The Cursed Prince's Strange Bride

Meanwhile, in the assembly hall, there was pandemonium as everyone seemed to have a different opinion concerning this case.

When the Queen could not take it anymore, she slapped her hand on the handle of her chair loudly and stood up.

The noise ceased and everyone turned to look at her.

"This is not a big issue to cause such a disagreement amongst everyone. Princess Amber killed one of us and she harmed our Princess. She probably has a grudge against the royal family and may have also had an accomplice to harm Prince Harold and get rid of the maid who witnessed the gruesome act carried out on my precious daughter and maid–" the queen choked on her sob and, fortunately for her, some people bought the act.

"Who knows what her plan is? I don't know what might happen to the rest of us if we keep delaying passing judgement," the queen said with a sniffle.

At this point, Alicia wasn't sure what to say again. It seemed that no matter what she said, these people were going to think she was responsible for what had happened. But she had to try. She couldn't die like this. Not when she didn't know what was wrong with Harold. She was going to survive and find the person who had done this. And she was going to consciously stab them to death for hurting Harold and for putting her and Paulina through this torture.

If she had only been guilty of stabbing Beth, she would have assumed Beth had attacked her first and she had unconsciously fought back. But then, she didn't have any reason to hurt Tyra.

And someone had also hurt Harold and probably gotten rid of the maid who was the witness. So at this point, she was convinced that this was a great plot to get rid of her. And her biggest suspect was Ivan. Not only because of all the period dramas she had seen, but also because of the way the Queen seemed to be pressing for her to be sentenced immediately.

Harvey was about to say something when Alicia raised her voice with what little strength she had and cried, "I DID NOT DO IT!"

Everyone's attention turned to her.

"If I... had a grudge against the royal family and wanted to get rid of all of you as you claim, I... would have poisoned the snacks I made for you all," she reminded them.

"Everyone here is aware that I have a good relationship with my husband—"

"KEEP QUIET!" The Queen yelled angrily at her, especially when she noticed how everyone was listening to her quietly.

"EVERYONE KNOWS I HAVE A GOOD RELATIONSHIP WITH PRINCESS TYRA TOO!" Alicia yelled back, ignoring the queen.

"I said keep quiet!"

"She has a point," Sir Richard said, coming to Alicia's aid.

"She has no point! My daughter and son are both struggling for their lives because of her! She needs to be executed."

Even Prince Ivan and Damon turned to spare her a glance when she referred to Harold as her son, even though it was a known fact that she despised Harold.

"Everyone saw how well she got along with Prince Harold. Why would she try to get rid of him in that manner?" Another person asked.

"I thought I heard she doesn't know about our kind? So how did she know to get rid of Prince Harold in that manner?" Another asked, and the queen looked at all of them in annoyance. How could they be this gullible because of some stupid snacks she had made for them?

Alicia didn't understand some of the things they were talking about, but she almost sighed in relief when she saw that some aristocrats were on her side now.

"Why are you in a hurry to execute her when the King is not here? Even though she is not a recognized princess yet, she is a member of the royal family and, as such, needs to be tried fairly." When Sir Richard said that, some other aristocrats nodded in agreement.

"What are you talking about a fair trial? She hurt a princess!" The Queen said in a raised voice, and one of the ministers looked at her with displeasure.

"You should sit down and control your temper. You might be the Queen, but a woman is not supposed to be making decisions for the court." Another minister said while frowning at the queen.

"That is right!" Many of the aristocrats began to agree, as it occurred to them that she was practically instructing them on what to do, and that was wrong.

For the first time ever, this rubbed the queen in a bad way, and she gritted her teeth as she looked at them with her fists clenched tightly beside her.

Damon gave her a look, telling her to sit down, before he stood up and said, "We need to come to a conclusion."

"I DID NOT DO IT!" Alicia yelled once again, and Damon glared at her.

"We don't expect you to admit to it even if you did," Damon said with disdain, and Alicia shook her head.

"I deserve a fair trial. I know that neither you nor the queen like me, so I don't expect you to judge this matter fairly. I don't want either of you to be in charge of this," Alicia said stubbornly, and Damon shook his head.

"Where do you think you are to make such a request? In the king's absence, I oversee the affairs of the kingdom, and you should keep your mouth shut if you don't want to be beheaded this instant," Damon threatened with a deadly glare in his eyes that shut Alicia up.

Seeing how she was quiet now, Damon's gaze moved around the hall from the face of one minister to the other until it settled on Sir Richard. "If your daughter, Benedicta, was the one who was murdered, would you demand a fair trial?" He asked, and just like that, he asked all the others who had daughters too.

"More than having just anyone punished for it, I would want the real murderer to be punished, so yes. If it was your own daughter being accused of such a crime, would you let her be sentenced in this manner?" Sir Richard asked in return, and once again everyone began to murmur.

"And how are we supposed to find the real murderer when she claims she doesn't remember anything?" Damon inquired.

"Torture. She should be tortured until she tells us what she knows. I'm sure she wasn't dragged out there without her knowledge. Torture has always been an effective way to help people remember things," Prince Ivan suggested.

They argued about it for some time until the members of the assembly reached a unanimous agreement that she and her maid should both be tortured until she confessed the truth about what happened that night, instead of sentencing her to death without getting a confession from either her or her maid.

"I will call for an assembly again after she has confessed what she knows," Damon announced, indicating the end of the meeting.

"I permit you to torture her yourself. For what she did to our daughters, do not show her any mercy," the Queen whispered to Beth's father as the others trooped away.

Although she would have preferred to sentence her to death immediately, since the members of the assembly had insisted that they get a confession first, she had no choice but to go along with their decision so she wouldn't appear suspicious. She did not doubt that Beth's father would torture her to death.

"Thank you, my queen," Beth's father said, his eyes burning with anger as he walked away from there and followed the guards who were dragging Alicia and Paulina away.

He turned to one of the guards beside him and said, "Get my daughter's body. I want her face to be the last face the murderer will see before she dies."

There was no way he was going to bury his daughter until he had avenged her death. Her murder was going to be buried first before her. That was the kind of justice she deserved.

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