The Cursed Prince's Strange Bride

Everyone's attention in the room moved to the king's Beta and the Queen, who was Tyra's so-called mother.

Damon had been the one to ask Tyra about her health, while the queen went straight to the point.

Seeing her mistake, the Queen paused and took a deep breath to calm herself, "How... are you feeling?" The Queen asked, slightly flustered. It was obvious to everyone present that she didn't mean it.

Tyra looked at all of them frightfully and pulled the quilt even higher without responding to any of their questions. Her gaze met Damian's concerned and questioning gaze briefly before she looked away from him.

The royal physician who had been attending to Tyra before their arrival turned to them and said, "My Lords, my queen," the royal physician said, bowing to them.

"It would be best to let the princess rest for a while. She is still in shock and needs time to reco—"

"We will send for you if we need you. Excuse us," the Queen said before he could complete his statement.

There was no way he could argue with the queen. He looked pitifully at the weak princess before he bowed to the members of the royal court before leaving.

"The rest of you should leave too," the queen said to the guards who were in the chamber with them. Damian looked at Tyra for a moment longer before he left with the rest of the guards, leaving the queen alone with Damon and her brother.

With everyone gone, the queen approached Tyra's bed and asked her impatiently,

"Who stabbed you? Who was that maid with you that night? And why was she with you?"

******

Ivan, who was taking shelter in his chamber from the sudden wind, looked at the door when a faint knock sounded on it.

"Who is there?" He asked as he reached for his sword, which was lying beside him on the bed.

Following what had happened to both Harold and Tyra, he knew that he also needed to be careful. He couldn't be too sure that this wasn't an attack on the royal family. A prince and a princess had been hurt, and he was the only one left.

He still suspected his mother of what had happened, especially when he saw her eagerness to get rid of Princess Amber and her maid. But for some reason, he felt it wasn't her handiwork, and judging from the suspicious look his mother had been giving him, as if she suspected he had a hand in the whole thing, it seemed she truly wasn't responsible.

"It's Benedicta," she said quietly, and Ivan frowned as he rose and went to the door.

Even though they were going to get married soon, it wasn't proper for her to visit him in his chamber in this manner since they were not married yet, so why was she there? He wondered as he opened the door.

"Has the raging wind stopped?" He asked as he looked around, and he noticed that things were back to normal and the maids were busy putting the place in order once again.

"It has. What is going to happen to Prince Harold's bride now?" Benedicta asked, and Ivan frowned at her as he closed the door behind him and joined her outside.

"You came to my chamber to talk about Harold's bride?" He asked her curiously.

She stepped back away from him and gave him a pointed look.

"I was curious and you are the only one I could ask. Why are you here and not in Princess Tyra's chamber?" She asked, and he raised an eyebrow.

Ivan furrowed his brows as he began to see her in a new light. Why was she truly asking him about this when her father and brother had been present too? Or did she have a hand in this? While he was thinking that, something she had said occurred to him, so he asked her.

"What am I supposed to be doing in her chamber when she is unconscious?" He asked, and Benedicta almost scoffed at his ignorance.

"She is awake now. Everyone is talking about it. The queen and the king's Beta has gone to see her," Benedicta said, and Ivan looked at her in surprise.

"When did this happen?" He asked, but before she could respond to his question, he walked away from her as he headed for Tyra's chamber.

How come something like that had happened and no one told him about it? He wondered angrily as he marched towards her chamber.

*****

Luciana, who had received Susan's message and was on her way to meet Susan in her chamber, made a U-turn in the opposite direction when she sighted Ivan walking down the hallway, and thankfully he did not recognize her because of the maid's uniform she was wearing. It seemed she could not continue with this because if she got caught, this was going to be a very big issue.

She waited until Ivan had passed by before turning to look at him, while wondering where he was hurrying to. Not because she cared about him, but because she was looking for every means to find clues on what was going on.

She turned her face to the other side as two maids walked past her, and she listened to whispers about what might happen now that Princess Tyra was awake.

Princess Tyra was awake?

It was surprising how she had never really liked Tyra, but that news seemed to bring her so much joy right now.

It seemed like things had changed since the last letter Susan had sent her. She was not sure if it was safe to go to Susan's chamber anymore, plus she doubted that Susan was in her chamber at the moment.

For some reason, she had a feeling that things were going to be fine from now on. So she decided to return to her chamber and wait for another letter from Susan.