Emmelyn studied Mars’s face, which looked anxious, and wondered what the man was thinking.

[What is going on in this weird man’s mind?]

“Have you changed your mind about joining us for the tea?” asked Emmelyn. “It’s not too late to cancel your intention.”

Mars shook his head. “It is not like that.”

“So what?” asked Emmelyn impatiently. “Tell me. I won’t judge you.”

Mars shook his head again. “Nothing. I just wanted to make sure you got on the carriage properly.”

Emmelyn looked around her and shrugged. “As you can see, I got on the carriage properly. So, can we go now?”

“Yes.” Mars nodded, then gave a signal to the coachman. “Let’s go now. I’ll follow from the side.”

“Yes, Your Highness,” said the coachman, bowing respectfully. He closed the carriage door and climbed into the coachman seat. A moment later, the carriage started moving gracefully towards the castle gates.

Emmelyn drew the curtains and sat gracefully on her seat. She didn’t want Gewen to see her when the carriage passed through the castle grounds where the soldiers were training. So, she purposely hid behind the curtains.

Meanwhile, Mars had jumped into the saddle of his horse and followed the carriage. The crown prince looked very impressive as he was riding his big handsome black horse. Two soldiers immediately rode with their horses to lead the way in front of the carriage.

The other soldiers who saw the carriage and the prince passing on his horse immediately bowed down to show their respects. Gewen and Edgar, who were standing among their soldiers, stared intently at the prince and his small entourage.

“Is that the woman that the castle staff has been talking about?” Edgar turned to Gewen and asked him. The flamboyant general suddenly hiccupped when he heard his friend’s question.

Gewen wanted to reply to Edgar by saying that the ‘woman’ was not really a woman, but he changed his mind. 

It’s none of his business if Mars was really sleeping with a man, isn’t it? He would let Mars tell Edgar himself about his personal life. Gewen wouldn’t be the one to spill the beans. At least… not now.

He was still shocked by what he heard today from Lord Aldrich about his relationship with Prince Mars Strongmoor. 

“Have you met her?” Edgar asked again. “What’s she like?”

Gewen shook his head. He quickly changed the subject. “We’d better get back to training. We only have two more days before Southberry.”

Edgar finally looked away from Prince Mars and the carriage. The small group just passed the gate and was soon out of sight anyway. The general went back to shouting orders to his soldiers.

Meanwhile, on the way to the royal palace, Mars was still feeling distraught. He kept thinking about what he should do to prevent Emmelyn from poisoning his mother.

Should he ask Emmelyn to taste the pie before anyone else? If the pie was poisoned, Emmelyn would refuse to eat it.

But .. what if this weird girl was desperate enough and ate the poisoned pie? What if she died?

What would happen to his yet-to-be-born children???? They would never get the chance to see this world if their mother died today.

Mars became absent-minded along the way to the palace. He kept thinking about various worst-case scenarios and ways to handle them. 

Meanwhile, Emmelyn, who didn’t understand the prince’s anxiety, sat quietly inside the carriage, humming softly. She was looking forward to the tea but at the same time, she was also worried that the scummy prince wouldn’t be able to lie to his mother.

What if he slipped and told the queen who she was? Emmelyn must think of ways to make sure Mars wouldn’t expose her identity. Not today. She still needed time to prepare for the royal ball so she could kill the king.

Emmelyn peeked out from behind the curtains and watched the road leading to the royal palace. They had exited the crown prince’s castle area and passed through a path with forest views to their left and right.

One kilometer later, they entered the city gate, and Emmelyn saw the hustle-bustle in the capital. So many shops and stalls were open for business, and people were shopping and doing various activities.

The crowd really piqued Emmelyn’s interest. She liked watching the shops selling food, clothing, and various other items. Come to think of it, she hadn’t been to a big city like this for some months already.

Ah, Emmelyn decided that when Mars went to Southberry, she would explore the capital and checked the surrounding villages.

A free-spirited and carefree person like Emmelyn, who liked adventures, couldn’t be caged for a long time, even if it was a golden cage.

As soon as they entered the city gates, Emmelyn saw a dozen soldiers immediately clearing a path for the prince and banishing those on the road around them.

“Give way for the crown prince!” They shouted orders to everyone blocking the path.

