Maxim finally nodded. He would do anything for Emmelyn and his intention was clear from the moment he revealed his true identity to her.
He was in love with her and wanted to protect her. So, of course, he would do anything to help break the curse that had made her suffer so much. Even if he had to make a big sacrifice, he would.
The man actually felt bad that he had to make his intention known at this unfortunate moment. He wanted his confession of love to be a private moment between just him and Emmelyn.
However, now that the cat was out of the bag, with Margueritte asking if he was in love with Emmelyn, and his response - even though he didn't say yes - had confirmed it, Maxim had no choice but to admit that he was in fact in love with Emmelyn.
"I am grateful that you are willing to grant me one wish," Emmelyn said. "Please give Kira back to us, and we will not bother you again. That's all I want from you."
She looked at the witch and smiled. She looked very tired. All the efforts to go up this mountain didn't give her anything.
Instead of getting help in breaking her curse, or proving her innocence, she had to use this one request to free Kira from the witch's curse.
However, she tried not to think about it that way. Things could always get worse. She should just be grateful that they could continue their journey to Castilse and then Myreen. Maxim's mother knew Myreen and could give her direction. That was enough for her.
Emmelyn could think about ways to deal with the Leoraleis later. She also thought that her luck started to change in Atlantea. So, maybe she would get lucky and everything else would end well too.
"Are you sure? Do you only want your friend? You can either get your curse broken.. or prove your innocence," Margueritte asked again. "The choice is yours. Remember, it's okay to be selfish sometimes."
She wanted to be sure Emmelyn didn't make the wrong decision. She had read the letter earlier. In it, Mrs. Adler said many good things about Emmelyn. So, Margueritte wanted to see for herself the kind of woman being praised so much in that letter.
"I am sure," Emmelyn said firmly. She looked at Kira who was now standing frozen, looking so pitiful. Were those tears in the corners of her eyes? Emmelyn narrowed her eyes in confusion.
Her eyes must have played tricks on her. A statue couldn't possibly cry, she thought.
"Very well..." the witch finally nodded.
Margueritte smiled and turned to Kira. With a wave of her hand, a small gust of wind swirled around Kira and suddenly the statue broke into many little pieces in such a beautiful sight.
The ice shards made clanking sounds as they touched the ground.
Emmelyn and Maxim both gasped when they witness what happened and were about to scream, thinking Kira's body was destroyed, when suddenly the pirate princess appeared from the white mist after the ice broke.
"Emmelyn!!" She ran toward Emmelyn and quickly hugged her. Kira's eyes were filled with tears. And she cried on Emmelyn's shoulder.
She had been a captive in the snow queen's castle for two days and thought she could never see the ocean and her father's ships again. All because she was so foolish and wanted to see the eternal snow.
Kira was so surprised to see Emmelyn and Maxim came to the ice castle to get her and more surprised when she heard Emmelyn chose to save her, over getting her curse broken.
"Thank you...." she cried. "Thank you so much... I owe you my life. My father will be so grateful to you."
Emmelyn didn't know Kira heard their conversation with the witch earlier. She could only pat the pirate princess on the back and calm her down. "No need to thank me. I was the one who asked you to come with me. Of course, I have to make sure you are safe."
"I will not act rashly again," said Kira in between her sobs. She was a tough woman, but what she experienced in Mount Tempest was very different from what she had ever seen or even imagined.
This place was scary. It looked beautiful and mesmerizing, but it held so much darkness and she just wanted to get out of here immediately.
"That's good. Please, don't ever leave without telling us. We were very worried about you," said Emmelyn.
Maxim rolled his eyes at her words. Emmelyn was very worried about Kira, he wasn't. He only came here because of Emmelyn. He couldn't care less about the pirate princess.
"Yes, I promise," said Kira. She finally let go of Emmelyn and wiped her tears with her sleeves. Gosh... it felt so good to be able to move her hands and arms again.
"What a heartfelt reunion," said Margueritte. She crossed her arms on her chest and smiled mockingly. "Don't you want to know how I can help you prove your innocence, by the way? I am sure you will regret your decision earlier once you know what you could have gotten instead."
Emmelyn's heart pounded. She was really curious to know how Margueritte could help her in this regard. Did she really have veritaserum?
If so... maybe Emmelyn could work for it? Maybe buy it with a lot of money or...
"I will not regret my decision," said Emmelyn firmly. "I am responsible for Kira's safety since I asked her to travel with me."
"Oh... in that case, forget it then," Margueritte waved her hand nonchalantly. "I thought you liked your mother-in-law and wanted to see her be brought to life. If you are really innocent, she could prove your claim."
She turned around to sit back on her 'throne' and smiled sweetly at Emmelyn. It was obvious that this beautiful witch felt satisfaction from toying with Emmelyn's feelings.
She could see the effect her words had on Emmelyn immediately. The girl's eyes widened and she pressed her lips in shock.
This was not what Emmelyn had expected.
There was no veritaserum but... Margueritte could bring back Queen Elara to life?
Tears streamed hard from Emmelyn's eyes when she remembered her sweet mother-in-law. She really, really missed her queen mother.