The Cursed Prince's Strange Bride

For the last couple of days, Alicia had no idea what was wrong with her, but she knew something was wrong somewhere.

She had a series of dreams, but she wasn't sure which one was real and which was just a figment of her imagination. She wasn't even sure whether some of the things she had dreamt about Amber were real or not.

When she woke up earlier, she had also thought it was another dream, especially because of how everywhere had been so quiet.

She had also doubted that it was real due to the fact that she was lying on a bed inside the palace and not on the cold floor in the dungeon.

How was it possible that she was in the same place where they had tried to kill her? The thought of it made her anxious and it became difficult for her to breathe.

Even though her head was hurting, it was a lot better than before. She slowly sat up on the bed and looked around the room, and her heart skipped a beat when she recognized her environment.

This was Harold's chamber. What was she doing here? Was Harold awake? Where was he? Why was the whole place quiet? She forced herself to endure the pain and got down from the bed, and as soon as her feet touched the ground, she winced in pain from the burn under her feet and also touched her temple when a memory flashed.

The silence in the palace right now reminded her of that night. Once again, she remembered how she had woken up in the middle of that night of the banquet and was looking around for water, but unfortunately, she couldn't remember past that.

Her entire body shook, and she tried to bear the pain and took a step towards the window to see what was happening outside since she could hear distant voices.

Standing by the window, her heart skipped a beat when she saw Harold. Even though she was still in the palace, which she had come to hate. Harold was there. He was alive, and he was there.

Harold's heart skipped a beat once his gaze settled on Alicia, and relief flooded through him. Before Alvin could stop him or advise him to go around the palace the same way he had come, Harold effortlessly climbed up the wall and entered the room through the window.

He pulled Alicia into his arms, and she held onto him tightly as she cried while Harold kissed her forehead and patted her back while also holding her very closely as though he was scared that if he let go she would disappear.

"Thank you," she cried repeatedly.

She was not thanking him for saving her life. She was thanking him for being alive. She had been worried about him to the point where she had had different scary dreams.

Thinking about it now, she pulled away from him and looked at him through her tear-stained lashes, "How are you now? I heard you were hurt. How is your wound?" She asked as she moved her hands around him, looking for his wounds.

Harold wanted to scold her for worrying about him when she had almost died.

He pulled her back to himself and hugged her, "I'm fine. I'm more worried about you. How are you feeling now? Why did you leave the bed?" Harold asked softly as he swept her off her feet and carried her bride-style to the bed. Instead of placing her on the bed, he sat down and made her sit on his thighs while she buried her face in his chest as she continued to cry from relief.

She had thought her biggest fear was dying, but at that last minute she had realized that her greatest fear was no longer seeing Harold, and life wouldn't make sense without him. She was glad that Harold was alive and well.

"Do you hurt anywhere?" He asked dotingly as he adjusted her on his thighs so he could check the soles of her feet.

"Why did you leave the bed?" He asked, but Alicia wasn't saying anything. She just kept crying as she held on to him tightly.

"You need to eat something. There are enough meals here for you to choose from," Harold continued to speak before she could say a word.

Alicia hadn't taken note of the food until then. But even though her stomach was totally empty, eating was the last thing on her mind.

"Do you want water first? There's also some porridge for you--"

Alicia pulled away from him when she remembered that she was yet to see Paulina.

"Paulina. What about Paulina?" Alicia asked fearfully, hoping that Harold hadn't come too late and she was dead.

"She is fine. She is in your chamber being treated too," Harold assured her softly.

"What happened? Have they found the person responsible for everyone?" She asked, and Harold pulled her close until he could tell it was causing her discomfort, so he released his hold a little.

"Don't worry about that right now. You need to eat and regain your strength. We can talk about anything else," Harold said, but Alicia shook her head.

"Can... we l-leave?" She asked in a tight voice as she raised her teary eyes to look at him.

"What?" He asked in confusion.

"The palace. Can we leave? I... I can't breathe here. I can't..." she choked on the rest of her words and began to find it difficult to breathe again, making Harold look at her in alarm.

"Alright. We can step out of the palace for a while if that is what you want. I will get everything ready," Harold said as he gently placed her on the bed and tried to stand up, but she wrapped her arms around him tightly and shook her head, "Don't leave me."

She wasn't sure if this was a dream or reality yet. If this was a dream and both she and Harold were safe once again, then she didn't want the dream to end. She didn't want to wake up from it. She didn't want to have to endure any more torture or be forced to die. She didn't want to watch Paulina die either. And most especially, she didn't want to be in this palace if Harold wasn't here.

"Poison... they... tried to make me drink it..." she said in fear as her body shook.

The incident had caused her great trauma and, hopefully, she would be able to recover from it someday.