The Cursed Prince's Strange Bride

Anne looked at them in fear and shifted on the ground as she tried to get away.

"You can't talk?!" The man who had caught her asked impatiently as he took out a dagger.

"Y-Yes." Anne stuttered in fear before she realized her slip and almost slapped herself. "I mean..." she nodded instead, playing dumb but knowing it was already too late to pretend.

"Why didn't we know you were here? What are you?" The other man who had approached asked as he sniffed the air around her, freaking her out.

"I... missed my way. I... didn't see you kill any man, I promise." She said in a scared voice, making the worried Alicia almost facepalm. Was Anne this silly? She didn't have to say that!

"She is lying. She must be a spy." One of the older men who was still standing beside the first dead body said.

Spy? Did she look like one? Alicia wanted to scream.

However, the sight before her was bothering her. The man who had caught Anne was squatting before her with his dagger, ready to strike at her any minute.

"You cannot miss your way in here. If you are here, you are either a spy or must be a man-pleaser." The man in front of Anne said.

"Man-pleaser...?" Anne wondered what that was. Maybe it was safe to say she was that because she knew whatever it was, it was better than them assuming she was a spy? It would also save her head since she had entered this place illegally.

She immediately nodded. "Yes. I... I am that. A... man-pleaser." She stuttered in fear.

The man chuckled and looked her over with a creepy look in her eyes, and then he did something that made even Alicia's eyes widen and make her wish she was not invincible. The man used the dagger in his hand to slice the top of her dress. Fortunately, Anne was able to react quickly before it got past her upper chest region and exposed her breast. She screamed as she pushed him away.

Luckily, he wasn't squatting in front of her with much stamina, so he fell to the ground, and as soon as the dagger fell from his hand, she ignored the fact that she was almost exposed and picked up the dagger. When she noticed he was about to get up from the ground, she grabbed his hair with all her strength, pulled his head to the back, and placed the knife on his neck, ready to slit it.

"If you ever do that again, I will slit your throat open and make you drink your blood, you useless old cow!" She spoke in a dark, shaky voice.

Everyone became still. Even Alicia was shocked at how much guts she had, even though it was clear that she was scared.

"WHAT... DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING? DO YOU THINK YOU WILL LIVE AFTER THIS?" The man asked in anger.

"You should be worried about yourself." She threatened him as she took the tip of the dagger closer to his throat.

"I should worry about myself?" The man laughed before he manoeuvred out of her hold, and before she knew it, the tip of the dagger was pointing at her neck instead, with his hand grabbing her hair just as she had done to him. But he was a lot more brutal.

Anne let out a painful cry while the man and the others watching, except for the man who had been begging for his life and the other dangerous-looking young man, laughed.

Alicia could only watch in anger, as she knew there was nothing she could do.

"What do you suggest I do to this crazy wench, Prince Wilder?" The man asked as he pulled her hair to the back forcefully, and she let out a strangled cry.

All eyes went to the said person, who had been quiet the entire time. With one swift move, he slit the throat of the man kneeling before him with his sword, and the man died instantly.

Slowly, he dragged his bloody sword, which seemed to be longer and bigger than normal swords, behind him as he approached where they stood.

Alicia's heart was beating very fast, but she tried to assure herself that Anne didn't die as a teenager. Although it wasn't helping, especially seeing how scared Anne looked. With every sound the young man made as he approached them, Anne let out a scared whimper, dreading what was going to happen.

As soon as he stood before her, towering above the man assaulting Anne, much less Anne herself, Wilder's gaze moved from Anne to the man as he said softly, "Let her go."

The man didn't want to, but he obeyed and made sure to yank her hair some more before he forcefully pushed her away.

Wilder looked at the man and opened his palm, wordlessly asking for the dagger.

The man obediently handed it to him. He seemed excited, knowing what was going to happen to the crazy wench.

But well, he had been wrong because he hadn't expected that the one whose neck would be slit with the dagger was himself.

It had happened in a flash, and his eyes widened as he touched his neck, which was gushing out blood. He didn't get enough time to register what had happened before he fell to his death.

The other men, who had been enjoying the show, instantly went mute as they looked at their friend in horror, but they could not say a word.

"Men shouldn't treat little girls like that," Wilder said before he took off his cloak and carefully draped it around Anne, who was looking up at him.

"Do not carelessly answer questions if you do not know what they are talking about. And do not go to places you are not supposed to go to." He said to her as advice or maybe a warning? She didn't care what it was. She just nodded and looked up at him dumbly, and even after he walked past her with the others, leaving the three dead bodies behind, she still stood there, staring blankly.

Alicia sighed in relief when they all left. But she turned to look at Anne with concern, wondering if the shock was getting to her.

"I... think..." Anne started, "...I have found my husband." She said with a dreamy look in her eyes as she turned to look at the direction Wilder had taken while hugging his cloak around her body.

Okay... this girl had to be a psychopath to not be moved by these dead bodies and the fact that the one who had caught her fancy was actually responsible! Alicia thought with a sigh.

But now, she was curious about this event. Who was that? They had called him a Prince. That was obviously not Amber's father. What had happened between them?