The Cursed Prince's Strange Bride

Although Alicia wanted to stay a while and ask Luciana if she was okay, seeing how Harold had already left, she could only imagine the kind of tantrum he would throw if he didn't see her soon.

Even though Tyra, Susan, and Williams didn't exactly know what was happening between Luciana and her husband, they could tell something was wrong. For Tyra, who had been with them since they got married, this was a strange sight. She had never even seen them have an argument before. Well, it wasn't as if they could have an argument. He was her lord, and whatever he said was final. So there was no reason to argue. But seeing her rebelling now was something strange.

"I'll meet you later," Alicia said to her before she stood up and ran after Harold, who was now thinking about how to get these useless chores off his plate.

As Alicia ran off, Susan couldn't help being amused by the irony of the situation. Luciana, whose husband controlled her for a living, was the one still seated there and making no attempt to join her husband, who had been expecting her to leave with him. In contrast, Alicia, who never let Harold control her, was the one hurrying to meet up with him even though he had permitted her to join him when she was done.

Harold was already mentally exhausted thinking about all he had to do for the day. His life used to be simple. Now, he was her instructor, and he had to take her to Hellion every day and also teach her how to use an arrow. What possessed him to take up all these duties blindly?

It wasn't long after he arrived at the pavilion that he saw her racing towards him. He wanted to tell her to slow down and walk, but he just shook his head and let her do as she pleased.

'How will you train her if you keep letting her do as she pleases? Tsk' his wolf said, and Harold ignored it as he focused his attention on Alicia, who was panting as she stopped in front of him.

"Right in time! I'm a good student. Don't you agree?" She asked breathlessly while smiling at him.

Without saying a word to her, he went to sit down before returning his gaze to her. "Sit," he said, motioning to the seat across from him.

She went to sit down, wondering why he wasn't in a cheerful mood. Not that he was always in a cheerful mood, but his mood was usually better than this. Unless he wanted to scold her again.

"Why does Prince Ivan think you are a bad influence on his wife?" Harold asked, watching her closely as he waited for her response.

Seeing how the queen had raised the issue of replacing Luciana as her tutor, it was obvious that Ivan hadn't just been ranting the previous day. His wife had to have done something to upset him enough to confront him. And seeing how she had refused to leave the dining hall with her husband also showed that she was beginning to rebel against him. It was easy to see why they would believe that Alicia was the one influencing Luciana. She had been spending a lot of time in Alicia's company lately, and Alicia was as stubborn as a goat.

"Oh... that!" She almost rolled her eyes. So this was the reason he looked so serious? And that was why they were stopping Luciana from being her tutor?

'Yes, I agree with you. She is a stubborn goat,' Harold's wolf agreed with him on hearing her tone.

'I didn't call her a stubborn goat,' Harold corrected his wolf.

'She is as stubborn as a goat. She is a stubborn goat. They both mean the same,' the wolf said dryly, and with a shake of his head, Harold ignored his stubborn goat of a wolf.

'I'm not a goat,' his wolf protested, but Harold was bent on ignoring him as he focused on Alicia.

Once Alicia looked around to make sure no one was around before she leaned forward and said, "Do you know that your brother is an asshole?"

Harold raised an eyebrow at her. She didn't know whether his eyebrow was raised because he didn't understand what an asshole meant or if it was because he was wondering why she was saying that about Ivan.

"I mean, I haven't known Luciana for a long time, but she is not as bad as she portrays herself to be. I think she only wants validation from her husband and the queen, but what are they paying her with? Prince Ivan wants to take a second wife!" She said in disbelief and saw a frown form on his face.

"Why?" He asked.

Alicia shook her head. "Exactly what I asked myself too! Why would he want to do that? I couldn't believe it either when I heard about it. I think it's—"

"No," Harold cut her off.

"No what?" Alicia asked in confusion.

"Why are you addressing him that way and only calling me by my name?" He asked Alicia with a slight frown, confusing her.

What was he talking about? And how did it relate to the issue on ground?

"Prince Ivan?" She asked in confusion, after racking her brain.

The look on his face told her that was what he was referring to. Her jaw dropped in disbelief before she shook her head, "Aren't you the same person who was suspicious of me because I called you 'Prince Harold'? In your own words, you said I was being too polite, and that was not me." She reminded him with a frown.

"So I'm the only one you are not polite to?" Harold asked, looking at her with a blank expression.

"Are you not the only one that claims to be my husband?" Alicia retorted matter-of-factly.

Harold wanted to tell her that he wasn't merely claiming to be her husband; he was her husband, and as such, she needed to respect him more than everyone else, but he knew that argument wouldn't work on his bullheaded wife. Besides, he was already used to her talking to him the way she did.

"Do not get yourself involved in their business. Let's study," He said dismissively as he opened a big book in front of him.

"Seriously? Are you not going to talk about this?" She asked curiously, since she had at least expected him to ask her what she had said to Luciana.

"No. It's not my business, and it's not yours either. Let's focus on what is our business," Harold said, pointing to the book in front of him, but Alicia was not having that.

"Are you going to marry a second wife?" She asked him, folding both her hands as she looked at him.

Harold paused from flipping the pages of the big book to look at her, "I thought we already had this conversation?"

"Have we? Because now I'm curious. You don't seem to see anything wrong with your brother marrying a second wife."

"I do not let other peoples' business bother me, and you shouldn't either. Let them sort out their issues themselves. You need to focus on yours."

"That doesn't answer the question of whether or not you want a second wife," Alicia reminded him stubbornly.

"Have you finally made up your mind that you are my wife? Because if you haven't, I see no reason why you seem so concerned about whether or not I would want to get a second wife," Harold said, watching her with amused frustration.

He was right. Why did the thought of Harold having a second wife bother her? "I'm only worried about Princess Amber," Alicia said defensively.

"Thanks for being so concerned about my wife. I'm sure she knows already that men are allowed to have more than one wife. She will have no problem with it. Now that you're done worrying on her behalf, let's focus on your lessons. Soon, we will be receiving some important guests. You need to be on your best behavior."

Did that mean that he wanted to get a second wife or not? She wondered, but her curiosity over the other part of his statement got the best of her, so she decided to keep the second wife talk for later. "What important guests? What is the occasion?"

Harold looked at her, wondering how he was supposed to answer that. It was almost the full moon. And they usually had a banquet to celebrate it. He still could not shake off the worry he was feeling.

"Princess?" He called her gently.

"Hmm?"

She noticed a flash of concern in his eyes as he said, "Always be careful." He said before adding a soft, "Please."

Her confusion turned to concern as she wondered why he suddenly sounded this way. What kind of banquet was this?

"Can I trust you to do that?" He asked her.

"You don't have to worry about me. You know I'm always careful, and I mind my business," Alicia said, and Harold snorted, making her raise an eyebrow.

"I'm serious. I'm careful and I mind my business. Luciana came to me. I didn't go to her," Alicia said with a frown, wanting him to believe her.

"Yes, I agree. You don't go looking for trouble. Trouble comes looking for you. I want you to do your best to avoid trouble. And don't forget what I told you before; you can't trust anyone in this palace," Harold said seriously.

"Apart from you," Alicia said thoughtfully

Harold hesitated for only a second before saying, "Apart from me."

That was a lie. Trusting him was going to be her undoing. Because if that day comes, and Hellion gets tamed by her, he was going to kidnap the horse and ruin her plans.

As far as he was concerned, she was going nowhere.

An oblivious Alicia smiled at him and nodded.