The Cursed Prince's Strange Bride

When it was just Susan and Williams left, she didn't go wash up like her father had suggested. She sat down and continued to think deeply, just like Williams.

They could not understand the sudden turn of events, but they really wanted to understand it.

"Are you not going to go do something else instead of sitting here? This is unusual of you." Williams said to her.

Without commenting on that, she asked him, "How do you feel? Do you think you are going to be up anytime soon? Do you still feel like you were poisoned?

"Are you asking because you care about me or because you want to know how much effect it will have on Alvin when he eventually wakes up?"

"I am worried about you!" She chided him. "And yes, I am also worried about Alvin."

Williams just stared at her and noticed she had fallen back into thinking before she started muttering.

"I cannot bring myself to go and see him. I fear bumping into Princess Amber. She may not want to be friends with me anymore. She didn't even look at me last night."

"Princess Amber is not like that. You even slept in her chamber and are wearing her clothes."

"I reacted badly. I was angry at her for not telling us about it when--"

"You had a reason for not telling her. And she can understand. We were fighting for her with our lives on the line without knowing that vital information that could have made things different."

"Knowing what we truly are is also vital information. And witchcraft is not something that the Moon Kingdom will ever embrace." She pointed out.

"Maybe not knowing she was from a line of witches made us look at things clearly instead of jumping to conclusions?" Williams added.

"I don't know if you are trying to make me feel better or not."

He chuckled. "You seem to care about her a lot."

Susan nodded. "I feel like she's an older sister I can rely on. I guess I have always wanted someone like that."

"But you have me." He joked.

"You are my brother, and you are younger!" She reminded him, making him scowl.

"Or is it because she does mischievous things like you?"

She laughed. "Maybe that too."

Seeing her laugh made him cheer up a little, and he smiled at her before reaching to hold her hand.

"Do you think she will ever come around?" She asked, looking at him with hopeful eyes.

"Do you think Paulina will ever come around?" He asked her.

"It would take an even longer time to have her accept this than anyone else in this world." She said so, remembering the kind of person Paulina was.

"She was here last night," Williams told her calmly.

"Who was?"

"Paulina."

"What? Paulina?" She asked, surprised.

"She came to check on me."

Susan didn't believe it. Paulina? Of all people? "How?" She asked in disbelief.

"And she came with a cane." He added, amused.

"A cane? What for?"

"Because she was scared."

"And she came to see you? Paulina? How is that even possible?" She still couldn't believe it.

"My point is that if Paulina can come here, Princess Amber can also accept it. She is stronger, remember?"

Susan pondered.

"Or maybe... they just prefer to be around people they care about at this time?" She asked and added. "Even though she didn't look at me at all, she was still with Prince Harold. And I believe Prince Harold should have been scarier since, you know... he was the one she saw in that form. But she looked like she still wanted to be around him. And Paulina..." she paused and eyed Williams. "She must really like you and trust only you, even if she is still scared."

Williams didn't say anything to that and just raised a brow when he noticed she was still giving him a suspicious look.

"What is going on between the two of you?"

"I have told you there is nothing."

"Are you sure? Did Mother see her?" Susan asked, whispering now.

"Mother and father both did."

"Oh no! They are really going to send us away now." Susan cried as she stood up and began to pace around his bedside, biting a finger.

"What is wrong?"

She paused and looked at Williams.

"Mother... she... she saw me embrace Alvin last night."

"What? Alvin embraced you?!" Williams asked, taking on full protective brother mode as his eyes flashed angrily.

"I. Said. I. Embraced. Him.!" She reiterated with a glare. "And do not think about doing anything stupid."

"Why would you embrace him? And if Mother saw it, I am guessing you must have done so where other people had seen it too!"

"I know it was stupid of me! I was just... I don't know how to explain it. I couldn't hold myself back. I thought he died after trying to save me, and then I saw him, but he was looking half dead already, and I just..." she fell back on his bed, groaning. "I must have gone insane!"

"That doesn't sound good," Williams said with concern.

"I know. I know." She nodded. She could only pray that no one else had seen her because if her father learned about it or if even the noblemen heard about it, it was going to cause a lot of trouble. She was a lady, and he was a guard. Even if she had been the one to embrace him, he would be blamed for it. Since she was now tainted and no man would want to marry a lady that had embraced a guard.

"You have the time to be worried about him now?" He asked her. Even if she wasn't saying anything and was only thinking, he could guess what she was thinking about.

"If you are so worried, why not let him go?" He suggested and almost shrank back to bed when she gave him a death glare.

"Do you think it is easy for anyone to catch my fancy?"

"So what if another woman approaches him, and maybe... he ends up being interested in her? What are you going to do?"

She scoffed. "Any lady who wishes to die should go ahead and approach Alvin. I will happily grant her wish."

Williams just shook his head as he looked at her. He couldn't say anything to discourage her because he knew perfectly well that when the day came that Susan would decide to get rid of anyone that was going to make her unhappy, he would willingly offer to make the poison for her.