It was almost late in the evening, and yet there wasn't much progress with anything.
Harvey stood outside Princess Amber's chamber without making any effort to go in.
He had wronged her, and he knew it was going to take a great deal for her to forgive him.
He hated to admit that there was nothing he could have done at that moment when their eyes locked. Amber wasn't Alicia. Although Amber could get really impulsive sometimes, she had never done something that impulsive, such as killing someone. When he first heard about what happened in the assembly room, he suspected that wasn't Alicia in action. He also didn't think it was Amber.
After seeing how she was almost stabbing Harold, he knew for a fact that it was not Alicia because she would never do that. And when she looked at him, he confirmed it was Amber even before she asked the question about why he was there.
It seemed like Amber didn't have much memory of Alicia's life here. But when her eyes dimmed, for some reason, he could tell she was surfing through Alicia's memory, and it wouldn't take long before she got her answer.
He panicked. Especially when Harold collapsed. At that point, all he could do was knock her out, so he struck her around the neck.
He regretted it. But he didn't have much of a choice.
According to the physician, she was very exhausted and in a deep sleep, and wasn't sure when she would wake up. But he was certain she wouldn't be waking up today.
The same could be said about Harold, who was ill and had also fallen into a deep slumber.
With other craziness going around in the palace, especially since his father was caught in the middle of so many controversies, such as King Cedric mentioning his name and also his involvement with the queen in trying to marry off his children into royalty, he decided to leave there for now. He could not continue lurking outside her chamber. Besides, it was improper.
On his way, a sound caught his attention, and he peered into the hallway to find someone repeatedly banging their forehead on the wall.
His brows furrowed when he recognized Alvin. He could only see his side profile, but Alvin looked exhausted and frustrated.
Before he could attempt to approach Alvin, Lance came from the opposite side and shoved him, revealing Alvin's bruised forehead. Thankfully, it wasn't serious.
And thankfully, again, Lance was wearing normal clothing.
"What do you think you are doing?" Lance asked him in his usual condescending tone.
Alvin ignored him, which was rare for Alvin. He didn't even spare him a glance. He just dejectedly fell back to the wall as he muttered to himself, "I feel so useless."
Lance eyed him unpleasantly. "You must think so highly of yourself. Nothing in the palace is your fault."
Harvey was surprised that Lance was actually trying to console Alvin until Lance added, "Why do you keep forgetting your place?"
At this point, Harvey wasn't sure if Lance was trying to console him or annoy him. But he wouldn't be Lance if he didn't try to remind others beneath him of their place.
"I should have protected them. But I was stupidly lying in bed all week." Alvin continued to murmur to himself, completely ignoring Lance.
"You had to rest. And you still need it." Harvey said as he approached them.
Lance turned to look at Harvey, but Alvin just continued to look ahead blankly as he said, "The Prince is ill. The king is ill. Lady Susan is missing, and you want me to rest?"
"You blaming yourself would not change a thing. The only thing you can do for your master is make sure things in the palace are fine. Isn't that why Sir Evan asked you to return here, and he would find his daughter?" Harvey reminded him.
"I should have been out there too. I can't do anything here right now, but I can help find her—"
"ENOUGH!" Lance snapped at him. "Your presence wouldn't make a difference."
"I won't keep tolerating you!" Alvin said in anger as he grabbed Lance by the collar aggressively.
"Get off me, you wild animal!" Lance tried to shove him off as he angrily said, "Who do you think you are to care about her? Do you think you are more worried about her than I am? Or more than Sir Harvey, who is her betrothed? Or even her parents and twin brother?" Lance asked before he threw a punch at his face, causing Alvin to abruptly let go of him.
Although Alvin made no move to fight back, Harvey didn't want to risk it and moved to stand in between the two of them.
"Are you both children?!" Harvey asked in annoyance.
"This is not the time to fight! The best guards have been sent out to look for her. They are also looking for Damian all over. But you think it is the best time to fight?!"
"You are right..." a voice said behind them.
The three young men's attention went to the one who had just joined them. It was Tyra.
"Prince Harold wouldn't want this to happen in his absence. We should try to keep the palace in peace until he gets better. That is what he would want." She said in a weak voice.
"What are you doing here? I thought they said you got sick again after kneeling outside the hot palace to meet the queen." Lance asked her, not hiding his displeasure at her presence.
"I... cannot lock myself in my chamber all day long." She said timidly.
Lance scoffed. "I see what you have been doing the entire time."
Harvey glared at Lance, which had him rolling his eyes, but he said no other words.
Tyra sniffled and put down her head as she said, "I am... sorry." She sobbed quietly. "I know that part of this is my fault."
"What has Damian been up to?" Harvey asked her.
She quickly looked up and shook her head. "I... have no idea. The... truth is... there was nothing between Damian and I."
The three young men looked at her curiously.
"Damian is loyal to Queen Mother. I was... being threatened. That was why I played along with everything. I was scared that if I didn't... I would get hurt. Just... like the King and Prince Harold."
The men didn't speak.
She continued. "They are Alphas, so they were able to survive the Queen's plots, but I won't be able to survive. Please forgive me." She sobbed and knelt on the floor with a loud thud.
"You don't have to kneel before us. If you want to be helpful, tell us all you know and stop constantly crying. It's annoying." Alvin said it in a harsh tone that made her flinch.
Without looking up, she said, "I... promise to tell all I know." She then looked up with teary eyes as she added, "But promise me you will find Susan. Susan is... my friend. She is the first real friend and family member I have aside from Prince Harold. I don't want anything bad to happen to her—"
"Do we look like we want anything bad to happen to her?" Lance asked in annoyance.
"Be calm," Harvey said as he looked at all of them and then looked down at Tyra. "You should get up. It is wrong to kneel before us—"
They suddenly heard a commotion outside the palace that caught their attention. The three men looked at each other, forgetting about Tyra, as they quickly made their way outside the palace in a hurry.
Slowly, Tyra got up from her kneeling position and looked in the direction the three young men had taken with dark eyes and palms tightly fisted beside her.
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