After leaving Alicia, Harold tried his best to control himself and not smile like an idiot as he walked down the hallway to his chamber.
More than the kiss, he was a little excited that she wasn't so insistent on running away like before, but rather wanted to know more about him and the Moon kingdom. That had to mean that she was thinking about staying, right?
Why else would she be curious about him and the kingdom, if she was just going to run away the first chance she got?
Harold stopped when he noticed one of the king's guards approaching him, and he raised his eyebrows.
"His Majesty is ready to see you now," the guard informed him with a bow, and Harold followed him.
Earlier, he had waited to meet with the king after welcoming the aristocrats, but the king had been busy attending meetings, so he had returned to stay with Alicia and keep her company instead.
The guard led Harold into the king's special library, where he usually went to study.
It was quite dark, with some lanterns lighting up the place. He walked to the end until he found the king reading a book calmly.
"Sit," the king said without bothering to raise his head to look at him.
Harold obeyed and sat down, crossing his arms across his chest in a relaxed manner as he observed the king.
The king put away his book and looked at Harold. Watching him, Harold noted how pale he looked compared to this morning.
But he didn't ask any questions and just waited patiently for what the king had to say.
"Things won't be easy from now on."
"Then why don't you do something about it?" Harold asked without pretending to be confused about what the king was talking about.
The king sighed and shook his head. "I have wronged a lot of people in my life. That is my biggest regret."
"..."
"I know you hate me. And I also know that there is nothing I would do to make you think any differently about me."
He was right. There was nothing the king would do that was going to make Harold see him differently.
He had raided his mother's community and annexed it to his, even though they were also werewolves. Killed many residents who had opposed and took the women as slaves. One of whom had been a physician—his mother.
As an Omega, it was already difficult for her to live in their world. But she had chosen to rise above it all and make a name for herself. But how did she end up? As a slave here. Not only that, the king had taken advantage of her even though he had a wife. He was an Alpha and she was an Omega. All efforts to resist had proved futile, and she wasn't allowed to take her own life.
When the Queen found out, she tried all she could to kill her, but the king did his best to protect her. The attacks didn't stop and even got worse when the Queen found out she was pregnant.
But the Alpha was bent on protecting her, so there was nothing the queen could do to stop it. That could only last up until Harold was born. An Omega birthing an Alpha didn't only come as a shock to them, but it also took a toll on her body, and that was when the Queen made up her mind that both she and the baby were going to die.
Unlike the rumours that had said his mother died after birthing him, the Queen had poisoned her to death, faking her death as a result of his birth.
After that, the Queen had offered to raise him, but even a stupid person could see through it, and the king had assigned an Omega who had been in charge of taking care of his mother before her death to take care of Harold.
Unfortunately, the woman also met her death at the hands of the queen. She wasn't the only one who died that day. But Beth's mother too.
Harold had been an innocent kid growing up, having no idea of what was happening around him. All he knew was that his mother was dead, the Queen didn't favour him that much, and only the oldest prince liked to play with him, while Ivan was always behind his mother, glaring at him.
This lasted until he was eleven, and a secret letter was delivered to him. The Omega who raised him had written earlier and asked to have it delivered to him when he was 10 for him to be aware of everything happening around him. The letter didn't come until he was 11 because the messenger could not bypass the security in the palace until it was time for the King's birthday festival.
And that was how everything came to light. He confronted his father about it, who had warned him to never mention it again. But at least... he hadn't denied it.
It all got worse when he had been sparring with the eldest prince as usual, but for some reason, the prince had been vicious and seemed as though he was deliberately trying to stab him. He had also noticed that, unlike the blunt swords they usually used during practice, he was using a sharp sword. Harry hadn't realized that until he was cut on the hand. That was when he knew something was wrong and kept defending the attack while asking the prince what was wrong with him.
He hadn't planned on using force when he pushed the prince, but he was an Alpha and the other was a Beta. The force had sent the latter flying to the wall with full force. That was the first time something like that ever happened to him. That was the last thing Harold saw before he blacked out. It wasn't until he woke up that he realized the prince's sword had been poisoned, and the poison got into his blood when he was stabbed.
And then the worst news: the prince was dead.
He died from a head wound.
That had shocked him to the bones. He had a lot of questions, questions he didn't have any answers to until now. The curse also came. All he knew was that the rest of his life was shaped and defined by that moment. He went from being called the white-haired Prince, to being called a murderer and a cursed Prince.
"On the final day of the banquet..." The king said, getting his attention.
"I will announce the heir to the throne."
"..."
The king looked away as he said, "My choice... is your brother."
Harold raised a brow at him and said nothing.
"You should leave the palace when that day comes. You should leave the palace and live far away with your wife. If you tell me where you would love to go, I can have someone prepare your new home," the king offered.
"You are going to ruin this kingdom," Harold said in disappointment at his father's decision just because he felt he owed it to his wife for cheating on her all those years ago. What about his birth mother, who had died? What about the life of the woman who had raised him?
It wasn't like he had been expecting the king to name him the heir to the throne. No. He had never really desired nor shown any interest in the throne. All he had ever wanted this whole time was to get vengeance for both his mothers, who had been murdered unfairly.
There was no way he could achieve that if he ran away or let Ivan ascend the throne. He would rather die than have Ivan and his mother rule the Moon kingdom.
He was wise enough to know that he might really die if he did as the king ordered since they both knew that there was no way either the Queen or Ivan were going to let him run away that way. He was forever going to be a threat to them, so they were going to keep trying to find him and kill him. Not to talk about Alicia, whom he knew Ivan deeply despised.
He remembered the question she had asked him earlier, "What happens when you're not here and I'm stuck here?" He didn't want to think about the kind of fate that might befall her if anything happened to him.
"Why? Do you suddenly desire the throne?" The king asked, watching him with interest.
"Yes," Harold said, meeting the king's surprised gaze.
Until today, he had never desired the throne, but he had realized now that to give his princess the kind of world she wanted here, he would have to take over the throne. He wasn't going to let his princess live in a world ruled by Ivan. Never.
The King shook his head, "You should..."
"I'm not asking you to name me as your heir. You can name Ivan as the heir, but I'm not leaving. All I'm asking is for you to do as you have always done. Look away, and do not interfere in whatever that follows." He warned.
He was going to find a way to keep Alicia safe, and if he couldn't keep himself safe, he would make sure to at least find a way to help her return to her world. There would be no need for her to remain here if he wasn't here, and if he couldn't make this place liveable for her.
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