Chapter 57 - Big Wild Dogs

Alicia didn't cause any more trouble for the rest of the day. Since the King had permitted her to leave the palace walls, she tried to be on her best behavior for the rest of the day. Harold had insisted they leave the next day, and when she decided against it, he told her that it was for her own good and that she would love to see the kingdom on the 7th day of the week since that was when the markets fully opened and the town would be bubbly. 

She decided to believe him since she didn't have any choice, even though she wasn't actually looking at the kingdom. All she wanted was to find the best way to run. And to do that, she needed Paulina to come with her, and she also needed a horse. She didn't want to take a carriage. How was she going to run away with an entire carriage? 

She was happy that something was finally going to work out, so she attended her classes for the day and listened to Beth's boring lecture for hours. She even willingly practiced the body postures and gestures Beth taught them, which made both Beth and Susan confused. But she didn't care about their confused looks because today was the last time they were going to see her. The least she could do was be obedient and make this class less longer than it already was. 

So when she returned to her room, or chamber, as they called it here, she packed up a few things, the type that wouldn't make anyone suspicious. She hadn't bothered to take any dresses because even one of these heavy dresses was going to give her away no matter how hard she tried to hide it.

She wasn't sure how long they were going to be out for, but she doubted they would be able to spend the night outside the palace. So she was just going to monitor him until he let down his guard and then she would slip off. But she seemed to be missing a vital point. This was Harold she was talking about. Harold never let his guard down, especially when it involved his naughty bride, who always thought of an escape plan every second.

That evening, she was also well behaved during dinner but didn't forget to mention to the king that she would be leaving the palace with Harold the next day, just in case he had forgotten. 

"You already have my permission," the King said calmly, making some people around the table jealous, especially Luciana. She didn't know what was so special about her that the king seemed to treat her better than anyone else and even went as far as permitting her to leave the palace when she had never stepped into the city since she was married here. The only times she left here were during hunting games strictly reserved for werewolves and also during the full-moon.

"I... didn't want to mention this earlier... but I am just curious and just cannot stop thinking about it," Alicia said while facing the king, causing all eyes to turn to look at her. 

'Oh no! What did she think about this time?' His wolf cried out. 

Harold had the same reaction with his wolf, wondering what she was suddenly so curious about.

"What do you feed those dogs? And how did you train them to know the time to discriminate between royals and other people and the time to just rip everyone apart?" She asked with wide, curious eyes. Already imagining giving her dog, Ruby, some classes so she would stop being a lazy pet and take up night duties, guarding her apartment from intruders, especially those nosy paparazzi and reporters. 

Everyone was confused about what she was talking about. What dogs? 

She seemed to read the atmosphere and the look on the King's face as she explained further to make him understand and was hoping she wasn't lighting a candle for herself.

"Last night... big wild dogs were roaming the area. I saw them from my window," she said, as if giving them a piece of fresh gossip. She had thought about it, and maybe those weren't wolves. They were probably a different breed of dog than she was used to. It would be very weird for them to guard the palace with wolves. 

'She... just called us dogs. Big. Wild. Dogs,' Harold's wolf voiced out the same thing in the minds of everyone around the table. 

One thing these wolves hated was being compared to dogs, but oblivious Alicia continued. 

"At first, I thought they were wild animals from the mountains that found their way into the palace and killed all the guards, but then I thought against it and it all made sense that they were the night security. They were really big!"

Now they were wild animals. Just great! 

"Those weren't dogs," Harold said, gritting his teeth, which caused her to frown at him. 

"Are you saying I'm blind then? Those were definitely dogs!" She said confidently.

Although Ivan and Luciana were equally upset that she was referring to them as dogs, seeing how upset this made Harold, they relaxed. All eyes turned to the King, who was looking at both Harold and Alicia, and they could all tell that, as usual, the King didn't like what Alicia had said. Luciana was very pleased with this.

"I'm sorry, father, I will handle this," Harold said with a bow before looking at Alicia with cold eyes, "You had better keep your mouth shut and eat silently," Harold warned.

"How am I supposed to eat with my mouth shut?" Alicia asked with a roll of her eyes.

"I only asked a question, I wonder why you're upset," Alicia muttered under her breath. She was glad that she would be out of here by tomorrow and wouldn't have to face these people anymore. 

"Keep quiet and eat," Harold ordered between clenched teeth. 

After that nobody said a word until both the King and Queen left.

"You still have a long way to go with your bride," Ivan said with a tsk before leaving the table with his wife.

Harold turned to glare at Alicia. Before their marriage, he had always kept to himself. He only came to the dining room to eat, after which he would leave without saying a word to anyone unless he was spoken to by the king. But since his bride arrived, he had become talkative.

"Henceforth you must not speak while we are here unless you're spoken to. If you have any questions, you can ask me in private," Harold ordered before standing up and walking away. 

Once he left, Alicia turned to Tyra, Susan, and Williams, who was still seated, "Did I say something wrong?"

Tyra looked at Susan, not knowing what to say, so Susan cleared her throat, "Well, the thing is that those weren't dogs. They're wolves, and the King is very fond of them. He doesn't like people referring to them as dogs. It is insulting," Susan explained the best way she could. There was no way she could let Alicia know that those were werewolves. It wasn't her place to do that.

"Oh, so they were really wolves as I thought initially! Someone should have just said so. The King must have been upset," she said with a slight frown, even though she could not tell why he was upset. And also... those werewolves! The panic set in, but she tried to hide it.

"Yes, he was."

"I will just apologize to him during breakfast tomorrow then. Thank you for letting me know," Alicia said with a small smile before turning her attention to Williams. She remembered what Paulina had said about being saved by him. She was yet to thank him for it. 

"Thank you very much for saving Paulina," she said, looking directly at him, and Tyra looked at them curiously since she didn't know what Alicia was talking about. 

"Did something happen to Paulina?" Tyra asked curiously.

"Thanks to Williams, nothing happened to her," Alicia said with a small smile, and Williams simply gave her a nod without saying anything. He wondered if she was referring to that night or what had happened earlier that day at the painting room.

"I need to go and get ready for tomorrow. It's going to be a long day," Alicia said excitedly as she stood up and left, after bidding them good night. Once she got to her bedroom, Paulina was already there waiting for her.

"Perfect! Let's talk," Alicia said as she went to sit on her bed and patted the space beside her for Paulina to join her.

Paulina looked at her mistress curiously as she went to sit beside her. She had been wondering why the Princess had been in high spirit all day. 

"I finally found a way to get us out of here," Alicia said excitedly.

"What way?" Paulina asked with a concerned frown. She had been trying to come up with the best way to dissuade her from escaping.

"Tomorrow we are leaving the palace!" Alicia exclaimed, clapping her hands happily, "Get whatever you need and make sure you're in this room tomorrow morning before I go join Harold outside," Alicia said with a happy smile, and then paused when she noticed that Paulina didn't seem as excited as she had expected her to be.

"Why are you not happy?"

"I don't think we should run away. It is not a good idea," Paulina said with a shake of her head. 

"What? What happened to you doing whatever I want? You have changed your mind already?" Alicia asked with disapproval. 

"I need to protect you, milady, and I don't think you will be safe if we run away."