THREE DAYS LATER

Mrs. Adler knocked on the door with a panting breath. Emmelyn was surprised to see the old woman came back from the market with a paled face. She quickly assumed something must have happened to get such a reaction from her.

"What happened?" she asked the old witch worriedly. Emmelyn was supposed to go with the old witch to the market, but she fell ill the day before and couldn't go anywhere.

Mrs. Adler told her to rest because her ailment was apparently more to do with her mental state, not physical fitness.

The old witch offered to go to the market and bought some more ingredients to make potions that could help her to sleep dreamless. Emmelyn's nightmare became worse by the day and she almost had a mental breakdown.

"Princess..." Mrs. Adler held Emmelyn's hands and looked at her deeply. "If I told you we should leave this kingdom immediately, will you listen to me?"

Emmelyn had expressed her desire to try and sneaked into her castle and meet her husband. She needed him to hear from her in person that she was innocent and told him everything she knew about Ellena, about Thessalis, and the Bellevars.

She also wanted to share his grief. When she saw him in the little woods, checking her empty grave with his soldiers, Emmelyn felt devastated. She had never seen her usually calm and mighty husband look so sad and defeated.

She also wanted to talk to him about Harlow. She wanted to tell him how much she had suffered and wished for his hug to ease her pain and sufferings.

But now, the old witch said they should leave immediately? She shouldn't try to see her husband?

"When?" Emmelyn asked Mrs. Adler. She kept trying to look calm.

"Tonight," said Mrs. Adler pleadingly. "It is better to travel at night and hide somewhere during the daytime."

"Is there any particular reason why we can't wait one or two days until... "

Until I recover and can see my husband?

That was what Emmelyn wanted to ask the old witch, but she didn't continue her words. However, Mrs. Adler understood what she was trying to say.

"Yes," she replied haltingly. "The new king has released a bounty on your head. They KNOW you are not dead yet and now they are after you."

"The new king?" Emmelyn thought she misheard. Wasn't Jared Strongmoor the king now? Was there a new king already?

And suddenly, realization dawned on her.

Mrs. Adler confirmed her assumption. She nodded sadly. "The king has abdicated and his son took the throne yesterday."

"Wh-what... did you say?" Emmelyn couldn't believe her hearing. "Mars is now the king and he is after me?"

"I am sorry, Princess..." Mrs. Adler nodded. "That's the truth."

"How much is the bounty? What did the announcement say?"

Mrs. Adler explained that when she arrived in the market, she saw many soldiers checking people and announced that they were looking for a woman, the enemy of the state, who had killed the queen.

They gave the people all Emmelyn's physical traits. They even had a picture of her, made by the talented painter, Asai Ato.

"The bounty is 1000 gold coins," said Mrs. Adler. "The situation is very dire. We have to go immediately."

Emmelyn bit her lip. At this point, she never thought that after losing her family in a single night, she would ever feel worse suffering than the day she found out about their deaths.

Apparently, she just did.

Emmelyn wanted to cry but she couldn't shed any more tears. Everything that happened in the past two months was hell and she had exhausted her tears, crying for days and even weeks.

She thought when Mars found out she was still alive, he would look for her. Or at least, he would give her access to come closer to him. He wouldn't put up stricter security around his castle so Emmelyn could sneak in to meet him.

After she killed Roshan, Emmelyn went to the castle and tried to enter in discreet. She wanted to wait for Mars to come home and talk to him.

However, when she arrived, the castle security measure was doubled than what it used to be. Mars also didn't come home. She wasted precious one day just trying to see him.

It looked like Mars chose to stay in the royal palace. It was the one place that Emmelyn couldn't possibly break into. She really, really wanted to see him, however, after trying all day, all her efforts were to no avail.

And now... he actually set a bounty for her head?

Emmelyn's knees turned weak. She had to lean on the old witch to keep her body balanced.

"So... sorry," she muttered almost inaudibly. "Yeah, you are right. We should go."

"I am sorry you have to find out this way...." said Mrs. Adler.

Emmelyn forced a smile. "It's okay, Grandma. I am fine. The sooner we get out of here, the faster I can reach Myreen and meet the Leoraleis."

She steeled her heart and went inside the hut. She started packing her very few worldly possessions and got ready to go.

"Let me make the potion for you before we go, Your Highness," said Mrs. Adler gently. "Once you feel better, we can travel more conveniently."

She took out some herbs and cook them in a pot with water, while Emmelyn sat and watched. Half an hour later, the potion was ready and Emmelyn was told to drink it immediately.

The princess downed her cup in one go. She didn't want to prolong the inevitable because, based on experience, the sooner she took all the liquid, the faster she could get it out of the way.

"Thank you for your kindness," said Emmelyn. "Thank you for sticking by me and always help me when I needed it."

"Of course, Princess. I will always be with you."

Emmelyn felt so grateful for Mrs. Adler who was so loyal to her. Without Mrs. Adler beside her, she would have died and buried in the nameless grave, never to wake up again.