The Cursed Prince’s Strange Bride

Chapter 40 – A Dangerous Hobby

As Alicia followed Harold, she noticed something strange, which she also found to be very interesting. Whenever a maid or guard was approaching and caught sight of Harold, they would immediately turn the other way. Harold didn't seem to mind them. He just kept going ahead while the others jumped out of his way, looking visibly scared. 

Alicia stopped walking and looked at his back. He seemed to realize she had stopped walking because he also stopped and turned around to look at her. 

Alicia realized that she was beginning to feel sorry for him. She had never seen him with a friend, and neither had she seen him laugh before. He didn't seem to have a good relationship with his family, and even the maids and guards were scared of him. Was this something he wanted? Or was it as a result of the curse or whatever it was that made them tag him the cursed Prince?

In the short time she had gotten to know him, she could tell that even though he was scary and made the air icy whenever he entered a room, he was not that bad. If he was, she was certain she would have been dead by now. He didn't wipe out Princess Amber's family when he found out that they had deceived him and given him an exiled princess. He had instead asked for her opinion first. He had also kept the fact that she was an exiled princess hidden from his family. If they had known she hadn't grown in the palace, but in the mountains, Beth would probably have killed her by now. 

Also, he had let Paulina come with her. Paulina also mentioned that someone from Harold had saved her when Beth was strangling her and also helped her with ointment for her wound. Wasn't that under his instruction? So what was so bad about him? Or maybe the rumors were indeed true? He had killed his half-brother because he wanted the throne? He didn't really seem like the type. She had noticed how weak and pale he looked every morning during breakfast. What did he usually do at night? Not that she was asking because she wanted to share a room with him; she was just curious because even during their trip down here, he always had the same pale look in the morning, and she couldn't help wondering what he did at night to make him look that way. Or was it like in movies where the prince sneaks out to attend a treason-worthy meeting, planning a coup to eliminate the king? If that was the case, she was going to risk it and talk this boy out of it. She liked the king and didn't want him to die. He was a nice ruler. 

She paused and angled her head when something else occurred to her. There was no way he could have attended such a meeting during their trip down here unless the people that traveled with them were in his group, and she highly doubted that. If that wasn't it, then what else could he be doing to make him look that way?

She was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't take note of the way Harold was staring at her as he wondered what was running through her head. She seemed to be looking at him with something akin to pity and fear, and he didn't like it. 

He didn't want her to look at him with pity. He wasn't used to being pitied. Neither did he want her to look at him with fear. He hated that disgusting look on people's faces. All he wanted was for her to not question his dominance, but for some reason, he didn't want her to fear him like everyone else. 

Her eyes focused on his, and she snapped back to her senses when she saw him watching her.

"Did you ask your servant to give Paulina an ointment for her wound?" 

"He is not a servant." He replied coldly before turning around and continuing walking, pissed for no reason at all.

That seemed to confirm her suspicion that he had sent the person. And now she felt bad for accusing him of having ill intentions towards Paulina. She followed closely behind and tried to catch up with his strides. 

Once again, Alicia found herself in his room. She closed the door behind him but didn't approach him. Instead, she stood by the closed door and looked around the room. She realized that because she had been so distracted by Paulina's case earlier, and then by the stabbing incident, she hadn't really taken her time to take a look at his chamber. 

Thinking of the stabbing incident now, she quickly reminded herself that now wasn't the time to admire the interior decor of his room, so she turned to look at him, but his back was to her.

 "Can I take a look at your wound?" She asked hesitantly. 

"You called me a baby." He interrupted as he turned around to face her. 

Alicia heard danger bells ringing in her head and took an involuntary step back, but her back was already against the door. Still facing him, she reached for the doorknob with her left hand so that she would run out of the room if he tried anything.

She shook her head slightly, "I didn't call you… a baby. I called you baby." She said this with an awkward smile as she tried to reason with him. 

Did he ever show any emotion other than indifference and anger? It was either he was annoying her or trying to scare her. To think she had been feeling sorry for him a moment ago. 

Harold's face was as rigid as stone as he looked down at her and gave her a look that said, 'what is the difference?' 

"Well, a baby is a child, but 'baby' is an endearment," Alicia repeated and prayed he would let it slide. But from the look on Harold's face, she could tell that she wasn't making sense. What she had said didn't make any sense to her either. 

"It's really not a big deal. I wonder why you people make big deals out of nothing here," Alicia said with a slight frown.

"I don't know what you mean by 'you people', but this will be the last time you refer to me by such a name," Harold warned in a low tone.

Alicia rolled her eyes, "Whatever you say. It's not like you're someone I want to call 'baby' anyway. In case you haven't noticed, there is nothing endearing about you," Alicia said irritably.

That certainly did not sit well with the prince, because he frowned at her. He wasn't someone she would call baby? Then who would she prefer to call that? And there was nothing endearing about him? Ah! He gritted his teeth as he looked at her. The only good thing at this moment was the fact that she was no longer looking at him with pity or fear in her eyes. Harold thought that anger was better than either of those emotions, as he gazed at her.

Alicia looked at him suspiciously as she wondered why he was quietly glaring at her. 

"Now that we are done with that, are you going to show me the wound or can I leave, my LORD?" Alicia asked with sarcasm.

He could tell that she was making fun of him, but he didn't care as long as she addressed him the way she should. "There is nothing to see. However, you can't leave yet," he said as he walked over to look outside the window.

"What more do you want to talk about? I already said I won't refer to you as baby anymore," Alicia said as she glared at his back.

Hearing her tone, he could tell that she was very annoyed, and somehow it amused him.

"How did you learn how to throw a dagger like that?" Harold asked as he slowly turned to look at her. This was something he had been thinking about since the incident earlier in his room. Had she learnt how to do that while in the mountains? Who taught her? And why had she bothered to learn such a skill? Was it to protect herself in the mountains? He wasn't so sure about that. She had such impeccable skills that he hadn't even been able to dodge it. 

Alicia's heart skipped a beat at the question. How was she supposed to answer a question she didn't know the answer to? That was also one of the things she wanted to know about Princess Amber. How did she learn how to throw a dagger like that? What else could she do?

Seeing how he was staring at her like he could read her mind, Alicia decided to say something. She cleared her throat, "It is just a hobby I picked," she said with a one-sided shrug. 

Hobby?

 "I see," Harold said with a nod, even though he didn't believe her. Somehow, he could see through her, and he knew that she was hiding something. How many more such dangerous hobbies had she picked?

"I can leave now, right?" Alicia asked as she was beginning to feel uncomfortable because of the way he was staring at her. 

Harold's lips twitched slightly but it was barely noticeable. It was amusing to see her this uncomfortable, "So we are having lunch together tomorrow in the garden?" He asked, wanting to know why she had refused Luciana's offer.

"You don't have to show up," Alicia assured him. The last thing she wanted was to spend so much time in his company.

"We will have lunch tomorrow. You can leave."

Alicia was tempted to curse at him but she swallowed it back and left his room, grumbling.

When it was just Harold there, he kept looking out the window before he muttered two words, "Alicia Queen."

Maybe it was time to have a word with her maidservant soon?