"Prince Ivan's sword was poisoned. He cut both Alvin and Williams," Alicia explained calmly, and Paulina's eyes widened as she looked at them in horror.
Her fear of Williams and his kind all forgotten now, she looked at the assistant physician and asked, "How bad is it? Will he survive? But... Alvin looks... better now, so Sir Williams should be fine since he received the antidote first, right?" she asked fearfully, and the physician frowned, wondering why a maid was questioning him.
First, he had been sent out of the palace to treat a mere guard, and now he was being questioned by the witch's maid? What was wrong with everyone? Why couldn't they know their place? He mused as he looked at Paulina with annoyance.
"Why are you not answering the question?" Harold asked, startling the physician, who jumped in his seat.
"I... don't know. I was forced to leave before the royal physician could finish treating him," he hurriedly answered. "Sir Williams isn't built as a warrior, so his body could not fight the poison properly."
Paulina's hands flew to cover her mouth, and she just continued to stare in horror, her heart beating so fast that everyone, even outside the carriage, could hear it.
"He will be fine." Alicia rushed to assure her. She was also praying and hoping nothing would happen to him. At this point, she was mentally exhausted.
"And Princess Luciana? How is she?" Alicia asked with concern.
"I... don't know. As of the time we left, no one had attended to her on the Queen's order," the physician said, and Alicia's eyes widened in disbelief.
"What? Prince Ivan allowed that?" Alicia asked, unable to believe her ears. Although she had fainted, from what she had seen before fainting, she knew that Luciana had been seriously wounded.
"Lady Susan... she cut him with her sword, and the Queen had him locked in his chamber so he couldn't do anything," he explained, and Harold sighed when he glanced at Alicia and saw the distress on her face.
Harold turned to Harvey, who had been keeping an eye on Damian the whole time he and the physician were focused on Alvin. "We should leave now so that we can arrive at the palace soon," Harold said since they were very close to the palace now, and Harvey gave him a nod.
As the physician stepped away from the carriage and returned to his horse, Harold glanced at Alicia and caught her staring at him.
He held her gaze for a moment as he wondered what she was thinking. He could tell that she wasn't exactly as scared of him as he had assumed, but he wasn't sure if she had forgiven him yet. Was she still very mad at him?
"Let's... talk when we get to the palace," Alicia said quietly.
Harold looked a bit surprised that she was talking to him willingly and also offering to talk later. He could not hide the relieved smile on his face as he nodded and walked away to get on his horse.
It was after the second ring of the bell that they arrived at the palace.
However, some people were still lurking around. One of them was obviously the queen, as she waited for Damian to bring good news. The more time went by, the more anxious she felt, and she had every reason to feel that way because her maid, who had been forced to keep watch, ran to meet her in the library to inform her of their arrival.
The queen raced to the closest window where she could see outside, and just as the maid had informed her, Damian was right there with them, his hands tied in front of him, looking defeated.
Her body began to visibly shake as she realized that once again, her plans had failed. She was only slightly relieved to see that Sir Harvey was well. His parents had made it clear that there was going to be trouble if anything happened to Harvey while Benedicta was still healing from the shock she had experienced from Ivan.
She knew she could not take Sir Richard's words lightly. He was the Minister of War for a reason. They had refused to let her be, saying they heard rumours that a physician had left the palace and that Sir Harvey was injured. She tried to deny it, but when he refused to buy it, she admitted having sent the physician and antidote to Harvey and assured them that he was fine. Thankfully, after the first bell, they had to leave her alone, no matter how unwilling they were. They could not break the palace rules just because they needed to see their son.
Meanwhile, Harvey and Harold were trying to help an unconscious Alvin out of the carriage. As soon as he was out, Harold made the sleeping Alvin rest on him while standing, just as Susan ran out from where she had been hiding and towards them.
Alicia and a still-frightened Paulina got down from the carriage and watched as Susan broke into tears of relief as soon as she saw Alvin, and without thinking, she hugged him, even though he was still unconscious and in Harold's arms, shocking not only the ones present there but also the ones they didn't know were watching.
"I'm so sorry." She cried and pulled away to look at Harold, asking hopefully, "He will be fine, right?"
"Why are you still outside?" Harold asked, frowning. "And looking like that?" He added as he looked her up and down, noting how worse she looked.
She stepped back and hugged herself self-consciously as she said, "I got into trouble and had to hide out and wait for you to arrive." She explained in embarrassment, knowing Prince Harold was the only one capable of saving her at this point.
"Sir W-Williams, how... is he?" Paulina stuttered in fear and anxiety. Meanwhile, Alicia looked at the palace, dreading entering.
This content is taken from fr(e)ewebn(o)vel.𝓬𝓸𝓶