The Cursed Prince's Strange Bride

"I met Sir Harvey a while ago."

Even though Harold was annoyed to hear that, the fact that she had mentioned it to him without him asking her first made him smile, but he put his head down to conceal it.

He didn't exactly care for her trusting him. He only wanted her to stay. But now that he could see she trusted him like this, he wasn't sure what he was supposed to say.

"Why aren't you saying anything?" She asked as she turned to face him when he said nothing for a while.

He looked up at her, his face back to normal as he said, "He was in this room."

Her eyes slightly widened, and she quickly went back to sit beside him as she asked, "You knew?"

"I told you several times. Whatever you do in this palace is no secret—"

"You asked people to spy on me?" She asked, frowning slightly.

Seeing how she was beginning to get mad, he quickly decided to tell her the half-truth. The last thing he wanted was for her to get mad. It was beginning to look like for every moment something good happened between them, it was ruined the next moment by something else, and he didn't want to ruin this one.

"Not me. There are a lot of eyes watching and waiting for you to make a mistake so they can take it out on me. And you are lucky that I was able to find the spy before he went to tell everyone that a man snuck into your chamber. You would have been in trouble."

She sighed and nodded. "I just... I didn't expect him to suddenly show up here. But... why didn't you say anything if you already knew?"

"..."

"You were waiting for me to tell you first, I guess." She reasoned. "What if I had kept it from you?"

Harold pondered the question. What would he have done had she kept it secret from him? He wasn't sure either. But he knew it wouldn't have been good for either of them. Himself, Alicia, and most especially, Harvey.

"Why did you tell me?" He asked curiously. Noting this question was more important than knowing what Harvey had come in here for.

He could always get an answer to that. But there was no way he could tell what Alicia was thinking. He could only read her when it came to escaping. Other times, he could not.

"I have watched and starred in too many movies to learn that it is important to open up when you have the opportunity to. And I guess I was correct because you really were aware."

"That's just it?" He asked, slightly disappointed.

"I also wanted you to know this because it is important. Harvey knows Amber personally."

Harold didn't act surprised because he had thought about it.

"I don't know the kind of relationship they both have, but it seems like he knows her very well and seemed to deduce that I'm not Amber. I think he would have answers to some of the questions I have about Amber and Queen Anne, because right now, the only clue I have is the fact that Amber, Queen Anne, and I share the same first letter in our names, and my last name is Queen. I feel everything is related somehow and I don't know how to go about it, but I think knowing more about them would tell me the reason why I'm here and—"

"Breathe," he said, and placed a hand on her shoulder to stop her from talking. She finally stopped talking and took a deep breath.

"I can't believe the only connection you could make between the three of you was that," Harold said, trying not to sound amused.

"Is there any other connection you can make?" Alicia asked, and Harold shook his head.

"Maybe if I knew them, I would have been able to. Don't worry. I will handle Harvey. You should stay away from him," he said calmly.

"You are a married lady, and from the royal family. Meeting secretly with a man is going to get you and your entire family annihilated."

Alicia grimaced and nodded. Of course, she wasn't surprised by that. She suddenly remembered that she hadn't told him everything Harvey had said. Should she tell him? He was keeping secrets from her, so why couldn't she keep this from him?

Harold watched her face as different emotions flickered across her features. "What do you not want to tell me?" He asked as he raised her chin with his right forefinger and studied her face.

Alicia looked away from him when her eyes fell on his lips. The lips that had messed with her senses a moment ago, "You don't need to know."

"Tell me," he ordered softly as he turned her face to him again.

She didn't know why, but for some reason, she suddenly felt compelled to tell him the truth, since she knew that he would be very mad if she got into trouble because she kept this from him.

"He said something about Amber knowing this was the last place she wanted to be tomorrow night. And then he said I should leave this place, and he offered to help me escape tomorrow night."

Harold tried to control his anger as he listened to that. He didn't care about Harvey's relationship with Amber, but he was enraged that Harvey had dared to talk to his wife about running away.

What if Alicia had still been bent on escaping and had decided not to tell him about this? He would have returned the next morning to find her gone?

"Do you still want to leave?" He asked her calmly, and she looked at him with a slight frown.

"I... I don't know. Even if I leave here, I don't know if I'll be able to return," Alicia said, and Harold sighed.

"Then ignore him. I'll find all the answers you need, and we'll figure it out together," Harold promised as he stood up from the bed.

"I will leave for the dining hall first. Get dressed and join us. Remember, be good."

Alicia nodded. "I promise."

She didn't know what was up with this banquet and everything, but she knew she didn't want to make even a single mistake. She also had to pray not to draw any trouble to herself. No matter what, she was going to pretend like she wasn't seeing or hearing anything.

As Harold headed for the door, she remembered she had packed some snacks for him and quickly called, stopping him from stepping out of the door.

"Harold?"

He gave her a questioning look as she hurried to the desk where she had dropped the box before her conversation with Paulina and grabbed it before returning to hand it over to Harold.

"I had some of the snacks I made packed for you. Try them and let me know what you think later."

He looked at the excitement in her eyes as he accepted the box from her and gave her a small smile before he nodded and left the room.

As soon as the door closed, his face turned back straight and the air around him turned overbearing as he headed for his room to drop the box before heading to dinner.