The Cursed Prince's Strange Bride

Immediately after the king and Harold left, Prince Ivan, who was still very angry, stood up and left along with the Queen, since he didn't want to spend a minute more in Alicia's presence. The lady was very annoying and didn't know her place.

"Do not take whatever she said to heart," the queen admonished, but Ivan wasn't in the mood to be lectured to either, so he bowed to her before walking in the opposite direction from her.

Seeing how Princess Amber had so actively defended the course, he had a feeling that she was probably the culprit. He would like to prove that she was the one. Maybe when she gets into trouble and is punished by the court, Harold won't look so nonchalant anymore or wear that stupid smirk on his face.

Another thing that annoyed him, apart from Alicia's mannerlessness, was how the King seemed to be so taken with Alicia. Allowing her to air her opinions so carelessly and even explaining things to her wasn't the way of a king. Or was it because she was human? Was that the reason the king seemed to favour her? And why was he always wanting to discuss with Harold lately? What were they always talking about?

Ivan turned around when he caught a whiff of his wife's scent, and he turned to see her coming up behind him.

"Are you okay?" Luciana asked, guessing that he had left because he was upset. Although, as preposterous as the whole idea of women wearing male clothing sounded, she had to admit that Alicia had a point. Sometimes it was tiring to dress like a lady with all those unnecessary corsets and everything. She wished she didn't have to wear them every day and could just relax.

"I don't like her. You can't be friends with her. She is going to be a bad influence," Ivan told his wife bluntly.

"But our plan..."

"Don't worry about that plan. We will find another way," Ivan said, thinking about Williams, who was going to also be of help to them.

"I'm her instructor..."

"Instruct her and leave. I'm sure you don't need to be friends to instruct her."

Seeing how her husband's dislike for Princess Amber had grown, Luciana wasn't sure that it would be a good idea to ask him for permission to go out of the palace with her anymore. Still, since it was important to her, she decided to give it a try and let it go if he said no.

"She wanted me to go see the marketplace with her," Luciana said conversationally as they walked down the hallway.

Ivan paused and turned to look at his wife with an unreadable expression. "And what did you tell her?"

"I told her that it wouldn't be possible," Luciana quickly told him and explained the details to him.

"Good thing you already told her so. Your life is perfect as it is. Do not let her influence you, okay?"

Luciana's shoulders drooped sadly, but she kept a smile on her face as she nodded and answered, "Yes, My lord."

Away from there, in the dining room, where Alicia was still seated with Tyra, Susan, and Williams eating, Susan looked at her suspiciously. "Were you the lady wearing male clothing?" She asked in a whisper.

"Susan!" Tyra and Williams scolded her, but she ignored them as she focused on Alicia. She had taken note of the look which Alicia exchanged with Harold when the king raised the subject, and Princess Amber was the only lady she knew who was crazy enough to do something like that in a kingdom like this. Plus, she had asked if the punishment for the crime was banishment. All of that had led her to believe that Alicia was the culprit.

"Me? Why do you think so?" Alicia asked, wondering how Susan had figured it out so easily.

Susan shrugged. "You are the only person I know who is bold enough to do that," Susan said, deliberately making it sound like a compliment, and Alicia smiled sadly at the way women were made to live here.

There was Paulina, who couldn't imagine a bright future for herself as a renowned painter, aside from being a housewife.

There was Susan, who was forced to stay here and be taught how to be a 'perfect wife'.

Luciana had been taken away from her home to be married off to someone she had never met before.

Tyra was just here, probably waiting to be married off too.

How sad was this? And the saddest thing was the fact that they didn't know how sad their lives were.

"You can't tell anyone about it," she whispered back, and Tyra's eyes widened in surprise at the admission.

"Prince Harold, let you do that?"

"I'm not sure he had a choice," Williams said with a shake of his head as Alicia bobbed her head.

"Why did you do that?" Tyra asked curiously.

"Male clothes are more comfortable than female clothes. And it makes you look cool too," Alicia said, hoping that someday soon, she would be able to confide in them about herself and where she had come from so that they wouldn't all just assume that she was just being rebellious.

As she returned to her room, she came to an abrupt stop when she noticed Harold taking the same path. She considered tiptoeing and taking the opposite direction since she wasn't sure what he was going to say when they crossed paths. It had been obvious he had not been pleased with the argument earlier, and also, it seemed he had finished speaking with the king. She didn't want to know what it was all about, but before she could turn around, he turned around and looked at her.

She stopped and flashed him the most insincere smile in the world before approaching.

"How did it go?"

"How did what go?" He asked calmly.

"Your conversation with the King."

"Why? Are you worried I told him you were the woman?" He raised a taunting brow at her.

"Which woman? I don't know what you are talking about." She denied. "Since you all care about rules and patriarchy here, why don't you guys just go ahead and punish the woman's husband since he is her 'lord'?" She said with a smile.

"That is a good point." He said with his hand behind him as he began to walk.

She frowned, wondering why he was simply agreeing with her without putting up an argument. By the time she was back to her senses, he was far away from her, so she ran after him.

"Why aren't you arguing with me?" She asked curiously.

He stopped walking and turned to look at her. She thought he was going to warn her again as usual, but instead, he asked, "Do you know how to cook?"

That was the last question she had expected from him, so she was a little confused.

"Uhm... why?"

"You don't really like the dishes here. I've noticed."

She looked at him warily. Was he being serious now or was this a plan of some sort?

"Well... do I have a choice?" She asked curiously.

"If you can cook, you can try and see if you can make something you can eat. Or you could explain to the chef how you'd like it."

"Really?" She asked, her eyes lighting up, "I can do that? Can I really be allowed inside the kitchen?"

He snorted. "You sound like the type who obeys rules." He said before he resumed walking ahead. She tried to keep up with his pace as she asked,

"Can I go there tomorrow?"

"Do whatever you like. I don't care." He said nonchalantly as he kept moving.

"Then will you come with me?" She asked, making him stop and look at her like she was crazy.

He almost laughed at what she had just said. If his wolf was available right now, he would have screamed out and cursed at her.

Not only was she making him seem like a joke to everyone, but she also wanted him, Harold, to join her in the kitchen and watch her cook?

Kitchen!

He didn't even know the location of the kitchen in the palace. Not only was he a man, he was a prince. It was unheard of that a man was in the kitchen with a woman.

"What is wrong? Do you think I am going to make you wash a lot of vegetables or something?"

Harold wanted to tell her he wasn't bothering to imagine something as stupid as that because it was impossible. At least she was smart enough to know she wasn't even supposed to raise it. However, Alicia spoke.

"You don't have to worry too much. You can just help me chop them. You should be good with knives, since you're a warrior, right?" She asked with an innocent smile, already imagining having nice fried rice to eat, completely oblivious to the aura radiating all around Harold.

She wants him... to chop vegetables? In the kitchen? Not even to just watch her cook?

He began to laugh out loud in disbelief. Should he just take the pain and snap her neck?