The Cursed Prince's Strange Bride

"Sit down. Ensure that you take a good look at me. I don't want you to miss any detail," Williams said with more authority in his tone, seeing how she was still standing and wriggling her hands nervously.

After thinking and overthinking it, Paulina reluctantly sat down on the floor across from him. She tried to focus on setting up the materials, but she was too nervous to do so.

"How did you live?" He asked, making her snap her head up to look at him. She was about to lower her gaze when he raised a hand and said, "Keep looking at me."

That was a serious battle for Paulina because she was torn between looking down and keeping her gaze on him.

"You can talk while looking at me."

"But... how... how can I..." She pointed at the materials on the floor. If he wanted her to talk to him while looking at him, how was she going to paint?

"We have all day," he said casually, before gesturing with his hands for her to go ahead and answer his question.

She tried to look away, but his gaze was fixed on her as if daring her to disobey and look away. She bit her bottom lip in confusion. Why was he curious about how she had lived? She couldn't tell him the truth. That would be a problem even if Prince Harold hadn't warned her to keep it away from everyone.

"I... lived well?" She answered uncertainly.

Williams just stared at her for a while before he asked, "Have you ebeen with a man before?"

"M-My...Lord!" Her eyes widened to the fullest, and as expected of Paulina, she looked like she was going to run away and started to panic, and at the same time, she was coughing.

"No, no, I didn't mean it that way," Williams said, not sure whether to laugh or facepalm. How come she was so easily flustered? Someone would think she was twelve and not older than him.

"I mean... have you been with a man the way you have been with me?" He asked Paulina, who looked like she was going to burst into tears at any point. Not only her face, but her entire body looked red as she tried to look at him but failed miserably.

"I... have not... been anyway... with you, My lord," she stuttered while looking at him with confused innocence.

This time, Williams facepalmed. "I mean, have you spoken with a man before? Have you painted any before? Taken a stroll with any?" He asked, choosing to be specific with his questions or else she was going to keep misinterpreting him until she had a heart attack and collapsed.

Paulina shook her head immediately at his question and wondered why he was asking her this.

Seeing her shake her head, he was not even surprised. It was quite obvious she had no idea how to relate with a man, more so, a werewolf male who naturally had an overbearing aura, and so one that was a member of the royal family. It explained why she was always in flight mode. It was probably too much for her to handle all at once.

"You haven't served any either?" He asked curiously, and once again, she shook her head.

She had spent 12 years in the mountains with her mistress and Madam Grace. How was she supposed to relate with a grown man? Except for those hunters she usually hid from in the mountains.

"No... My lord. I... have only served my mistress," she answered timidly.

He noticed that she didn't want to talk about that topic, so he decided to drop the subject, "Go ahead and draw. When you are tired, let me know. We can always continue another day."

She nodded, and when she looked down, she sighed softly in relief, but he heard her clearly and smiled before it disappeared quickly.

Paulina would have preferred for Beth to bully her and ask her to wash dirty toilets rather than for her to do this. She was very comfortable, especially whenever she looked up at his face and found him staring intently at her. How was she supposed to get the painting done at this rate? Another serious problem was her hands, which were not making it easy for her. They were seriously shaking, causing her to make a few mistakes. Thankfully, she was still drawing his portrait, so the mistakes could be excused, unlike if she had started painting already. She prayed that she would be able to make a good painting eventually and not provoke him for wasting his time after all the assistance he had been giving her.

"My father is the Queen's older brother," Williams said, and Paulina raised her head to spare him a glance, wondering what he was talking about.

"So that makes me the queen's nephew," Williams continued.

Why was he telling her that when she didn't ask him any questions? Although she had already figured out that he was related to the queen, she didn't know that it was his father who was related to the queen.

"I'm older than Susan. However, she likes to act like she is the older twin. She keeps saying that it doesn't matter that I came out first. Can you believe that?" Williams asked with a scoff, and although Paulina was nervous, she almost smiled at that.

Williams kept talking about random stuff like his funny childhood experiences and places he had visited, which he was sure she had never been to because she couldn't just move around freely. He had noticed how her hands were trembling earlier; hence, he thought if he talked about himself and random things that were unrelated to her, she would easily be able to glance at him at intervals without feeling overwhelmed.

He smiled when he noticed that his plan to distract her and help her relax was working, and her hands were no longer trembling as she drew his portrait. This was a good improvement. He really hoped that she would continue like this.

Away from there, Susan was surprised by how cooperative Princess Amber was as Luciana taught them both about the rules guiding the palace and how to conduct themselves as women of the royal family.

Alicia did all she was told as cheerfully as she could, even though she still thought that it was ridiculous. She asked questions and tried to seem interested in all of it.

When she saw Alvin hanging around, she figured that Harold had sent him to get her again. He had come earlier after she had her bath, to inform her that Harold wanted to have breakfast with her, but she had sent him back to inform Harold that she was going for her training and would have lunch with him when she was done.

"That is enough for today. Let's continue tomorrow," Luciana said with a satisfied smile, glad that Princess Amber had been very cooperative. She had heard all about how Princess Amber always stood up to Beth. Not that she had been expecting it since it was only normal for the younger princess to respect her. She was married to the oldest Prince after all unlike Beth who was a maid.

Once Alvin heard that the class was over, he rushed over to the maidens' chamber to pass across the message.

"My lady, Prince Harold is waiting at the royal garden," Alvin informed her, and she gave him a nod as she straightened her dress.

"I will join him now," she said and waved at Susan before walking away with Alvin.

Alvin walked a step behind her as usual, while she walked ahead of him, practising her smile and speech. She was going to apologize for overreacting the previous night and tell him that, after thinking long and hard about it, she had come to the conclusion that he was right. She was probably here for a reason, so she would stop trying to run away and face her new life here.

As they walked together, Alvin contemplated whether or not to inform Alicia about the rumors going around the palace. He doubted that she was going to hear about it since everyone was being careful with their words around her, and he also knew that Harold wouldn't say anything to her.

Somehow, he felt that since Harold seemed to care about his wife a lot, he owed her some loyalty too, especially as this involved her maid, who she cared about a lot. He had no idea what would happen if the king or queen got wind of the rumors before she did.

Alvin cleared his throat, and Alicia turned to spare him a glance. "You want to say something?" She asked curiously.

After a little hesitation, he said, "It's about your maid," Alvin started, and Alicia glared at him, thinking he wanted to talk to her about sending Paulina away.

Seeing the look on her face, Alvin frowned. Why was she looking at him that way when she didn't even know what he wanted to say yet?

"If Harold sent you to talk to me about it, tell him my decision is final! I don't want to hear about it!" Alicia walked away angrily, leaving behind a bewildered Alvin.

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