The ballroom immediately went into chaos when the guests witnessed how Ellena Greystorom committed the unforgivable sin. Not only did she allegedly attempt to kill the old queen, now she attacked the old king before so many witnesses.
"Father!" Mars quickly got to his father and checked on his condition. The blood drained from his face when he realized how severe was the injury sustained by his father. The young king immediately shouted for help. "Go get Mr. Vitas as soon as possible!"
Edgar jumped from his seat and came to Mars's side. Their clothes were covered in blood as the two men tried to help Jared Strongmoor from his grave injury.
"You little wench! You are really something, huh?" Sir Heron swung his fist and tossed the sword out of Ellena's hand. Then, he grabbed her arms and twirled them behind her back to subdue her.
The woman screamed her lungs out and tried to kick a fuss to get away from Sir Heron. However, the man had learned his lesson and didn't give her any chance to escape nor to fight back.
"Oh no..." Queen Elara ran toward her husband and cried by his side. She didn't expect Jared Strongmoor to be so agitated when Ellena insulted their son.
Apparently, the guilt and shame because of his treatment of Emmelyn, which caused his wife to be so mad at him, was eating him from the inside.
Jared was furious when he realized Ellena was the person responsible for the calamity that befell his family. When he heard from Ellena's own mouth that she made the deal with Thessalis to kill his wife, Jared was so angry that he wanted to kill her with his bare hands.
He was blinded by rage and let his guard down, that he didn't see Ellena's hand swung and stabbed him with the sword.
"Jared..." Queen Elara cried hysterically when she got to his side and held his hand. "Please hang on... The physician is on his way... We will save you."
Jared opened his eyes with difficulty when he heard his wife's voice. His eyes lit up at the sight of the woman he loved and a smile curved up on his face. "Ah... my lovely wife... there you are..."
He missed her so badly. When he saw her entered the ballroom, he felt like he was on cloud nine. He was sad when he found out Elara woke up but refused to see him, but he realized his wife's treatment of him was justified.
Even though he really wanted to touch and hug her, he held back, because he wanted her to forgive him and take him back.
Who would have thought that the last time he would ever be on her embrace again was on his dying moment?
"Jared... please hang in there..." Elara cried pitifully. She took her husband's hands and pressed them to her chest. "Where is the physician???"
"He is on his way... mother, he will be here soon," Mars hugged his mother's shoulders. Tears started dripping down his cheeks too.
Edgar knew Jared Strongmoor's wound was too severe and he was quickly losing a lot of blood.
His heart dropped to the floor as he turned to Mars and tried to say something but he couldn't get any word out.
"I am so, sorry..." Jared winced his brows in pain. He started crying too. "It was all my fault..."
His voice faltered when he spoke and acknowledged all his sins. "I... I have put our family through so much.. s-suffering... We lost our babies... b-because of the curse... th-that befell... our family... caused by... my selfishness..."
Mars realized his father was dying and wanted to speak to his wife in private. So he raised his face and turned to Edgar.
The young general understood what he wanted and immediately rose to drive everyone out of the ballroom.
The king's guards followed his lead and they went to all the guests and motioned them to get out, giving the royal family a private moment before the old king took his last breath.
Sir Heron lifted Ellena who was kicking and screaming and took her to the Grey Tower.
Lady Preston and Duke Preston fled the scene as soon as possible, and the other guests could only quietly walk out of the room, under the king's guards' instructions.
Soon the ballroom was empty. There was only Mars, his parents and, and Gewen who carried Harlow in his arms.
The man was conflicted between leaving the ballroom to give the family a private moment, or staying there because he had their granddaughter with him.
Finally, he chose the latter.
"I'm so... sorry, Elara sweetheart..." Jared Strongmoor cried to his wife. "I should have swallowed my pride... and begged for forgiveness.. for... for breaking off my engagement with... Marielle... I shouldn't have exposed you... and our children... to... to all this pain..."
"Jared, stop talking... You will need your energy to recover..." Elara whispered in frustration. "Please... don't say anything... Mr. Vitas is coming right away..."
Jared closed his eyes and smiled. "I so love your voice. You are the most... b-beautiful thing that... has ever... happened to me. I am a lucky bastard..."
"Stop talking...." The old queen begged him, "I want you to recover so you can make up for what you've done to our son and to Emmelyn... Don't you dare die on me, Jared Strongmoor...!!"
Jared opened his eyes again and struggled to touch his wife's cheek. "Please... if you meet that woman again... tell her I am truly sorry... I now know she is a good woman... and I have wronged her..."
"You have to tell her yourself...!" Elara replied, sounding almost hysterical. She looked up and cast her glance around them, then snapped, "Where is the goddamn physician!!!??"
Right at that moment, the old Mr. Vitas came running from the entrance with John followed behind him, carrying his medical bag.
"I am so, sorry I came late..." The frail old man apologized profusely when he reached them.
His breath was panting as he crouched down and checked the old king's condition. Without many words, Mr. Vitas quickly got to work to save Jared's life.
.
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*************
Okay, it seems like most of you want Jared to live, I will just say here that he will survive. So, you don't have to be on the edge of your seat and wonder if he would make it or not. XD
I agree, he should make up for his sins first.