"We have to get out of here," said Xion as he took Emma's hand. "Later, some servants will come and they will be surprised to see you. You look too much like your mother."

The young man suddenly fell silent after saying his last sentence. He just realized that Emma had not seen her mother in a very long time, while Xion had only met Arreya a few hours ago so that he could say that Emma was very similar to her mother.

"I-I'm sorry, Emma... I didn't mean to..." Xion muttered awkwardly.

Emma swallowed hard and looked away. She didn't want Xion to see her grieving face again. She felt bad if Xion turned awkward because of her reaction. The man had done so much for her.

"I'm all right," said Emma quietly. "Let's get out of here."

She grabbed a thin scarf from the cupboard and covered her head with it so she wouldn't attract too much attention. Emma then walked out of the room, grabbing Xion's hand.

The man was right. They must immediately go to find information without attracting attention to themselves.

However, as soon as they came out of the room, an army of servants with beautiful blue uniforms suddenly appeared to block their steps.

"Your Highness, Princess Lilia. Gosh.. we have been looking for you," said the oldest servant, bowing respectfully.

Emma frowned. "Me? Why are you looking for me?"

"All the guests from Taeshi are expected in the courtyard to go to the palace together. We have been looking for you everywhere. Your sister is waiting for you."

"Sister?" Emma and Xion looked at each other with furrowed brows. Emma quickly read the maid's mind and found out that they thought she was Princess Arreya's younger sister named Lilia. This information shook her. Emma never knew her mother had a sister.

"I'm not Li—" Emma was about to say that she wasn't Princess Lilia when suddenly her eyes had caught the figure of a handsome man walking toward them with firm steps.

For a moment, Emma froze. Her legs suddenly went limp and she had to lean on Xion to avoid staggering.

"Madam Xe, what's going on?" asked the man politely. "I heard the commotion in the courtyard and people said you are looking for someone and needed my help?"

Even though the woman in front of him was just a servant, while the man was a young general, he was still polite and respectful towards Madam Xe because the lady was much older than him.

Humility and kindness were what made people really like this general. His words were polite, spoken in a soft yet firm tone. People were always happy when they heard him speak. The woman called Madam Xe was no exception.

She immediately turned around with a smiling face at the man. "Oh, General Stardust, I am sorry for troubling you, but we had no choice. You are the only one who has met Princess Arreya's sister and knows what she looks like. So, we need your help to find her. Luckily, we found her wandering around in this section."

Kaoshin Stardust looked up at Emma's face and for a moment his eyes glint. He couldn't take his eyes off the girl.

She looked so much like Princess Arreya, Kaoshin thought, but she was not Lilia, Arreya's sister.

So... who is she?

As soon as she caught sight of her father, Emma almost forgot how to breathe. Her body was shaking uncontrollably, and her tears streamed down hard. She didn't know she still had tears left to shed.

"Oh, father ..." The girl muttered in a low voice.

Nobody heard her but Xion. Her voice was hoarse and sounded heartbreaking to Xion's ear. Emma pressed her hands against her chest. Suddenly she had difficulty breathing as if the air around her had been sucked out and she was left inside a vacuum space.

She couldn't believe her eyes. Her father, whom she missed so much, was now in front of her. The man was looking at her with astonished eyes. Kaoshin looked much younger and fresher than what Emma remembered.

Oh .. her father was very handsome and impressive.?Emma wanted to rush over and hug him, cry in his chest and tell him how much she missed him.

"Emma .. we have to get out of here," Xion whispered quickly as he pulled Emma's hand.

The man had seen what was happening and he became very worried because they had broken the first rule of time travel. He and Emma shouldn't have talked to anyone because it would invite an interaction that would create a ripple effect.

One small event would affect the next event, and the impact would be increasingly bigger and bigger in the end. Xion was terrified of changing the future. He decided they must disappear immediately before further interaction occurred.

"We're very sorry. It looks like we got lost and entered the wrong room. This palace is huge," Xion said hurriedly with a grin. He bowed deeply to Madam Xe and Kaoshin then pulled Emma to get out of there quickly.

Emma almost had to drag her feet to follow Xion's lead, walking away from Kaoshin and the maids as fast as she could.

"I'm not ... not Princess Lilia. You've got the wrong person... I'm sorry," said the girl in a stammer as she bowed deeply and sauntered, following Xion, who pulled her hand.

