"We cannot leave now," Alicia said with a soft sigh. Although she understood Paulina's fear, she didn't think running away was an option.
"WE ARE SURROUNDED BY DANGEROUS PEOPLE!" Paulina raised her voice in fear, startling Alicia.
Alicia placed a hand on her lip, gesturing for her to keep quiet.
"They can hear you," she whispered into Paulina's ears, and her already wide eyes grew even wider.
"What... do we do?" She asked in a frightened tone. "What... if they hurt us? You are in danger already at the palace. What are we going to do?" Paulina asked as she started to cry, and Alicia pulled her close to her body, hugging her.
"Do you think Williams is capable of hurting you?"
Alicia asked, causing Paulina to stiffen. She hadn't even thought about Williams in all of this.
He... was a monster too? Williams?
The realization made her begin to cry loudly as she hugged and held onto Alicia with all her might.
Alicia did all she could to console Paulina, who kept crying like she had lost a loved one.
Harvey and Alvin, who were listening to the conversation going on inside the carriage, glanced at Harold at intervals.
Alvin was angry at Alicia for acting the way she did and for hurting Harold when he had accepted her the way she was despite not being a real princess because she had been exiled and also being a witch.
Harvey, on the other hand, did not know how to feel for the couple. He understood them both. Alicia's shock and maybe the feeling of betrayal. And he understood Harold's sadness. Wasn't that the reason he never told Amber about being a werewolf?
*****
In the carriage far ahead of them, Susan looked at Williams with a concerned frown when she noticed how he was sweating profusely and how his breathing was becoming laboured.
"Williams, what is wrong?" Susan asked as she watched his pale face.
"I'm... I'm not feeling well," Williams confessed weakly as he kept attending to Luciana, whose pulse was getting even weaker by the second. Unfortunately, he couldn't do much since they were stuck here and he didn't study to be a physician. He only knew the basics and some herbs.
"What do you mean?" Susan asked fearfully, and Williams reached for the sides of his leg and arm where he had been cut.
"I... I think it was poisoned," Williams said, and Susan's heart flew to her throat.
"Poi-Poison? How... are you feeling? How bad is it?" She asked fearfully, wanting to go to his side but unable to do so because of Luciana, who was lying with her head on her thighs.
"I might not be able to stay awake much longer. We need to get to the palace soon," Williams confessed in a very faint voice, and tears sprang to Susan's eyes.
"We have a lot of herbs here! Can't you use something? Please stay with me. Don't faint," Susan cried, and then hit the side of the carriage urgently.
"Go faster," she cried loudly, even though she knew they were already going as fast as they could.
"I'm sorry, Williams. I'm so sorry. It's all my fault." She cried, but Williams shook his head.
"It's not. And do not worry. The cut isn't very deep, so it will take a while before the poison gets into my bloodst—" He spoke weakly and paused as something occurred to him.
Alvin.
His face was filled with dread, but he tried to act normal so that Susan wouldn't think to that point.
Seeing his face, Susan assumed the poison really was circulating and panicked.
Thankfully, it didn't take long before they arrived at the palace. It was already dark when they arrived but many torches were lit everywhere, as though prepared for Harold and his witch's arrival. As soon as the carriage stopped, Susan let out a loud cry for help, asking some of the guards to help her carry Williams, who was on the verge of losing consciousness.
Before they could do that, Ivan jumped down from his horse and sent a guard to call for the royal physician while he tried to carry Luciana out of the carriage as gently as he could with Lance's help.
Lance's eyes went to Williams before they moved to Susan, and he gave her a concerned look and handed her a handkerchief. "They will be fine." He said softly, but even he wasn't sure.
When Ivan tried to carry Luciana on his own, Williams weakly explained that someone else has to support him so he won't hurt Luciana, but when Ivan still tried to do it himself, Lance got angry, yelling at him for acting like a fool and trying to risk his wife's life.
This was the scene Lance's parents met, and they looked at each other in confusion. They weren't even concerned about the person covered in blood that Lance and Ivan were trying to save. They were wondering what had happened to their son. And were also thankful that he was okay. When they heard he left with Harold, they assumed the worst for him since they knew how he behaved, but surprisingly, he seemed to be unscathed, except for the weird clothes he was wearing.
As they carried Luciana into the palace, it was difficult at first for anyone to know who it was since she was dressed in men's clothes. But once they recognized her, they began to murmur amongst themselves in horror, but Ivan did not spare anyone a glance as he hurriedly made his way to her chamber, hoping that the royal physician would be waiting there already. He couldn't take her to his chamber because he had turned the place upside down, and she couldn't stay there right now.
As Williams, who was covered in blood (his and Luciana's), was carried out of the carriage, with Susan, who was also covered in Luciana's blood, running after them, everywhere was surrounded by maids and guards, and some of the aristocrats who had rushed out from their various chambers when they heard the rumours that Harold and his witch wife were back.
Of course, everyone's bet was on Harold, especially as they could not find him or his bride anywhere.
"Luciana? What happened to her? Who hurt her?" Luciana's mother, who had come out to watch what was going on, cried as soon as she saw her unconscious daughter being carried inside the palace, and she ran after Ivan, demanding answers, but he did not say a word to her.
What could he tell her? That he had left the palace to go get her because he was worried Harold might hurt her, but he had ended up being the person who had almost killed her?
As Susan's parents hurried outside to see what was happening, they met Lance, Susan, and the guards who were carrying Williams by the hallway, and their mother broke into a sob the moment she saw Williams.
"What happened to him?" Her father demanded, trying to act calm even though his eyes said otherwise.
Susan didn't see her parents since her eyes were on her brother, whom she was running after. So she had run past her parents, but her father quickly caught up with her and held her arm to demand answers first, after looking at Williams, who seemed to be unconscious now.
She was about to yell at the person, but when her eyes settled on her father's face, she broke into tears.
"It was Prince Ivan. He... cut him with a poisoned sword," Susan told him tearfully as they resumed following the guards to their chamber, while their mother was still trying to catch up with them.
Everyone heard that, and that came as an even greater shock! Or maybe not.
"Prince Ivan? Your cousin?" Her father asked in disbelief, and Susan nodded. "He also did that to Princess Luciana and hurt Alvi—" her eyes widened in horror as it occurred to her.
Ivan had also cut Alvin!
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