By the time Alicia returned to her room, she was even more frustrated with everything. She wanted to get angry at Harold, but she wasn't sure if he was to be blamed for everything.
She had opened up to him about who she truly was. She didn't hide anything from him, so why was he giving her such a condition before telling her about himself and all that was going on in his kingdom?
If she was able to confirm with him that they were witch hunters, then one of her problems was solved. She would have known what they were hiding here and focused on her lineage. At first, she only wanted to know about Amber, but now it was far more than that because it concerned her too. And it concerned her ancestors. And Queen Anne and Amber knew her name.
She couldn't just sit still now. She looked outside and noticed it was going to be dinner time soon. Maybe in an hour or two. By this time, Harold must have been done greeting the guests. She had to see him now since she had a feeling she wouldn't be able to see him again until the next day. She just felt uneasy and didn't even know why. She also wanted to meet Paulina to warn her to be careful because now she didn't trust anything or anyone.
She knew Harold had mentioned she stay inside her room until the next day and not show up for dinner, but it wasn't even dinner yet, so she figured she could still go out.
She had been too lost in her worries and had totally forgotten about eating. It wasn't until her stomach rumbled that she remembered she hadn't had anything to eat since breakfast. Luckily for her, she still had the snacks the maid had brought her.
The biscuits looked nice, so she picked five of them in her hands and munched on them as she left her room. But things were bound not to go smoothly for her. Just like Harold had said, she was bound to cause trouble even without trying.
Someone bumped into her from behind, almost causing her to fall. Thankfully, she didn't. But one of her biscuits did, leaving her with two left.
"Can't you watch where you are going!?" The person who had bumped into her bellowed at her as he came to stand in front of her, towering above her.
She looked at him in disbelief. Wasn't he Sir Gregory's son, Lance?
"Why are you making trouble out of the blue?" She asked him and tried to recall if she had done anything bad to him, but all she could remember was offering to teach his mother how to make snacks.
"So I am a troublemaker?" He snarled at her and used a finger to push her on the forehead.
She blinked at him in confusion and heaved a heavy sigh as she tried to control her temper while also stepping backwards since he obviously didn't understand what personal space meant.
She looked like she was going to burst at any moment, and he looked like he was waiting for her to do just that. But to his surprise, she bowed deeply.
"I'm sorry for bumping into you. I must have been blind to not see you. I hope you are not hurt?" She asked, looking concerned. That left him flustered. He had heard she was uncouth and loud and had a nasty temper similar to her husband's, so why was she being nice?
He frowned and looked at her suspiciously.
"Your family is important to this kingdom, so you have to be protected at all cost." She fawned. "As long as you are here, do let me know if you get into any kind of trouble. I will be happy to help you." She smiled lovingly and handed him her two biscuits.
Lance had never been so confused in his life. He looked at her, not sure how to bully her when she was behaving like this. He looked at the biscuits she was offering him and was about to hit them out of her hand before he remembered the snacks she had made the previous night.
"You don't have to be so modest. You should have this before dinner. I don't want an important figure like you starving." She continued to fawn over him as she forced the biscuit into his hand while he continued to look at her like an idiot.
"You should enjoy it and take care of yourself." She flashed him a smile and hurriedly walked past him while cursing him in her mind. What an idiot. Did he think she was going to fall into his trap and get into trouble at this important time?
She didn't bother to look back as she increased her pace to quickly get away from him. The fact that she had only eaten two of the snacks alone made her even more pissed since she was still starving.
Meanwhile, Lance continued to look at her back. "She is strange," he muttered to himself as he bit into the biscuit, but he was disappointed that it didn't taste special.
How could he have fallen for her cheap tricks? He thought to himself as he angrily munched on the snacks.
*******
Not aware of the fact that Alicia was looking for him all over the palace, Harold was in the shooting range. Whenever he had a lot to think about, he usually went there.
He was lost in his thoughts when he felt a presence and turned around to find Tyra approaching him with a gourd of water and a handkerchief, as usual.
"What did you do to your smell?" He asked as he received the handkerchief from her.
Her face flushed as she answered, "I was asked to cover it up properly."
Harold nodded in understanding, but it made him uneasy that he didn't know she was around until she was closer to him.
"Why do you look pale?" He asked her as he received the water she was giving him and took a big gulp.
"I... don't feel too well. But I will be fine." She answered before looking around, then she inched closer.
"I... heard mother left the palace."
That caught his attention. He had been very busy and so was Alvin, so they had missed something so important.
"When?"
"Noon. She returned after two hours."
"Who did she go with?"
"I don't know."
He narrowed his eyes to look at her, "Who did you hear it from?"
He noticed how nervous and uncomfortable she looked when he asked that.
"Just... someone." She muttered.
"I told you to not do anything dangerous or get yourself involved in anything."
"I know. I just... thought you should know. I... will leave now."
She said and turned to leave, but staggered and almost fell. Harold was quick to catch her with one hand and looked at her closely.
"You are sick." He said as he helped her stand.
"I'm fine."
"You don't look it. You should rest tonight."
"I can't!" She cried.
"You need to!" He said sternly.
"Tonight is... important. If... I stay back, it might be..."
"It doesn't matter. You should rest. Your health is more important. I'll ask the physician to meet you in your chamber. Rest for tonight. I will speak with the king about it."
She bit her finger nervously.
Harold could guess what she was thinking. Tonight was important. But it didn't matter. She was an Omega. Their bodies were different and weaker, and she could get hurt while hunting with others tonight.
"Are you... sure it's okay for me to stay back?" She asked quietly.
He nodded. "I'll help you to your chamber."
He offered, making her smile. "You are so good to me." She said while looking up at him.
Harold felt a familiar smell around and turned to find Alicia approaching. It was the artificial smell mask they included in her bathing water every day so that they wouldn't know she was a human without a smell.
Now that he thought about it, was that the reason she had no smell? Because she was from a line of witches?
And is that why his abilities have improved since he met her? Because she was a witch?
But why could he not keep in touch with his wolf lately? Or even get into people's heads anymore?
Was it because it was almost the full moon and the werewolf abilities superceded witches' abilities during this period, so his curse was back? But why was he still able to sleep at night?
"I was looking for you everywhere." She said breathlessly, making him return to reality.
"I will return to my room now," Tyra said politely and bowed before leaving the couple without listening to Harold's protest to wait so they could see her off.
"Aren't you supposed to be in your chamber?" He asked Alicia after Tyra left.
Still panting, she reached for his water gourd but found it empty. "No more water?"
"Tyra only brought that. Why are you panting? Did you run?" He asked as he began to walk ahead of her.
"Where are you going to?" she asked.
"To find you some water." He said and kept his pace even so she could catch up.
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