Xion was right. Queen Ygrit's fault was not Therius' fault, even though they were related by blood. He must not hate himself for failing to prevent anything terrible from happening to Emma as a result of someone else's doing.

Xion decided to sit beside Therius, waiting for the maid to open Emma's door, then they would enter and meet the princess. For a moment, no one made a sound. Both men were busy with their own thoughts.

An hour later, Kira came out of Emma's chamber and bowed respectfully towards Therius and Xion.

"Your Majesty ... Princess Emma is ready. Your Majesty can come and see her."

"Hmm. Bring the food prepared by the cook to the room. We will eat together," said Therius.

"Yes, Your Majesty," said the girl. Kira immediately left with swift steps.

Therius got up and walked into Emma's room. Xion followed behind. Another maid, Ola, immediately bowed respectfully when she saw Therius and Xion enter Emma's room. She then resigned and stood outside the door.

Emma was sitting on the chair beside her bed with a murky expression. She immediately raised her face when she heard the footsteps of the two men enter her chamber.

"Honey, how are you feeling now?" asked Therius softly. He sat next to Emma and touched her hand. His face was filled with worry. "I'm sorry .. because of me.. you had to experience that. I am sorry. I should have just listened to you."

After Emma was detained by King Cassius, Therius already regretted his decision to refuse to marry Yldwyn at the same time as Emma. His wife was right, once their goal was achieved, he could immediately divorce Yldwyn.

He shouldn't have cared about how Yldwyn felt and how embarrassing it would be for her reputation. It turned out that Yldwyn didn't even deserve his pity. The Terren princess was willing to follow Queen Ygrit's orders to threaten Emma and nearly kill her. In Therius's eyes, there was no mercy for that girl.

Emma looked closely at Therius and shook her head lightly. "Don't blame yourself. After I thought about it carefully, what you did was just you being a good man. If I were in Yldwyn's position, that would hurt and humiliate me so much if you marry me under pretense and then just get divorced immediately... You would be treating her like an object, a pawn, not a human with a heart. I would never do it to my fellow women..."

Therius was very relieved to hear Emma's words. Ah, apparently, Emma could understand his point of view.

But that didn't mean he would forgive Yldwyn. He was still thinking about what punishment the girl deserved.

"How are you feeling today?" Therius asked gently. He needed to hear from Emma that she was feeling better before he dropped the bomb about her mother.

"I feel awful, but I think I will get over it soon," Emma replied. "What happened? What did you do while I was detained in the palace?"

Therius swallowed hard. "Emma..."

"The king has died, hasn't he?" Emma stared at Therius intently. "So... you are the king now? That's why you could free me from your evil grandmother?"

Therius nodded softly. "Yes."

His heart ached when he saw a faint smile etched on Emma's lips.

"That's good." The girl took a deep breath. "Finally, it's all over."

."Yes..." Therius didn't know how he could start delivering the horrible news.

Xion noticed Therius' discomfort and he felt his friend's pain. This was such a heartbreaking situation.

"Great. So, when can we go to Taeshi to visit my mother?" Emma's eyes gleamed when she heard Therius confirmation that he was now the king of Akkadia.

"Uhm.. let's talk about it after having a meal. You seemed so weak, and I am really hungry," Therius quickly dodged her question.

Fortunately, the door was knocked right after he spoke and several servants came to bring food for them.

"I am not hungry," Emma suddenly shook her head. She had a feeling that Therius was hiding something and the longer he avoided talking about it, the worse Emma felt. Did something bad happen to her mother?

"Well, I am," Therius tried to elicit Emma's sympathy by showing his dejected expression. "I need to muster my strength after what happened. Don't you feel sorry for me?"

Emma furrowed her brows at Therius's words. She still looked suspicious but finally, she relented. The maids served them food and soon the three people ate their food. Nobody talked during the meal.

Even though the food was really, really good, prepared by the best chef in the kingdom, Emma, Therius, and Xion didn't have the appetite. They only managed to eat a little. Each had different thoughts raging in their minds. After what seemed like forever, finally, they stopped eating.

"Okay, now that we have eaten something. You have to tell me your plans. What did you do while I was detained?" Emma wiped her lips with a napkin and then stared at Therius. She wanted to hear everything.

"I plan to punish my grandmother for trying to kill you. The same goes for Yldwyn. I hate to kill so many people to start my reign, but I have to set an example. Heron hasn't even been tried for treason. So, there are so many things to do after I take the throne," Therius said solemnly. "The next few weeks will be so busy. We also have to plan our wedding properly so you can be the queen."

"Can you let me go to Taeshi while you handle all the state affairs?" Emma asked. "You don't need me to do those things, right?"

"Actually... your family from Taeshi will come here," Therius tried so hard to keep his countenance before Emma. "You don't have to go there, and I hope you can stay by my side during the next few weeks because it will be such a formative time for the start of my reign. I feel more at peace if you are near me. I don't want you to be the target of the enemy if you left Akkadia."

What he said was true. Before he ascended the throne and started his tenure as the new king, it would be dangerous for Emma to leave his side. His enemies, be it his political opponents, or people from Terren might want to sabotage his plans and maybe even kidnap and kill Emma. As the old queen's supporters, they must hate Emma for taking Yldwyn's chance as the Akkadian queen.

Yared, his other cousin was still out and about too. Therius hadn't got anything on him to get rid of him officially as he did to Heron. So, the young king must think about opposition from Yared's family, in addition to Heron's family.

"You... invited my family here? Really?" Emma felt her chest filled with warmth. She didn't expect this at all. Actually, she would prefer to go to Taeshi and visit her mother and younger brother, so she could get to know her real homeland. But she understood Therius' situation and had to agree that it was best for them to come here, instead of she came there.

"Yes. I already sent the message to General Moria to go to Taeshi and pick up your younger brother and your other relatives," Therius nodded.

"That's good. Thank you. What about my mother?" Emma narrowed her eyes when she didn't hear the answer to her question after a while. "Therius... tell me, what about my mother? Didn't you invite her to come too?"

Emma suddenly felt the warmth in her chest disappear and replaced by a chilling cold. She didn't know why, but her eyes slowly formed tears. She thought her tears had gone dry and she had promised to never cry again.

So, why was she shedding tears now?

"Emma..." Therius couldn't find the right words. He just stared at the girl and held her hand. After a long pause, he finally lowered his head and said the words he dreaded the most. "Your mother is gone."

Emma pressed her chest with her free hand. She felt suffocated and couldn't breathe. She had a bad feeling after Therius seemed to avoid her question about her mother, and now.. she knew she was right.

"How... how did she die?" Finally, after she could find her voice, Emma asked him the details. Her voice was hoarse and her tears flowed profusely.