The Cursed Prince

Chapter 1023  Rowena's Desire (1)

n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

"Minnerva?" Rowena furrowed her brows. She thought she had heard of the name somewhere.

So... this Minnerva was... the woman that her father truly loved? Who was she?

"Ro..." Raphael's voice from outside the library suddenly distracted Rowena from her thoughts. She immediately put everything back inside the box and closed the lid. Then she put the box back on the shelf carefully. She stepped back and looked at the shelf with a thundering heart.

Should she tell her husband what happened? The magic dust was said to be able to bring back the dead. How? This was high-level magic that even gods in Cretea never talked about. Rowena was very interested in finding out more because...

Because it might work in her favor to cancel the curse that she was having.

Rowena made a split-second decision to keep things to herself when Raphael stepped inside the library and touched her shoulder. She didn't want to tell Raphael what happened because she wanted to protect her husband from getting into another problem. If what her father wrote was true, that he acquired the magic dust and it had now been absorbed by Rowena's body, then the royal family would take it as an offense. They would think Rowena used the magic dust deliberately and pretended that the pouch fell on her. She knew she didn't have the best reputation here, and nobody liked her. What proof did she have to show them that she didn't intentionally want to use the magic dust for herself?

Until she knew better and got more information, she wouldn't want to involve her husband. Raphael had done so much for her.

"What are you doing?" Raphael asked Rowena. "The food is served, but you still didn't show up."

Rowena shook her head and said, "I am sorry, I was having a migraine just now. I needed time to get over it."

"Oh, you could have just called me," said Raphael worriedly. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders and pulled her head to his chest. Lovingly, he kissed her hair, and he channeled healing energy to her body through his hand on her shoulder.

Rowena felt such pleasing warmth coursing through her body, and gave her a wonderful feeling. She thought Raphael got better and better every day in his healing capabilities.

"Thank you," she said with a smile as she looked up at his handsome face and touched his cheek. "I feel wonderful now. How is your training to become the god of healing?"

"It's going well," said Raphael. "Esper praised me a lot. He said he could soon retire."

"Maybe someday people will build temples to worship you as they do to Esper, don't you think?" Rowena said playfully. "If Esper retires, people will come to you for healing."

"Ahh... I only want the power, but I am not sure I want to devote myself to humankind," Raphael shrugged. "The only person I want to heal is my dearly beloved wife."

"That sounds selfish," Rowena commented. "I mean, I don't care, but other people might reproach you for having so much power but not use it for the greater good. It's not good for your reputation. I know many people, I mean gods here in Cretea, have a good perception of you, don't ruin it."

"I don't care either," said Raphael. "Let's not talk about trivial issues. Our food is waiting."

Rowena was glad Raphael didn't feel suspicious of the reason why she stayed longer in the library. He accepted her lies that she was having a migraine, and he healed her easily. He took her to the dining room, and they had a wonderful dinner together.

Since they had resolved the problem with Nymia hugging Raphael earlier, Rowena didn't want to prolong the issue. She only asked Raphael to cut ties with Nymia after the woman's love confession to avoid giving Nymia the wrong impression.

"You have my word," said Raphael. "That was the last time I saw her. She already said that she wanted to confess her feelings to get closure, and after that, we would end our friendship."

"Good."

***

Before they went to bed, Rowena decided to ask Raphael for something.

"Raphael," the woman climbed the bed and sat on the inner side, waiting for Raphael, who was taking off his robe, to join her. As usual, they slept naked.

"Yes?" Raphael said without looking at Rowena. He folded his robe neatly and placed it on the chair beside the bed. Then he pulled down his pants and folded them too.

"I want to learn more about Cretea and other realms. I have nothing to do at home while you are doing the royal duties or your training," said Rowena calmly. Raphael climbed the bed and got under the blanket to Rowena's side, then he slipped his arms around her waist and hugged her naked body.

"What do you have in mind?" he asked her.

"Can you give me a teacher to teach me about stuff?" Rowena asked. "I mean, for start, I want to learn how to read your language."

Only when Rowena read the books in her library did she realize that the spoken language in Cretea was different from the written language. It was the same with the elven language.

When she visited her mother's family, she could communicate a little bit with some of them. It was because she had elven blood in her, and somehow, by nature, she could speak it a little bit. However, she couldn't read anything.

In Cretea, she could speak with the people because of her connection with Raphael, but she would need to learn it if she wanted to master their written language.

She needed it to read the books in the library to get more information on magic dust, and also to find out who Minnerva was.  Of course, she couldn't go around and ask people because they would be suspicious. Rowena promised herself she would not involve Raphael in this mission because she didn't want to get him in trouble.

"Oh, that is actually a good idea. There are many interesting books that you can read. I think you will like them. You should definitely learn how to read them," said Raphael. "I have some candidates in mind. We can arrange for you to get private tutoring."

"I'd like that," said Rowena. "I'll do it tomorrow," said Raphael. "Remind me if I forgot."

"Will do," said Rowena. She turned her body so Raphael could spoon her from behind. This was always her favorite position to sleep, in his loving embrace.

"Hmm... good night, Ro," said Raphael. He tightened his hug on her waist and wrapped his legs over hers. <The magic dust is so powerful. It could even bring back the dead.>

Rowena's mind was filled with those words from her father's book, which echoed over and over.

She was punished with infertility because she killed her father. If she could bring him back from death, would the curse be lifted?

Also, where could they go? Rowena only knew life in the human realm, and they couldn't keep staying there because they were immortals. Humans would be suspicious. She also didn't feel welcome in the elven realm.

She felt extremely lonely here in Cretea, but she didn't want to complain to Raphael about it. She was the one who suggested they return here. Also, the royal family had been so kind as to accept her and forgot about the incident ten years ago. For Raphael's sake, they welcomed Rowena into their family. Rowena would seem so ungrateful if she didn't appreciate it by asking Raphael to move away.

Also, where could they go? Rowena only knew life in the human realm, and they couldn't keep staying there because they were immortals. Humans would be suspicious. She also didn't feel welcome in the elven realm.

The only place that made sense was Cretea. It was Raphael's hometown. His whole family and friends were there. However, it was extremely suffocating and lonely. Rowena tried to keep herself busy with whatever stuff she could do, but she felt more and more lonely.

It would be nice to have children, she often thought to herself. Raphael would be a great father, and even though Rowena didn't have a love for anyone else, she was sure that she would do anything, anything, for the children she had with Raphael. She already loved them even before they were born, when she didn't know that she was cursed.

She thought about them often and dreamed of having them in their lives. Her dreams shattered when the verdict came, and Raphael told her she was cursed by the land of gods because she killed someone there.

Maybe... Maybe it was fate that the magic dust came to her at that particular time. Maybe she was given a way to make up for what happened, to fix the error she committed when she killed Draco.

Could the magic dust truly bring back the dead and free her from this curse?

Rowena was careful not to toss and turn in bed when she couldn't sleep because her mind was filled with so many thoughts about the magic dust. She didn't want Raphael to worry about her.