The Cursed Prince

"What are you doing?" Emmelyn's voice moved the prince from his reverie. He batted his eyes and looked at his hands. They had been touching her dress's buttons for a while and not moving.

It looked like he was too engrossed in his fantasy, touching her and kissing her all over, that he forgot his duty to help her undress.

"I-I..." He couldn't find an excuse right away. The man could only swallow and then confess what he was doing. "I miss you... I miss touching your skin..."

Emmelyn turned to him and furrowed her brows. "If you miss me.. then why are you taking your sweet time to undress me? Jeez..."

Mars was dumbfounded when he heard her. What did she mean by that?

"The water will be cold if you take too long," the girl added.

"Yes, sorry..." The man gulped.

He quickly unfastened the rest of the buttons and peeled the dress off of her. Then, he helped her with her corset. His hands slightly trembled in excitement as he touched her delicate skin and took the corset off.

"Thank you," Emmelyn said as she took off her remaining undergarment and stepped inside the bathtub.

The man was still engulfed by euphoria from touching her body earlier. His eyes also feast on her beautiful figure as the last piece of garment left her body and she got inside the bathtub.

"Aren't you going in?" Emmelyn asked the man. "The water will be cold if you linger... I will not wait for you."

Those were the only words he needed to hear.

Mars grinned like a fool when he realized she wanted him to take a bath together. He thought she wanted to take her bath alone.

Ahh... this is good. So good!

Mars immediately stripped so quickly that Emmelyn could swear as soon as she blinked, he was already naked and joined her in the bath.

"This is nice," he murmured with satisfaction.

"Hmm..." Emmelyn nodded in agreement. She closed her eyes, enjoying the warm water that massaged her skin. It did feel so good.

Ahh.. secretly she missed doing this with him.

For the past week, she let the prince have his bath before bed alone. She would just wash up early and sleep right after dinner.

Emmelyn was worried that if she kept doing intimate things with him, her feelings would grow, while he would still see her as the woman who would bear him children, not a woman he could love.

However, tonight, she had found out that it was not the case. Her love was requited. This bad prince just intentionally lied to her, making her believe that he wouldn't be attracted to her.

Hmphh...!

Mars watched the girl enjoy her bath with her eyes closed.

Gosh.. she was so beautiful!

He no longer felt like the most unfortunate man in the whole world after she entered his life.

Who cares if he couldn't touch any other women, as long as he could touch the only one that matters.

She was so cute, funny, adventurous, full of interesting stories, brave, smart, stubborn but adorable, and he loved her so much.

They soaked in the warm water for fifteen minutes together, enjoying the soothing scent from the aromatic salt prepared by the servants, the warmth provided by the fire from the fireplace, and the soft crackling of firewood being burned.

It was so peaceful.

"I have enough," Emmelyn announced. She opened her eyes and took the small cloth to rub her skin from the side. She dipped it in a bowl filled with mint leaves and rubbed clean her skin with it.

Soon, the soothing mint scent wafted in the air. Emmelyn rinsed her body with the warm water provided in the jug next to the bathtub and then got ready to step out of the bath.

She dried her body with a drying cloth from the table and then put it back after she was done. All her movements didn't escape the prince's sharp eyes.

As he was still in his place, not moving, Emmelyn coughed several times.

"Are you okay? Are you cold?" The man quickly asked.

"Uhm... yes, I think so," the girl replied sheepishly.

"Oh, do you want me to put more wood in the fire?" Mars offered. He stepped out of the bath and found the drying cloth from the table and dried himself.

Meanwhile, Emmelyn could only roll her eyes. She thought she had given all the hints for the man to understand that she wanted him back on her bed. But he still didn't get it?

"No.. don't put more wood.. it will be too bright and I can't sleep," she coughed again.

"Oh, no... but you are cold." Mars was in a panic. He was worried about Emmelyn's health after he got a scare earlier when she couldn't breathe. And now she was cold?

What to do?

"Can I hug you to sleep?" He offered again. This time he reached out his hand to her. "You can touch me and feel that I am very warm. I think it will help..."

Emmelyn pretended to be deep in thought and a moment later she let out a sigh. "Oh well... I guess I have no choice."

She climbed into bed and covered herself with the blanket all the way to her chest. Mars gulped when he realized she didn't put on her nightgown to sleep.

Did this mean... he would hug her to sleep naked?

Heaven was truly on his side tonight!

He thanked mother nature for the extremely cold night they were having now. If she wasn't cold, she wouldn't have allowed him to hug her to sleep.

The man grinned uncontrollably when he climbed into bed and snuck under the blanket. He immediately found her naked body and pulled her into his embrace.

Gosh...! Her skin was so supple and the moment he touched her breasts (accidentally), his body felt like it was set on fire.

"I-I'm sorry... it was an accident," he mumbled. He slowly lowered his hands to her waist and hugged her. His voice was hoarse when he whispered to her ear. "I'm here... I'll keep you warm."

Emmelyn turned her body to face him and wrapped her arms around his neck.

She looked up and stared at his face with a faint smile.

Mars couldn't believe his hearing when she gently said, "I love you too."