The Cursed Prince's Strange Bride

"What happened on the morning of the Banquet?" She asked curiously when she recalled that Paulina had left her that evening after she found out that she wasn't Princess Amber.

"On the morning of the banquet?" Paulina paused to ask in confusion, wondering why she was asking her that.

"Yes. Was it that morning we were brought here? Do you remember seeing me that morning? This wasn't what I was wearing on the night before the banquet," Alicia said, and Paulina broke into a fresh bout of tears when she realized that Alicia didn't seem to remember anything.

"Can you just stop crying and tell me what happened? I need to figure out what happened to know how to save us," she snapped at her impatiently, and almost as suddenly as she had started crying, Paulina stopped.

"That wasn't the day we were brought here. It was the next morning. On the morning of the banquet, everything was normal. You went to breakfast as usual and did everything normally," Paulina said, and Alicia's brows pulled together thoughtfully.

"I behaved normally?" She asked, and Paulina gave her a nod.

"Yes, milady."

Alicia fell silent as she tried to think. If it was true that she had acted normally, why couldn't she remember anything that happened? It was strange. She had never experienced such a time lapse except that one time. Her entire body stiffened when it occurred to her that she had experienced something similar some time ago and there was no way to prove that it wasn't her who killed Beth since it would have still been her technically.

She wished there was a way she could speak with Harold. He was the only one who would know exactly all she had done that day.

"Why else am I being suspected?" She asked curiously. It didn't make sense that she was locked up because of the blood only and Paulina was also suffering from it because she was her maid.

"I... don't know. No one told me anything." Paulina replied weakly.

As much as Alicia was trying to act sane now, she was scared shitless.

What the hell happened?

Away from there, Luciana paced around her secluded chamber as she thought about the events of the last two days.

No matter how hard she thought about it, she couldn't believe that Princess Amber could have done something like that. And knowing how much her husband and the Queen hated Princess Amber, she wouldn't put it past them.

Some things didn't just make sense. One, it didn't make sense that it was Beth who had been killed. Beth was the queen's person, and she doubted that the queen would sacrifice Beth just to get Princess Amber. And it didn't make sense that a frail human like Princess Amber could have killed a strong werewolf like Beth either.

And then, why would Princess Amber stab Tyra? Tyra was her friend.

Thinking about it again, it sort of made sense that it was Beth who had been murdered, despite her being the queen's person.

Beth was the only person who could be killed and have Princess Amber take the fall for it since she was the only one known to have had issues with her apart from Prince Ivan. It wasn't like they could murder Prince Ivan and accuse Princess Amber of it. But then, what about Tyra? And then, Harold's issue too.

She turned to the door when it suddenly opened and her maid, who she had sent to find out what was happening at the palace, walked in carrying a tray of food, "What is the situation of things at the palace? What is going on? Has Prince Harold regained consciousness?"

"No. Prince Harold is still unconscious, and Princess Tyra too. The king's illness seems to have gotten worse, so the Queen and Prince Ivan are handling things. Beth's father and the aristocrats are putting pressure on them to sentence Princess Amber so they can return to their homes," the maid said, and Luciana's brows furrowed.

This wasn't good. If Harold and Princess Tyra were still unconscious, that would mean Princess Amber had no one on her side. She doubted that Susan could do anything either since her father was the queen's brother.

The only sentence that could be given to Princess Amber for hurting a princess to the point of consciousness and taking the life of someone from the palace who also happened to be a werewolf and also someone that the royal family honoured, would be death. Especially if it was the queen and Ivan who would be in charge.

"Do you know if Princess Amber has regained consciousness yet?" Luciana asked, and the maid shook her head.

Luciana sighed when she remembered all the times Princess Amber had stepped in to help her. Her conscience would never permit her to turn a blind eye to this and let the Queen and Prince Ivan win.

She needed to see Princess Amber. If Princess Amber was awake, then she would be able to tell her what had happened, and maybe then she could find a way to help her.

With that thought in mind, Luciana headed for the door and planned to sneak out, but before she could leave, Ivan opened the door and walked in. Immediately, the maid excused them.

Seeing him, her countenance changed and she eyed him with displeasure. "What do you want here?"

"I came to see you," Ivan said, ignoring her cold tone. He could excuse that.

"Are you not going to offer me a seat?" Ivan asked when Luciana said nothing and just stared at him.

Ivan sighed when she still said nothing to him and took a step towards her, "Things don't have to be this way between us. I would forgive you if you seek my forgiveness and promise not to go against me again," Ivan offered sweetly, and Luciana scoffed.

"I'd rather spend the rest of my life here than stay next to a person like you," Luciana said with disgust, causing an ugly frown to form on his face.

"Go back to your new bride and don't come back here," Luciana said, and Ivan's face contorted with anger.

"You allowed Harold's wife influence you, and now see how you both ended up." He said spitefully and went to sit on her humble bed, crossing his hands.

"Aren't you regretting it now that things are going smoothly for me?"