The Cursed Prince's Strange Bride

"How do you stand Harold?" Alicia asked, startling both the Queen and Luciana, who hadn't expected such a question from her.

"What?" The queen asked, wondering why Alicia was asking her that.

Alicia almost smirked, seeing the surprise and confusion on the queen's face. So what? She knew how to ask uncomfortable questions, but she didn't like to be at the receiving end of such questions?

"Well, I know that he is your stepson, and I'm sure he is not easy to live with, especially with his attitude. How are you able to live with him? Considering the rumours?" She asked, dropping her voice to a whisper.

The queen glanced at Luciana, who quickly bowed her head, scared that Princess Amber was going to put them both in trouble by saying things she wasn't supposed to say.

"What rumours?" The queen asked with a stiff smile as she returned her attention to Alicia.

"I'm not sure if I should utter it," Alicia said with an awkward smile as she watched the Queen keenly. She needed to know the queen's feelings towards Harold so they could stop beating around the bush now.

"You have my permission," the queen said with a nod.

"Before marrying him I heard rumours about him being cursed because he ki--lled his brother," Alicia said the rest in a very small voice, and she noticed something flicker in the queen's eyes before she smiled at her.

Regardless of what your husband might have done, he is still my husband's son. The King's son. As the king's wife and loyal subject, I have to coexist peacefully with him," she said, and Alicia would have believed her if she hadn't heard the edge in her voice.

'How nice would it be for Harold to love her while she, on the other hand, hated him?' The queen thought to herself, smiling.

Alicia might not have been a very smart person, but she was a very good judge of character, and she was good at reading people. She could tell that the queen was only saying what she wanted her to believe.

"Oh! I'm glad then. I no longer have to worry my head about anything," Alicia said with an awkward giggle, while Luciana looked from the queen to Alicia, feeling very uncomfortable.

"What were you worried about?" The queen asked curiously.

"Well, I don't want to be caught in the middle of a war I know nothing about. I just want to live my life here as peacefully as I can," 'until I can leave', Alicia said the rest in her head. She didn't want the Queen to try to use her to go against Harold.

"You have nothing to worry about," the Queen assured her before picking up her cutleries to eat.

Maybe it was because of the awkward conversation or perhaps the Queen had somewhere else to be, but she didn't eat more than a few spoonfuls before standing up to leave. "I've enjoyed my time with you both. Let's do this again," the queen said as both princesses stood up, and then she walked away.

Immediately the Queen left, Luciana turned to leave, but Alicia quickly stopped her.

"Hey?" She called as she followed her.

Luciana looked at her, wondering what she wanted to say this time. Princess Amber made her uncomfortable, and she was beginning to doubt that she would be able to hang around her much longer.

Alicia flashed her a smile and said, "We were talking before the Queen arrived. Just in case, would you like to go outside the palace?" Alicia asked hopefully.

She had already received a lot of hate from people in her life, and she didn't want to receive any more here. If she could get Luciana to like her and be friends with her, then that would make things easier for Amber once she was back.

Luciana pondered it. She was from an aristocratic family and didn't have any reason to step out of the house even before she got married, so she was used to being indoors. The thought of going out unguarded made her feel wary. It occurred to her that maybe this was a trap set by Harold to lure her out. Were they planning against her? Perhaps they wanted to abduct her and use her against her husband?

"You don't have to give me an answer immediately. You can take your time to think about it. Since I don't know when I'll be able to go out again. But trust me, you are going to like it. It could be us five girls."

"Five girls?" Luciana asked curiously.

"Yes. Me, you, Susan, Tyra, and Paulina," Alicia said with a wide smile, excited by the prospect of walking around the marketplace with the ladies. She could even get them to wear male clothes too, and they would have so much fun. If someone like Harold could enjoy himself, then she was sure that the ladies would be filled with joy.

"I'm not sure we will be allowed to leave the palace," Luciana said with a shake of her head.

"Trust me, I can make it happen. Just tell me you want to go, and I will make it happen," Alicia promised confidently.

Knowing her, Luciana believed her. She doubted there was something that Princess Amber couldn't achieve if she put her mind to it. "What about our husbands?"

"They can stay back and do whatever men do here. It's a trip for just us girls," She shrugged.

"Um, I don't think it is possible for the ladies of the royal family to go out like that, especially without guards and our husbands," Luciana said, sounding interested. She would like to see what life was like outside these palace walls.

"As I said, trust me, and don't worry. We could go with guards, but they won't ride with us. I'm sure it will be safe..." Her words trailed off when something flashed in her mind, and she blinked rapidly. It was a memory of her and Harold riding on his horse on their way back from the marketplace, and the horse stopped abruptly, leaving her feeling tense.

Did something happen? Why couldn't she remember it?

"Are you okay?" Luciana asked when she noticed the change in Alicia.

Alicia smiled as she gave her a nod. "Yes, I'm okay. You can think about it and get back to me so that I can talk to the others," Alicia continued.

"I will talk to my husband and let you know what he says," Luciana said after a moment.

"Sure. Go ahead and do that," Alicia said happily.

Luciana smiled back at her before excusing herself, feeling different kinds of emotions all at once. She didn't have any friends here, nor had she ever had one. Although she had hoped that she and Tyra would become close after she married Ivan, Tyra didn't seem to like her much, and she didn't know why. So she didn't know how to react to Alicia's friendliness. Having someone treat her like a friend, especially when that person was someone who was on the enemy side, made her feel very confused.

After leaving the garden, Alicia went around the palace in search of Harold. She hadn't realized just how big the palace was until that moment when she was looking all over the place for Harold. If she had even seen Alvin, things would have been easier for her, but it was as if the two had vanished from the face of the earth.

She spent the rest of the afternoon searching for him before she finally saw him from a window upstairs. He was standing alone by a pavilion beside a lake, staring into the water with his hands behind him. What was he always thinking about so seriously whenever she saw him? She wondered to herself as she watched how the breeze blew his shoulder-length hair to the back.

Usually, Harold's thoughts were filled with important things, but lately, he seemed to have restructured his priorities because right now, he was beyond frustrated. He could not believe that he had spent a long time trying to think about a plan, only for the plan to be thwarted almost immediately. Now, he could only put his hope in Hellion and pray that the horse was not going to give in to her charms.

"HEY!"

He turned around immediately when he heard that familiar voice call out loudly behind him. As expected, it was her. She was sticking almost her entire body out of the large window while smiling at him.

He stared at her intensely for a while, watching her smile and wave at him while the breeze blew her hair back.

He would have said she was pretty if she wasn't such a crazy person.

With a bored expression, he waved for her to get away from the window. He feared that at the rate she was going, she was going to fall. Why did she have to be so careless? Maybe it was best to ignore her and let her fall so he could return to his peaceful life?

'As if you can.' His wolf snorted at him.

'Do I look like I care about her?' He asked, frowning. He only didn't want her to go. He didn't care.

Instead of leaving there, she continued to smile at him. She spread her arms wide, almost giving him a heart attack, and making him take two steps forward, but stopped when common sense told him she wouldn't fall in that position.

He felt his wolf roll its eyes before disappearing, but that was the least of his concern.

He could not help but wonder why Alicia was suddenly so excited. There had to be a reason for it, and now he was very curious. Most importantly, he wanted to know what the queen had discussed with her.

"I believe I can fly!" She called out in a sing-song voice, enjoying the breeze.

He watched her in amusement before saying, "I hope you also believe in falling."

"I can't hear you!" She yelled back, making him sigh in frustration. He couldn't yell like she was doing, unless he wanted everyone to finally believe that he had lost his mind.

He contemplated asking her to come over.

Was that even a good idea?