The Cursed Prince's Strange Bride

Harold stood by the bed where Alicia was sleeping as he watched the head chef and some of the maids set several meals on the large table at one end of his chamber. Immediately they were done, they bowed to him and quickly exited the chamber.

Once they left, he sat down on the bed beside Alicia and he looked down at her sleeping figure. He wanted her to wake up as soon as possible, but another part of him wanted her to remain asleep until she felt no pain anymore. He didn't want her to bear the pain, he thought as he gently touched her hair.

Alicia was now wearing a loose peach-coloured robe, and her hair was knotted at the back. He had ordered a female physician to clean her up and change her robe and had also instructed her to do the same for Paulina.

Paulina. Although he hadn't really liked how Alicia had been so attached to the maid to the point where she ignored him for her, but after learning how she had been willing to risk her life to save Alicia despite what she knew about Alicia, Harold had to admit that the girl wasn't as bad as he had thought. And for Alicia's sake, he was going to make sure she was fine.

Looking down at Alicia, he was relieved to see that her complexion was looking much better than it had been the previous day, but despite that, he still could not stop the rage he felt inside of him. It was almost as if he could feel all the pain she had felt and was currently feeling.

He was still very angry at himself and everyone else who had in one way or the other contributed to causing her such pain. He had promised to keep her safe, yet he had not been there when she needed him the most.

He doubted she had ever gone through something as terrible as this in her world. He had asked her to stay here and promised to protect her. But he hadn't been able to do that. And she had suffered.

He would never have forgiven himself if anything worse had happened to her.

Harold sighed as he reminded himself that she was safe now and he was never going to let the person behind her suffering go unpunished.

For now, all he wanted was for her to recover. He wanted to see her smile at him again. Even though it was weird, he also longed to hear her swear and curse at him and call his name as only she could. Harold thought with a rueful smile that he didn't even mind if she was going to do something troublesome like pull the queen's hair. He wouldn't put something like that past his troublesome princess.

His brows pulled together when he remembered how she had yelled at him angrily the last time before the banquet when she had gotten angry because he refused to answer her questions about the moon kingdom being a kingdom of witch hunters.

Could that have been the reason she was outside her chamber at that time of the night? Had she gone out because she wanted to confirm whether or not they were witch hunters and had gotten herself into that mess unknowingly? Harold mused.

He wished he hadn't gone hunting with the others that night. His original plan had been to go out with them and sneak back into the palace to be with Alicia later, but then he got hurt and opened his eyes days later.

Harold couldn't help but wonder if she was having a peaceful sleep or not, as he lay down beside her and held her to himself.

He closed his eyes as he thought about the time when he had been unconscious and how he had woken up.

Throughout the time he had been unconscious, his mind had been blank. He didn't even dream. He had just been in a deep sleep until he began to feel his ears ringing intensely, causing him so much discomfort.

The ringing sounds had slowly begun to make sense, and all he could hear were loud cries. After some time, he had finally been able to make out who the voice belonged to. It was Alicia.

He had heard her begging him to wake up and swearing to never forgive him if he didn't. It had made him begin to wonder what was happening in his sleep.

Her cries had intensified, causing him a splitting headache that made him groan in pain. He had wanted to tell her he could hear her so she should stop crying. He had even raised his hand unconsciously to touch her, but it was as though she wasn't there.

"Wake up," his wolf said in a loud voice, and it was at that moment that his consciousness returned and his eyes snapped open at once.

His wolf. How did he suddenly come back?

He had thought that the first person he would see as soon as he opened his eyes was Alicia, but was surprised to find the room empty. Before he could wonder what was wrong, he could somehow feel her pain and distress and immediately got up.

"Something is not right," his wolf said, and he just had to agree.

Something was definitely wrong. He could feel it all around him, especially when his ears stopped ringing and everywhere suddenly seemed very silent.

Harold's thoughts were broken when a light knock sounded on the door. He knew only Alvin would dare do that, so he sat up and properly covered Alicia with the quilt before asking Alvin to come in.

Immediately Alvin entered the chamber, he was welcomed by the delicious aroma of food, and his gaze moved to where the food was arranged before he looked at Harold.

"Did you find anything strange?" Harold asked without looking at him.

"Nothing yet, your highness. We have searched everywhere and gone through everything the king takes."

"So you don't think the king is being poisoned? It is all coincidence?" Harold asked, turning to look at him now.

"I will keep looking," Alvin promised with a bow.

"Tighten the security around the king and make sure neither the Queen, Damon, nor Ivan can go into his chamber," Harold ordered, and Alvin gave him a nod as he awaited further instructions.