Chapter 225

Chapter 225

Ella still refused to believe there was any curse inside her body.

But since she was already here, she wanted to see what Joshua was really up to.

She followed him back to the room and sat down to eat first.

Joshua stayed by her side. Noticing that she had finally calmed down, he tried to explain things slowly.

"Ordinary people can't enter this village. Aurora and Dorian are waiting outside. Once we solve your problem, we'll immediately go out and meet up with them. Please don't make a fuss, okay?"

Ella looked at him, and a wave of anger suddenly surged up inside her without warning.

"You just left two seven-year-old kids outside like that? What if something happens to them?"

"Joshua, I worked so hard to find Aurora. If anything happens to her again, I will never forgive you."

Joshua immediately tried to calm her down. "You're right, it's my fault. I shouldn't have been so careless."

"So please don't make trouble. Once the curse is removed, we'll leave right away."

As for marrying someone else, that was impossible.

He had to go talk to Dahlia again.

Seeing that Ella's appetite had improved quite a bit, Joshua felt the timing was right and asked, "Ella, you stay here and eat. Don't wander off. I need to go talk to them about something, okay?"

Ella waved her hand dismissively. "Hurry up and go. It's not safe for Aurora and Dorian outside. We need to leave as soon as possible."

Joshua quickly agreed and had someone take him to find the high priestess.

Walking through several village paths and wooden corridors, Joshua found the young woman dressed in elaborate ceremonial clothing in the village's tallest building. She seemed to be performing some kind of ritual.

Joshua waited quietly outside. After she finished, he stepped forward and spoke politely, "Ms. Morris, could you please help remove the love curse from my wife? I can agree to anything except the condition you mentioned before."

Dahlia glanced at him and smiled. "I told you, we have rules. We don't remove curses from outsiders. If you want me to remove it, either you marry me and become part of our village—"

She turned away before finishing, as if unwilling to explain further.

Joshua certainly wasn't going to give up. He immediately followed and said, "If it's just about becoming part of the village, how about we become siblings instead?"

He couldn't let Ella marry someone else, and he couldn't marry anyone else either. Rules were made by people—there had to be some way around this. Why couldn't this person be more flexible?

Dahlia turned around, her expression cold with a hint of mockery. "If it were that simple, why would I waste my breath? What's your name?"

Joshua answered, "My surname is Thomas, first name Joshua."

Dahlia laughed. "Joshua, you might not understand our traditions yet. Marrying me doesn't mean you have to stay here forever. It's more like a ceremony. After the ceremony, you can still take your wife and children and leave, go back to your city."

"Besides, you won't be my only husband."

"And there won't need to be any physical contact between us."

She tossed a booklet to Joshua, then turned and left.

Joshua caught it and read through it carefully. The village rules were indeed written clearly—they don't remove curses from outsiders, because the person who removes the curse would be invaded by the curse and die.

So if he didn't marry Dahlia first, and Dahlia removed Ella's curse, she would die.

Under these circumstances, how could anyone help? They weren't related—why would anyone sacrifice their life for strangers?

Joshua didn't push further and returned to their quarters feeling dejected.

Seeing him like this, Ella asked, "Well? Can you handle this or not? If not, let's just leave. It's almost dark." She couldn't imagine how scared the two children would be spending the night outside.

Joshua didn't want to hide it. He sat across from her and said directly, "Ella, if I married another woman, just a fake marriage with no intimate relationship, would you mind?"

If marrying Dahlia was the only way, he really had no choice. He just wanted Ella to return to normal and stop looking for Michael.

Once this was over, he would take Ella and the children back to Emerald City. He should never have any contact with Dahlia again.

Ella's heart suddenly tightened.

Looking at Joshua's worried face and hearing his words, she suddenly felt like laughing. "What, you've only been here one day and you've already fallen for another woman?"

Joshua explained, "They don't remove curses from outsiders. The only way is either I marry the high priestess, or you marry a man from here. Only then will they help."

He thought this requirement was ridiculous, but these were their rules, and as outsiders they could only comply.

Ella sneered, "You actually believe that?"

"I think it's because this place is too isolated, and that woman has taken a liking to you, so she made up this rule on the spot."

"Joshua, let me tell you, I'm perfectly fine. I don't have any curse. If you want to stay here and get married, go ahead. I'm not playing along. I need to go find my children."

Ella didn't want to waste any more time with him and got up to leave.

