The Cursed Prince's Strange Bride

Back at the palace, Paulina couldn't help feeling anxious. She kept praying for the princess to escape safely. She didn't mind being punished on her behalf, but if the princess didn't want to stay here, she would support her in leaving. The only problem was with Prince Harold. He seemed to be a wise person, which would make it difficult for her to escape successfully. She really prayed that her mistress would be safe and that no harm would come to her. She continued to pace around Alicia's chamber, deep in thought, until she heard a knock on the door.

She turned to the door fearfully, praying it wasn't Beth coming to harass her because her mistress wasn't around. Or what if they had caught the princess trying to escape, so they were here to get her? She thought fearfully.

When the knock sounded again, she quickly rushed over to open the door and was relieved to find the only maid she was close to standing there. "Is there a problem?" She asked with a shaky smile.

"What are you doing here?" The girl asked but didn't seem hostile.

"I... I was cleaning my mistress's room. Why... are you here?" Paulina asked in turn.

"Lord Williams asked me to fetch you. He wants you to meet him in the painting room," the maid replied, not knowing whether it was a problem or not.

"Oh! Okay. I will join him soon. I need to first get something," she said as she stepped out of the chamber and followed the maid out. It was likely that he wanted to use the painting room and was keeping his promise to her. Maybe painting would help her relax a bit and get her mind off her worried thoughts.

She headed for her quarters, where she usually slept, and picked up the cloak he had given her the first night, which she had yet to return to him. And she was yet to properly thank him for saving her. Whenever she was before him, she was always nervous, so talking was always a problem.

Once she got to the painting room, she knocked lightly on the door while holding the cloak behind her.

"Come in," Williams said as he remained seated, staring at the door. He watched as Paulina walked in with her head bowed and both hands behind her. Although he wanted to ask her to relax and be free with him, he knew that it was pointless. Looking at her now, it was still very difficult to believe she was older than he was.

He cleared his throat, "You can continue your painting," he said to her while watching her closely, "And you don't need to use those bad brushes or paint. Feel free to make use of whatever you want," Williams offered.

On hearing that, Paulina bowed deeply and thanked him.

"Thank you, Milord."

"Williams. Call me Williams," he said softly.

She snapped her head up and looked at him with wide eyes before shaking her head. "I... c-can't... Milord." She stuttered.

He didn't bother to ask her why, because he knew why. He was of royal blood, even if it was not directly while she was a maid. It was a punishable crime.

"You can call me by my name freely when it's just the two of us. It's uncomfortable to address me with such formality," he said.

Hesitantly, she responded. "Al...right... Mi-lord."

He chuckled to himself. It seemed that it was not going to work, so he decided to let it be.

"Go on and do what you want," he urged her, and turned away from her, pretending to focus on his own painting, but Paulina made no move to leave.

He turned to look at her, raising his brow. "Is there a problem?" He asked, looking at her curiously.

Paulina brought both hands forward, extending the cloak to him, which he reluctantly took from her.

"Thank... you for saving me and for... letting me paint here. I... wish I could repay... your kindness," she said in a meek tone, with her head bowed, while Williams just stared at her.

"Maybe you can," Williams said, causing her to raise her head to steal a peek at him while wondering what someone like her could possibly help him with.

"Can you paint a portrait of me?" Williams asked since he knew that she would need to look at him to paint his portrait, and maybe that would help take care of her fear of looking at him.

Paulina's eyes widened slightly in surprise. A portrait? How was she supposed to do that? Her hands began to shake, and she appeared to be on the verge of fleeing at any moment.

"That was a question, not an order. You don't have to do it if you don't want to," Williams pointed out to her since he could tell that she had likely interpreted it as an order.

Paulina looked down with a slight frown. She couldn't say no to him. He had saved her and was letting her use this room and painting materials for free, so that was the least she could do for him.

"I... w-ill do it," she said in a quiet voice. It was almost inaudible, but his good hearing picked it up.

"You will?" Williams asked, and tried not to grin when she gave him a nod. "Okay then, you should work on completing your lady's gift. You can do mine after that," Williams said and returned his attention to his own painting once again.

He watched from the corners of his eyes as she went to pick up the items she needed before going to one end of the room to sit on the floor. He could see that she was still not very comfortable.

"You're not going to sit on a chair?" He asked.

"I'm... m-more comfortable on the floor," she said without meeting his gaze.

Seeing how much she seemed to fear him, he believed that was another reason she was staying that far away. He briefly wondered if she would keep such a distance while making his portrait. Well, they would have to see about that.