Emma's heart was filled with mixed emotions. She was over the moon that she could see her father again, after all this time, but at the same time, she also felt despondent because she couldn't even hug her father.

After they hurriedly left, Madam Xe and the other servants looked confused at what was going on.

They all turned to Kaoshin with a questioning look.

"Is it true that the girl isn't Princess Arreya's sister?" Madam Xe asked Kaoshin. "I immediately assumed it was Princess Lilia because her face is very similar to Princess Arreya."

Kaoshin looked at Emma and Xion, who were walking away, with a dumbfounded expression. He knew Lilia, Arreya's sister because he had visited Taeshi several times with Arreya and met her entire family. He knew for a fact that the girl who was in a hurry to leave was not Lilia.

Then, why did her face look so much like Arreya? Kaoshin couldn't stop thinking.

"I don't know, Madam Xe." The man finally responded to the maid's question.

"I think she was crying..." Madam Xe continued her words. "Do you think the man she was with made her cry?"

Kaoshin shook his head. "I don't think so. He seemed like a nice man."

"Hmm... so strange," Madam Xe tilted her head trying to catch the glimpses of the two people but they were already out of sight. Finally, the old woman raised her hand and motioned the other maids to follow her and continued their search for Princess Lilia. "We don't have much time. We still have to find Princess Lilia."

"I will help you, Madam Xe." Kaoshin was moved from his reverie when he realized they still needed to find the Taeshi princess who came to visit Akkadia to attend Arreya's wedding tomorrow.

He knew Lilia was so energetic and feisty. She must be having fun exploring a new place and forgot the time. He must help the maids find her before she caused trouble.

***

When Emma ??almost reached the exit, she subconsciously looked back. The girl wanted to see her father one more time.

When she turned her head, Emma's gaze met Kaoshin's pair of green-blue eyes which were staring at her closely. The man seemed very intrigued by her presence.

Emma badly wanted to know what was her father thinking at that moment. Unfortunately, Kaoshin was a much more powerful mage than her. Emma couldn't invade his mind.

It was very hard for Emma to look away and get back on her way. She only managed to force herself to continue walking because Xion was holding her hand.

As soon as they got out of the door, Xion and Emma dashed to a hidden spot in the garden, under the trees. Once they felt safe, Emma took a deep breath and filled her lung with air. She felt so suffocated back there.

She wiped her tears but they kept streaming down her face. In the end, she had to use the scarf that covered her hair to wipe her flowing tears so as not to ruin her clothes.

"We got unlucky," Xion muttered in concern. "I hope nothing major happens that could change the future. From now on, we have to be more careful."

Emma nodded with a tremble. Her mind was in a mess.

.

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Dear readers,

I initially used the title "The Cursed Prince" but now decided to change it to "Emmelyn In The Devil's Den".

Below is the synopsis:

EMMELYN IN THE DEVIL'S DEN

The crown prince was cursed on the day he was born, that he will never be happy. What's worse, no woman could touch him without dying. Thus, finding a wife to produce an heir became the royal family's greatest challenge since the prince is the only son.

Until one day.. A slave girl who tried to kill him didn't end up dying after they touched. Emmelyn was a princess from one of their colonies who vowed to avenge her family's death by killing the crown prince.. And that's how she ended up in his castle.

Seeing that she was the only woman he could have sexual relationship with, without killing her, the prince made an agreement to let her go and free her kingdom from his oppression if she produced for him three heirs.

Emmelyn said yes, but every day that they were together, she made plans to kill him and get her revenge.

Can Emmelyn get what she wanted, or would she be entangled deeper with the enemy who was deemed as the devil incarnate himself by his enemies?

****

EXCERPT

"You will be the mother of my children," said the man in a commanding tone.

His shameless words rendered Emmelyn speechless and shocked, more so, than the kiss he landed on her lips earlier.

"Eh ... wait.. what? Hold on a minute," Emmelyn, who was moved from her shock, hurriedly rubbed her lips roughly as if trying to remove the devil's marks from them. "I don't want to be your wife! I don't want to marry you, you devil!!"

The man frowned and squinted his eyes menacingly. "Who said anything about marriage?"

.

TEN YEARS LATER

"Rrr... it's been too long. Let me go."

"You haven't given me heir number 3."

"But you're the one who was always busy when I was on my cycle. Not my fault!"

"Hey, woman! A deal is a deal."