"Leave the palace? But... Is it okay to leave the palace now?" Paulina asked and nervously looked at the window, which was already closed. Since the first night, after she was attacked by Beth and almost got into trouble before she was saved, she wasn't sure she was ready to risk it and step out of the palace doors, with or without her mistress.
"Not now. But we have to plan." Alicia was at least relieved to see that Paulina was not asking too many questions and was willing to go along with it.
Paulina still looked confused. "Why do we have to plan? We can go out tomorrow. But you know we won't be able to leave the perimeter of the palace building."
"That is the point!" Alicia frowned, "We have to make a plan to run away from this place. I believe you also don't like this place, right?" Alicia asked reasonably. Of course, there was no way Paulina was going to like the palace, not when she had encountered the likes of Beth.
Paulina looked at her in confusion, but it soon vanished when she understood what Alicia was saying and gasped loudly before using her hand to cover her mouth. "You... you don't mean we should take a stroll?" She whispered.
"What stroll? Don't be silly. I'm talking about escaping from here!" Alicia said, realizing that Paulina had misunderstood her. No wonder she had agreed so easily.
Paulina shook her head and her fear was evident in her eyes, "Milady... we... we will be in trouble if we are caught." She continued to speak in a hushed tone, afraid that someone outside might overhear them.
"That is why we need a good plan so that we won't get caught!"
"But... what about your husband?"
"I didn't want this marriage. And I'm sure he will be happy when I leave, because he doesn't want it either. So what do you say? Are you game?" Alicia asked seriously.
"G-Game? What... game?"
"I mean, are you in with the plan? I want us to leave together. You won't be safe here either."
Paulina thought about it for a moment before she nodded. "I will do whatever you want, Milady. But I am just worried about you. I don't want anything to happen to you."
Alicia smiled and rubbed her hair affectionately. "Aren't you a sweet girl? Do not worry. I will make sure to protect us. There is one plan I have now, and that is banishment, but..."
"Bbbbbanishment?" Paulina stammered in horror.
"Yes. But I need to come up with a good way for that to happen, so until then, try to find out things from the other maid. Learn if there is any way people are allowed to leave the palace. I have to stop asking Princess Tyra too many questions before she becomes suspicious of me, and it seems Harold is onto me. Just find out whatever you can, okay?"
Paulina nodded eagerly. If she was to be honest, she wanted to leave this place. She even preferred living in exile in the mountains to staying here. But she did not regret coming here with Alicia. She was glad that she was here with her mistress. Maybe she would have had it worse had she remained in the other kingdom. Who knows?
"Tell me, does Amber love poetry?"
Paulina once again looked worried when she addressed herself that way, but she had chosen to accept everything as it came.
"Yes, Milady, and you are very good at it. And you also speak in riddles that I do not understand." Paulina giggled.
Alicia sighed. She suddenly felt like a deflated balloon. She had been hoping to show Paulina the diary, but it seemed like the girl knew nothing about poetry, just like her.
"So what are you good at?" Alicia could not stop herself from asking.
"Painting," Paulina said proudly. She didn't mind that she was reminding the princess of what she already knew.
"You can paint?" Alicia asked, surprised.
She nodded excitedly. "I was preparing a gift painting for you when we were at the mountains, but I have not been able to complete it because we moved and I no longer have any painting material." Her shoulders drooped, and she looked down dejectedly.
"Hey! Cheer up. I don't mind if you can not complete it. It's totally fine."
"But I need to give it to you after completing it. I have been working on it for a long time and need to add the finishing touches. Without the facial features, the drawing is meaningless. I don't think I will ever be able to complete it here."
Alicia could not help but feel bad for her. She wished she had someone as loyal and devoted as this in her life. She was envious of Amber.
"Do not be sad. I will see what I can do and get you all the materials you need to paint. Okay? You can paint in your free time and also not forget to find out information from other maids, okay?"
She beamed and nodded. She hoped that her mistress would get it so that she would finish up the painting and show it to her. She just hoped she would be able to get the perfect facial features of Princess Amber's mother since she was drawing from her memory of when she was 8 years old. Since the princess always wished she had a painting of her mother, she was going to surprise her with one.
Now that she was done sharing her plans with Paulina, she stood up ready to leave for dinner, and her eyes fell on the balm again, reminding her of Harold. Thinking about Harold now, she glanced at the floor and realized that it had been cleaned. She had completely forgotten about the snacks that had been dropped earlier.
"Did you sweep the floor?" She asked Paulina curiously, but Paulina shook her head. Did that mean that Harold had asked someone to clean her room? When? Alicia wondered.
No! No more thinking about Harold! She didn't want to think about him or worry about him. Alicia told herself with a shake of her head before returning her gaze to Paulina.
"Have you had something to eat today?" She asked curiously, and Paulina gave her a nod.
"The Prince's manservant who gave me the balm yesterday, gave me some snacks a while ago," Paulina explained, wondering if she should tell her mistress that the man had asked questions about her.
Hearing that Harold's manservant, or whatever he was since Harold had said he wasn't a servant, had fed Paulina, Alicia's brows pulled together once again. Harold! Why did he keep making her think about him? Why did he keep doing things that made her want to figure him out? She didn't want to be curious about him! She didn't want to care about him! All she cared about was leaving this place.
"Try not to get used to receiving help from him," Alicia told Paulina before walking out of the chamber.
Meanwhile, inside Harold's chamber, he stood by his window, deep in thought. If one saw him, they would be surprised to find him looking guilty.
"Maybe I was too harsh on her?" He asked himself. He had seen how scared she had looked inside the dungeon. Even he didn't like going there, so why did he take her there?
'HARSH? HARSH?!' His wolf yelled in disbelief. 'We didn't bite her, we didn't stab her, or even hurt her. You only showed her the cells and you think you are harsh? Why did I find myself in a weak person's body?' His wolf cried dramatically.
"It's a good thing you are strong," Harold replied dryly, not in the mood to banter.
"We are supposed to teach her a lesson, not help her or get soft!" The wolf continued.
"She belongs to us, and we are supposed to protect her. I won't be like my father!" Harold said more to himself than to his wolf.
Although he had no feelings whatsoever for his bride, she was HIS bride, and he had to look out for her in a way he wished his father had done for his mother. She reminded him of his mother. Like his mother, who had been brought here against her will.
He turned to the door when a knock sounded, and shortly after, Alvin walked in and bowed to him. "Did you get the girl something to eat? And were you able to talk to her?"
"Yes, milord," Alvin said with a bow as he watched Harold. It was still surprising to him that his master did not hurt his bride as he had feared he would. Not that he had wanted Harold to hurt his bride, but seeing how much attention he showed to his bride and her maidservant greatly surprised him. It was unlike him.
"Are you waiting for me to ask you about your conversation with the girl?" Harold asked impatiently. He would have talked to the girl himself, but that would have raised a lot of eyebrows, and he didn't want to attract unnecessary attention to the girl.
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