“Eh …? What did you say?” Emmelyn widened her eyes at Gewen’s words. “You think I’m a girl?”

Now, Gewen looked very embarrassed. He patted his forehead and shook his head vigorously. “Uff .. I’m sorry, Lord Aldrich. I thought Mars really has found the girl that he can―”

He did not continue his words. Gewen did not know how close was Mars’ relationship with this young man in front of him.

Even though Lord Aldrich claimed to be the prince’s boyfriend, Gewen wouldn’t take it at face value. Aldrich might only be Mars’ bedwarmer and the prince didn’t actually consider him a lover that he would share his deepest secret with him.

Therefore, Gewen would not talk casually and reveal the secret that Prince Mars Strongmoor was cursed and couldn’t touch women.

Gosh.. he honestly thought Lord Aldrich was a woman under disguise. Gewen could recognize a woman’s body no matter how hard they tried to hide it from him.

Seeing Lord Aldrich’s curves and how smooth his skin was when Gewen touched him yesterday, he was convinced Aldrich was actually a woman.

That’s why he intentionally tried to get close to Lord Aldrich all the time to see Mars’ reaction. He wanted to confirm his suspicion.

Yesterday, when Mars was looking upset and asked him to stop training Lord Aldrich, Gewen was laughing silently, thinking that his assumption was right, that the young lord was a girl.

However… today, it looked like he was very wrong. Lord Aldrich just confirmed to him that he was actually a man.

Gewen was upset with himself. Uff.. was he losing his skills? How could he mistake a man for a woman? Men could be pretty and have smooth skin too, couldn’t they? Gewen was living proof.

“What were you trying to say, Lord Gewen?” asked Emmelyn, looking at the man intently. Her expression looked offended. “Why would Prince Mars find a girl? He already has me. Do you think he is also looking for a girlfriend? Is he not satisfied with me?”

Seeing Gewen’s expression turn awkward, Emmelyn felt very happy inwardly. Apparently, her scheme worked. 

Hmph! Gewen was indeed a womanizer like his reputation out there.

If Gewen really thought Emmelyn was actually a woman disguised as a man, why did he keep trying to get close to her? Didn’t that mean that he was touching Emmelyn on purpose yesterday and flirted with her by pretending to train her archery?

What a jerk!

Now Emmelyn really wanted to beat up the man until he was black and blue.

Lord Gewen didn’t answer Emmelyn’s question. He turned to Mars and swallowed hard. Ahh .. he should have known his best friend better. 

He thought Mars didn’t like men because he seemed very interested whenever Gewen and Edgar talked about their sexual adventures, and those sexy women they fucked throughout the years.

Unfortunately, because of that damn curse, Mars could only be a good listener. He couldn’t touch women, let alone have sex with them.

Well… maybe Mars finally gave up and did it with a man… then realized that he actually enjoyed it?

Ahh .. that must be what happened. The sounds of lovemaking that the castle staff heard every night must be the sounds made by Mars and this young man.

Lord Gewen stared at Emmelyn closely. Lord Aldrich’s face was very smooth and attractive. His attitude was also quite gentle. Maybe, if he was aroused, his voice during intercourse could sound like a woman’s…

“I’m sorry, Lord Aldrich. Looks like I have misunderstood you,” said Gewen finally with a slight bow. He smiled sweetly when he took his leave. “I will let you train alone. I will join His Highness and discuss our battle tactics with Lord Edgar.”

Emmelyn watched Gewen leave with a flat face, showing no emotion, even though she was actually feeling relieved. Uff, this casanova finally left, she thought.

She couldn’t beat him up, but at least she could imagine her shooting target as the perverted Lord Gewen. That would make her happy.

The girl then decided to practice on her own using the bow and arrows that Gewen had given her. She had checked the bow and knew that it was of very good quality. After all, she would rather use this regular bow than the one belonging to the Rose Team.

***

At 3 pm, ‘Lord Aldrich’ looked for an excuse to leave the training field and immediately disappeared behind the stables.

Emmelyn must get ready to go to the palace for Queen Elara’s tea invitation. Mars would follow her fifteen minutes later, so as not to arouse other people’s suspicions.

When the prince arrived at Emmelyn’s chamber, he found the girl was sitting on the sofa waiting for him. She looked so alluring with the simple blue dress she had chosen earlier that day. Mars quickly changed his clothes and wore an elegant blue shirt with a black leather coat to match her outfit.

“Are you ready?” Mars asked Emmelyn. “The horse carriage is waiting downstairs.”

Emmelyn nodded. She took a wooden box from the table and walked to the door. “We can go now. By the way, I am bringing an apple pie from the cooks for your mother.”

Mars knew apple pie was Emmelyn’s favorite snack. He was pleased to see the girl brought it to his mother in the palace. It looked like Emmelyn really knew how to act like a lady.

[Eh .. wait a minute. What if she put poison in the pie?]

Mars’s steps halted when the thought suddenly came to his mind. He just couldn’t trust Emmelyn. 

[Good God! What if Emmelyn decided to poison my mother?]

Mars’s head was hit by a massive headache again.

He hurriedly followed Emmelyn’s jolly steps. The girl had arrived at the end of the hallway. She then descended the stairs going to the ground floor, humming softly.

Emmelyn was happy because she would get the opportunity to meet other women and socialize. She had not done so in a long time and she kind of missing the social scene after disguising herself as a man for months.

Even though she liked to play with her sword and go on adventures, that didn’t mean Emmelyn was a tomboyish girl who didn’t like feminine things. Drinking tea while gossiping was one of the things she really enjoyed.

While she was traveling, she could easily do it with the prostitutes in the brothels. They all enjoyed her company because Emmelyn presented herself as a sympathetic young lord who traveled to the capital. His demeanor was very different from many rude and arrogant men they serve as customers.

It was from these girls that Emmelyn often got the latest gossip as well as free drinks. Not just tea and cakes, but also wine and even clothes.

Now, having the opportunity to gossip with other women again over tea and cakes, Emmelyn couldn’t be happier. She planned to get more info about Draec and the royal family to help her with her revenge plans.

Since she was in a very good mood, Emmelyn hummed all the way from the third floor to the first floor and walked toward the horse carriage that would take her to the palace.

Unfortunately, Emmelyn’s joy was not shared by Mars. The prince was so anxious that the woman was humming with joy because she just cooked a sinister plan to poison the queen with the apple pie she was carrying.

Uff … how could he make sure Emmelyn didn’t give the pie to his mother? This was way too sudden. If Emmelyn killed the queen … she would be immediately executed by the king.

Mars wasn’t ready to lose the woman he loved.

Not this early…

Oh my God, was all he could say over and over again in his heart.

Then … then what about his children? They weren’t even born into this world yet!

“Please get on, Lady Emmelyn,” the coachman bowed deeply to show respect and then opened the carriage doors for Emmelyn.

A servant came with Mars’ horse. The plan was, the prince would ride his horse alongside the carriage as they went to the palace together.

Emmelyn got on the carriage and sat down gracefully. She opened the curtains of the carriage window and looked out to find Mars still standing there with a troubled face.

“What happened to you?” asked the girl in surprise.

Mars was moved from his reverie. He looked alternately at his horse and the carriage in which Emmelyn was sitting. His eyes caught sight of the box of apple pie on Emmelyn’s lap. 

Mars became frantic. He had to stop Emmelyn from giving the pie to his mother.

But how?