The Cursed Prince's Strange Bride

When Alicia entered her room, she was a little surprised to see how the entire place looked. Everywhere was clean and it looked like the bed had been replaced too. The damp odor was no longer in the air, but had been replaced by a pleasant smell.

"What happened?" She asked, dumbfounded. It hadn't been a very long time since she left the room, so how come it had been transformed like this?

"Even though you are going to be spending the nights in my chamber, you will still return to yours during the day. It is only appropriate to make it comfortable for you." Harold said casually behind her.

She turned to look at him and smiled, "You are very thoughtful. Thank you." She told him before turning to look around. If they could easily do this in less than a few hours, how come they had left it like that this entire time?

He waved it off like it wasn't a big deal. So little things like these were the key to a woman's heart? Harold reasoned. That book wasn't totally useless after all.

"The portrait?" Harold said, reminding her impatiently.

"Oh, yes!" She turned towards the drawer in the dressing table and reached for the little bag inside. She took out Amber's diary and opened it to take out the piece of paper she had kept folded inside it.

Harold didn't wait for her to open it for him. He took it from her and opened it.

Somehow, Alicia was curious to know what he thought of her appearance. It was as though he was assessing her, and she was waiting for him to call the results. Would he prefer her face or Amber's face?

Alicia watched Harold as his eyes patiently roamed over the portrait painting of her face. Why was he taking such a long time? Did he know her? She knew that Harold must have been young when the Queen was killed, but who knows? Perhaps she had visited their kingdom when he was a child or something?

"This is exactly what you look like?" Harold asked after a while without taking his eyes away from the painting. He honestly hadn't been able to put a face to 'Alicia Queen' but he certainly hadn't expected her real appearance to be a lot more pleasing to the eyes than that of Amber.

"Yes," she said with a nod. Hoping that he was done now.

"Your eyes are blue?" Harold asked once again as he looked at the blue eyes that looked lighter than his.

"Yes. Exactly like hers," Alicia repeated, trying not to sound impatient.

"It makes sense that this is you," he said softly without taking his eyes off the painting.

"How so?" She asked in confusion.

"Only someone with such a rebellious look can harbor your soul and foul mouth."

Alicia's brows furrowed in confusion when she heard that.

"Is that... an insult?" She asked but gave him a suspicious look when he folded the paper and kept it inside his inner shirt.

"What are you doing?" She asked him.

"I'm keeping it."

Alicia blinked back him surprise, "You want to keep the painting? Why?" Alicia asked, since that was the last thing she had been expecting him to say.

"Because it is important that I do. You may misplace it. And you do not need it. She is not your mother, and you already know what you look like."

Alicia could not follow his train of thought. "Hold on, that is not your concern. Besides, it was a gift from Paulina!"

"Do you know who made it possible for Paulina to make you this gift?"

"It was by chance that she was assigned to clean the painting room, so how does that have anything to do with— oh!" She exclaimed. "It was you?"

"You can put it that way if you please." He took her hand and led her to the bed before pushing her down to sit on it. Then he crouched in front of her.

"You have had a long day. You should forget about the painting and rest. Let's talk again tonight. Is that okay, Princess?"

Alicia's mouth was too dry for her to say anything, so she bobbed her head. Although she loved the painting and wanted to hold on to it as that was the only physical thing she had left of her real self, and she feared that if she didn't look into that painting often she would soon forget what she really looked like, she also wanted someone else to know what she looked like. Someone who would look at her and remember her real face even if she forgot. Hence, she would let him have it if he wanted it that much. She could always ask Paulina to make another painting for her.

"Good," Harold said as he made a mental note to have the portrait framed so that it wouldn't get crumpled and ruined.

When he was about to stand up, she reached for his arm and held him back. "Next time, do not keep anything from me. I want to always know what is happening. It is better that I know about my actions, whether or not I was conscious." Alicia told Harold quietly.

"Alright."

"I should go and see Hellion before it gets too late," Alicia said and tried to stand up, but he wouldn't let her.

"Rest."

Rest? How could she rest? Not only did she have that scary conversation with the king, she also realized that she had killed three people. The last thing she wanted was to sleep for fear of having a nightmare. It would be better for her to do other things to occupy her mind. Besides, going to see Hellion was important to her escape plan, and they were not done with their discussion that led her to show him the painting either. She needed them to finish it.

"BI still need answers," she said, stopping Harold again when he tried to stand up and leave.

He would have to start by finding out everything he could about Queen Anne. He would need to know who she was before she became Queen, what led to her death, when she died, and how she died. If Alicia's suspicion was right that Queen Anne was also possessing Princess Amber's body, then he would need those answers to understand what had also brought Alicia to possess the body of the daughter of a woman that looked like her.

Wow! It was all so complicated.

Harold turned to her, "Don't worry, I will find a way to get all the answers you need," Harold promised, since he was also curious now, "Until then, let's focus on other things." Harold said to her softly.

"Can you stay until I fall asleep?" She asked in a pleading tone.

He looked hesitant for a moment before he stood up and went to sit down on the chair in the room.

Her thoughts drifted back to her conversation with the king. She had a lot of things to think about. She wanted to know more about him and what he was thinking, but she didn't know how to ask him since she could guess he wouldn't want to tell her.

"Stop thinking and sleep," he said from where he had been watching her.

She sighed and closed her eyes. It didn't take long before she drifted off to sleep.

Harold stood up and went to the bed to cover her up properly. He reached to touch her face, but just as he was about to touch it, he stopped and withdrew his hand before he walked out of the room.

He knew that from now on, his life was going to be even more complicated than it already was. How did he get to this stage? Wasn't this the exact thing he had been trying to avoid the entire time?

As soon as he got inside his room, Alvin knocked and entered.

,m

"How did it go?" He asked Alvin.

"It was just as I suspected. There is something strange about the girl. Her smell changed again to the first one I was familiar with."

He narrated to Harold about how he had kept a close eye on her and even followed her when she went into a store to get some things. When she came out, her smell was different, and there was something odd about her.

"Is she wearing a scent mask?" Harold asked, even though he suspected that it was more than that.

"I don't think so." Alvin shook his head.

"I think there are two different people."

"She is a twin?" Alvin asked, a little confused.

"I believe so."

Harold pondered what he had just been told.

"So one is inside the palace and the other one is outside. And they switch places once in a while? Interesting." He said to himself.

"What should I do?" Alvin asked Harold, who was deep in thought, wondering if this was truly the case.

"I think it's time to take that stroll into town again."

"I can find the one outside easily." Alvin offered.

"Hold on. Keep an eye on the one inside the palace. I need proof that she works with either Ivan or the queen. I also need to know what they are planning."

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