Chapter 48: Internal Quarrel

Alvin related his conversation with Paulina to Harold, and all Paulina had told him about her kind and meek mistress. 

After listening to Alvin's disappointing response, he concluded that he should have questioned the maid by himself. If you wanted a job like that done well, then you had to do it yourself. Not that he didn't trust Alvin to get his job done, but Alvin didn't have enough information, so he didn't exactly know what to ask, hence he didn't get the answers that he wanted.

Although he trusted Alvin, he had yet to tell Alvin about Alicia being an exiled princess or about meeting her in the woods, so he believed Paulina had tried to hide it from him and told him nothing about it. 

That night in the woods, where had she really been going to? A princess in exile who was now supposed to return home and marry a prince wouldn't try to run away, would she? She would be thankful that she was finally going to live a normal life. But maybe that was not the case with her? 

She had kept talking about going home. What other home did she mean when she kept trying to escape on the night before her return to her kingdom? Why had she been saying strange things about being someone else and about the year 2020? 

"What about Prince Ivan and the Queen?" 

"There hasn't been any suspicious movement between either of them," Alvin informed him. 

Harold was convinced that there had to be something. Those two were good at acting. They hadn't even looked surprised when he returned unscathed. He was sure they had been the ones who had sent those hunters after him. Whether he got proof or not, he was going to pay them back with what mattered to them the most. But for now, something else was more important to him. 

"Paulina. I want to talk to her myself. Bring her to me. Her mistress shouldn't know about this," Harold ordered. Alvin didn't move immediately. He wanted to ask Harold what he planned to do to the little girl to make her say whatever he wanted to hear, but he knew it was impossible to question Harold. He could only hope that he didn't hurt the girl because he wasn't sure he wanted to be there when Princess Amber went crazy. 

Alvin waited until Paulina left the room before he approached her. As he did, he could see the mixture of emotions on her face. It seemed like she was considering running away and also considering standing there since he had helped her a couple of times before. Using her nails to cut her fingers nervously, she waited until he stood in front of her. 

"Come with me," he said, and turned around to leave, expecting her to follow. 

"W...why?" She asked nervously, without moving. They had already spoken earlier. What else did he want from her? It didn't help that she was just talking with the princess about escaping. Did they, by chance, know about it already? 

Without looking at her, he replied, "It's a royal order." 

That made her heart skip. But as soon as he started walking again, she followed nervously. She didn't know what information they were looking for, but she was not going to release it to them. Protecting her mistress was her utmost priority. 

He led her to the room she knew was Harold's chamber. She had followed them here when he kidnapped the mistress. 

Alvin knocked once before he opened the door and gestured with his head for her to go in.

Paulina stood there, scared out of her wits. She wished she could run now and escape from this, but that was a farfetched dream. 

"You will be safe," he assured her. Even though he wasn't sure himself, something told him the prince wouldn't hurt her. 

His words gave her the courage to step in and she immediately turned to look at the door when Alvin closed it without entering inside. 

She panicked before she turned to look in front of her at the person looking over the window with his hands behind him the way royals did. 

"Spill it," he said in a commanding voice without turning to look at her.

**********

Once it was dinner time, Harold went to the hall. If there was one thing he desperately wished for, it was for this whole family gathering to end. He missed those days when he could stay for months without seeing those faces. That was the reason the King insisted that every member of the family had to be together like this. 

"It brings oneness," the King had said, almost making him laugh. 

Once he arrived, he didn't pay attention to the others, even though their conversations had stopped and they were looking at him. His eyes moved straight to Alicia's seat, surprised to see that she was yet to arrive. He had even arrived late, so why was she not here?

He glanced at Tyra, Susan, and Williams and wondered why the people she often walked with were seated and she had yet to arrive. He tried not to let his surprise show as he walked over to his seat and sat down.

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The more time passed, the more worried he became. Where was she and why was she running late? The last thing he wanted was for her to arrive after the King and Queen must have been seated.

"Why don't I see your bride around? Or did you tie her up in your chamber?" Ivan asked with curiosity, but Harold ignored him. He wasn't interested in wasting his breath talking to his brother. His eyes unconsciously kept going to the door as he wondered what was keeping her. Was she in trouble? Or was she sick? He remembered how pale and sickly she had looked inside the dungeon. 

'See what you caused? You were harsh on her earlier.' His wolf huffed.

Harold could not believe this. Wasn't his wolf yelling that he was weak just a few hours ago? Now he was the bad person, and his wolf was the saint? 

'YOU!!!'

'ME WHAT?' His wolf asked challengingly. 'How could you take her to that kind of place? You don't even know how to treat a woman.' He scoffed. 

Okay... Harold could not believe this. His nails dug fiercely into his palm as he tried to keep it in. After he was done settling his priorities, he was going to look for a good shaman to cut off his wolf part. He could no longer have this partnership with him. He missed those days when he didn't have to hear this annoying voice inside his head. 

'You think I want to stay with you too?'

'You are an aminal.'

'Oh my! Why didn't I ever think of that?' His wolf exclaimed dramatically, but Harold could clearly hear the sarcasm laced in his tone and got even angrier. 

Just as Harold was about to finally stand up and go in search of her, Alicia appeared by the doorway, panting as though she had been running. He pretended not to pay attention to her as she walked over to her seat beside him and sat down.

Where had she been? And why was she panting? He wondered.

"Are you okay?" Luciana asked with a concerned smile.

"Yes, I'm fine. Thank you," Alicia answered breathlessly with a nod. 

Harold half expected her to start greeting everyone loudly as usual or to say something to him, but she simply acknowledged the others with a nod before turning to look at him, "Thank you," she murmured, and then looked ahead of her.

What was she thanking him for? The balm? Alvin feeding her maid? Or her room, which was clean? Harold wondered, but didn't respond or ask her any questions.

'8She will never thank you like that.' He said smugly to his wolf, who had disappeared since she entered, probably embarrassed after blaming Harold, and now she was here looking fine. 

Alicia's gaze met Tyra's, and Tyra quickly looked down timidly. She couldn't help being embarrassed that she had run away at Alicia's time of need simply because she had been scared. How could she look at Alicia in the face and call herself a friend?

Seeing the guilt on her face, Alicia felt sorry for her. She couldn't help wondering why Tyra always seemed to be so fearful even though she was a princess. Was she being abused?

Soon, the King and Queen arrived, and they all stood up as usual to greet them. After that, Alicia ate in silence, and this time the king did not ask her any questions. Everyone around the table could not help feeling that something was wrong. Why was dinner suddenly so quiet? Was Alicia sick? 

After the King and Queen left, Alicia stood up next and bowed once before she left without saying a single word, surprising everyone, but most especially Harold, whose eyes followed her back until she left the hall. What was wrong with her? She didn't look too well, and she was quiet the whole time. Was this what it felt like to worry about someone? 

But he didn't have the time to think too much about this because it was pretty late already and he had to leave the palace.

Once Harold left, Ivan and his wife also left, leaving just Tyra, Susan, and Williams.

"What is wrong with her? Is she ill? Should we check on her?" Susan asked with a concerned frown, and Williams turned to her, wondering why she seemed so concerned.

Seeing the questioning look on Williams's face, she shrugged, "Dinner was boring.. I like it more when she is active."

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