The Cursed Prince's Strange Bride

"You said you needed to get some air outside the palace to feel better, yet you came back sick. What happened to you?" The queen asked curiously as they ate, since she wanted to know exactly what had happened.

Alicia raised her head to look at her. She still didn\'t have a clear picture of what happened to her either so she answered, "I guess I was exhausted. I don\'t remember much of what happened," Alicia said with a shake of her head, and the Queen looked at her, wondering if she was telling the truth or just saying that because, like Harold, she didn\'t want to tell them what had happened. Harold, on the other hand, wondered if she really didn\'t remember or perhaps was just saying that. He had no idea why he was so angry with her when he should be happy that she was now feeling okay and the breakfast table now seemed lively.

After eating in silence for a while, Alicia turned to the king when something occurred to her and cleared her throat. "My King, I..."

​

"Who is her instructor?" The King\'s Beta asked with displeasure.

"I just assumed the role today. I took over from Beth," Luciana responded fearfully.

"Why? You want to be my instructor?" Alicia asked dryly, before returning her attention back to the King.

"Thank you, my king. For letting me leave the palace," Alicia said with a polite bow.

"Did you enjoy your stroll around the village?" The king asked curiously, and Alicia smiled at him as she bobbed her head. At least that much, she could remember even though the other parts were not making much sense.

"We went to the marketplace, and it was fun. The whole place was so lively and colorful. You should try to take a stroll out and see what I mean," Alicia said with a dazzling smile, and the King smiled back without even knowing it, making the others around the table look at him in surprise, while his beta\'s face was a mask of displeasure as he listened to Alicia.

"I\'m glad you did. I hope you\'ve recovered fully," the king said, looking at Harold and wondering why he didn\'t seem as excited about his wife\'s recovery as he had thought he would be.

"I hope so too. I\'m sorry I worried you," Alicia said before looking at Harold, who seemed to be ignoring her. Although he hardly ever talked to her while they were sharing a meal with the family, something about his silence this morning gave her the feeling that something was wrong with him.

"Why do you seem upset?" She asked in a whisper. She couldn\'t help noticing that he didn\'t look as tired as he usually looked before now. He looked healthy, well-rested and pissed.

Harold ignored her as he continued to pick his food while he waited for the king to leave so that he could also leave.

"Is it me? Did I do something wrong? Or are you just upset because I woke up?" She asked in a curious whisper, since he might have had been coming to her bedroom every day to check on her just to see if she was dead yet.

Harold turned to her with a glare in his eyes, and a muscle twitched in his jaw before he looked away from her again. Why would she utter or even think of something as stupid as that? What did he stand to benefit from her death? He knew that everyone around the table had likely heard what she said since they all had very good hearing. He glanced around the table, but they were all pretending to be focusing on their food.

Perhaps it was better this way. They could all assume that he didn\'t care about her. That way, they wouldn\'t think about using her against him.

On the other hand, Williams couldn\'t help the confusion he was feeling. Why was Harold giving both his bride and everyone else the impression that he didn\'t care about her? From the way Alvin had threatened him and stuck with him all the while he was preparing the medicine, he knew without a doubt that they cared about Princess Amber. If Beth wasn\'t the perfect example of that, what else then?

After eating, the king stood up to leave, and both his Beta and the queen did the same as they all walked out together. Immediately after they left, Harold stood up to leave too, but Alicia quickly grabbed his hand, "What is wrong?" She asked, ignoring the others around the table.

"Nothing," Harold said as he removed his hand from hers and walked away, but Alicia quickly dropped her cutlery and followed him out, even though she wasn\'t filled yet.

Actually, she would have at least finished her meal, but she had a tasteless porridge while the others ate lavishly.

She could tell that Harold was acting up, more like he was throwing a tantrum, and since she was the closest person to him aside from Alvin, she had to know what was eating him up.

"Harold!" Alicia called as she caught up with him.

"What is wrong?" She asked, but he kept walking.

How was he supposed to tell her that he had been very worried about her, especially when he walked into her chamber and didn\'t find her on the bed, and had made a fool of himself at the physician\'s quarters only to find out that she had woken up and the first place she had decided to visit was the servants\' quarters? He was even more angry because he didn\'t know why he was angry about that.

Seeing as he was in no mood to talk to her, Alicia let him walk away and decided to go find Alvin. She knew that he would at least have an idea of what was wrong with Harold. She would just complete her conversation with Paulina sometime later since it seemed like she wasn\'t leaving this place anytime soon.

Until she had a new plan, obviously.

She went around looking for Alvin all over the palace, and asked every guard or maid she met along the way if they had seen him but they all kept shaking their heads while running away from her.

"My lady," Alvin called, appearing behind her and startling her.

"I heard you were asking for me," he said, glad to see that she was okay.

Alicia smiled back at him. "Yes, I was. How have you been?" Alicia asked as she started walking, expecting him to follow her, and he did.

Like a child, his face lit up. He could not remember the last time anyone asked him that.

"I\'m fine. I\'m glad you are fine now," he said as he walked a step behind her, not wanting to walk side by side with her.

"Thank you. Why do I feel like your friend isn\'t glad that I\'m fine?" Alicia asked, making Alvin\'s brow pull together.

"Prince Harold? Uhm... I think he is glad that you are fine. Why do you think so?"

"It doesn\'t seem so. Did something happen to upset him this morning?" Alicia asked curiously as she looked at Alvin.

Alvin didn\'t know how much Prince Harold would want him to tell his bride about him, so he just stood there for some time. It was true that Prince Harold was in a foul mood, but that was only after he discovered that she was missing from her bed, and even more so when he heard that she was at the servants\' quarters.

"Tell me what happened," Alicia said, convinced by his silence that he knew what was wrong.

From all Alvin had witnessed thus far, it was obvious that Harold cared a lot about her, and he believed it would be safe to let her know so that she wouldn\'t mess with his emotions since he suspected that she cared about him too. She had, after all, chosen not to leave them behind that day and had returned to join them in fighting against those men.

"Do you... care about Prince Harold?" Alvin asked politely, knowing that, unlike most members of the royal family, she wasn\'t going to interpret his question as an insult.

"If I didn\'t, would I be here asking you these questions?" Alicia asked impatiently.

"I don\'t think he would want me to tell you this, but... he cares about you," Alvin said, and Alicia rolled her eyes.

"Of course, I know that. What I\'m asking is why he is upset right now," she cut in impatiently.

Alvin scratched his head, wondering why she was making everything seem vague.

"We went to visit you this morning and he became worried when he didn\'t see you on the bed. He thought you had been moved..."

Alicia\'s eyes widened slightly as the realization struck her. "What did he do?"

"He went to the royal physician and made a scene asking for your whereabouts before I informed him that you were awake and had gone to the servants\' quarters," Alvin explained.

Guilt tugged at Alicia\'s heart as she thought about how worried he must have been to have confronted the royal physician. He was probably angry with himself for being concerned about her and revealing so much emotion.

"You were with us on our way back from the marketplace, right? Did something happen?" Alicia asked, changing the subject, and Alvin looked at her doubtfully, wondering if she had forgotten about the attack.

How could she have forgotten about it when he was yet to forget just how well she had fought beside them that day? And how cool she was.

"..."

"Nothing happened," Harold responded from behind them, and they both turned to see him glaring at Alvin.