Ever since Paulina woke up, Alicia had not said a word to her. Although she was glad that they had survived that one, Alicia still did not say a word to her. She couldn't get over the fact that she had stupidly tried to take the blame for everything and got herself killed.
Right now, they were back in the dark, smelly dungeon. Some guards had taken them back here, but compared to earlier, they felt better.
No, they were not okay. They were hurting all over from the whips and burns, but Williams had helped treat them, and the most important thing was that they were no longer dehydrated and they had eaten and taken some medicine, which made them feel less like dying.
"H-how... do you feel, Milady?" Paulina risked asking Alicia, who was seated quietly at the other end of the cell away from her.
Alicia wanted to get angry and snap at her. She really wanted to get angry at this silly girl. But she could hear the concern in Paulina's voice so she sighed, "Do not ever repeat what you did. You could have gotten killed," she said in a quiet voice.
"I'm sorry, Milady. I thought... if I took the blame, they would leave you alone. I didn't want you to die." Paulina said feeling guilty for causing her mistress such distress.
Things had not turned out as she had planned and she would have been killed after only succeeding in causing more trouble for her mistress.
"I would rather die than have you die for me," Alicia said fiercely.
"But... I can't... live without you," Paulina said timidly, startling Alicia.
"I... don't know how I will live or what I will be able to do if you are no longer here with me. I would... rather die."
Alicia's heart ached when she heard that. Why hadn't she thought of that? Why hadn't it occurred to her that she was the reason Paulina was in the moon kingdom, and Paulina had lived most of her life only serving Princess Amber? Although she believed she was responsible for Paulina and would rather die than let anything happen to the girl, she understood better what was going on in the girl's head now.
"Paulina—"
"No one has ever treated me better like Queen Anne, Princess Amber and you. Even though Princess Amber didn't show it very much, I knew she cared about me. And when you came, you treated me even better. I always forgot I was a maid when I am with you. And... I feel guilty that sometimes I hope you always remain here instead of leaving one day," Paulina continued without letting Alicia interrupt her.
"I have never heard you say so many words at the same time," Alicia said lightly while trying to blink back tears. She was beyond touched by Paulina's words. She couldn't believe that just like Harold, Paulina wanted her to stay. She had never felt so wanted in her entire life. Even her fans in her real world didn't give her that sense of importance.
"No... one has ever treated me well like you and Prince Harold." She said in a tight voice as she kept trying to fight the emotion.
"That is why I will never allow anything to happen to you," Alicia said before crawling over to Paulina.
"Come here," she said warmly as she embraced Paulina, letting the girl rest her head on her chest while she patted her back.
"Don't worry, I will do my best to protect you always," Alicia promised.
"I won't allow anything to happen to you either," Paulina promised, but Alicia shook her head.
"You don't have to do anything. You have done enough already. And I love you with all her heart," Alicia said before kissing the top of Paulina's smelly hair while the girl broke into a sob.
"I'm... s-sorry for getting you into trouble. I... didn't mean it," Paulina cried.
"It's okay. I told you it's fine. Now that Princess Tyra has regained consciousness, let's just wait for her to tell us what happened," Alicia said, and Paulina sniffled and pulled away from her to look into her face.
"Have you been able to remember anything?" Paulina asked hopefully, but Alicia shook her head.
"Not exactly. I don't know what's happening to me. It seems like my memory has been mixed up. I kept seeing flashes of places I believe must be from Amber's memory," Alicia said thoughtfully.
Thankfully, the headaches had stopped, and she was feeling a bit clear-headed now. Even though she couldn't remember what had happened that day, all the dreams she had started coming back to her gradually.
When she noticed Paulina's curious face up close, she explained, "Amber was in an inn. It seemed like she was waiting there for someone. But she happened to hear something she was not supposed to hear. I think that was how she ended up drowning. She was running from the men who were chasing her," Alicia said as she tried to make sense of what she had seen.
"Were you able to remember anything else?"
Alicia narrowed her eyes as she tried to remember it. "No. But the voice... I remember the voice of the person who was speaking in the inn was feminine. It was a young woman. She was in charge," Alicia said with a thoughtful frown.
"Do you remember what they were speaking about?" Paulina asked, wondering why they would want to kill Princess Amber.
"I think they were plotting against someone..." Before she could finish speaking, they heard heavy footsteps approaching, causing their attention to shift to the door.
Someone approached with a lantern in hand, and as he got closer, Paulina shrieked and scooted back in fear when she saw Beth's father's face.
Alicia could not deny the fear that gripped her when she saw his face. This was someone who had almost killed them just hours ago. Although she couldn't tell why, but something seemed different about him.
The man dropped the lantern in front of the gate and looked at the two closely before setting his gaze on Alicia's face. Before he could speak, Alicia decided to speak first despite the trickle of fear down her spine.
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