The Cursed Prince's Strange Bride

The next morning, the palace was in a state of chaos. Everybody was left confused, as what was happening had never happened before. In fact, this was more serious than Beth's murder. It was more serious than the queen being a suspect and even more serious than the fact that they were all stuck in the palace, not allowed to go home.

And what exactly was happening?

It was simple, or maybe not so simple.

Prince Harold was in the kitchen.

And no, he wasn't monitoring the kitchen maids like a hawk this time. He was there to cook for his wife himself.

"Why are you just standing there?" His 'instructor' scolded, her voice stern. "I thought you wanted to learn how to cook?"

The instructor was none other than Lady Victoria.

Of course, she had been the most shocked when he suddenly showed up in her chamber the previous night after they parted ways. Her entire family had been surprised by his presence, especially her husband, who had no idea what she had been up to with him. When Harold had mentioned he wanted to speak with her privately, that sent bells ringing in Sir Evan's ears. He was wary and didn't want to agree to it, but his wife was able to assure him that it was okay and stepped out with him to hear what Harold had to say. And he had simply said in his usual authoritative tone, "Before dawn tomorrow. Join me to make breakfast for Princess." And with that, he disappeared, leaving the confused woman behind.

Her family had been more confused than she was when she dazedly told them what he had said. But when she fully considered it, she was happy that he considered her the best person to ask for something like that. This had also made her husband very suspicious, as he wondered when these sudden close ties between them started.

Back to now, hadn't Harold said she should "join him"? However, he just stood there with his hands folded across his chest, watching her do everything, much to the older woman's annoyance.

"But I'm not very good at it," Harold admitted to her, even though he hated admitting that there was something he actually could not do. But no one would blame him. In fact, everyone was wondering if he had gone crazy because he was not only a MAN but also a PRINCE. And dirtying his hands with kitchen items was very demeaning.

"I wasn't expecting you to know how. But you are not even trying and are just watching me. You need to get your hands dirty if you want to learn anything!" She spoke harshly.

Harold glared at her, feeling annoyed that she was yelling at him. No one had ever dared to raise their voice at him before except his rude wife, but he could manage her and not anyone else.

"Don't be rude to me. I will get angry." He said, eyeing her.

"You think I am not angry?!" She retorted by stabbing the knife she was holding on the chopping board, taking him aback as he looked at her as though she had gone crazy.

Seriously... was this woman mentally okay? She was yelling and glaring at him!

"Who put me in this position?" He asked her, trying to cover his annoyance at being yelled at, but he could not hide it.

"HOW WOULD I KNOW THAT?!"

"IT WAS YOU!" He raised his voice back at her.

By this time, those who had been daring to eavesdrop outside the kitchen were confused by what was going on inside the kitchen. Was Lady Victoria and Prince Harold... quarrelling?

"Me?" Lady Victoria asked him in disbelief. "I was just on my own when you came to me and asked me to join you. You said "join". But you have not done anything. You think this is going to be special for your dear wife if you just let me do everything?"

"If you had not made me eat that bread last night, I wouldn't have been in this position either." He retorted.

Lady Victoria looked at him in disbelief and confusion, wondering what he was talking about. How had she caused this?

Well, she had indeed caused it.

FLASHBACK TO THE PREVIOUS NIGHT.

Alicia was in her room, going through Amber's diary. She had thought reading the words backwards was going to help her, but she realized that it wasn't exactly the case. Some words still didn't make sense, whether she read them the way they were or tried to flip the letters.

She had seen something in the diary that read

"SLLEPS SDRAWKCAB," which she was able to translate as "BACKWARDS SPELLS". She felt maybe she still didn't understand some words and sentences because they were actual spells written backwards? If so, how had Amber been able to learn about something like that when she was stuck in the mountains and only got to leave when Madam Grace was out?

She had also tried to find out more about Amber's personal feelings for Harvey but got nothing. For some reason, she was really curious about that. That wasn't all; Anne's memories were also making her very curious. Unfortunately, she knew there was no way to get more information unless she had a dream again.

This was how Harold met her when he entered her chamber. He saw her sitting on the bed, her nose buried in the diary. He walked up to her and stood beside her, peering over her shoulder to see what she was reading.

"Have you been able to understand anything else?" He asked, concerned. She had been putting too much effort into this for the past few days, and he was beginning to feel sorry for her.

She shook her head. "Not yet. But... I don't know. I just feel a certain connection whenever I am going through this." She raised the diary and looked at it closely, wondering if some of the "spells" she had been reading from it had been the reason she was able to look into the lives of Amber and Anne.

"I'm sure with your determination, you'll figure it out eventually." He assured her, patting her head gently.