Chapter 74 - Sleeping Beauty
Chapter 74 – Sleeping Beauty
The onlookers didn't know whether to be relieved for Beth or not when she passed the first stage. She was crying from not just the fear but some arrows that had scratched her accidentally. And by scratch, it was a big wound, and the presence of the wolfsbane made it excruciating. She also had blood on her lips because she had been biting down hard on her lips to stop herself from crying out, but unfortunately, that couldn't hold her.
Her father was one of the best warriors in this kingdom and had spent months conquering other cities and protecting the kingdom. Her mother had not only dedicated her life to serving the queen, but she had also died protecting the queen when the Omega woman, who had been assigned by the king to raise Harold, tried to kill the queen. She didn't know the full story, but she was able to find out that Prince Harold's mother was a mere Omega who had died after his birth, so he was placed under the care of another Omega to raise him. The queen had been nice enough to visit them one day, and the stupid woman attacked the queen. She couldn't fathom how an Omega would dare do that or how they got the boldness to do something like that to not just a beta but to the Alpha's bride.
The thought of her strong mother dying in the hands of a mere Omega that deserved to be extinct from the face of the universe made her blood boil. It was the reason she hated Princess Tyra. Omegas were nothing but useless.
One may ask why she was still going after Prince Harold despite knowing all of this. It was simple. Both their mothers and his so-called nanny, who killed her mother, were all dead, and nothing they would do was going to bring them back. So they had to plan for the future, and since Harold was an Alpha, she deserved to be his bride. Not only because her mother was killed because of him, and they had to pay her back somehow, but because she always went for the best. Her father's sacrifice, her mother's sacrifice, and her sacrifice to keep the palace running were enough for them to link them up together. So imagine her shock when she heard that he was getting married! And the worst part was, it was to a HUMAN!
But that same person was looking at her with dark eyes. She didn't want to believe that he was truly doing this to teach her a lesson for messing with his bride. She didn't even want to believe he had any iota of 'like' in his heart for her. Maybe he was just trying to vent his anger at being forced to marry that girl. Just maybe. With that in mind, she endured the pain but began to wish she had just allowed those arrows to strike her vital points because the next punishment was getting whipped. She wished it was as simple as it sounded. She was taken to a dark room where she had to strip off her outer garments. A female Beta knight handled this aspect, whipping her back with a cow leather whip with the tips dipped in wolfsbane. It seemed like Harold's plan was to make her wish for death instead.
Her cries reached the ends of the palace, terrifying everyone within the palace. This was a warning to never mess with any member of the royal family, whether they were significant or not, because if Beth, who was the daughter of Rager and the favourite maid of the queen, could face this, what about the others?
While all this was going on, Alicia was still in a deep sleep. At this point, she could be called 'Princess Aurora, the Sleeping Beauty' because of how peaceful and beautiful she looked.
If she had used a normal sleeping pill, she would have been a lot better now, but unfortunately for her, nothing about this palace was normal. The medicine was made for werewolves, which meant it had a longer-lasting effect on humans. Werewolves would have been knocked out for only a couple of hours or some could last for only a few minutes depending on their body, but Alicia had been out for over 24 hours now and even though the royal physician had made her drink medicine to help her wake up earlier, there was still no sign of that happening.
Paulina had a worried frown on her face as she sat on the bed beside her unconscious mistress while holding her hands. Although the physician had said that she was only sleeping and would eventually wake up, Paulina couldn't help feeling scared. What if she never woke up?
"Don't worry. She will be okay," Princess Tyra, who was seated on the other side of the bed, cut into Paulina's thoughts as though she could read her mind. Paulina gave her a nod but didn't take her eyes away from Alicia's face.
"Why are you so devoted to your mistress?" Tyra asked curiously. She had never seen a servant who was this attached to her mistress. The others did theirs out of duty, but it was so easy to see that Paulina loved her mistress.
"It's my duty," Paulina said softly, but Tyra shook her head.
"It's beyond duty. Not all servants would challenge Beth for their mistress," Tyra said since even she was sometimes scared of Beth.
"I had to do it. She would have done it for me," Paulina pointed out, and Tyra nodded. That was true. Princess Amber loved her maid, and she never failed to show it. Perhaps that was what Paulina was reciprocating.
Paulina, on the other hand, thought back on her relationship with her mistress. Although she had always loved the Princess, she realized that she loved her even more now after the drowning incident.
Both Tyra and Paulina glanced at the door when someone knocked on it before it was pushed open and the Queen walked in. She needed to confirm that Harold's bride was truly ill and not faking it while Beth, who was her person, was being tortured.
The queen's gaze fell on her daughter Tyra, who was seated on the bed, and disapproval flickered in her eyes before her gaze moved to Paulina, who had gotten off the bed at the sight of the queen and was now standing with her head bowed.
"She is still unconscious?" The queen asked as her gaze settled on Alicia and she moved closer to the bed.
"Yes, mother. Although the royal physician gave her medicine, it's not working yet," Tyra explained.
"Did he say what was wrong with her?" The Queen asked curiously.
"He only said that she is in a deep sleep," Tyra explained since that was the only explanation that the royal physician had given her.
Alvin had visited the royal physician on Prince Harold's order to ask if he had given Alicia any sleeping medicine, and the royal physician had explained that Alicia had requested it the previous morning. Alvin had then told the royal physician not to tell anyone about it. It wouldn't speak well of both Alicia and the royal physician if the royal family found out that she had done this to herself.
As the queen approached the side of the bed where Paulina stood, Paulina quickly moved away from there to stand at the other end of the room.
The Queen ignored her as she stood beside the bed and looked down at Alicia, who was still sleeping peacefully. "Princess Amber?" The queen called softly as she tapped her shoulder gently, but Alicia didn't respond.
Seeing the peaceful look on Alicia's face, she was convinced beyond reasonable doubt that she was truly deep in sleep. She had initially assumed that Alicia had probably been hurt or that she was pretending to be ill, as Beth had said. Why had Beth decided to cause such a nuisance without checking her facts?
"The moment she regains consciousness, let me know," the Queen instructed Tyra before turning around to leave the chamber.
She headed straight for the royal garden, where Ivan was waiting for her, and once he saw her approaching, he stood up and said, "How is she?"
The Queen looked around to be sure that no one was anywhere around before sitting down, "She is unconscious like they said."
"He is really torturing Beth. Don't you think he is doing that because he knows that she is our person?" Ivan asked as he watched his mother.
"She was wrong to have done what she did, so we can't interfere," the Queen said with a sigh.
Ivan was about to say something when his guard joined them in the garden and bowed to the two of them.
He turned to look at the guard who was staring at him like he had something to say, and he nodded for the guard to come forward. The guard leaned forward and whispered something into his ear making Ivan raise a brow as he dismissed him.
"Did something happen?" The queen asked curiously.
"One of the palace guards thought he saw Harold climbing out of his bride's chamber through the window just before dawn this morning," he said, making the queen's brows arch.
"Does that mean that he didn't shift last night?" She asked, clearly surprised by the information.