Chapter 11 - "Give Her Music."
Chapter 11 – “Give Her Music.”
Alicia wasn't sure how she was going to survive this. Now that she knew fainting was not going to work, what else could she do?
She frowned at the prince for making her plan fail and quickly slapped his hand away from hers before the rumours she had heard earlier about his bad temper resounded in her ear.
Oh, God! Did she want to get killed?
The gasps she heard confirmed her fear. If she didn't control herself and her temper, she was going to die here and would not return to her world or see Ruby anymore. 'My poor baby.' She almost cried as she remembered her dog, who was missing her by now.
"Even in your head, you are talkative." She heard a deep but quiet voice saying something beside her. Prince Harold had been talking to himself, but she heard him clearly and turned to glare at him. How dare he call her talkative? Were kids in this era this disrespectful? He was probably in his early twenties or even a teenager. She was 25 years old! She was not going to let this guy control her.
Her glare began to waver when his piercing blue eyes continued to stare at her. It was as if he was trying to penetrate her soul. The vibe he gave off was scary, even when he was doing nothing but staring blankly.
The glare on her face transformed into a forced polite smile and she gave him a bow, looking even more annoyed when his lip tugged upward slightly before he turned and returned to his seat.
She made sure to keep eyeing him until he sat down and faced her before she forced out a smile again. Everyone sitting around him looked stiff and was staring at her with something akin to pity and interest.
"Now, the princess will entertain the guests and her husband with her special performance," The Queen announced from where she was sitting.
WHAT! THE! HECK!?
Entertain the guests and her husband? Special performance? Her eyes looked around for Madam Grace and she noticed Madam Grace and Paulina standing beside each other. While Paulina looked at her with worry, Madam Grace was glaring at her.
Alicia wanted to ask what kind of entertainment they meant, but she figured that entertainment was the same everywhere. Since she was the one performing, she would have to do anything at all. If she was going to be starting a new life before she found her way home, she should as well start it well.
She looked at Prince Harold and smirked.
"I need music," Alicia announced as she looked away from him, while everyone looked at her and murmured in confusion, wondering why she was asking for music all of a sudden.
"What… do you need music for?" The Queen asked in a quiet voice while shifting uncomfortably in her seat. Was the Princess deliberately trying to ruin the ceremony just so that the Prince wouldn't want to marry her? If the Prince rejected her, that meant the king would have to offer them another princess if he wanted them to be his allies. That was if Prince Harold agreed to continue with this in the first place.
She had been the one who had suggested that the king bring the exiled Princess from exile to marry the cursed Prince. If she ruined this, then one of her daughters would be forced to marry him, and she didn't want that.
Alicia had noticed how everyone's eyes continued to go towards Harold as if they were expecting him to do something dangerous.
"To entertain the guests… duh? I mean.. my Queen… or is it Her Majesty? Her Highness? Your Highness?" She began to speak to herself again, but not so subtly for the others to hear.
When she raised her head, she noticed how red the King and Queen's faces were. If looks could kill, she was certain that she would have been cold dead by now.
Madam Grace, who was standing at one end of the hall with Paulina, glanced at Paulina nervously, "What is she doing?"
"I don't know," Paulina said with a worried frown while panicking. The Princess had been behaving strangely for the past few days, and the two prayed the Princess wouldn't cause any trouble for them all.
"You heard her. Give her music." Prince Harold suddenly ordered, much to the surprise of everyone.
Why was he being so calm? Was he planning to go on with it and deal with her later? Who was going to be at the receiving end of his wrath after this? Those who knew him wondered.
Prince Harold, whose eyes were yet to leave Alicia, considered her with interest. She was indeed talkative. Seeing her face, he could only pity her brain for the kind of trouble she was subjecting it to. Just what was she always thinking about?
There were a lot of questions he wanted to ask.
What was she trying to do? Although he had not been to a lot of royal weddings, he knew well enough to know that everything she was doing was wrong. Was this part of her plan to make him not marry her? Why had she been in the woods at that time of the night? Had she been trying to run away so that she wouldn't marry him? Was she mentally derailed? Because she had sounded like a crazy person that night and said a lot of things that didn't make sense. And why had a 'princess' been in that place?
For now, however, he couldn't find an answer to those questions. But if by chance she was trying to ruin the wedding because she was avoiding him just like every other lady was, then he wouldn't give it to her.
Although she was talkative and different from most princesses he had seen and known, he was oddly intrigued by all her ramblings the previous night, as well as the fake fainting episode. She was an intriguing nutcase.
At once, the hall was filled with the sounds of musical instruments. Drums, flutes, and many other instruments Alicia hadn't heard before.
She liked to dance, but unfortunately, she was a bad dancer. It didn't matter. She was just going to have fun. She believed even her awkward dancing style was going to be found to be very sophisticated here.
She took off her tiara, leaving it in front of the closest table, and her shoes next, which were killing her because of how tight they were before she raised her gown to reveal her bare feet and twirled around.
'Entertainment here we come!'