Chapter 42 - A Cat And Rat Race (1)

Inside the imperial palace, someone raced through, barefooted, like it was a matter of life and death. The person didn't bother to stop even when they raced past the Queen, which was taboo. But the Queen put her hand up, stopping the guards from taking any action as she watched the person curiously. Never in the history of the Moon Kingdom has someone done that. She was not talking about running past her now, she was talking about running in the first place. But a lot of weird things have been happening since a certain human girl came to the palace. So it was not a surprise that she was the one running like a mad dog. And who was chasing her? To everyone's surprise, it was none other than Prince Harold, who had decided that today was the day she would draw her last breath. He wasn't even running, but his strides were large and determined. He stopped for a second to bow to the Queen before following the same path his bride had followed, ignoring protocol. And what caused this ruckus, you may ask?

TWO HOURS AGO.

As a star, Alicia Queen was supposed to be mindful about the kind of food she ate, but maybe because she had suffered hardship and hunger in the early years of her life, she liked to eat as long as it was food, so she didn't really mind when she sometimes ate the wrong things and paid the price by either having an upset stomach or running on the treadmill to burn off any fat that must have accumulated in her body. But for the past year, she had been mindful of the kind of things she ate, especially since her popularity grew.

So it came as a shock to a foodie like her when she heard that there was no breakfast being organized today. Why?

She had learnt from Paulina, who happened to get more information than her, that breakfast was skipped every 4th and last day of the week. That hadn't sat well with her. If she had been aware, she would have prepared herself mentally, but since she was just told out of the blue that morning, it made her angry when she realized that she wouldn't be able to eat anything until dinner since they usually skipped lunch. But then, she remembered that she had a lunch date with her darling husband and beamed excitedly, even though her excitement had everything to do with the meal they would be served and nothing to do with seeing Harold. He could skip it for all she cared.

She imagined all the meals she would eat and the ones she would give to Paulina, who looked too thin for her liking. The imagination of it alone lit up her mood.

So that was it. In the late afternoon, she tried to find the royal garden. As usual, she missed her way a couple of times. The guards were usually mute, and the maids were always scurrying away as if they had something better to do. Luckily, she eventually found someone who showed her the direction to the royal garden. The thought that she had been keeping Harold waiting for a long time made her feel excited. He deserved it. Beaming, she followed the directions but was met with resistance when the guards by the door refused to let her leave the main building for the garden.

"I am Prince Harold's bride, and we are supposed to have lunch here!" She said this, not too pleased with the way she was being treated. Unfortunately, her angry look did nothing to the buff guards who refused to let her pass through.

"The prince is not here. He mentioned nothing about having lunch here. Also, Prince Ivan and Princess Luciana are already here. So return inside." A guard said coldly.

Her blood boiled. For plenty of minutes, she had been looking around for this stupid garden and had even been excited about keeping the prince waiting, but he was not here? She had told him that he didn't have to come, but he insisted that they have lunch together. Yet he stood her up. And it didn't help that her stomach was growling as she could see the other couple having a feast.

"You are so dead, Harold!" She swore under her breath as she began to look around for him.

As luck would have it, she looked over a window on the second floor when she heard some voices and when she looked down, she saw him outside. He seemed to be fighting or training with a group of guys that looked exhausted and on the verge of passing out. Harold's back was facing her, so he didn't see her.

It was Alvin who first noticed her when he felt a chilling gaze directed towards them. When he saw those eyes that looked like they were going to shoot deadly lasers at the prince, he tried to use his eyes to signal at Harold, but Harold was busy fighting, so he didn't look in Alvin's direction.

"HAROLD!" Alicia yelled angrily.

Harold spun around, startled when he heard his name yelled out like that, and almost got slashed for real by his opponent, who had been startled too.

"YOU LITTLE BASTARD! HOW DARE YOU STAND ME UP AFTER PROMISING WE WERE GOING TO HAVE LUNCH TOGETHER? WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE? I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT BOYS ARE STILL THE SAME IN EVERY GENERATION! YOU BETTER STAY CLEAR FROM ME—"

Everyone on the field went completely silent. Some had their jaws almost touching their toes while she continued to rant. The only words ringing in Harold's head were: 'Little', 'bastard', 'how dare you', 'who do you think you are', 'Boys'.

Not only was she calling him unpleasant names, but she was also challenging him by asking those questions. And calling him a bastard touched his soft spot, even if it was not a deliberate insult on Alicia's part.

Never in his life had he been spoken to like this, and his eyes flashed with a deadly glow that Alicia noticed.

She came to her senses when Harold suddenly disappeared, and she had no idea where he went to. She tried to crane her neck to see, but it seemed like he had vanished.

"Where... is he?" She mouthed to Alvin.

Alvin looked at the door Harold had taken and back at the mistress, who was still peeking out the window.

"I think... you should run."

And that was it.