"What was Prince Harold talking about a smell?" Alicia asked Harvey curiously after Harold had left. The two young men had said a lot of things that didn't make sense, and it just left her even more confused.
"I can't answer that question. Only your husband can explain it to you," Harvey said politely, and Alicia's brows furrowed as she tried to think about what it could mean.
She doubted Harold was going to answer that question. Something told her this was one of those secrets that she would only know about after she gave herself to him.
Harvey left like he had said all he had to and stood up to leave. He bowed and was just about to take the first step when she stood up immediately and asked, "Why did you say this was the last place I would want to be in tonight? Or rather... the last place Amber would want to be tonight? Is something happening tonight?" Alicia asked, but Harvey shook his head and looked at her with something akin to pity.
"I'm sorry, I can't answer that either. You will have to hear that from your husband," Harvey said apologetically, and Alicia sighed in frustration. He kept telling her to ask the one person who was not going to tell her anything. Who else could she ask? Alvin was even more tight-lipped than anyone else she had ever met. The girls wouldn't tell her anything, and Paulina had also not been able to find out anything from the other maids.
Harvey looked at her pitifully, "You care about Prince Harold, don't you?"
She opened her mouth to answer but closed it, and then, after a few seconds, she asked slowly,
"Am... I not supposed to?" Alicia asked, but Harvey said nothing.
Although what he actually wanted to know was just how far Alicia had gone in her relationship with Prince Harold, since he doubted that if Amber returned, she would want to remain married to Prince Harold. Unfortunately, he couldn't ask her that since he had seen firsthand how close her relationship with Harold was, and he knew that she would report back to Harold whatever he told her, and he couldn't risk that.
"Can you tell me a bit about your life before you came here, and how you found yourself here?" Harvey asked instead.
Alicia gave him a questioning look before she nodded and sat back down. What was there to hide?
Harvey returned to where he had been sitting and waited for her to talk.
Alicia went straight to the point to tell him she was from 2020. She explained the nature of her job to him and realized telling him about her life wouldn't be easy because she had to literally explain everything.
By the time she was done explaining, the crease on his forehead had grown deeper. "Does that mean you were both drowning at the same time?"
"I... think so?" Alicia said, and Harvey paused as he tried to connect everything he knew.
"Was it... on a blood moon?" Harvey asked thoughtfully, and Alicia blinked at him in confusion.
"Blood moon?" She asked, but Harvey was also trying to make the calculation based on what he knew about the day Princess Amber had failed to show up.
"Yes. I think it was a blood moon," Harvey said confidently when he remembered that he had been unable to use his abilities that night because of the red moon.
"What about it?" Alicia asked when she noticed that he seemed to have figured out something.
Harvey sighed and looked deep in thought as he said quietly, "Amber is a very curious person." He informed her.
"She was quiet. But always thinking about things. She also wanted to know more about her lineage and asked me to help her find out about the possibility of something like that happening," Harvey explained, and Alicia gave him a confused look.
"'That' what?" What was he referring to?
"Queen Anne seeing you."
"Oh..."
The more Alicia thought about it, the more she felt that it didn't make sense. How did Queen Anne know her name and that she was from the future? She had only locked eyes with the lady and had thought it was just a dream. Did that mean she had truly been present there? Had that happened on a blood moon too?
"So? What did you find?" She asked Harvey.
"I didn't believe it because it sounded silly and it didn't seem like it was possible. And also because witchcraft is taboo everywhere. It was difficult to get any information about things like that. So we concluded that it was a myth."
For werewolves, their abilities were lessened on that day. That was as far as the werewolf community knew. They didn't know what it did to witches. He only heard some rumours.
"But obviously I'm here, so it's possible it was true, right? What did you find?" Alicia cut in impatiently.
"As I said, it was a myth." He reminded her, being careful not to give her any false information to hold on to.
"I don't care what it was. I just want to know what the myth says." She said impatiently, almost pleading with him to tell her.
He sighed and ran his hand through his hair once before he went on to explain, "While the blood moon isn't good for other... people, it is very good for witches."
"Other people? What does that mean?" She asked in confusion. She had noticed he wanted to say something else earlier but skipped it.
Was he talking about other kinds of creatures as well?
"There are a lot of things I cannot tell you," he said sternly.
"I don't know why you are here, but I believe you are here for a reason. But I wish I knew how we could undo this and bring Amber back. Unless we have to wait for another blood moon. But I also don't know if it is going to work or how it is going to work."
"When is that going to be?"
"It happens only once every year."
"Oh..." she drawled.
"So... that time witches can teleport from one dimension to another?" She asked, still confused.
Harvey looked confused.
"I don't know what that means. And I don't know how it happens for witches. But... I can try to find out when I return."
She sighed dejectedly.
"Does Amber have any other living relative?"
His lips were pursed as he shook his head.
"Queen... Anne wasn't the only one that died that day."
Alicia gasped when she heard that. "Her... entire family was... wiped out?"
"I told you before. Witchcraft is taboo. Many people don't talk about it. It's hard to know."
Her shoulders drooped in her seat, and she used her hand to rub her forehead. How had she moved from acting in soap operas to finding herself in this world, to learning she was from a line of witches?
She suddenly sat upright, almost startling Harvey, at whom she was beginning to look suspiciously.
"What creature are you?"
"What?" He asked, startled.
Alicia did not stop to look at him suspiciously. "I mean, there are witches, right? And you said something about witches being stronger than other 'persons' during the blood moon. Which means those other 'persons' are other kinds of mythical creatures I never would have believed existed until today. So if witches can practice serious spells like soul swapping or summoning people from the past and the future on that particular day, when do the other 'persons' get to practice theirs? And you know one thing I find even more suspicious?" She asked but didn't wait for him to answer before she did, "Tonight is a full moon, and suddenly, everyone is gathering in the palace and everyone is looking... suspicious. Wait...!" She suddenly stood up and looked at him with wide eyes, "Now that I just thought about that, it actually makes sense. Is that the secret everyone has been hiding?"
Harvey looked at her with interest. Aside from the fact that it was weird to hear so many words come out of Amber's mouth at once, it was also surprising how she was about to put things together to come to that conclusion.
She sat back and drew her seat closer to him in the most uncouth manner, making him cringe.
She looked around, noting how Alvin was watching from far away and began to whisper, "You also said something about how this is the last place Amber would like to be, especially tonight. So I am sure I am on to something. Tell me the truth." Her voice went lower as she asked, "Is this... a kingdom of witch hunters?"
Harvey wasn't sure whether to be disappointed, amused or relieved at the conclusion she came to. She had just made him nervous for nothing, thinking Harold would blame him for telling her all about it.
He shook his head and stood up, ready to leave.
"No. We are not that."
She continued to look at him suspiciously.
"I have to leave now. If there is anything I can find, I will... let you know."
Alicia almost groaned from frustration. Why was he so tight-lipped?
"You were in love with her, weren't you?" She asked, suspecting that was the reason he had been running such errands for Amber, who was an exiled princess.
"She is my friend," Harvey said without admitting or denying Alicia's allegation.
"I guess that is all?" Harvey asked, wanting to change the subject.
"Will you help me find out if there is a way out?" Alicia asked again, "I know you would want Amber to come back. You know I can't ask Prince Harold," Alicia said, and Harvey stood up.
"I can't promise you anything. Permit me to take my leave now," Harvey said with a polite bow before walking away.
He hesitated and turned to her. "You should be very careful around here," he advised before walking away, leaving a frustrated and confused Alicia behind.
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