.

.

>>>>>

From the author:

Sowwwy, I only write 1 chapter today because, just like you, I feel sad for Mars and Emmelyn. Their unfavorable situation makes it so hard to write this chapter... and the chapters after this. This one took me almost 5 hours.

I will try to write the next one in a few hours. In the meantime, if you are feeling down by Mars' and Emmelyn's predicament, and you miss snusnu chapter, why not head to the spin-off, "The Cursed King"?

It's the story about Maxim Ashborn of Summeria, or also known as Loriel Ashborn in the book. The story just started with many heartwarming scenes and FOUR snusnu chapters so far.

By the way, I have changed the synopsis.. hehehe. Let me know if this new synopsis better or you prefer the old one.

THE CURSED KING

(The cursed king is a shameless husband.)

In the land where the human race lived side by side with other races like the elves, witches, and those immortal beings often calling themselves gods, lived a formidable king, Loriel Ashborn. Feared by many, his power expanded throughout the whole continent of Atlantea.

One fatal mistake caused him to lose the woman he loved as she was sent to the future by the evil Time Master before he died. The only way to see her again is for him to take the curse of immortality, and so he did.

Now, after 15 centuries, Loriel finally found her again. But she didn't remember him?

Well, who cares! This time, the shameless husband would never let her go ever again.

To make her remember him, he even faked a terminal illness with his 'dying wish' was to experience how it was like to be married.

And when he *cough cough* 'miraculously' made a full recovery, he said, "Wifey, you saved my life! Now, I owe you forever. I will repay with my body."