Chapter 32: Give And Take.

Alicia had planned to look around for a rope, but it seemed like the kingdom had everything else she was looking for except a rope, and it was very frustrating for her. She must have spent over two hours walking around the palace, but there were still many more rooms she hadn't been able to access. The place was that big. 

Giving up, she decided she would have to go to the servant's quarters to look for Paulina. Although she had asked some maids about Paulina and they had all purposely chosen to be tight-lipped, they did let her know that she would not be able to leave the palace walls to go over to the servant's quarters, and it made her regret entering back inside after sending the guests away. That stupid Harold was the cause of all this!

She was Alicia Queen, after all. She always got her way. And if there was something she was good at, aside from sewing and cooking, it was being athletic. Growing up poor gave her a lot of talents. She had to do everything she could to survive, and now she needed to survive.

As she returned to her bedroom to draft out a better plan, she scanned the windows for the best one to use for her escape to go meet Paulina so they could run away together. After finding the perfect spot, she smiled to herself. Tonight was the night. She had faith that she was going to escape from the place. 

She stopped when two guards stopped in front of her, looking at her strangely. 

"WHAT?!" She snapped at them like she had been doing to everyone here. Why did they all have the same look on their faces, like she was some kind of disgusting thing brought to disrupt their lives here? Now that she thought about it, she hadn't seen that king's assistant. The one that drew a sword at her. She hoped to never see him again. 

"You are needed at the maidens' hall immediately."

The maidens' hall. That was where she was to have her training with Beth. She sighed in resignation. As much as she wanted to run away, she had a feeling that she wouldn't be able to get away from these two guys.

"Lead the way."

The two turned around in sync and even the steps they took was the same. Alicia could not help but mutter "cool" before she marched along with them. 

"I feel so bad for Prince Harold," Luciana, Prince Ivan's wife, said with a giggle as she and her husband watched Alicia march along with the guards. 

Her husband laughed along with her. "I'm sure he feels worse. With that temper of his, how much longer do you think my younger brother is going to let her live?" 

"It doesn't matter how long he plans

to let her live, we need to do our best to keep her. As long as she is here, things would be difficult for him, and no one is going to accept him as a ruler with that kind of bride," She replied with a confident smirk. 

"You are indeed my bride," Prince Ivan said with pride as he took her hand in his and kissed the back of her hand. "Be friends with her."

"I plan on doing just that." She said with a mischievous look in her eyes as Alicia disappeared from their sight.

****

"Such a fine name for an empty room," Alicia muttered to herself as she entered the maidens' chamber. She had expected to see things with color and nice decorations, but everywhere was plain. It only had nice scenery since it was open and below it was a stream. 

Beth was already standing there with the usual grumpy and annoyed look plastered on her face. She had a whip in hand, which Alicia seriously hoped wasn't for her. There were four other maids as well inside the room who had their heads down, and the last was the Queen's niece, Susan, who looked like she would rather be anywhere else than in this room. 

"LET'S BEGIN!" Beth said, hitting the whip on the only table inside the room. 

"Oh... so the whip is for the table? Nice choice." Alicia nodded to herself. 

"Not so fast!" Alicia said, raising a finger to stop Beth. "Don't you think you owe me something?" She asked with a slightly raised eyebrow as she moved closer to where Beth was standing.

"And what could that be?" Beth asked innocently, even though between the two of them she knew what Alicia was talking about.

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"Wow! You do not know? My apologies then. I should have known better than to expect a mere maid like you to keep to your words. And you are the one to teach us manners? How funny," Alicia said with a scoff as she stood in front of Beth with both arms folded in front of her, and they both eyed each other while Susan watched the scene before her with obvious fascination.

Beth looked very pissed at being spoken about in that manner by a mere human, but before she could say a word, Alicia brushed past her and went to take the seat next to Susan. 

"And just so you know, I'm not moving an inch until I see Paulina here. Trust me, the little show I put up during breakfast today is the least of what I can do if you mess with me. If you love your position, get me Paulina immediately!" Alicia ordered as she crossed one leg over the other and turned to Susan.

"Where is that cute brother twin of yours?" She asked in a conversational tone.

Susan grinned when she saw how relaxed Alicia was, compared to Beth, whose hands were balled into a fist. She could tell that if Alicia wasn't a princess, especially the cursed Prince's bride, Beth would have torn her apart already.

"Go and get the maid," Beth instructed one of the maids present with them, and she stood up and left immediately, while Alicia turned to look at Beth.

"That wasn't so hard after all, was it? Listen, Beth, where I come from, there is something called 'give and take'. It means that in order to have something, you have to be willing to give something first. That's how it is going to be between us. If you want me to do something, you will have to give me something. And one of those things is respect! I don't care how you treat other people around here, but when it comes to me, you will have to watch your manners!" Alicia said with a smirk.

"By the way, when are you going to fix my bedroom as the king instructed? Or do I have to raise the subject during dinner?" Alicia asked in a threatening tone, making Beth's eyes flash angrily, but she refrained herself from being rude.

There was something odd about this human that she couldn't quite place her fingers on. She didn't seem like a normal human. She had asked the maid, Paulina, some questions about the Princess, and everything the maid had said about her mistress was the complete opposite of what she was seeing. 

"After your training, I will take care of it," Beth said in a calm tone. She knew one thing for sure; this girl was going to die by her hands one day. 

"I will supervise you as you do it. I'm not sure I can trust the taste of a maid," Alicia said, and then stood up immediately when she saw Paulina approaching her.

"Paulina!" She cried as she hurried forward to meet Paulina halfway, while Beth watched them with disapproval.

"Milady!" Paulina cried in relief as she let Alicia embrace her. She had thought she would never see her mistress again the previous night when she was almost attacked by that animal.

'If only she knew that her maid had almost died the previous night,' Susan thought to herself as she watched the two embrace.

"Why do you look so thin? Are you not eating well? Where did you sleep? Are you okay?" Alicia asked with concern as she looked her over.

"I'm fine. You look fine, milady. I'm glad," Paulina said with a teary smile, and Alicia reached out to wipe the tears on her cheeks.

Beth cleared her throat, "Now that you have seen her, we should start," Beth said, and Alicia gave her a nod.

"Wait while I take my class," Alicia instructed Paulina as she went to stand in front of Beth, and Susan joined her.

Two maids each helped Susan and Alicia stand in a position from which they soon realized that they were not supposed to move from that position until they were asked to. 

Alicia decided to obey for now since she had seen Paulina. In a few hours, they would both be out of this palace. 

Thankfully, they were not made to do anything. Instead, Beth recited sets of rules to the two, which they were supposed to repeat after her. 

Women were not supposed to do this. Women were not supposed to do that.. All of these made Alicia thankful for the fact that she was not born in this era.

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