Unedited.
Alvin was torn between approaching Princess Amber and telling her that the prince demanded her audience, but on the other hand, he didn't want to approach because of the people she was with. Especially Susan. How on earth had she come to the conclusion that he liked her?
Unfortunately for him, he looked like a dejected man in love to Tyra, who noticed him lurking around and signaled to the other ladies. They all turned to look at him, startling him when he suddenly found four pairs of eyes looking back at him.
He had never been so confused in his entire life. He turned around, making to leave, but turned back when he remembered prince Harold was waiting for his wife.
Alicia looked at him with pity. To her, Alvin looked like he wanted to avoid Susan because he could not bear to see her after she just rejected him a little while ago. It must be hard on him.
She felt like giving each of them a warm hug because they all seemed to be going through one problem or the other.
As the big sister, she decided to approach the confused-looking Alvin, who was grateful for that. She was about to ask him if he was okay when he blurted out,
"Prince Harold is waiting for you at the stables."
"Really? So soon?" She asked, surprised. She was glad she was dealing with a reasonable person and not someone who went back on his words after making promises. Seeing how he was keeping to his end of the deal, she figured she had to do the same.
"Give me a second," she said before returning to where the ladies stood.
"I'm sorry, but I have to go join Ha— Prince Harold now. You three can go on and do this without me. And make sure to inform me about how it goes, okay?"
The three seemed reluctant to let her go, but they didn't want to go against Harold so they agreed.
As soon as Alicia left with Alvin, it became very awkward between the three and the one who felt it the most was Luciana since she knew she was the odd one out.
"You two can go ahead. I will just return to my chamber," she said with a forced smile and didn't wait for them to say a word before she turned around and left with the smile nowhere to be found.
It was only now that she remembered all of her problems. How was she able to forget that these past few hours?
"Is something wrong with her?" Tyra asked Susan.
"I have no idea. I met her in Amber's bedroom. I think she cried."
"I... am not sure I am comfortable with her being around us all the time. I don't know if I can trust her," Tyra said, looking very worried.
Susan threw a hand over her shoulder like a protective big sister and said, "You don't have to worry too much. Even if she has an ulterior motive, pushing her away is only going to make things worse. We should just try to be mindful of the manner of things we say around her."
Tyra looked at her and smiled before nodding. "I guess that works too."
Away from there, as Alicia followed Alvin, she wondered whether or not to ask him about how he was truly feeling. She had never been heartbroken before so she had no idea how he must be feeling and what to say to make him feel better.
When Alvin's footsteps slowed, she hurried to stand in front of him and looked at him with sympathy.
Alvin, who had just been thinking about something that could get him killed, was caught off guard by her sudden appearance in front of him. It had scared him, thinking someone had heard his thoughts about getting rid of Susan.
"I do not exactly understand how you feel, but I know it's going to get better. If you want to talk to someone, I am here for you. And I know that your friend will also do his best to comfort you."
"..." Okay... so what was she talking about?
"Is this the stables?" Harold asked with a straight face but it was obvious he was annoyed.
He looked at Alvin and then at Alicia before his eyes went to Alvin again, who quickly noticed the close proximity between him and the princess and he quickly stepped backwards.
Harold eyed him before moving his attention to Alicia. "You are late." He said.
"I'm sorry, Prince, I was caught up doing something else."
"What was that?" He asked, trying to hide his distaste. He was waiting for her here and even thinking as soon as she was here, she would shower him with praises for being considerate and sending her meals but she was busy with something else? And instead of eagerly coming to him, she chose to chat with Alvin instead.
"I... will take my leave now," Alvin said and bowed to the two before he quickly disappeared. He didn't need anyone to tell him that Harold was not in a good mood right now.
"My prince, I am sorry for keeping you waiting. I was having brunch with the other royal maidens. You are such a sweetheart," she gave him two thumbs up and smiled, showing her teeth.
He eyed her and huffed before he turned around, heading to the stables.
"Come on, don't be mad at me," she said while running after him.
"Have you had breakfast?"
"Do not talk to me."
Alicia looked at his back in confusion, wondering why he was throwing a tantrum right now. For some reason, it always seemed funny whenever he behaved this way because it made him look like a big baby when his body build was anything but that.
"What did I do wrong?" She asked, running to stand beside him. When he refused to stop, she grabbed his arm and held it to her body tightly.
That seemed to get his attention and he stopped walking to glare at her.
"You are only nice to me because you want me to help you," it was after he said it to her in a bitter tone that he realized how dramatic he sounded.
"What? When did I do that?"
He gave her a look that said, 'Seriously now?'
"Seriously, I don't know what you are talking about." She said innocently.
"You are polite today." He pointed out. "That's not you."
"What?"
"You apologized, thanked me and even addressed me with respect. It's because you are trying to not make me change my mind." He said to her in an unpleasant tone before he turned and continued walking ahead.
She frowned at his back, wondering if that was true. To a large extent, it was true. And the thing was that she had done it all unconsciously.
Harold felt a bitter taste in his mouth at the thought of being used. Why did that even bother him? They had a deal and were both going to keep to their end of the deal so it didn't matter if she tried to be nice or not.
"That was not intentional. I thought you've always wanted me to stop calling you by your name." She said after successfully meeting up with his pace but he ignored her.
She sighed, feeling exhausted. It was so difficult being the mature one among all of them.
They arrived at a clear field with a wooden fence. Hellion was right there, tied to a Boulder.
She had been so excited to see the horse, but now that she was here, she was kind of scared, as the image from the previous time flashed before her eyes and she remembered how scared she had been, dangling from the horse.
Harold looked down at her and could guess what she was thinking, seeing that look on her face. He remembered how she had cried that day after he saved her from Hellion. He had to admit that she was a brave woman. To think she was still interested in meeting the horse was commendable.
"What are you waiting for? Go greet the horse," he urged her, trying to sound annoyed.
"You go first." She said hesitantly.
"Now you are scared?" He asked in a mocking tone.
'I am.' She said in her head. But she didn't want to be the loser now. She had been confident about getting Hellion to like her and she was going to succeed no matter what.
She twisted her neck to both sides until they popped and linked her fingers together, bending them until they cracked.
With a determined look, she smirked at Hellion before marching forward but she stopped and turned back to look at Harold, who was just standing there and watching her.
"Why are you still standing there? Come lead the way," she used her head to gesture for him to come over while he tried not to laugh.
"You were doing all that just now just to ask me to still lead you there?" He shook his head and decided to just follow her.
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