Chapter 41 - Little Girl?
Chapter 41 – Little Girl?
In different parts of the palace, every member of the royal family who had been at the dinner table was talking about Alicia and how she had called Harold, a baby. They all couldn't wrap their heads around the fact that she had called the almighty Prince Harold a baby.
Prince Ivan and Luciana, who were seated on the balcony of their chamber, laughed as Ivan mimicked Harold's facial expression when his wife referred to him as a baby.
"How could she do something as silly as that?" Amidst her laughter, Luciana asked.
I think Harold is probably going to kill her sooner rather than later," Ivan said with a satisfied smirk.
"It suits our purpose if he kills her too. Who would want to marry a cursed prince who not only killed his brother but also murdered his wife? And who would want to crown such a prince as king?" Luciana asked, and her husband turned to look at her with a proud smile.
"You always make me proud, my Queen," Ivan said, and Luciana giggled at the title.
"You still have to get close to her. We don't want the King to become too fond of her," Ivan reminded her, and the smile wiped off her face when she recalled how the King had asked to have lunch with Harold's bride.
In all the years since she was married to Prince Ivan, the king had never asked to have lunch with her or anything else, so why were they giving Princess Amber special attention? "Of course, I intend to keep her very close where I can watch her," she assured her husband with a cold smile. As the first mistress, it was only natural for Harold's bride to be subservient to her. She was going to rule over the inner court in the near future, after all. In fact, it had been written in the sky that her husband and her were going to be the next rulers, so that was not an issue to trouble herself over. The only problem now was having a child, and as soon as that happened, their fates were going to be sealed and nothing would stop them.
She turned to her husband with a suggestive look in her eyes. He knew his wife quite well enough to know what that look meant, and as soon as he saw it, a smile split his face. Even though they had both been trying for a child for the past few years since they got married, he had a feeling that tonight, something was going to change and they would have not just a child, but a son.
In another part of the palace, Susan turned to both Williams and Tyra as they all took a stroll down the hallway after dinner.
"Baby? Can you believe she called him a baby?" Susan asked, in disbelief.
"She is very weird… But in an amusing way," Williams said with a slight smile as he recalled the look on Harold's face, "Do you think she is going to be alright?" He asked both Tyra and Susan curiously.
"I don't think he is going to hurt her," Tyra said quietly. If Harold was going to hurt her, he would have done so from the very moment he laid eyes on her at their wedding. She had brazenly asked for a handshake, called him Harold, behaved in an unladylike manner, and went against Damon, the king's Beta. Not only that, she had been disrespectful to him a couple of times, but instead of being angry, he was amused. So she doubted he was going to get rid of the only thing that amused him in the whole world.
"I agree with you. Besides, his majesty seems to like her," Susan said thoughtfully, and Williams nodded.
"Yes, the King seems to be fond of her. He even smiled and referred to Prince Harold as her baby," Williams said, and both siblings laughed in amusement, while Tyra looked ahead of them when she saw Paulina.
The twins stopped laughing when they sighted Paulina walking down the hallway and looking around like she had missed her way, "Isn't that the girl from last night?" Williams asked his sister as they all watched Paulina.
Her scent had changed. It was obvious that someone had done something about it. Plus, she looked very different. The filthiness had been handled, and now she was wearing a new, loose-fitting dress and better shoes. Also, her hair was properly brushed and her neck was still tied. The only thing that remained the same about her was her anxiety as she looked around, seemingly lost.
"Yes, that's the human girl. Princess Amber's maid," Susan confirmed, "I think she lost her way," she observed.
"Paulina!" Tyra called out and beckoned to her with a wave.
Paulina's head whipped up and she looked ahead of her to see who had called her name. She was new here, and the only person she could think of who knew her name was her mistress, and that wasn't her voice.
When she saw the group, she quickly recognized Princess Tyra since they had traveled together, and then Susan as the lady who had been receiving training with her mistress earlier. Her gaze moved to the young man, and her heart skipped a beat when she recognized him. He was her savior. He was alive and well!
Realizing that she was staring when she had been called, she quickly hurried to where the group was standing and bowed to them politely.
"Did you lose your way?" Tyra asked as she glanced at Paulina's neck, which had been covered with a neckerchief. She had heard from Susan about why Princess Amber had hit Beth earlier.
"Yes, my lady. I went to have dinner with the others and couldn't find my way back," she explained with her head bowed.
"I think every stranger gets lost on their first visit here. Do you remember the first night we were here?" Susan asked her brother with a grin, and Paulina used that opportunity to sneak a peek at Williams.
How was she supposed to thank him for saving her? Who was he to the ladies? Was either of them betrothed to him? She didn't want to thank him in front of the ladies and risk being misunderstood. The last thing she wanted was to cause any more trouble for herself and her mistress. Perhaps she should pretend not to recognize him unless he brings it up first.
However, when she snuck a peek at him, she found him staring at her intensely, and looked down immediately, her heart beating hard from what she guessed was fear.
"Lift your head. It's uncomfortable treating us like that." Susan said to Paulina, who was still looking down while clenching the front of her dress.
"What happened to your hand?" Tyra asked as she took Paulina's hand to inspect it. She had a fading bruise mark on her wrist.
Paulina looked at Williams once more before she quickly turned to look at Princess Tyra and shook her head, "N-Nothing."
Williams' gaze narrowed on her wrist. The look she had given him when Tyra asked caught his attention. He remembered how he had pulled her last night to hide her from one of the night guards that had gotten a whiff of her scent. He hadn't even exerted much force because he knew how weak humans were, so he had been very careful. Who would have thought even that would have been too much to cause her this bruise? Looking at her, he knew that he wouldn't need to put in any effort to snap her into two.
"I'll take you to your mistress's room." Tyra offered when she realized Paulina was not going to talk about the bruise. She guessed it was Beth's handiwork again.
"Thank you." Paulina bowed to Tyra before looking at the other two to bow. Now that she was staring at them, she noticed the resemblance between the two. Were they siblings? But she dared not ask that question out. She was only a maid, and standing in front of royals like this was already enough to get her punished. All she wanted right now was to leave them and go meet her mistress, because the more she stood there with them, the more uncomfortable she was.
"Sleep well, little girl." Susan said as she turned to leave with Princess Tyra.
Paulina almost cringed at being addressed like that. She had heard from Princess Amber that the girl she was training with was 18 years old, which meant she was a year older than Susan. But she didn't try to correct her as she left with Princess Tyra.
"Isn't she adorable?" Susan asked her brother when they left. "It's a good thing she has a mistress willing to fight for her. I feel so bad for her. She only arrived here yesterday and already had a lot of bruises." She sighed.
"The bruise on her hand was from me." He said softly, feeling guilty.. The two never hid anything from each other so he confessed to her.