Emmelyn saw the people immediately stepped aside and watched the prince’s horse and her carriage pass, with several soldiers’ escorting in front and behind them.

Women especially moved as far away as possible from the prince. They were used to doing that for years already since they knew how much the crown prince hated them.

Many women whispered to each other while watching the prince pass by, then immediately looked down. Their faces were filled with expressions of horror.

Ah, of course, Emmelyn thought to herself, they were afraid of Mars. His reputation as a woman-hater was public knowledge.

The women must be scared that the cruel prince would execute them if he saw a woman who annoyed him. Therefore, even though those women were very curious to see Prince Mars, they hurriedly looked away or looked down so as not to meet his gaze.

“Tsk tsk … if only they knew that the crown prince doesn’t really hate women,” Emmelyn muttered to herself as she studied the faces of the people they passed by. “Hmm .. if they found out, would they still be afraid of him? I don’t think so.”

She actually thought the crown prince was a decent man compared to most men she knew.

The beautiful carriage moved casually past the market and then stopped in front of a giant wooden gate guarded by dozens of armed soldiers.

Ah, apparently, they had arrived at the king’s palace. As soon as the gatekeepers saw the crown prince on his horse, they immediately bowed in unison and opened the gate for him.

Mars nodded toward the gatekeeper security team leader and entered the vast palace courtyard. The carriage followed behind him.

A few minutes later, Mars stopped his horse in front of the palace door and jumped down. The man then stood beside his horse, waiting for Emmelyn’s carriage to stop.

After the carriage was parked beside his horse, Mars immediately opened the carriage door to help Emmelyn get off.

While they were on the way to the palace, he finally found a way to prevent Emmelyn from giving the apple pie to his mother. Ha. He felt brilliant for thinking about it.

He would help Emmelyn get off the carriage, then volunteered to carry the box where she kept her apple pie. Then, he would pretend to trip and ‘accidentally drop’ the box to the ground.

It would be an unfortunate accident and she would be angry, but only for a day. He could deal with it.

If the apple pie inside the box crumbled out of shape because of the fall, of course, Emmelyn wouldn’t be so brazen to give it to Queen Elara. It’s rude to give damaged goods as souvenirs, isn’t it?

The carriage doors were opened, and Mars peeked inside.

“We’re here. Let me help you get off the carriage,” said the man, holding out his right hand.

Emmelyn touched the man’s hand and held it as a grip as she stepped down from the carriage. Her other hand was holding the box with apple pie.

Mars hastily volunteered to carry the box for Emmelyn. With his sincerest voice, he said, “Just give me the box. I’ll carry it for you.”

Emmelyn handed the box to Mars, who received it with a flat expression. The prince knew he had to hold back his happy grin when he received the damn box.

If Emmelyn got suspicious, the girl might take the box back. Mars was now holding the pie box with his left hand while his right hand helped Emmelyn get down from the carriage.

“Aahhh…”

As Emmelyn’s feet stepped on the ground, Mars pretended to lose his balance and staggered. His right hand held Emmelyn’s body, while his left hand holding the box swung upwards.

“Oh, no …! The pie box!” exclaimed Mars, feigning a shocked expression.

He was so happy that the damnable pie would soon fall to the ground and crumble. Emmelyn would be sad that her plan failed, but at least the situation would be under control.

Emmelyn could plan another way to kill the monarchs, but that would be a problem for another day. The important thing was that now Mars could prevent her assassination attempt by the poisoned pie. He could buy time until her next attempts.

Emmelyn, who saw the box in Mars’s hand swing to the air, was very shocked. She didn’t know the crown prince was so clumsy!

The girl hurriedly pushed the prince’s body and jumped to the side, so she could catch the box before it hit the ground.

Woot!

“Gotcha!”

Mars could hardly believe his own eyes when he saw that the box had moved into Emmelyn’s hands. At the last moment, the girl caught it with both hands. She staggered after she landed on the ground, but the girl managed to keep her balance.

“Gosh…! You’re so clumsy!” Emmelyn grumbled, with panting breath. “Remind me never to ask you to carry my stuff again.”

The girl shook her head in disbelief and grumbled as she walked away with the ‘poisoned’ apple pie, leaving Mars, who was still stunned in his place.