The Cursed Prince's Strange Bride

When Luciana heard his voice, she raised her head fully and looked up at him while trying to bear the pain she felt.

"What... are you doing here?" Ivan whispered in surprise before hurriedly going to check the corner he had come from. He had been pissed at his mother, so he had walked ahead of her. And now, she was closely approaching.

He held Luciana up with one hand, ignoring her cry of pain, and moved in large strides until they got to the closest door, where he shoved her inside before he entered and closed the door.

"What are you doing out here dressed like this?" He asked in a scolding tone but still kept his voice low.

Luciana was still trying to get over all that had just happened. Bumping into him, the way he had shoved her and tried to kill her because he had thought she was a maid, and how he had suddenly brought her here.

Ivan, on the other hand, was trying to control his temper. He had tried to go pay Harold a "visit", knowing Alvin was not around. But those stupid guards had refused to let him in! He could not shake off the anger he felt. He was a prince and the real heir to the throne. Yet they had refused to let him in! It didn't help that his mother was always willing to worsen his moods and call him names whenever he could not achieve something.

He swore to himself that as soon as he became king, he was going to kill Alvin in front of Harold before he did the same to those guards who had looked down on him.

"Let me go!" Luciana hissed angrily and forced her hand out of his grip. She tried to walk away, but he blocked her path and frowned at her.

"What have you been up to?" He asked suspiciously.

"Nothing!"

"Ah! I see what this is..." he said, smiling. "You must have heard what was going on and wanted to see what happened to the woman who ruined your life," he smiled lovingly and began to caress her face, but she slapped his hand away and looked at him in confusion.

He didn't look offended instead, he continued to smile.

"Sure, my love. I will grant your wish. And allow you to watch her take her last breath."

The confusion on Luciana's face transformed into shock, and her eyes widened while Ivan grinned in delight.

*******

Harvey climbed out of the window and quickly made his way into the palace. He had heard from his mother the previous night, and according to her, Susan's mother had come to inform her that he and Susan were both deeply in love, and she even told his mother about the letter Susan had been sending.

Thinking about it now, he suspected that the recipient of the letter might be Luciana. He shook his head. That wasn't important right now. As long as they believed that he and Susan were in love, they wouldn't suspect a thing.

Standing outside the door of their chamber, he knocked on it, and a moment later, Susan's mother opened the door hesitantly after he called out his name to her.

"I'm sorry to be a bother," he said with a polite bow.

She smiled when she looked at him, "What are you--"

"Please where is Susan? I've been searching all over for her," Harvey inquired politely, and he noticed how the woman looked behind her cautiously.

"I've neither been able to do anything nor rest because I can't find her," Harvey said, and Susan's mother smiled sadly.

"I'm not permitted to let anyone see her. Their father locked them up to prevent them from getting into trouble. And we are leaving as soon as the execution is over," she explained apologetically.

"Then shouldn't I see her before she leaves?" Harvey asked with a slight frown. He needed to hurry. He was already absent from the assembly which was being held at that moment to decide Alicia's fate, and he didn't like that.

"You..."

"Please, milady. I really need to see her. I won't be there for long," he pleaded, and although she had a distressed frown on her face since she knew that her husband would not be happy if he found out about this, she held the door open.

The first thing Harvey noticed as he walked into the chamber was the two guards standing in front of the wooden door he believed led to the bathroom. He didn't need anyone to tell him the siblings were there. The guards hesitated to let him in, but one glare from Harvey's potential mother-in-law and they parted.

When he entered, he saw both siblings were tied to their chairs. It was as though their father didn't trust them with the guards either, so they were tied and being watched over so that they wouldn't escape.

Williams looked at him apologetically when they saw him, while Susan's eyes were red and swollen as though she had been crying.

The siblings had planned to meet with Luciana and Harvey the previous night to decide their next course of action, but before they could even leave Susan's chamber, their father walked in with guards to seize them.

Seeing as they needed to keep up appearances as a result of his story, Harvey moved closer to where Susan was. "I missed you, my love," he said so that even those outside the bathroom could hear him clearly.

He sounded so sincere that if Susan didn't know better, she would have believed his words, but after her experience with Alvin, she wasn't so quick to believe that anyone fancied her anymore.

"I would have met you last night under the tree as we agreed, but my father came to get us before I could," Susan explained as she looked into his eyes.

Susan's mother listened keenly to their conversation, not sure whether to be sad for the touching moment or happy that a good man could love their wild-natured daughter.

"Nothing has changed, right?" She asked, hoping that he understood her question.