She didn't know what was wrong with her. Her mind was thinking about Michael, and she knew clearly that she loved Michael.

But when Joshua said he was going to marry someone else, she actually felt depressed and upset, and even a bit angry. She didn't want to stay another moment and just wanted to leave immediately.

Joshua stepped forward to stop her. "Ella, don't be like this. We finally made it here. Let's solve the problem first, okay?"

Ella stared at him and stated again, "I don't have a curse."

Joshua, thinking about having to marry another woman, also became irritated, and his tone grew heavier. "Even if you don't have a curse, you don't love me anyway and don't want to continue living with me. So just stay here and wait for me to finish the wedding, then I'll personally take you to Michael. Is that okay?"

He thought Ella wouldn't care, so he spoke without thinking.

But when Ella heard his words, a sharp pain shot through her heart. She didn't understand why she felt this way when the person she loved was Michael. She glared at Joshua in distress.

"Fine, I can watch you get married. But first bring Aurora and Dorian here. You're really something, leaving two seven-year-old children outside while you're here getting married. Joshua, is this how you act as a father?"

Seeing that Ella finally stopped insisting on leaving, Joshua immediately agreed. "Okay, I'll go talk to them again and get them to let Aurora and Dorian come in."

To get Ella back to normal, he was willing to do anything now.

When he met with Dahlia, Joshua explained his intention. Dahlia agreed and sent people to bring the two children in, but the driver had to stay outside.

When the villagers heard that Dahlia was holding another wedding, and with an outsider no less, they all came to help, and the whole village began decorating with lanterns and streamers.

Aurora and Dorian were brought to where Ella was staying. Along the way, the two children had heard some rumors.

Seeing Ella, Dorian immediately asked, "Mom, I heard Dad is getting married to someone else?"

Ella thought to herself that Joshua must be interested in that high priestess too! Using the curse as an excuse was just a cover. Anyway, they had no future together. He could marry whoever he wanted.

She pulled the children close and said, "Yes, your dad is marrying the high priestess here. You're about to have a stepmother."

"I don't want one!" Aurora's little face scrunched up, looking so sad she was about to cry. "Daddy can only be Mommy's. He can't marry another woman. I don't want him to marry someone else."

Dorian pulled her aside and reminded her, "Don't cry yet. He must have a reason for doing this. Otherwise, they probably wouldn't remove Mom's love curse."

Aurora tried hard to hold back her tears and looked at Dorian. "Really?"

"Of course. Dad loves Mom so much. He brought her to this place to help her get back to normal. How could he fall for someone else and marry them after just one day?"

"You stay here with Mom. I'll go out and find out what's really going on."

Dorian was more rational than Aurora, staying calm and thinking things through first.

He looked at his mother and instructed, "Mom, you two wait here for me. I'll be back soon."

Ella nodded and told him to be careful. The village was located in a valley—even if Dorian went out, he shouldn't get lost. She also wanted to hear what Dorian would say when he came back.

After Joshua left, he never returned. Dahlia had someone send him ceremonial clothes and asked in detail about his birth date and time, preparing to write him into the family register.

The whole evening, Ella didn't wait for Joshua but did wait for Dorian to return.

Dorian looked very tired. As soon as he entered, he drank water and ate in big gulps. Then he told Ella and Aurora, "I found out everything. Dad really agreed to the marriage so they would remove the curse."

"They're holding the ceremony tomorrow. Tonight Dad's name was already written into their family register. That means Dad is now a member of their village."

Hearing this, Ella felt another pang of sourness in her heart.

She said with a cold laugh, "How can there be such a ridiculous thing in the world—getting married the day you meet."

"Is their high priestess that desperate for men?"

She didn't know what this high priestess looked like, but Joshua agreed without hesitation. Maybe he was attracted to her himself. Sure enough, no man was any good. Ella felt her chest getting more and more congested, uncomfortably blocked.

Dorian shook his head and explained, "She's not desperate. I heard the high priestess already has ten husbands, and Dad is just one of them."

Aurora didn't quite understand all this. At that moment, her sadness about Joshua's marriage disappeared, and instead she looked at the high priestess with envy. "The high priestess must be so happy to have ten husbands."

Dorian sighed again. "I guess she has no choice. I heard that if she removes a curse from an outsider, she'll die herself. Most of the husbands she's married are outsiders. Those people left after the ceremony with her. So actually, she's doing a good deed."