Mars didn't remember how he got back to the inn. Everything was a blur. His only focus was his mother in the capital. And Emmelyn.

A part of him kept denying the witch's words. The other part was slowly telling himself that it was real, that he had to accept the truth.

Now, he couldn't blame himself enough for leaving. His chest was filled with deep regret and guilt.

Why did he have to leave the capital?

He could have just sent Elmer and the others. The old wizard was a capable man. His knights and Gewen were too.

Why did the prince have to make this mission personal?

Maybe his father was right in being selfish. King Jared took what he wanted and he sent people to do his dirty jobs. All the killing, war-waging, and whatnot. He managed everything from his golden throne in the royal palace.

Mars was too soft and he took many things to heart. He made this problem with the Bellevars and grudge toward Thessalis as his life goal to deal with.

He thought, after this was over, he could finally get his life back and build a family with Emmelyn, the woman he loved.

Now.. he didn't know anymore.

If... if Thessalis was telling the truth, and Emmelyn really came to the capital with a plan to climb his bed and seduce him to open ways for her to get close to his family and kill his mother... Mars' life would never be the same again.

He could forgive Emmelyn, even if she came to kill him.

He could forgive Emmelyn even if she was lying to him.

He could pretend not to know and live in her lies for the rest of their lives together.

But he could never forgive her if she hurt his mother.

"Your Highness...!"

As soon as he stopped his horse and jumped down, two men wearing court officials' attire came out of the inn and bowed down to him.

Mars' throat felt so dry and his heart was still racing. He looked at the officials with gritted teeth and asked them what they were here for.

Deep inside, he could kind of guess what it was and why the two men looked like they were seeing ghost.

He must look like the devil at the moment. He had bloodshot eyes from bad sleep for seven weeks, his expression was scary because of his mounting stress level, and he was covered in the hydra's and Thessalis' blood.

Not to mention he did have a reputation as the devil incarnate himself outside of the royal palace. A reputation that was maintained by his family to instill fear and respect from their enemies and subjects.

As the future king who would rule over 30 kingdoms in Terra Continent, Prince Mars Strongmoor must have such a reputation. So, he couldn't blame these two men for looking the way they were now.

"Your Highness..." They both dropped to their knees on the hard ground and cried, to express their deep grief for the passing of the beloved queen. "Her Majesty passed away last week. We just received the news from the capital."

Mars was standing frozen in his spot. He heard the two men quite well.

So, Thesssalis was telling the truth. She KNEW the queen would die.

Apparently, all this time, she just waited for the moment, when Mars would come to her and she basked in victory. The evil witch might be dead now, but the damage she had done was irreparable.

She had managed to make the Strongmoors suffer and now they were destroyed.

What good was it to rule the whole continent if he lost someone he loved? To Mars, everything didn't matter anymore. He was sure, it was the same for his father.

What good did it do him, to be the king of a big empire when the only human he had ever loved was no longer alive to share his life with?

"How did the queen die?"

Mars could hear himself asking that question, even though he was not sure how he could utter those words. He felt like his soul standing outside of his body and watched it interacting with the Wintermere court officials.

His body spoke and moved on its own, while Mars was watching from the side, still feeling hazy about everything.

"Her Majesty Queen Elara Strongmoor was killed by..." One of the officials spoke with a low voice. He gulped as he tried hard to finish his sentence. "by the enemy. She is now held in prison in the capital."

Mars's heart skipped a beat.

The enemy? She? A woman?

His mind wandered to Emmelyn. There was no other woman who could be close enough to the queen to get the opportunity to kill her.... but Emmelyn.

She had the opportunity, and she had the motive.

"Tell me how it happened," Mars spoke in an icy tone.

The officials were sweating profusely. Being the bringer of bad news was a very dangerous task. If the person they brought the news to was responding badly, he or she might end up venting their anger to the messenger.

That's why people always said 'don't shoot the messenger'. It happened more often than not. A messenger was such a difficult position to be in.

"Her Majesty went to see a woman she was close with at the woman's invitation. The royal guards didn't go inside with the queen because she said they didn't need to. They found Her Majesty dead half an hour later and the woman fled. She has since been caught and the royal guards were beheaded for failing to protect Her Majesty."

The official who spoke had such a pale face that people could mistake him for a ghost. Except that this ghost could talk.

Mars took a long time to absorb the whole information. Somehow, his intelligent brain struggled to process it.

This was... exactly what Thessalis had told him.

The only woman who could get close to Queen Elara to kill her was... his wife. It was Emmelyn Rosehill, the mother of his unborn child.

The prince walked inside the inn and no longer cared about the two officials. The men exchanged glances behind him and swallowed hard.

Did this mean, the prince was not going to kill them to vent his anger?

They were so relieved that they could still keep their heads.

The same thing couldn't be said for the royal guards who went with the queen at the time of her death. Even though it was not their fault.. still, they had to endure the enraged king's wrath who immediately ordered them to be punished and killed.

Meanwhile, the innkeeper who witnessed the scene from behind the door was shocked to death. His eyes bulged and his heart pounded so hard.

He knew this salt merchant group was no ordinary people. They were far too imposing to be regular merchants. But... to think that the crown prince himself was one of them???

He realized that the man with grey hair and golden eyes was so overbearing and impressive. He stood out from his people, that's why he had been staying behind and didn't leave the inn like them.

He only went out this morning to do something. And now, he had returned looking like the devil who was enraged. And he just received really, really bad news.

.

.

>>>>>>

From the author:

THIS STORY HAS A HAPPY ENDING. Please always keep that in mind.