The Cursed Prince's Strange Bride

As soon as Leana entered the chamber, Lance's vicious eyes turned to glare at her. She tried to move, but she was too scared to do anything.

"Give me that, and stop breathing too loudly! It's annoying!" He bellowed at her as he picked up the piece of a broken plate beside him and threw it at her.

She flinched when it cut her on the side of the face, and she dropped the tray in shock, causing it to land on the ground with a loud, shattering sound that startled Lance. Immediately, Lance placed both hands on his ears and closed his eyes as he groaned in agony.

"I'm... I'm so sorry." She cried and knelt down, not minding the hot tea which had spilled on the floor where she was currently kneeling on, but Lance was so angry that when he opened his eyes, she thought she saw fire in them and knew it was over for her.

Remembering how he had hit and kicked her made her want to cry.

"Why would he do that to you?" Luciana asked, shaking in anger. Even though he was an idiot that everyone hated, he wasn't usually that extreme.

"I... don't know. I just know it is difficult to serve him for now and everyone is scared of going to meet him. He has been having soothing tea and medicine for days now."

"Medicine? What kind?" Luciana asked in confusion, and her maid shook her head.

"I... don't know."

Luciana's frown deepened. "How could he behave so insolently and no one is doing anything about it?"

"I... don't think anyone can do anything to him. Otherwise, he would have been corrected after what he did to Beth that day since she was the Queen's person. Maybe the Queen isn't doing anything because she wants him to marry Princess Tyra," the maid reasoned, but Luciana was no longer listening to her.

Something she mentioned had piqued her interest.

"Beth?" Luciana looked at her in confusion. "He did something to Beth? When?"

"Ehm... three days... ago. I heard they had a big misunderstanding and he was very pissed at her."

Luciana's eyes shone brightly. "Three days ago? On the same day as the banquet? How come I am just hearing about this for the first time?"

"I... didn't think it was important to tell you about Beth and Sir Lance. Who would have thought she would die on the same day?" Leana looked down and sighed sadly.

As if she had just had a sudden Eureka moment, Luciana began to pace around.

Lance. Lance.

Was he the culprit? Why was he suddenly like this?

"Why did he quarrel with Beth?" She stopped pacing and asked Leana, who shook her head that she didn't know the reason.

Did Lance have a reason to do any of this? Wasn't he supposed to be married to Princess Tyra? Then what about Harold? Did he have a hand in that? Where was Lance exactly that night?

Luciana hadn't been hunting with the others, so she didn't know this. But someone else might have the answer.

Quickly, she reached for a note and ink and scribbled down something quickly.

"Protect this with your life and make sure it gets to Lady Susan." She instructed her maid, who had a questioning look on her face, but she accepted it and hid it inside her dress before she left to do what she had been told.

~~~~~~

While Susan was trying to stop Williams from leaving and assuring him that having Alvin on their side was a wise decision, Leana approached and handed the letter to Susan before scurrying away, leaving the twins confused.

Susan immediately opened the note, and her brother went to stand behind her. As soon as the two were done reading it, they looked at each other.

The note was short and straight to the point, it read, "WHERE WAS LANCE DURING AND AFTER THE BANQUET?"

"Lance?" Susan asked no one in particular as she tried to understand why Luciana would ask such a question. Was it possible that she thought Lance was behind this?

Of course, he was very arrogant and behaved stupidly, but that didn't make him a murderer, did it? So how did Luciana arrive at such a conclusion? She wondered as she glanced at Williams.

"..." Susan opened her mouth to speak but paused when she noticed the look on Williams' face. He looked like he was deep in thought and trying hard to remember something.

"Did you see Lance during the banquet?" Susan asked curiously, and Williams shook his head.

"I saw him going with us but he didn't seem like he was fine," Williams said thoughtfully.

"He didn't seem like he was fine?" Susan asked, not understanding what Williams meant.

"He wasn't as excited as he usually is, and he walked past me without trying to annoy me as he usually did," Williams said, and Susan pursed her lips as she tried to recall if she had seen Lance on that night.

"But why Lance? It's not like he has anything against any of them," Susan asked, trying to understand why Luciana wanted them to find out where Lance had been that night.

"Didn't you say Harold attacked Lance for being disrespectful to Princess Tyra?" Williams asked, reminding her.

Susan's eyes widened when she remembered that, and she gasped when she finally saw light in Williams' question.

"Yes! That was what princess Tyra told me," she said with a nod, "Perhaps Luciana heard of it too?"

"It is possible. Could it be that Lance was trying to get back at Prince Harold and Tyra? But why then did he kill Beth and not Tyra? And why was Princess Amber there?" Williams asked no one in particular, but Susan's brows were creased with a confused frown.

Both siblings looked up when they heard someone approaching, and Susan relaxed when she noticed it was Harvey, while Williams kept a wary eye on him.

Surely no one would think it was odd that Harvey was speaking with them since it was already known that the queen was pushing for them to get married.

"What is going on?" Susan asked once he stopped in front of them, and Harvey looked at Williams without saying a word.

"I know I promised not to tell anyone, but Williams isn't just anyone. He is my twin brother, and I couldn't keep it away from him," Susan said guiltily as both men stared at each other.

"Why are you helping us?" Williams asked, but Harvey turned to Susan, ignoring him.

"The elders are meeting with the king's Beta before the trial begins, so I excused myself. I overheard something I found interesting," Harvey said, and Williams' annoyance slowly faded to curiosity.

"What did you hear?" Susan asked with interest.

"Sir Gregory and his family are leaving today because Lance isn't feeling too well," Harvey said, making both Susan and Williams exchange a look.

Their shared look seemed to say "Lance again?"

"And why is that interesting?" Williams asked before Susan could speak and give away what little information they had.

Harvey looked between the two and hesitated for a moment before he said quietly, "Because I do not remember seeing Lance's wolf during the full moon hunt. And we were supposed to be in the same pack."