The Cursed Prince

1021  Draco's Notebook

Raphael was surprised when he felt Rowena's tears. He felt so guilty for making her upset. He promised to never even be in the same vicinity with Nymia to make up for it and showed Rowena that he didn't have anything for Nymia.

He stepped back and looked at her face carefully. Then he tilted his head and kissed every single tear.

"I am sorry," he whispered. "I am sorry for hurting you. I shouldn't have let any woman touch me when I know they have feelings for me."

Rowena hugged him and rested her head on his chest. She felt bad seeing him keep blaming himself. She was not mad at him for the hug. She was jealous but she had no right to get angry.

"Please stop talking about that," she said in a low voice. "Can we discuss other things?"

"Yes, of course." Raphael hugged her back and rubbed her back. "How was your day? You seemed so tired after you returned from the royal palace that you fell asleep. I hope my mother didn't make you upset."

"She didn't," said Rowena. She let go of her hug and stepped back. She rubbed her eyes and took a deep breath. She turned to the closet and decided to take the box given to her by her mother-in-law and showed it to Raphael. "In fact, she gave me something."

She walked to the closet and took the box. Rowena reached out her hand to give it to her husband. The man accepted it with furrowed brows. He had never seen the box and couldn't guess why his mother gave it to his wife.

"What's in it?" he tried to open the lid but the box didn't budge. "Oh... this box is sealed by magic."

"Oh, that's right," Rowena nodded. "Your mother told me the box can only be opened by the person who sealed it or their blood relative."

"Yes," Raphael agreed. "It seems like it. Boxes like this are usually used to keep very valuable items. Things that are more precious than life."

"More precious than life?" Rowena was surprised to hear that. Now she understood why Queen Lilith decided to keep the box and wait to give it to Rowena. The queen must assume that the contents of this box were very precious.

But... Rowena had opened it, and there was nothing remarkable there. Only her late mother's hairpin, a small notebook, and a pouch of golden dust. Maybe the golden dust was real gold? However, Draco Roseland was a very wealthy king. He had so much more than gold in his palace.

So, it was a bit odd if he kept a pouch of gold dust if it was mere gold.

"Yes. They seal this box with the blood of the owner and they are the only one who could open it. However, when they died, their heir would be able to open it. In a way, people could pass down family heirlooms to the rightful heir when the owner dies," Raphael continued.

"I see..." Her husband's explanation piqued Rowena's interest. She had decided to stop dwelling on Nymia's issue and just focus on her father's belonging. She didn't want to fight with Raphael. Rowena said, "I am not sure the contents of this box are precious. I have opened it and didn't find anything extraordinary."

"You have opened it?" Raphael raised the box and took a good look at it. "What's inside?"

Rowena took the box from his hand and then sat down on the chair, and opened the lid so easily. She showed the contents to him. "Only my late mother's hairpin, a small notebook, and..."

She took out the hairpin and showed it to Raphael. The man took it and observed the beautiful hairpin.

"This is quite valuable. I think this belongs to an elven princess. I've seen some princesses wearing similar hair pins when I went to the elven realm," Raphael commented.

Rowena nodded. "That's right. I think it's my mother's. You know she is an elven princess. I saw her painting once. She was wearing this on her hair in that painting."

Raphael smiled. "This is beautiful. Do you want to keep it?"

Rowena didn't know. She didn't feel any closeness to her late mother. The hairpin didn't mean anything to her.

She shook her head. "I am not sure. I don't know her at all, and I don't have any emotional connection with her. Even if I keep this hairpin, it wouldn't mean anything to me."

"Oh..." Raphael was sad to hear that. He realized Rowena was different from most women he knew because she grew up without a mother, in addition to her abusive upbringing in the hands of her father and the nannies assigned to raise her.

There was something about Rowena that made her become unapproachable, cold, and distant, even though she and Raphael had been married for a long time.

It was unfortunate that Rowena's and Queen Lilith's relationship was not great. Raphael had hoped his mother could give Rowena the mother figure she badly needed. However, at this point, it was only his wishful thinking.

"Just keep it somewhere safe and don't think about it," he said finally. "Maybe someday you will want it. It's good to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it."

Rowena looked at the hairpin in Raphael's hand as the man gently and carefully placed it on the table beside him. "I am not sure I will ever want the reminder of my mother's death with me," she said softly.

"Huh? Why did you say that?" Raphael asked.

Rowena took a deep breath and explained her assumption. "My father must have loved my mother so much that after all those years, he still kept her hairpin. He also never remarried after she died. I think it's proof that he loved her so deeply, and I now understand why it was so hard for him to love me. He must have blamed me for the death of the woman he loved."

Raphael's heart broke for her when he heard Rowena's bitter words. Rowena had often assumed the same thing, but only today was she convinced that Draco really loved his late wife deeply; the hairpin was proof. And Draco must hate Rowena because she 'killed' his wife.

- His wife didn't want to be separated from him and followed him back to the human realm. She was pregnant, and Draco couldn't say no. The elven king would punish him severely if he did.

09:36

Before Raphael could say anything, Rowena took out the small notebook from the box and gave it to him. "Can you read what's written here? My father seems to write something in a foreign language. I recognize his handwriting but not the language."

Raphael took the notebook and opened the pages. He was surprised to know Draco mastered the elven language. Nôv(el)B\\jnn

"This is the elven language," he said. "He must have learned it when he lived in your mother's realm. He must be really talented with language to master it in such a short amount of time."

"Can you read it?" Rowena's interest was piqued further. Since this would be the last time she ever get the chance to get inside her father's head and know what he was thinking, she just wanted to know what Draco wrote in the notebook. Did he write anything about her?

Raphael read the first page with his eyes. He was curious to know what it was about. What he saw immediately filled his heart with anger.

"What is it?" Rowena sensed her husband's discomfort and asked him what was wrong.

"This is... his journal," Raphael said with gritted teeth. "I can read it, but I am not sure you want to know what's inside."

"Oh..." Rowena pressed her lips. "That bad?"

Raphael pursed his lips and opened the pages quickly, and skim-read the contents of the notebook. What he read bothered him a great deal. It was like being given access to the mind of a villain and seeing the cruelty and heinous crimes they planned or were involved in.

- Draco received the box as a gift from his friend, Prince Jadeith, whom he met in the Tournament to Godhood. Both failed but gained friendship instead. He was invited to visit the elven realm and stayed there for as long as he liked.

- Jadeith's younger sister seemed to have a crush on Draco.

- Draco decided to seduce her and marry her so he could stay longer in the elven realm and learn some magic.

- His wife taught him to use some magic, but then he realized that magic in the elven realm was nothing compared to Cretea.

- Draco tried to use the portal in the elven realm to sneak into Cretea once to steal the magic dust so he could wield magic, but failed. He was found out by a knight and was banished from the realm.

- His wife didn't want to be separated from him and followed him back to the human realm. She was pregnant, and Draco couldn't say no. The elven king would punish him severely if he did.

- Draco hated his wife. And when she gave birth to Rowena, he also hated his daughter.