Alicia collapsed on the bed, arms and legs spread like an eagle. If this was what a wedding felt like, she was never going to have a wedding when she returned to the future. She was exhausted and all of her body was hurting. But first, she had to take off the things she was wearing, especially the corset that was making it impossible for her to breathe.
She tried to get up but was too lazy to do so until the door opened and Madam Grace entered together with Paulina.
"My lady, are you okay?" Paulina asked, and broke down in tears.
Alicia forced herself to sit up and looked at Paulina, who was crying and telling her how scared she had been when the big man pointed a sword at her.
"What was the meaning of that stunt you pulled out there?" Madam Grace asked, her eyes flashing angrily.
"You didn't tell me the wedding was going to be this difficult," Alicia said as she pulled the crying Paulina into her arms.
"You almost got killed!" The woman yelled at her, but Alicia was too tired to argue.
She had been arguing since she came to this world.
When she arrived here yesterday, she also got into a heated argument with the Queen and one of the Princesses.
Upon their arrival, one of the princesses was the first to come to take a look at her. When Alicia asked Paulina who the girl was and Paulina responded that she guessed she was Princess Amber's younger sister, the girl got angry and slapped Paulina hard across the face for introducing her in that way.
Alicia, in turn, got angry and shoved the princess, causing her to fall to the floor. The girl hadn't expected her to react that way and had reported the issue to the Queen, who came and tried to hit her.
Things had turned out differently when they realized 'Princess Amber' wasn't a pushover as they had all thought she would be.
"Please, get me out of these clothes. It's difficult to breathe while wearing this," Alicia said to Paulina and broke away from the hug.
Paulina looked at her apologetically before looking at Madam Grace. "You are leaving immediately."
"Leaving to where?" Alicia asked, not liking what she was hearing.
"My... lady. You... have to leave with your husband and his people immediately, after he is done speaking with the King and Queen."
"WHAT?" She asked in horror.
First, they practically kidnapped her and brought her here, and now she has to move again?
"NO!" She shook her head stubbornly, "I won't go!"
"You don't have a choice, Princess. After your marriage, you are no longer a property of this kingdom. You are—"
"Property?" Alicia interrupted Madam Grace with a frown. What type of place did she come to?
"I am no one's property! If I am not leaving, I am not leaving! Take these clothes off me!" She demanded in anger, but Paulina continued to give her an apologetic look.
"I'm... sorry..." Paulina's voice broke as she began to cry again.
There was a knock on the door before a man who looked like a guard entered the room.
"My lady, you are to appear before your parents and prince Harold now," He announced with a curt bow.
Alicia had a bad feeling about all this. She didn't want to remain here. She wanted to run away. She had to return to that village and find that river.
"Stay... safe my... Princess. I... will never forget... you," Paulina broke down in tears and hugged Alicia tightly.
"What? Why are you sounding like this?" Alicia asked, trying to look at Paulina's face, but Paulina wasn't budging. Alicia looked at Madam Grace and noticed for the first time that the woman looked a bit sad.
"You will be going alone from now on. We cannot come with you. Our duty to protect and take care of you has ended today."
Alicia's eyes widened and she shook her head, "No! That cannot happen!" Her heart felt heavy. There was no way she was going to leave here without taking at least Paulina with her. Although she had come to know her in such a short time, Paulina was the only familiar and trusted face she knew aside from Madam Grace, with whom she had yet to decide whether she was a friend or foe.
"Why?" Alicia asked in panic as the guard reminded her harshly to come with him.
"We were told so. We do as we are told."
Alicia forcefully broke away from the hug and looked into Paulina's teary eyes, "I will work this out somehow." She promised the girl while trying not to cry before she left the room with the guard who led her to another room that looked like where royal meetings were held, but it was only the king and queen with Harold that were inside the room.
When she entered, all eyes turned to look at her, and she could see the desperation in both the king and queen's eyes. What was going on?
Prince Harold noticed the confusion on her face as she walked further into the room to join them.
"WHAT?" Alicia snapped at all of them when they continued to stare at her.
