The Cursed Prince's Strange Bride

An Hour Earlier...

Harvey had a deep crease between his brows when he sneaked into Susan's room, but found no trace of her once again, just like the night before.

He had come in the previous night to find out if Susan and Williams believed Princess Tyra's testimony and to know if they were still on Alicia's side or not, and what they planned to do now about Lance, but Susan's room was empty.

He had gone in search of Williams too but had also not seen any trace of either of the siblings around the palace, and now he was getting more worried by the second.

Alicia would be executed soon, and he had no idea what the siblings were up to or what to do. He suspected that someone had threatened Princess Tyra into testifying against Alicia. No matter what Princess Tyra had said, he refused to believe that Alicia had done that vile thing. Amber was not that kind of person either. Her only hatred was for her father and the entire kingdom that had annihilated her entire maternal lineage. She doubted Amber had taken over at that point, realized she was in the Moon Kingdom and killed Beth just because she encountered a werewolf.

As he headed for the window to leave, the door suddenly opened, and he turned around, hoping it was Susan but was surprised when he gazed back at someone who was not supposed to be there.

What was Ivan's wife, who was supposed to be repenting of her sin, doing there, dressed in a maid's uniform? He wondered as he looked back at Luciana, who was also staring at him and wondering what he was doing in Susan's chamber.

Although it was not news to her that the Queen was trying to set him up with Susan, she did not think their relationship was close enough for him to be in her chamber. What did he want? She wondered as she narrowed her eyes at him.

"What are you doing here?" They asked each other in unison.

"You are not supposed to be here. Why are you here?" Harvey asked, and Luciana scoffed?

"At least I came in through the door. I can't say the same for you. What are you doing here when the owner of the chamber is not around?" Luciana asked, looking at him suspiciously.

She wasn't scared of being exposed by him since she knew that he would also need to explain the reason for his presence in Susan's chamber if he exposed her.

As far as she was concerned, everyone was a suspect until proven otherwise. She wasn't sure if Harvey had something against Beth or Princess Tyra, but his being in Susan's chamber like this was enough to make her suspicious.

Unfortunately, Harvey was also suspicious of her and began to rack his brain, wondering why she was truly here.

Was she here to hurt Susan? Had she sneaked out like this that night and probably fed Alicia the biscuit? Or did she have something to do with the other maid who was the witness, considering how she was dressed right now?

"Where is Susan?" She asked, looking around the chamber as though she half expected to see Susan's dead body on the floor or something.

Harvey's brows arched as he spread his arms, "As you can see, she is nowhere around," Harvey said as he eyed her curiously.

"What are you doing here in a maid's uniform?" Harvey asked, but Luciana didn't say a word. She couldn't trust him to tell him a word.

"Seeing as we can't tell anyone that we met each other here, and since we have no business being here in her chamber, let's pretend we didn't see each other," Luciana suggested, and turned to leave, but Harvey quickly stopped her.

"I can't find Susan. I haven't seen either her or Williams since last night," Harvey said, hoping she would have some information about their whereabouts.

Luciana looked at him. She too had come because she was yet to hear from Susan. Because she had run into Ivan on her way to meet Susan the previous day, she had returned to her chamber. And then things had become crazy after Princess Tyra's sudden testimony, and no matter how long she waited and paced around her chamber waiting to hear from Susan, no message had come.

She had even sent her maid to meet with Susan, but the maid had said Susan wasn't in her chamber. She had assumed that Susan was avoiding her because she now thought that Princess Amber was guilty. Hence, she had taken the risk of coming to her chamber despite how busy the whole place was with activity. She wanted to be sure whether or not Susan believed Tyra.

Luciana thought about the sudden disappearance of the twins, and she could bet her last gold coin that their father had caught them and locked them up. "You are going to be betrothed to her soon. You should go ask her parents," Luciana suggested before turning once again to leave, and then her hands hesitated on the doorknob as she glanced back at him.

"Please hurry. And if you find her, tell her that... I'm waiting to hear from her," Luciana said before walking away.

Immediately after Luciana left, she was confused about where to go now. She decided to return to her "prison" for now, but everything had happened so fast. She was about to take a corner when she bumped into someone and squealed from the shock of it. The next thing that happened, she was pushed so hard that her back hit the wall before she fell to the floor. As if it didn't end there, a sword was pointed at her neck.

"How dare a filthy maid touch—" Ivan paused, and his eyes widened when he saw who the maid was. He had reacted on impulse and failed to see who it was earlier.