Mars was so relieved to know that Emmelyn was the one who broke his curse. Even if Ellena might think she deserved the credit, Mars didn't really think about it.

It was the thought that counts, wasn't it? So, he wouldn't be petty and tell her the truth.

Whether or not Ellena was successful in getting his curse lifted, the fact remained that she had sacrificed a lot for him. He should be fair and gave her the acknowledgment.

He was not like his father who was heartless enough to toss people away when he no longer needed them. No, he would not repeat what his father did to Lady Marielle Bellevar.

Mars was busy with his thoughts of how he would handle the situation back home when suddenly the witch said something that moved him from his reverie.

"Are you sure you don't want tea?" the witch asked again. "You might need it after I let you know one big secret."

One big secret?

Mars thought he already heard everything he needed to know, the fact about Emmelyn and Ellena. So, what else was there to know?

"Your Highness, please don't take anything from the witch. We cannot guarantee that she didn't put any poison in the cups. Even if she didn't show a reaction, it might be because she was immune to some poisons," Elmer reminded the prince when he heard the witch's words.

Mars nodded. He was not dumb to trust the witch. "I know, Elmer."

"Oh, that's too bad," the witch shrugged and then poured more tea into her cup from the pot. She raised her cup, looked into the tea inside it, as if seeing something from a crystal ball, and then she sighed.

She looked at Mars with eyes filled with sympathy. "You seem like a good man, unlike your adulterous father and your homewrecker mother. I am sorry if life has not been fair to you. But the fact is, life has never been fair, even if you are a good person."

Mars didn't know why the witch's words of sympathy didn't make him feel touched. It was actually the opposite. Something in his head told him that the witch did something horrible.

But.. what was it?

Was his child cursed too?

Was this why the witch was so relaxed about the whole situation? Mars couldn't think of what else would hurt him in this world, that the witch suddenly showed sympathy to him.

"What did you do?" He got up instantly and took out his sword.

He pointed it at the witch's neck. This time, even though the witch still looked like Emmelyn, he managed to overcome his feelings and threatened her with his sword.

"TELL ME WHAT DID YOU DO??!!!" When he didn't immediately get a response, Mars shouted at the witch. His emotions mounted. Something in his heart felt uneasy, and he didn't know what it was.

He needed to know right away. What on earth did the witch do?

Thessalis got up and stood unwaveringly in front of the prince. Her face was filled with fury.

"I KILLED THE HOMEWRECKER WHO HAD DARED SEDUCING MY GODDAUGHTER'S FIANCE AND CAUSED HER TO KILL HERSELF!" Thessalis shouted back at him. "I KILLED YOUR MOTHER!"

Thessalis gritted her teeth as she finally let out the big secret that she had been holding for the right moment.

She lived for this day... when Jared's and Elara's offspring realized that their family was finally destroyed for good.

This was the icing on the cake.

Ah.. too bad, she couldn't see Jared's reaction when he found out his wife was dead.

She had to feel satisfied by imagining the scene. After she tortured the Strongmoors for 27 years, today, their punishment was complete. And Thessalis could finally die smiling.

The whole mansion was suddenly engulfed in terror as everyone heard what the witch just said. Elmer, Bruinen, Gewen, and the rest of the knights were frozen in shock.

They needed some time to process the information they just heard. When he could comprehend what the witch said, Gewen suddenly felt his knees turn weak.

No... this... this must be another lie that Thessalis was saying to distract their attention from killing her.

She must be doing this to make them feel distraught.... since she knew she had no hope of getting away this time, she wanted to torture them with lies.

Meanwhile, Mars thought he misheard. Thessalis words rang in his ear but he didn't quite catch what she was saying.

He thought he was having another nightmare. Before he met Emmelyn, he had trouble sleeping that Mr. Vitas had to prescribe him a sleeping potion regularly.

And when he did sleep, he would have constant nightmares. This was part of his life... until the day Emmelyn came into his life.

After he was with her, his life was better and he could even sleep well in her arms.

Now, Mars had been away from Emmelyn for seven weeks already, and he had not been sleeping properly for the duration.

So, maybe he was now hallucinating in a broad daylight because his mind had become so exhausted. He badly needed sleep.

What he heard just now... was not real, right?

None of this was real.

Mars remembered the witch used Emmelyn's appearance to taunt him. That must be part of the dream he was having. Emmelyn was far away in Draec. He was currently in Wintermere.

Right... maybe he should force himself to wake up and go with his men to the haunted forest as they had planned earlier.

They needed to take care of the monsters and then the witch, once and for all. So, he could immediately go home to his wife and family.

There was no way his mother was killed by the witch. She was safe in the royal palace with very strict protection.

Thessalis smiled when she saw the man look dumbfounded.

"You don't believe me, do you?" She moved closer and touched the man's cheek. Looking like Emmelyn, she leaned in and whispered to his ear. "You have killed Emmelyn's parents. So, she was more than happy to work with me to kill yours. A life for a life. Isn't it only fair?"

.

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>>>>>

From the author:

If you haven't already known, I have a Discord server if you would like to talk to me and other readers to discuss about the books, visual references, etc. I had been really busy to be able to maintain it in the past, but I hope to share more stuff on the server soon (including all the spoilers I plan for the story).

There are also many Webnovel authors (my friends) in the server whose books you might be reading too. You can come and say hello ^^

This is the link: bit.ly/missrealitybites

(just type exactly those in any browser and you will see it).