Chapter 40: "Desperation"

Prince Seiro stared at Ely, dumbfounded, as her continuous tears sparkled upon the moon's light. Her eyebrows furrowed as she was having a sorrowful look on her face. Her lips trembled, wanting to say something but she was hesitating.

"Ely, please don't cry," Prince Seiro said. He touched her cheek and wiped her tears, "Do you feel pressured about it? Don't worry, I will wait for you-"

"I… I'm very sorry!" Ely finally let her true feelings out. "I want to be honest with you. Even though I know that you're really Adam in the flesh, and your behavior and preferences remain the same, you are not the man in my heart anymore…"

The prince looked away from her, "But in the letters, you said that you look forward to being with me."

"I'm sorry to disappoint you, but it was not me," Ely wiped her tears, and she looked at the calm sea. "Adam- I mean, Prince Seiro. I do not hate you, and you're a wonderful person, it's just that… I can't force myself to love you... again."

Prince Seiro sighed as he heard her response. "Why didn't you tell me earlier? If you did, I wouldn't have confessed..."

"Sorry. I am very cautious within Prince Kaio's palace. I feel like there are ears on the walls… if you know what I mean," Ely suddenly walked in front of him and met his eyes. "Prince Seiro… can you please do me a favor?"

He looked down on her with lonely eyes, "It's about my twin brother, isn't it? Or are you going to ask me to return you to him?"

"Prince Seiro… I need to return for my wedding. Please help me."

"You know I can't say no to a person in need," Prince Seiro said, but when Ely smiled thinking that he was going to agree, he frowned and added, "But if I agree to your request, the plan to make me the King will fail. Everything that Kaio and the others worked hard for will all be for naught."

"Do you really want to become King?" she asked, "Or was it Prince Kaio and her allies who wanted it to happen?"

"I believe that my purpose in life is to become King. Have you seen my birthmark, Ely?"

"Birthmark- Oh, the one at the side of your stomach?"

He nodded, "Yes. As soon as I was born, when they saw it on my skin, they immediately knew I was to be King. It was a prophecy from the Priestess of the Temple of Destiny - that the one with the birthmark shaped like a harp would be the future King."

Ely listened to him quietly.

"But my twin brother challenged fate. He pushed me off the cliff so that he could become the crown prince."

"I don't think he can do it to you. It must be a misunderstanding! Why don't we ask him personally-"

"This is the reality between siblings in the royal family, Ely," Prince Seiro said. Because the topic had gone to something he did not wish to talk about, he quickly grabbed Ely's hand, "I'll take you back to your room. You might catch a cold if you stay here for too long."

As the two of them walked, there was an awkward silence. Ely looked at how the annoyed prince tightly grabbed her hand. "Uhm... It hurts-"

"Ely, I won't let you go. You will marry me again," he said while pulling her.

"But Prince Seiro… things are different now-"

Desperation could be seen in the prince's eyes. "I wish we had met earlier in this world. If we did, you wouldn't fall for my ruthless twin brother…" He led her inside her room, "Rest well, Ely."

When he shut the door, Ely heard him telling the guards outside not to let her out of the room. Ely was disheartened as this was the first time she saw Adam's overbearing side.

She felt her knees weaken and sat on the hard, cold floor, while she leaned her back against the door. She failed to get Prince Seiro to side with her because of his strong feelings for her and his resentment towards his twin brother.

She just cried out everything that night because she knew, that's the only thing she could do for now.

…

The next day, King Maro arrived at his palace. He was very mad that the information about Minister Anna's request for him to go to her was fake. The mercenary who was said to have delivered the news to General Lum and the others was dragged to the prison dungeon.

The first thing he did was go to Ely's bedroom. Unfortunately, just as he had predicted, she was gone. "What have you been doing without my orders? WHERE IS ELIZABETH?!"

Ely's maidservants kneeled down in front of King Maro.

"Please spare us, Your Highness! We didn't have any idea that the information she received was also fake…"

"What information?"

"She was told that the venue of the wedding had changed and will take place at Leoniva Palace, so she went there with General Lum and his mercenaries…"

"WHO TOLD HER?!" The King's angry, loud voice echoed in the room.

"We do not know…"

King Maro quickly went out and walked hastily on the hallway, when Minister Holter suddenly approached him and said, "My King, the head maid caught a spy among the Queen of Ballad's maidservants!"

The two of them, together with some mercenaries behind, went to the prison dungeon. There, the maidservant was locked inside the dim prison cell, repeatedly telling the head maid that she's innocent.

When the head maid caught sight of the King, she bowed to him, and gave him a small, wooden chest. He opened it, and he found several papers inside.

And when he read one of the letters…

'From… Adam? Isn't that Ely's dead husband?' He was terrified. What if she got tricked into going to Leoniva, and when she gets there, she'd marry the wrong person?

"Your Highness, I just figured out that this maidservant belongs to the Pho Clan," the head maid uttered, "Please look into it…"

"Pho Clan?" King Maro crumpled the paper, then threw it and the wooden chest on the ground. He smirked as if he already knew that this might happen someday in his reign, "No need. This is clearly treason."