What kind of rude and uncultured girl was this?
The Queen tried to speak, but Prince Harold raised his hand and silenced her, "The Moon Kingdom hates to be deceived. And you have deceived us by giving an exiled princess," As Harold spoke, the tension in the room heightened.
Alicia looked hopeful. How did he find out? Did that mean he wouldn't agree to the marriage? And they would take her back to where she had woken up from and she would finally return to that village?
Alicia found herself nodding in support of Prince Harold.
"If my father finds out about this, this kingdom would cease to exist in the blink of an eye."
The king and queen looked obviously frightened.
Prince Harold turned to look at Alicia, who was waiting for him to say he was no longer interested in the marriage.
"Because I am already married to her, I would let her choose if I should forgive you or not," he said, still looking at Alicia, who frowned.
'Humans are soft. You know she is going to protect her family,' His wolf said to him with a huff.
He knew humans were weak and blood ties seemed to matter to them. It was one of the reasons he didn't like humans, but as his new bride, he had to listen to what she had to say.
"Me? Why?" Alicia asked as she looked at the three of them. The king and queen were pleading with her with their eyes while Harold's gaze was unreadable as usual.
"Their lives are in your hands. If you want me to forgive them, the Moon Kingdom is going to remain allies with them and help them as best as we can. If not, we'll publicly declare them as our enemy."
"So... you are still... marrying me?" She asked in disappointment. It was more like a rhetorical question because she sighed and pressed her hands to her temple.
She looked at the King and Queen, who were still looking frightened and begging with their eyes.
'Aww... they look so weak.' Alicia thought to herself.
"Well... they don't deserve forgiveness," She said with a shrug, "Sending a little girl to the mountains in exile is not something one should easily forgive. Do whatever you want with them." She waved a hand lazily.
The three of them looked very surprised as none of them had expected such an answer from her.
'Wow! She is... evil.' Prince Harold's wolf exclaimed.
Harold's lips slowly raised in a smile.
Evil.
He liked it.
THE STRANGE GROOM'S CURSED BRIDE (Add to Library)
Alicia had that fluttery nervous feeling in her belly as she was led outside with her boxes. It was time to go home with her husband.
Never in her life had she felt as confused and clueless as she did at that moment. It seemed to her like she was on a rollercoaster. Within three days she had spent the night in three different places, and now she was going somewhere else again. What was she to expect from all of this?
"Are you always this absentminded, or am I to assume that it only happens when you are around me?" Prince Harold who was standing beside one of the carriages, cut into her thoughts as he watched Alicia who just stood there staring at the carriage absentmindedly.
She snapped her head up when she heard the familiar voice of prince Harold. She hadn't realized that they had gotten to the carriage already. She eyed him unpleasantly. If only he had changed his mind about the marriage.
"Don't talk to me." She snapped at him.
The guards around tried not to react even though they were surprised, but then again, she had done worse inside so it was expected.
"We are riding together," A young feminine voice informed her from within the carriage, and she craned her neck to see the stunning teenage beauty from earlier smiling at her.
"Get in, or do you need a special invitation?" Prince Harold asked coolly when Alicia simply stood there staring at his half-sister.
Alicia cleared her throat as she turned to look at him, "Not yet. I was hoping I could talk to you about something," Alicia said as she took a step forward, looking directly into his blue eyes.
His brow arched, "I thought you just asked me to not talk to you? Are you always this confused?" He asked with a shake of his head.
Alicia looked at him distastefully. He might be the most handsome man she had set eyes on, but he was also by far the most annoying. Raising her chin defensively she cleared her throat, "I asked you not to talk to me, I didn't say I wasn't going to talk to you," she pointed out reasonably.
"So I suppose you only need me to listen? Go on, then," he said, giving her the go-ahead to say what she wanted to say.
Alicia pursed her lips, "Like I said, I have a request to make..."
"A request? And what could that be?" He asked as his eyes shifted to Paulina who was standing behind her with teary eyes, and then back to her.
"Uhm... She can come with us, right?" She asked, not knowing how else to tell him what she wanted.
