The Cursed Prince's Strange Bride

After Ivan and Harold welcomed the rest of the guests, they both went their separate ways. Harold had sent Alvin on an errand earlier, so he went in search of him while Ivan returned to bond with his new potential bride.

​ Earlier when they were going for breakfast, the two had something to prove, so they had acted friendly to each other. Ivan wanted to hurt Luciana and show Harold how much power he had accumulated, while Benedicta was trying to prove to Harold how much he was missing from rejecting her. At this point, she didn't care about anything. She was going to marry Ivan, and with her family's influence, she was going to make sure Ivan became king and her queen.

Now that they both had no one to prove anything to, they both walked in silence while Ivan continued to sigh, which irritated Benedicta so much.

He suddenly stopped and faced her. "You should return to your chamber and rest. This is your first time attending the banquet. It would be too hard on you." He tried to sound polite, but it was obvious he was getting rid of her.

He turned to leave, but she began to speak, "If you are going to marry me, you have to stop thinking about other useless things."

He turned to face her, "Shouldn't this be more important?"

"You don't have any right to tell me what to do." He said, his face rigid.

She snorted. "So you want to miss this opportunity because of Luciana? Someone who disrespected you?"

Before she knew it, he was in front of her. His hand almost went to grab her throat, but he tried to control his hand in mid-air as his wicked glare was fixed on her face.

"If you ever talk about her so disrespectfully again..."

Benedicta swallowed in fear but kept her composure and cocked her head up. "What are you going to do? Can you hurt me?" She asked, snorting again. "You know you can't. Do not forget the power my father holds here. As long as you are not the king yet, you can't do anything to me."

"Really?" He asked quietly.

As soon as she nodded, he grabbed her ear and pulled it, making her wail in pain as she tried to remove his hand.

That was the sight Harold walked up to. He wouldn't lie and say he was not startled. His steps faltered as he looked at the two. He tried to hide his amusement as he walked past them, but he failed. The two finally took notice of him, and Ivan parted from her immediately, but Harold was already gone.

Benedicta's face burned from anger and embarrassment, and she was just about to yell at Ivan but found him walking away in the opposite direction to the one Harold had taken, leaving her in the middle.

"Did you find anything?" Harold asked Alvin when he met with him.

Alvin shook his head. "I didn't find anyone that looked like her. She hasn't been acting strange either. She has only been working in the kitchen." Alvin explained.

Harold nodded. "Let us wait until after the banquet. I'll have to interrogate her myself."

"Wouldn't it be better to keep observing her to know who we are dealing with? If they knew we were already onto them, they would have to bring in new ones and it would be difficult to know who a spy was within the palace." Alvin explained reasonably.

"So what do you suggest?" Harold asked Alvin calmly. He wasn't usually the type to take advice, but now he needed to always act rationally for a certain someone's sake.

"I suggest we keep observing. Maybe there is a big plan ahead. I'll keep watching her."

"Fine. Also keep an eye on Damon and the Queen. I need to know what they're up to," Harold said, and Alvin bowed before leaving.

Meanwhile, Alicia was quietly in her room when she heard a knock on the door.

When she opened it, she found a kitchen staff standing outside and immediately recognized the girl as the one who had accidentally spilled pig's blood on her. The girl she thought looked familiar.

She held a tray in her hand with a plate on top that was covered.

"I... brought you this." The girl said timidly.

"To apologize for the other time and to thank you for not punishing me for it."

"Oh... you didn't have to," Alicia said calmly but took the tray from her.

The girl bowed politely and flashed a smile at her. "I wanted to."

Not in the mood to go back and forth, Alicia smiled at her and asked politely, "I hope you didn't get in trouble because of what happened?"

"No, my lady. Thank you." The girl said timidly and bowed again before leaving.

While Alicia was smiling to herself about how well these people were treating her, Harold continued around the palace in search of Harvey, and just when he was about to give up the search, Alvin saw him and informed him that Harvey was at the archery range, and they both headed there to find him.

To Harold's relief, Harvey was alone, so he didn't have to worry about anyone listening in on their conversation.

Harvey, who had been about to release an arrow from his bow, paused and turned in Harold's direction when he heard the approaching footsteps.

Something told Harvey that Harold was there to speak with him, but he couldn't figure out what else Harold would want to talk to him about, considering he had said everything he needed to say to him the previous day.

He acknowledged Harold's presence with a bow and then returned his attention to the target in front of him as he patiently waited for Harold to say what he had come for.

Alvin handed Harold his bow and arrow to join Harvey, so it wouldn't seem suspicious to anyone watching that Harold had been seen with Harvey the previous day and here he was talking with him again.

Neither of them said a word to each other for some time, as each focused on hitting their target several times, while Harold thought about the best way to ask Harvey to speak to Alicia.