The Cursed Prince's Strange Bride

Unedited.

Alicia listened with rapt attention as Paulina told her all she knew about the Princess whose body she possessed, and she tried to process all that she was hearing.

Paulina reminded her of a few things like the fact that she was only 8 years old when her mother was killed. Something about committing treason while she was sent on exile. Paulina had been a slave whose Amber's mother had saved alongside other slaves but she had been the only child among them. The trauma had been too much for the little Paulina who was only 6 years old to bear so she was easily scared and refused to stay apart from the former Queen (Amber's mother). The queen asked her to serve Amber even though they were the same age and Paulina was happy to do so in gratitude for saving her life.

Amber however hadn't been very friendly with Paulina but she didn't tell Alicia that, assuming she was still talking to princess Amber.

She usually kept to herself but slowly began to open up to the maid. It wasn't until the tragedy happened that things changed.

When Amber was exiled, Paulina followed her, not wanting to leave the little princess on her own.

"Can I fight?" Alicia asked, going straight to the point. At this point, she was already tired of the pointless narration. She wanted to know how she was able to throw that dagger flawlessly. That was definitely not her talent so it had to be Amber's.

But it was just at that time that the door opened, interrupting their conversation.

Alicia opened her mouth to snap at whoever had barged into her bedroom without knocking but snapped it shut when the Queen walked in, accompanied by Beth and some other servants who were carrying different materials.

Seeing Beth, Alicia's anger rekindled again, but because of the Queen, she tried to contain it. She still intended to get it out with Beth after now, but just not in the presence of the Queen.

"Your majesty," Alicia greeted as she quickly stood up and bowed to the queen. Paulina did the same but made sure she was standing behind Alicia.

The Queen looked from Alicia to the servant girl, and then her gaze fell on Paulina's neck, before she returned her gaze to Alicia, "I'm here to personally see to the set-up of your chamber," the Queen informed her as she gestured to the servants to step forward.

"Oh, great!" Alicia said with an excited clap even though she had no intention of staying in the chamber for much longer. This was just going to be a good way for her to pass time until dinner time when she would set her plan in motion.

"What are the things you wish to have in your chamber?" The Queen asked, wanting to have a fair idea of Alicia's personality and the kind of things she liked.

Alicia paused to think about the two bedrooms in her penthouse apartment. There was no way the people here could meet her standard, "I want a full-length mirror on this side of the room," Alicia said pointing to the left side of her bedroom, "And a floral curtain... Perfecto! This will do," Alicia said as she walked over to the maids who were holding different materials and pulled out a floral drape.

Beth whose disapproval was obvious opened her mouth to object, but the Queen raised a hand to silence her as she followed Alicia with her eyes.

She watched as Alicia pranced around the chamber confidently, throwing orders at the servants as though she was the boss here. Perhaps Beth was right. There was more to the human than meet the eyes? She would need to keep an extra eye on this princess. The last thing she wanted was for the princess to ruin all the plans she had already made.

"I trust you have paintings or artworks which can be hung on the wall?" Alicia asked after she had exhausted every idea in her head.

The Queen walked to stand in front of her and placed her hand on Alicia's shoulder with a friendly smile on her face.

"You will get whatever you want. You are prince Harold's bride and that makes you my family. I will take good care of you. Trust me." the Queen assured her before turning to Beth, "Make sure everything is done as she has requested," The queen said and then turned around to leave.

She hesitated when she got to the door and turned back to look at Alicia, "Your girl can serve you," she informed Alicia, who immediately bowed in gratitude, and Paulina followed suit.

"Thank you, your majesty," Alicia greeted happily, before flashing Beth a triumphant look.

Who is the winner now? Alicia desperately wanted to gloat. The queen seemed nice to her. Even if there was some kind of suspicious air around her, she was the other reasonable person here aside from Tyra and the King.

"Get the girl some decent clothes and show her where she will be staying within the palace walls. And let me know when they are done setting up the chamber," the Queen instructed Beth before walking away.

Once the queen left with her maid, Alicia walked over to where Beth was standing and raised a brow, "Did you do that to her?" She asked, pointing to Paulina's neck.

Beth looked at both Alicia and Paulina with disinterest before turning to look at another maid who was standing close to her, "Go and get the maid some clothes," she ordered, and the maid hurried away.

"I asked you a question," Alicia repeated, trying not to lose her temper.

"And what if I did? What are you going to do about it?" Beth asked with a smirk, and without thinking about it Alicia raised her hand and delivered a slap to the right side of her cheek.

Beth's eyes stung from the effect of the slap, but more than that she was stunned, as were the other servants who looked at Alicia in disbelief.

"I warned you, Beth. I'm not the kind of enemy you want to have. You heard the Queen. Paulina will serve me now, so I'll advise you don't lay your filthy hands on her ever again. If you do, I won't be held responsible for anything I do to you," Alicia warned before turning to look at Paulina who was looking down fearfully.

"Come with me." She said, referring to Paulina as she head towards the door. They had an important conversation they needed to complete.

"And you," she said, pointing at Beth. "Make this place to my liking. Unless you want to redo everything all over again."

She didn't wait to see Beth's reaction because she was already out of the room with Paulina following behind her, feeling uncomfortable and scared. Princess Amber usually didn't behave like this. Maybe this was truly another body in her? She shook the thought out of her head. That was not possible. She didn't even believe in witches so how could she believe in something like that? She concluded something else must have happened when she fell into that river.

Beth gritted her teeth, and her hands balled into a fist as she looked at Alicia. She was going to make this stupid human pay for humiliating her this way. She was not going to let her come into her life and this kingdom and ruin everything. Harold belonged to her. And one day, they were all going to realize that. And when that day comes, she will make sure to rip this filthy thing into pieces. For now, she had to endure this.

Alicia found a safe spot where she believed she would have a peaceful conversation with Paulina without interruption. Although she kept having the nagging feeling to go check on Harold and see how he was faring, she decided to shake it off. It didn't seem like he was going to die. Besides, this was the era where men went to war. He must have gotten used to getting stabbed by now, right?

'But it had been deep.' A voice I her head reminded her. She became worried since she wasn't sure what fate awaited her now. She couldn't care less about the prince. He deserved it for the way he had treated her and Paulina.

Meanwhile, in his room, Harold stood in front of the mirror where he looked at his bare upper body.

Even though he had fought in countless of wars, he had only a few scars on his body and most of them were from the times he played around as a child. The other severe scars had been from hunters' silvers or wolfsbane. None had been done by a mere human before. More so a girl. His lips formed into an eerie smile as he looked at the stab wound. He had completely let down his guard in front of her, thinking she was all talk and no action. Who would have thought?

"I got you the ointment." Alvin said, offering a small pouch to him with worry creasing his brows.

"The queen visited princess Amber." Alvin said and gave him a run down of what had happened, including the slap. Even Alvin could not help but wince a little when he remembered how she had slapped Beth. This was Beth of all people. Even he was cautious around her. What more? She had also stabbed prince Harold. He made a mental note to be extra wary of her.