"No."
"No?" She echoed.
"No."
"What do you mean by that?" Alicia questioned him with a slight frown.
"Exactly what you heard. You don't need the extra help. There are enough maids in my kingdom to take care of all your needs. Now get in, you have delayed us long enough," he ordered roughly, and Paulina stepped back.
Alicia pulled Paulina's arm, bringing her to stand beside her, "I'm not leaving here without her. So she is either coming with us, or you will have to go without me," Alicia said stubbornly as she folded both hands across her chest.
"My lady—" Paulina said in panic as she looked between the two of them. She looked away from Prince Harold when it looked like his eyes were going to burn her to ashes.
Prince Harold's gaze moved from Alicia to where her so-called sisters huddled together to watch them as though they were waiting for something hilarious to entertain them, and for some reason he felt a sense of kinship with her since he only knew too well what it felt like to be the family's outcast.
"Life has never been fair to us women whether in the past or the future. We are expected to leave our homes, change our names, carry babies, and do all of that. I ask for something as simple as my maid coming with me to a strange land and that..."
"Get in," he cut in quietly.
"...is a problem. I'm not moving an inch from this place until you say Paulina can come with us. I don't even know anyone there, how do you expect me to survive?" Alicia asked, raising her chin stubbornly as she stared at Harold whose temper was beginning to burn.
Without saying another word, he lifted her off the floor, causing her to scream and flail about but he ignored her and roughly shoved her into the carriage where his half-sister was seated, causing Alicia to shriek in both surprise and anger.
Alicia turned in her seat to yell at him, but pressed her lips together when she met his cold angry eyes, "I don't have the patience for stubborn women, so it will be in your best interest to stay still. Your maid can join the servants in the next carriage," he said as he sat down beside his half-sister.
His half-sister who had been quietly observing them the whole time looked even more surprised than Alicia upon hearing his words.
Alicia beamed and peeked out to look at Paulina with a happy smile, "I told you I was going to make it happen, right? You can join the next carriage. You are coming with us," she said with a happy smile to Paulina whose face was wet with tears as she thought it was time to say goodbye to her mistress.
Paulina craned her neck to look at Harold, but he didn't spare her a glance. Seeing as he didn't object, she smiled at Alicia and bowed to Harold, before going to join the next carriage.
Alicia kept looking to make sure Paulina got into the carriage, before relaxing on her seat and heaving a sigh of relief.
"I'm Princess Tyra. Prince Harold's younger sister." Harold's half-sister informed Alicia with a happy smile, and from the gleam, in her eyes, Alicia could tell that she seemed really happy.
"Hi! My name is Alic... I mean Princess Amber," Alicia corrected with a smile. Somehow she felt that the beautiful teenager was the same age as the Princess whose body she was possessing.
Prince Harold who was known for his coldness and lack of desire to engage in a discussion with anyone turned to look through the window while he thought about what to do with his stubborn and talkative wife.
"I know who you are," Tyra said with an amused smile, wondering why Alicia bothered to introduce herself when they had come there to marry her.
"You look so beautiful and graceful," Alicia said as she eyed the young girl.
"Not anywhere near as beautiful and graceful as you are," Tyra said, and both ladies turned to look at Harold when they heard him snort.
"Did he just... snort because you called me beautiful and graceful?" Alicia asked with a slightly raised brow, making the corners of Tyra's lips pull up in a smile.
"I think he did," Tyra said with a nod, and turned to look at her half-brother with a grin, but he ignored both ladies.
Alicia tsked, and without saying anything else she looked out of the window. All she needed to do now was find out how far apart their kingdom was from the river where the Princess had drowned. She knew the chances of escaping from the carriage was slim, and she wasn't sure she was willing to risk her neck to the hot-tempered Prince for a futile escape.
"How long is the trip?" She asked, turning to look at the princess who had taken out a novel and was busy reading.
She glanced up with a lost look in her eyes which gradually cleared, "Three days."
THE STRANGE GROOM'S CURSED BRIDE (Add to Library)
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