The Cursed Prince's Strange Bride

Having decided to change her plans since Paulina wasn't with her, Alicia tried to enjoy the ride. She made sure to look around and take note of the routes they were taking. If she was going to escape from the palace with Paulina later, she needed to at least know the right path to take.

"Is this the only route to the town?" Alicia asked curiously after some time.

"When you are leaving the palace, this is the only path you can take to the marketplace," Harold answered, deciding to indulge her.

"Hmm. How often do you leave the palace?" Alicia asked curiously.

Although Harold usually loved to ride in silence, he didn't mind that she was talking to him. He preferred it when she was speaking. At least that way, he could guess what she was thinking. Whenever she was silent, he felt oddly anxious.

"Every day."

"What? You leave the palace every day? Why then did they say that the members of the royal family were not allowed to leave the palace?" Alicia asked with a slight frown.

"That law applies mostly to the ladies, and even if it didn't, I go and come as I please," Harold said in a haughty tone, and Alicia could hear the stubborn undertone.

"Oh, I see!" Alicia said and then lapsed into silence. Although she was curious about a lot of things and wanted to ask him some personal questions, she didn't say a word. She didn't want to get to know him more than she already did. That would only complicate things for her.

Harold, on the other hand, wanted to ask her who Alicia Queen was and why she kept plotting to run away, but he couldn't bring himself to ask her any questions either.

They rode in silence for a while, and he noticed how uncomfortable she was. She kept trying to adjust every second, "Are you okay?" He asked, sounding unbothered.

She was not okay. In fact, she was anything but that. She was used to driving cars, not riding horses for this long. When she was acting in a historical drama, she had been excited about the role, especially because she hadn't ridden a horse before, so she had put her whole heart into it. But now she wasn't acting, so staying like this for over an hour was uncomfortable, and the bumpy roads didn't help matters.

"I'm fine," she said, frowning. She didn't want him to talk to her unless she initiated the conversation. She was still pissed after how he used Hellion to mess with her and forced her to address him as 'my lord'. But the more the silence dragged on, the more awkward the ride felt, so she decided to ask something that she had been curious about.

"Do you have other women?" She was curious to know why he hadn't tried to pressure her to consummate their marriage. He also had never made any effort to spend the night together. Not that she wanted them to, she was simply curious and thought the only plausible reason was that he had concubines or consorts, which wasn't unusual in this era.

"Are you jealous?"

She scoffed. "Stop overthinking. I'm just curious. Isn't it like normal?"

"So you want me to have other women?"

"I didn't say that!" She snapped at him.

"You have quite a temper," he noted.

"You know what, just forget it. Talking to you is pointless anywa—"

"I only have you," he said, interrupting her.

Alicia would be lying if she said her heart didn't skip a beat when he said that. Quickly shaking the thought out of her head, she asked, "What about Beth? She seemed obsessed with you. Did you know that? She has been making my life miserable because of you."

"How did you know that?" He asked curiously. If Alvin hadn't told him a few days ago, he wouldn't have even known the maid's name.

"It's quite obvious."

It also made sense why Beth had reported her to him when she was faking an illness. Although Alvin had told him about it, he hadn't taken it seriously.

"It's her wishful thinking. Now stop talking, " he said, even though he had been the same person who had been glad that she was talking a moment ago.

"Who wants to talk to you anyway?" She huffed, feeling offended, and kept mute for the rest of the journey.

Soon they entered the town, and Alicia could see people dressed in colorful clothes moving about as they went about the day's business. But as soon as they spotted them, they all stopped whatever they were doing and bowed deeply while looking fearful. She could see people shaking while some tightly held onto their kids and spouses with their heads down. Aside from their fear, they were eager to look at the lady with him but couldn't bring themselves to raise their heads. They had all heard rumors that the prince had recently married, which came as a shock to everyone as they wondered which kingdom had decided to release their princess for him to marry. They had also heard rumors that the prince was not getting along with his bride, which didn't come as a surprise. But suddenly, seeing the two now like this, they were curious but could not feed their curiosity by taking a peek.

Meanwhile, the cause of this reaction didn't pay them any mind. Alicia wondered what Harold could have done to invoke such a magnitude of fear in people both within and outside the palace. Although she couldn't see his face because he was seated behind her, she could guess that he was probably wearing an aloof expression as usual.

"We... should get down and walk," Alicia suggested in a whisper, that caused Harold to wonder why she was suddenly whispering.

"Why?" He asked in an aloof tone.

"Seriously? This is even more suffocating than being stuck in the palace." She complained.

Where was the fun in strolling around the town on a horse while everyone was looking down in fright?

"You know what? Turn around!" She commanded, causing his brow to arch up.

"What are you waiting for? Turn around. We need to find this horse a nice shade and look around by foot."

"Bane," Harold suddenly said, leaving her confused.

"What?"

"That's his name. Bane."

She almost laughed but stopped herself from doing just that as Harold, surprisingly, did just as she had told him to and turned around. They finally found a secluded spot far away from the frightened citizens, who gasped in relief and began to scurry away as soon as they were out of sight.

Harold brought the horse to a stop and got down effortlessly.

"Do you need my help to get down?" He asked with a slightly raised brow.

Alicia knew that she needed to swallow her pride and let him help her unless she wanted to fall off the horse, which looked quite high from the ground. She giggled when a joke occurred to her. She needed to get off her high horse, or else she would fall off this high horse, literally.

Harold's brows furrowed when she suddenly giggled. Why was she laughing? Did he say something funny? Concluding that she didn't need his help, Harold turned around, ready to leave, and immediately Alicia snapped back to the present.

"Wait!" She called out desperately, so he turned to look at her.

"It's too high," she explained, and without saying a word, Harold raised his hands and lifted her off the horse as though she didn't weigh more than a bag of feathers.

Once he set her on her feet, he took the horse's rein and led it under a tree shade where he could tie it. Alicia watched as he rubbed one side of the horse's face softly. "Wait here," he whispered to the horse as it nuzzled his hand.

She watched the interaction between the two keenly but said nothing when he turned to look at her.

"Let's go," Harold said as he rubbed the horse one more time and walked away, expecting her to follow.

"I thought you were worried that I was going to run away? Why are you always walking ahead of me?" Alicia asked as she caught up with him.

"You can run away if you like. I'm sure Paulina wouldn't mind getting executed on your behalf," Harold threatened without turning to look at her. He did not doubt that she cared a lot about her maid, and she wouldn't dare leave the girl behind. He was glad he had allowed Paulina to come here with her."

Is that why you didn't let her come with us? So that you can kill her if I run away?" Alicia asked thoughtfully.

Alicia sighed when Harold didn't respond to her question, "Don't worry, I'm just here to enjoy the fresh air and look around the market."

Just for today, she added to herself. She would work out something else. Something that wouldn't involve putting either Paulina or Princess Amber in danger. She had to think of what would become of Princess Amber if she returned to her body to find out that her maid was dead and she had no home to go.