The Cursed Prince's Strange Bride

It was not surprising that while Harold slept peacefully beside Alicia in bed, some other people around the palace were unable to find sleep. On top of the list was Ivan.

No matter how hard Ivan tried to sleep, he couldn't. His mind was very troubled. And the few times he managed to doze off, he woke up immediately when he saw Harold's red eyes and smirking face.

So very early the next morning, before the crack of dawn, Ivan left his chamber and made his way to the Queen's chamber. When he got there and found the place empty, fear gripped him for a moment until he remembered that she could have gone to the king's chamber, so he went there to find her.

As he approached the King's chamber, he almost sighed in relief when he saw some of the queen's guards standing outside with the king's guards, who were guarding the whole place. He had been right. She was with the king.

His presence was announced by Damian, and then he entered inside and closed the door behind him.

Immediately he walked inside, his gaze fell on the Queen, who was seated on a stool beside the sleeping king.

As he moved closer, he noticed that the king seemed to look even paler than the last time he saw him.

"How is father?" Ivan asked in a quiet voice.

She raised her head to look at him, and he noticed how terrible she looked compared to the king. It was obvious that she hadn't slept a wink last night.

"He... is still not waking up," the queen cried before she suddenly stood up and gripped Ivan's hands, startling him.

"Do you also think this is all Harold's plan?" She asked anxiously.

"What are you talking about?" Ivan asked in confusion, wondering whether she was talking about the king's health.

"He must have done it on purpose. He must have planned all this so that we would hurt Princess Amber and he would have a genuine reason to hurt us. He must have also poisoned the king so that he wouldn't be able to stop him. This is all his plan—"

"That doesn't make any sen—"

With fear in her eyes, she shook her head and continued to ramble on. "He has been lying to us! His curse had been broken a long time ago. I sensed it. I suspected it. Do you think some mere arrows and wolfsbane are enough to keep him sleeping for days? Remember how he punished Beth the last time? He must have been waiting for an opportunity to kill her and now he is trying to put the blame on us!"

"COME TO YOUR SENSES!" He yelled at her and withdrew his hand from her grip harshly.

"Do you think it makes sense that he would hurt Tyra or stay back and watch us hurt Princess Amber like that?" He shook his head at her in disbelief.

"I don't know what to think! Harold is going to kill us all if your father doesn't wake up. He wants to kill us. He told me so," she said crazily, and Ivan shook his head in disappointment before remembering the reason he had come to find her.

"What happened to Harold?" Ivan paused and looked at his father on the bed before he whispered, "You said he was going to be like that forever."

"I told you something went wrong! I don't know what is going on. I can't even find her anymore. Do you think he found her? Maybe he reversed it and killed her?" The Queen asked uncertainly, her hands trembling as she spoke.

"If he did, don't you think he would have exposed you already?" Ivan asked with a scoff.

How dare she call him names when she was so weak? Ivan mused as he watched her.

He had never seen his mother look so scared and nervous before. She hurried to where her husband was and held the king's hand in a tight grip.

"You have to wake up as soon as possible." She cried desperately. He was the only one that could stop Harold from doing whatever he was planning to do to them.

Seeing how his mother was acting crazy, Ivan left there and decided to return to his chamber. He needed to think since it was obvious that he couldn't rely on her to be reasonable. What had he been expecting from a woman? Ivan thought as he walked away from there.

By now, the day was already getting bright. Bright enough to see two arrows being shot directly at him!

His eyes widened and he dodged the two arrows, but he wasn't so lucky with the one that left a deep cut on his upper arm.

He winced in pain and pressed his other hand on the wound, trying to make sense of what was happening. But he didn't have the time to think about this before three men dressed in all black and covering half of their faces with handkerchiefs showed up with swords and began to attack him at once.

"WHO SENT YOU? DO YOU KNOW WHERE YOU ARE? DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM?!" Ivan kept yelling as he tried to keep his eyes on the three assassins that were obviously after his life.

He wasn't prepared for this and wasn't with his sword either, so it only took one blow before he landed on the ground. His eyes shone as he saw a sword descending on him, and he immediately shut his eyes, waiting for it to strike, but after a few seconds, nothing happened.

When he opened his eyes, he saw Harold approaching from the opposite side with a smirk as dark as the black robe he was wearing. He had his hair tied in a messy bun and his arms were behind him as he approached Ivan, while the three men who had attacked Ivan bowed to Harold before fleeing.

Harold kept his gaze on Ivan as he got closer.

"I'm disappointed that you were caught off guard. Father always taught us to be prepared," Harold said calmly as he stood before him and looked down at him, not bothering to crouch down to his eye level. So Ivan could only swallow his humiliation and look up at him.

"The next time..." Harold paused.

"You will not be so lucky." He concluded with an evil smile before he walked past Ivan.

Ivan's hands fisted beside him on the ground. He ignored the blood and pain from the cut on his arm because the anger and hatred he felt at that moment were far stronger than the pain.

He rose and dusted off his clothes angrily as he watched Harold walk away. As angry as he was, he felt even more frustrated at the moment because he had no idea where to start in dealing with Harold.