The Cursed Prince's Strange Bride

"You still won't tell me what happened yesterday?" Susan asked Williams, looking at him suspiciously.

It hadn't been long after Paulina ran past her that she went to check what had been chasing her from the painting room since she was certain that was where Paulina had been. And surprisingly, she found her brother there, staring at a painting with interest. No matter how much she tried to squeeze information from him, he remained tight-lipped, much to her annoyance.

"You also haven't told me what you have been up to lately." He retorted.

"I told you I'm not up to anything!" She said defensively.

She wasn't sure, so she couldn't just throw out information about her suspicions. Also, she wanted desperately to believe that Tyra was innocent, and sharing this information with others was most likely going to make her keep doubting Tyra. She had to be sure about Damian too, and she knew telling her brother about this was a bad idea because he would want to stop her.

An idea suddenly came to her, and she stood up in a hurry, leaving the room and not paying any mind to Williams, who was calling for her.

"She is going to be the death of me," Williams said with a sigh.

Meanwhile, Susan had a determined look on her face as she decided to carry out the plan in her head.

If Damian was involved in all this, she guessed it meant the queen was protecting him, and that was why a lot of people were not talking. But she was going to dig out the truth.

Susan had turned to the maids. They were often overlooked and underestimated, but Susan knew that they were the eyes and ears of the palace and that they knew more than most people realized. Since Agnes had also been a kitchen maid, she believed she would be able to get information from here.

Susan discreetly entered the maids' quarters and began her investigation, asking around discreetly, trying to find out if anyone had seen or heard anything unusual on the night of the banquet. Most of the maids had nothing to report, which was frustrating. In fact, they seemed happy that Beth was gone and didn't care for whoever had killed her.

About to leave dejectedly, a maid passed by and bumped into her, slipping a note into her hand. Before Susan could even see who it was, the maid had hurriedly fled.

Susan looked around her, sure no one was around before she opened the note and read, "Look for Katherine."

Katherine? Who was that?

Susan wondered as she looked around her, but no one was in sight. All the maids had something to do since it was still daytime.

She decided to find the maid who had slipped this note to her instead. If the maid was giving her a clue on who to ask, then it meant the girl knew something. And what did she mean by "look for Katherine"? Did it mean that Katherine was not in the palace?

Although she hadn't seen the girl who gave her the note, she knew how she smelled, and with that, she snuck out of the maid's chamber, oblivious to the eyes watching her.

However, she also seemed to have her priorities in order. As much as she wanted to find that girl, she also wanted to check on Alvin and know how he was faring. That lad was annoying her, but she could ignore it for now since he wasn't feeling too well.

When she got to Harold's door, she knocked once before pushing it open and going inside.

However, what Susan saw made her stand still.

An assistant physician was alone with him in the room, cleaning his bare body. His lower body was covered with the quilt, so she was not sure whether he was wearing something below or not, but his upper body was exposed and glistening with a mixture of water and oil.

​ Usually, his body was always around the quilt except for his back, so she didn't get to see more than she was supposed to. But now, it seemed his back was a lot better because he was made to sleep on his back with a kind of herb sprinkled on his bed, so his chest down to his navel was all open for Susan.

Meanwhile, Alvin and the physician looked at her, wondering why she was not leaving and just standing there, staring with round eyes and red cheeks.

"Why aren't you leaving?" Alvin asked with his piercing gaze on her face. At the same time, the physician hurriedly covered Alvin's upper body with the quilt so as not to taint the maiden's innocent eyes.

The oblivious Susan, who was feeling tingles all over her body and goosebumps that were suddenly appearing on her skin out of nowhere, snapped back to her senses and simply shrugged as she rested her back on the wall and folded her arms across her chest.

"I came to check on you, so I'll be here until he is done."

Alvin gave her a look as though she were crazy before his eyes went to the physician, who had a curious, questioning look on his face.

That was when Susan realized her slip and immediately jolted away from the wall, laughing awkwardly.

"I... I had to report something to you. It's from Prince Harold. And it's urgent." She said this in a serious tone while giving the physician a pointed look that told him to hurry up and leave.

Alvin gave her a suspicious look. It looked like she was lying. There was no way Prince Harold would send her on an errand for him. But he could not exactly be certain, so he gave the physician a look that said "You can get lost now," and the young man didn't need to be told twice.

Staying in Alvin's presence and even getting to touch his body made him feel as though he had lost half of his lifespan, even though Alvin hadn't bothered to say a word to him at all. He didn't even go wait outside. He just picked up all his things clumsily and ran away.

When there were just the two of them in the room, Alvin adjusted, placing both his hands on the back of his head, unconsciously flexing more than Susan could handle as she took in his biceps, triceps, and all the ceps he had.

He looked at her, waiting for her to go ahead and tell her why she was here, but as he stared at her, he noticed she was lost in her thoughts, and once again, her cheeks were heating up, but the main thing was... Her eyes were on the part of his chest that was exposed, and she smelled funny.

He furrowed his brows at her, awed at her brazenness.

"Do you... realize you are a Lady?" he asked, sounding a little uncomfortable. It seemed like she had forgotten, so he had to do her a favour by reminding her.

Once again, Susan snapped back to her senses. She had lied when she said Harold had sent her to him. She hadn't even seen Harold at all today and had even made a mental note to avoid him because, judging by her mother's mood swing, cracked voice, and how she spoke about Prince Harold's poor skills as Susan helped her massage her back after she returned from the kitchen, Susan felt it would be wise to avoid Prince Harold because if her mother was like this, then she must have said a thing or two to Harold that he didn't like, and she didn't want him to take it out on her.

Susan said no words and sat down on the chair beside the bed where the physician had been sitting. She looked directly at Alvin, locking eyes with him. This made him uncomfortable, so he pulled out his hands from under his head and pulled up the quilt to cover the rest of his exposed chest up to his neck.

"What is it you came here for?" he asked again in an impatient tone.

Should she ask him if he knew who Katherine was? Should she tell him about how she felt about Damian?

"I... have never touched a man's body before." She blurted it out before she could stop herself.

Suddenly, there was a heavy silence in the room as Alvin's eyes rounded before he looked away from her, pulling the quilt even higher.

Susan felt like she was going to die of embarrassment.

WHY HAD SHE SAID THAT?!

How was that even related to anything she had been thinking about?

"I... do not need to know that," Alvin said awkwardly.

Susan tucked her lips in, also staring back at him awkwardly. She touched the back of her neck, touched her ear, and went back to scratching the back of her neck as she shifted uncomfortably in her seat.

His questioning look followed her every movement, wondering what was wrong with her.

"You... are not okay." He noted. Sounding a little concerned.

She swallowed nervously and immediately jumped from her seat, startling him.

She stood there, staring at him, while he stared back, wondering why she was behaving like someone who was possessed.

Before he could even say another word, she turned around and fled the room, leaving him utterly confused.