The Cursed Prince's Strange Bride

When Alicia woke up two hours later, she was surprised to find the bed empty beside her, and she immediately sat up, wondering where Harold had gone off to. The memory of him telling her something this morning flashed in her head, and she tried to remember what he had told her exactly while looking around the empty room.

Surprisingly, she had had a good sleep. The bed felt like her bed in the real world, so she had a great sleep. She looked down at herself and smiled when she figured he had kept his promise of not touching her. Maybe sleeping here wasn't so bad after all. Because whenever she slept alone in her bedroom, she didn't sleep in peace for fear of those creatures lurking outside the window. But here, she was able to let go of that fear, unconsciously trusting Harold to protect her.

"You can remain here. If you're asked where you spent the night, tell them I let you have my chamber because yours was bad. You don't know where I spent the night." His voice filled her ears, reminding her of what he had said. She frowned in confusion. There were a lot of things about him that she could not understand.

At first, he didn't want them to know she had spent the night here. Now, he didn't mind and had even asked her to tell them he was the one who hadn't slept here. Then where had he spent the night? She wondered to herself as she got up from the bed and dressed the bed until there was no single crease on it. When she was done, she went to the dressing table, where she noticed something was wrapped there. Usually, she wouldn't touch anything inside his room since snooping around wasn't usually her thing, but for some reason, she felt this was for her.

So she unwrapped the piece of cloth and confirmed it when she saw a dress neatly folded.

"He couldn't even add a note. How unromantic," she said while smiling like an idiot, but straightened herself and her face when she saw her reflection in the mirror.

She wasn't dumb, so she knew exactly what was beginning to happen. But it was something she didn't want. And she was going to fight it.

She changed into the dress, and as soon as she stepped out of the room, it seemed that was the time the maids all decided to come out to work, because several pairs of eyes looked at her in surprise when they saw her leaving his bedroom that morning.

They would have assumed she came to look for him this morning, but the nightwear she threw casually on her shoulder as she walked said otherwise.

Of course, she was no blushing virgin, so she met their gaze. She walked past them, thinking that she did not owe any of them any explanation. She headed for her chamber to prepare for the day.

Once she walked into her chamber, she saw Paulina, Luciana, Tyra, and Susan all standing there like they had been waiting for her. "Good morning. I didn't know we were having an early morning meeting. I would have woken up earlier," she said with a smile while they watched her with concern.

"Where did you spend the night?" Tyra asked, since she was the one closest enough to ask such a direct question.

"In Harold's chamber. I can't sleep here yet, and I couldn't impose on you anymore," Alicia explained easily, and the royal ladies exchanged a look. At the same time, Paulina silently rejoiced that her mistress was now getting along with her husband enough to share his chamber with him.

"You spent the night with Prince Harold?" Susan asked before either Tyra or Luciana could.

"No. He let me sleep in his chamber. I don't know where he slept," Alicia said with a smile as she stretched her body, missing the look of understanding in the eyes of the royal ladies and the disappointment in Paulina's eyes.

"Why are you all here?" She asked curiously since she could understand Paulina's and Luciana's presence but not Susan's and Tyra's.

"When I couldn't find you in here, I went to check Princess Tyra's chamber, and when she didn't know where you were, we went to Lady Susan's chamber, and then we all came here," Luciana explained, and Alicia smiled, happy that the ladies all cared about her enough to look for her.

"That's nice of you. Thank you. I will be spending the night in Harold's chamber until my chamber is fit to sleep in once again," Alicia said, and they all nodded.

"Paulina, get the maids," Luciana instructed, and Paulina hurried to get the maids that served her mistress.

"I have to return to my chamber to get ready for the day," Tyra said since she was yet to have her bath.

"Me too," Susan said, and both ladies left, leaving Alicia alone with Luciana.

"How are you feeling today?" Alicia asked once they were alone, and Luciana sighed.

"I'm fine. I have decided to take your advice and live for myself now," Luciana said, and Alicia smiled at her happily.

"That is a very wise decision. Don't worry. I'm always here if you need any form of support," Alicia assured her, and as soon as the words left her mouth, she remembered that she wouldn't always be here. Would Princess Amber care for these ladies as much as she had come to care for them?

In less than an hour, news had spread all over the entire kingdom that Princess Amber and Prince Harold were going to be having a baby soon.

"What?" The queen asked, her teacup hanging in midair, when she heard what Ivan had just said.

They were yet to go for breakfast since Ivan had gone to her chamber in search of her immediately he heard the rumors flying around.

"Let us speed up the selection process and find me a second bride," he said with a determined look on his face.

She sipped her tea slowly and gently dropped her cup on the table. "Is this because of the rumors?" She asked.

"Does it not bother you?" Ivan asked in return.

"You should know better than that. Those two didn't spend the night together. He was seen leaving the palace last night and entering the palace very early this morning. There is no way he could have spent the night with her. The curse can't be broken," she said with a smug look on her face.

"Mother," Ivan went to sit down beside her, looking extremely worried.

"Are you really sure the curse won't be broken? What if he finds his mate and the curse is lifted?" He whispered. "If Harold could let her spend the night in his chamber, doesn't it mean they are already on good terms? What if they have a child before us?"

"Fret not!" She said sternly before reaching out to hit him in the face twice.

"Do not forget that he killed my son. Your older brother. I won't let him be," She said, voice heavy with malice. "There is no way he is going to live a good life after doing that." She sat up and looked ahead.

"I think it is time to make our move. Let's get you that second bride. And when the time comes, nobody will dare to stop you. No one."

Ivan decided to trust his mother and nodded.

"What about Luciana? Is she still behaving improperly?" The queen asked with a look of disapproval.

"She is still doing her duties to me, but she isn't behaving normally," Ivan complained, silently cussing Alicia for spoiling his wife.

"Don't worry. I'm sure she will behave herself by the time you get a second wife. Go and get ready for breakfast," she ordered, and Ivan left her chamber.

Away from there, Harold stood in his chamber staring at his bed, which Alicia had straightened, and Alvin cautiously tapped on the door before walking into the chamber, "Good morning, your highness," he greeted, still standing by the door just in case Harold was still mad at him. Harold was getting mad at him too often these days, and he couldn't understand why.

"It worked," Harold said, answering the question he knew was on Alvin's mind, even though Alvin already suspected it worked.

"That is good news, right? That means the curse has been broken?" Alvin asked in a whisper, but Harold didn't say anything.

He still didn't understand what it meant. Did this mean that Alicia was his mate? Did werewolves have human mates? He had never heard of it before, so he didn't know what to think, especially since Alicia wasn't even from here.

"I don't think the curse has been broken. If it had been broken, I wouldn't need her to be in the same place as me for me not to transform," Harold said thoughtfully, and Alvin silently agreed with him.

"So maybe you need to do something more with her to break the curse completely?" Alvin guessed, and Harold turned to look at him.

"Something like what?"