The Cursed Prince's Strange Bride

Ignorant of what was going on with Alicia and Paulina at that moment, Susan paced around her chamber as she tried to come up with what to do next. Now that they had ruled out Lance, and Alvin was out in search of the missing maid, she didn't know what else she could do.

After some time, she paused when she remembered that she had yet to inform Harvey and Luciana about their discussion with Lance, so she walked over to the dressing table in her chamber and sat on the stool as she composed a note asking Luciana to meet with her. She was going to go find Harvey after sending the message to Luciana.

She raised her head when her door was suddenly pushed open, and quickly threw the note under the table and stood up as her mother walked into the room.

Her mother had a suspicious look on her face as she looked at Susan, "What are you doing?" She asked as her eyes moved around the chamber as though she was searching for something.

"What am I doing?" Susan repeated before shaking her head, "Nothing." Susan tried to assure her mother despite the guilt that was displayed on her face.

Her mother, who obviously did not believe her, moved around the chamber. "Where are your bags?" She asked, and Susan stared at her without saying a word.

"Why are you not packing up your bags as I asked you to?"

"Em... I..." Susan stuttered as she shifted from one foot to the other, not knowing what excuse to give her mother, especially seeing how the older woman was looking at her suspiciously.

Susan's mother looked at her for a while and noticed how she was holding the edge of her dress tightly, and then her gaze shifted to the white paper which was visible under the table.

To Susan's surprise, her mother approached her quickly and bent down to pick up the note that she had been in the middle of writing. Before Susan could react, her mother began to read it.

When her mother read the note, she turned to look at Susan with a frown on her face. "What is this? Who were you writing to?"

"NO ONE!" Susan yelled defensively. "I... was just writing."

Just then, there was a knock on the door, and Williams entered. He didn't look surprised to find his mother inside the chamber since he had heard her voice.

He could sense the tension that hung in the atmosphere of the chamber as he gave Susan, who was obviously panicking, a questioning look.

"You couldn't have been writing this to 'no one'. Tell me who you are writing this to right now!" Her mother demanded harshly as she waved the note in front of Susan.

"What is it?" Williams asked as he drew closer to them. He took the note from his mother and read it.

"What has your sister been up to? I asked her to pack up and asked you to do the same, but instead of doing as she was told, she was here writing a secret note!" She turned her attention back to Susan.

"Tell me what you have been up to before I report this to your father!" She threatened, and Susan panicked more.

She knew that if this got to her father, he was going to do his best to get the truth out of her, and then everything was going to be worse.

Williams took a deep breath before looking at Susan with apologetic eyes. When Susan saw that look, she gave him a warning glare that did not escape their mother's keen eyes.

"Tell me the truth, Williams. What is she hiding?"

"Mother..."

"Williams!" Susan called his name loudly when he began to speak.

"Keep your mouth shut!" Her mother snapped at her.

"I didn't want to tell you this, mother. I know you may be disappointed but you and father have always taught us to be brave and follow our hearts!"

"Williams! What are you doing!?"

"You cannot hide this any longer!" Williams yelled at her. "Do you think you'll be able to do anything if you keep hiding it from them?"

"Mother... I..."

"She was writing a note to Harvey," William said immediately, cutting Susan off.

Susan, who was ready to yell at him, swallowed her words immediately and looked at him with a slight frown. What was he talking about?

"Harvey?" Their mother asked in confusion, and Williams gave her a nod.

"Yes, mother. They fancy each other greatly." Williams said sadly, and their mother looked at Susan with surprise.

Susan was only confused for a minute before she realized what Williams was doing. The note she had written simply read, "IT'S AN EMERGENCY. LET US MEET AT..." That was where the note had stopped before her mother came in.

So that note could have been sent to anyone for any reason. Why hadn't she thought of that? Susan thought in relief that perhaps Williams was too smart for his own good.

"And I think It is unfair that you are asking us to leave now that she has found someone who she wants to be with," Williams said to his mother, who still looked surprised.

The older woman turned to look at Susan again as if to confirm what Williams was saying, and to Williams' surprise, Susan burst into tears.

"It's so... unfair, mother. It's... so difficult to find someone who fancies me and whom I fancy too. Yet you want to pull me away from here without considering my feelings. How... do we get to learn about each other?" Susan began to cry loudly, and her mother looked at her with something akin to guilt as she went to embrace Susan.

"I had no idea. I thought you didn't like him that way," she said with tears in her own eyes as she patted her daughter's back lovingly while Susan smirked at Williams, who was rolling his eyes at the dramatic scene.

"You know how difficult it is to find someone who you fancy and who also fancies you too. Do not... take me away from here." She said in between sobs.

"Do not cry, my dear. If that is what you want, you can stay. I'm confident that both Harvey and your brother are going to be here to look after you. Stop crying now," her mother said as she patted her back to calm her.

"I guess there is no reason for us to leave immediately. I will unpack my bags at once. Now stop crying," their mother said as she pulled back from Susan and brushed her tears away before heading for the door.

Immediately she left, Susan let out a sigh of relief as she smiled at Williams, "That was really smart of you. For a moment there, I thought you were going to tell her the truth," Susan said, and Williams shrugged.

"You realize that now she is going to make sure you get married to Harvey, right?" Williams asked, and Susan waved it off dismissively.

"What is important right now is that we are not leaving anytime soon. When the time for that comes, we can always find an excuse to not get married," Susan said before looking at him curiously.

"Tell me you found something in the library?" She asked hopefully.

"Not yet. You should know that it is not as easy as you think. I have to read so many books on potions. I was becoming exhausted, so I came to find out how your discussion with Alvin went," Williams said, and Susan frowned at him, displeased that he wasn't doing what he was supposed to do.

"You don't have the time to be exhausted right now. Alvin has gone in search of the missing maid. Now go back and find out whatever you can about the biscuit," Susan instructed as she returned to her dressing table to finish writing the letter, and Williams sighed as he headed for the door.

"If you come across Harvey, find out what is happening with Princess Amber and also tell him about our meeting with Lance. After this letter has been delivered to Princess Luciana, I will head to Princess Tyra's chamber," Susan said, and Williams gave her a nod before walking away.

********

Seeing the state of things following Paulina's sudden confession, Harvey quickly excused himself from his father and hurried away from there in search of Susan and Williams.

He needed to find out how their interrogation had gone and to let them know what was happening so they could expose Lance immediately before Paulina was beheaded.

As he hurried down the passageway to Susan's chamber, he stopped when he saw Williams heading to the library, "Williams!" He called in an urgent tone, and Williams turned to him.

"Have you interrogated Lance? Is he guilty?" He asked, but Williams continued to eye him with suspicion.

Seeing as Lance wasn't guilty, he had no reason to trust Harvey. For all he knew, Harvey could be responsible for it as well. Why else would he offer to help them when he wasn't even friends with Princess Amber?

"What is going on? Are they done with the assembly?" He asked, ignoring Harvey's question, and Harvey frowned.

"Princess Amber's maid confessed she was behind it and she is about to be beheaded," Harvey said, and Williams' eyes widened in disbelief.

"Paulina?" He asked, and before Harvey could respond, he ran away from there to go see things for himself, leaving an angry and frustrated Harvey behind.