The Cursed Prince's Strange Bride

It was no secret that neither Susan nor Williams wanted to leave. They tried to squirm free but could not.

Williams had his arms tied to the rest of his body. His wrists were also tied separately, the same as his ankles. Susan only had her wrists and ankles tied together.

It was so difficult to stay inside the carriage that was a lot smaller than what they were used to. Susan had it worse since she was seated inside, so she couldn't even look at her mother as she cried and complained to win her sympathy.

Was this it? Susan thought sadly. If anyone had told her that she would become so attached to the palace like this, she would never have believed it. But thanks to Princess Amber, she had come to love living here, so how could she just leave this way without even saying goodbye to anyone? How could their mother just send them off like that? This was unfair.

"You cannot do this to us, mother. We need to know what is happening. Please." Williams begged as he looked at her through the small wooden window, while Susan sobbed quietly.

"Your father and I will join you tomorrow. You have to endure this journey," the woman said resolutely before sliding the wooden window closed.

"We promise to leave with you tomorrow! Please, mother! You can lock us up in the chamber, but don't send us away. Please, mother!" Susan cried, but their mother said nothing as she gave their guards the go-ahead to take them away.

Their hearts became even heavier when the carriage shook and began to move. At this point, Susan and Williams were both resigned. It wasn't as if they could do anything more for Princess Amber now that Prince Harold was awake and could handle everything, but they wanted to be here.

Susan shut her eyes tightly as she silently prayed for a miracle to happen.

The carriage had only moved for a few seconds when it abruptly came to a halt. The abrupt stop threw the twins off guard, and they exchanged a startled look, wondering what was happening.

There was silence for the next one minute before they heard heavy footsteps and a familiar baritone.

"On Prince Harold's orders, no one leaves the palace until he says so!" Alvin announced, blocking the path of the carriage.

Williams turned to look at Susan, whose confused eyes had lit up now. She knew it! She knew there was no way she would leave just like this!

"No... one is in there!" Their mother, who had been waiting to see off the carriage, said defensively while trying to hide her panic. But Susan wouldn't be Susan if she made things easy for the poor woman.

"She is lying! We are in here!" Susan called out while trying to wriggle out of the ropes, not bothering to save her mother's face.

Susan's mother shut her eyes tightly as Alvin glared at her before almost destroying the carriage door as he opened it.

He peered inside and saw the twins, who looked hopeful as soon as they saw him.

Seeing how they were tied up like this and how relieved they seemed to see him, made him truly believe that they had genuinely tried to help and were being taken away from here against their will.

"Prince Harold is awake, right? What about Princess Amber? She is fine, right?" Susan asked hopefully before Williams could ask.

"Prince Harold is awake, and the Princess is receiving treatment," Alvin said, and with one swift move, he used his dagger to cut off the rope binding Williams' wrists.

"Thank goodness!" Susan cried in relief. For a moment, she was scared that Princess Amber might have been executed already.

"Paulina. What about Paulina?" Williams asked as he waited for Alvin to help cut off the rope tying his arms to his upper body.

The thought of that girl almost caused Alvin to cringe. He had never met a girl who cried so much or so loudly.

He remembered hearing the sound of her cries even before he got to the dungeon. Immediately she saw him, she barraged him with questions about her mistress, and without giving him time to respond to her questions, she had called him "Stupid." That's right. Paulina, the timid maid, had called him stupid. She had also called him a coward for not showing up soon enough and letting them treat her mistress in that manner while he lazed around doing nothing.

As angry as he had been at the unnecessary name-calling, he had been more surprised by her bravery as she kept calling him names. He never would have imagined that she was capable of exhibiting such anger or boldness.

It wasn't until he told her that her mistress was safe and that Prince Harold was awake that she finally became quiet, giving his ears time to heal from her screams.

"But you won't be able to see her now. She is being treated. Prince Harold asked me to take you to your mistress' chamber to get treated."

And then Paulina started to cry again. She cried in relief this time as she began to thank him and apologize for all the name-calling, immediately returning to her timid self.

He had thought that was enough to calm her, but she had insisted on seeing her mistress first.

It seemed like she still had little doubt in her that her mistress was safe. To save himself the stress of trying to convince her otherwise and the time he would use to explain to her, he hit the spot behind her neck to make her unconscious before he threw her on his shoulder like a bag of rice and took her to her mistress' chamber since Alicia was in Harold's chamber.

Alvin sighed as he returned his attention to Williams, who was still waiting for a response.

"She is safe. She is being treated by the physician," Alvin said as he cut off the last rope binding William's ankles before shoving him out of the carriage to attend to the other twin.