Chapter 81 - New Volunteer Instructor

Meanwhile, Alicia finally found the servants' quarters, unknowingly drawing attention to herself, not only because she was awake, but also because of the dress she was wearing. Since it was a simple dress a lady was not supposed to wear out of her room, especially if she was a royal. Since it was going to be time for breakfast soon, she was supposed to dress properly instead of running around in a casual dress. But Alicia didn't know all this as she looked around for Paulina, trying to find the particular room she was in or if she was even in since most of the maids and servants were in their places of duty, working already, so it was also difficult to find someone to ask. 

Meanwhile, Paulina, who had been busy with chores on another side of the palace, had just heard that the princess was awake. She wasn't sure which was racing faster: her heart or her feet.

She ran with all her might to look for her. Fortunately, she met the princess outside the servant's quarters and stopped running. She stood there, panting as she looked at her mistress's back. Seeing that she was okay and also the fact that she was here to look for her, Paulina was consumed by her emotions.

Paulina wouldn't be Paulina without her crying, so that's what she did. She burst into tears of joy, getting Alicia's attention, who turned around to look at her.

"Paulina," Alicia called her weakly. She desperately wanted to ask her about the painting, but seeing Paulina now and guessing how worried she must have been, she decided to ask her about the painting after consoling this big cry baby. 

"My lady!" Paulina cried as she threw her arms around Alicia, not minding the other servants who were walking by and looking at them. 

Most of the servants and guards around the palace were relieved to see that she was awake, but were curious as to why she came here first to see her servant instead of presenting herself to her husband and the royal family. Indeed, the relationship between her and her servant was weird.

"Please don't start with the tears," Alicia said softly, even though she was glad to see that Paulina was okay, although she had lost weight and looked thinner than she already was. 

"I'm so relieved that you're okay now. I'm happy," Paulina cried, and Alicia raised an eyebrow.

"How long did I sleep?"

"Three days."

"Three days?!" She asked, surprised. 

How come three days had passed just now when it seemed like she had only had a long sleep? No wonder she felt very weak and tired. She hadn't had anything to eat for three days! But surprisingly, she didn't feel parched or have a hoarse throat. It was the reason she hadn't thought she was unconscious for long. 

"Three days, my lady. Everyone was worried about you."

Alicia snorted. She doubted that. With how much trouble she had caused them, she doubted they would be worried about her. 

"What happened to you? How... did you fall sick?" Paulina asked, fawning over her. 

Alicia realized she hadn't even thought about that because as soon as she woke up, she kept thinking about the dream she had and then she saw the painting before coming here. 

She thought back to that day, but she was too tired to think about it. Besides, she had something important to take care of. She was about to ask Paulina about the painting when Paulina asked, "Have you seen Prince Harold?"

Alicia shook her head. "I haven't. That paint—"

"Why? He was worried about you," Paulina told her, making Alicia raise an eyebrow. Harold wasn't one to show his emotions so easily to others, so what did he do to make Paulina think that way?

"I'm sure he must have been glad I was unconscious. He hates my guts,"

"No, my lady." Paulina shook her head. "He visited you every day and night,"

Alicia hadn't expected that. He visited her every day and night? 

She shook her head to get rid of any unnecessary thoughts. That wasn't what was important right now. That wasn't the reason she had come out to find Paulina. "Come, let's go to my chamber. We need to talk," Alicia said as she took Paulina's hand and pulled her away with her. 

"But my lady, You should prepare to join the royal family for breakfast. It will be time for breakfast soon, and I'm sure the queen must have heard that you're awake now, and will be sending your new instructor," Paulina said, as Alicia kept dragging her along with her. 

"What new instructor?" Alicia asked as they kept walking.

"Uhm... Beth is no longer going to be in charge of you here."

"Really?" She asked, pleasantly surprised. 

"Yes, my lady. In fact, she was punished severely."

"Seriously? What happened?" Alicia asked, enjoying this piece of information. How come she had been unconscious when this happened? 

"Beth tried to drag you off the bed while you were unconscious. She thought you were pretending to be ill, and Prince Harold punished her," Paulina said, filling her in on all that had happened while she was unconscious. She visibly shivered when she talked about how Harold had punished Beth. Even though she knew nothing about the wolfsbane that had made the punishment unbearable for Beth, being used to hold up shooting targets and getting whipped was something she never wanted to experience. 

Alicia didn't know how to feel about this. Harold had punished Beth for her? Wasn't Beth the palace's favourite maid? And it would have been horrible for Beth since she had a crush on Harold. 

"Poor girl," she sighed, feeling a little bad for her. If only Beth had been nice to her, they would have all lived in harmony. 

Paulina was right. She had to see Harold to at least let him know that she was awake and fine. It seemed he had been worried about her. Alicia's lips twitched slightly with a smile. Although she had suspected that he cared about her, it was good to know that he hadn't just been doing that for show. He really did care about her after all. 

For some unknown reason, she was looking forward to seeing him during breakfast and watching how he was going to keep an aloof face as if he didn't care about anything in the world. 

Once they walked into her chamber and shut the door behind them, Alicia went to sit on the bed before turning to Paulina. "The painting... that painting," she said, pointing at the painting she left on the other side of the bed.

"You painted that right?" 

Paulina's face lit up as she nodded. "Do you... like it, my lady? I wanted to gift it to you for a long time. I was finally able to complete it." 

"Who did you paint?" Alicia asked, making Paulina's brows pull together in concern. It seemed the princess hadn't completely recovered from the drowning. 

"It is... the queen. Your mother," Paulina said, wondering why she couldn't recognize her own mother.

"Amber's mother?" Alicia asked with a confused frown, wondering why Princess Amber's mother had her face. Was it a coincidence? No. It was all too perfect to be a coincidence. There had to be a link somewhere. Her mind flickered back to the last dream she had before she woke up. 

Was that a dream, or was it a memory? Was that Amber? Had she jumped into the river because she was trying to hide from those men who were chasing her? "Can Amber swim?" She asked, even though she believed Paulina had already mentioned that she couldn't swim. 

"No, my lady," Paulina said with a shake of her head, wondering what was going on in her mistress's head. 

Before Paulina could ask any more questions, someone knocked on the door and then pushed it open, and to Alicia's surprise, Luciana, Prince Ivan's wife, walked in with some maids, "Princess Amber! I'm so happy to see that you're awake now," Luciana greeted happily, while Alicia wondered what she was up to. 

"Thank you, Princess Luciana," Amber said, but Luciana waved it off.

"Call me Luciana. Just Luciana. I offered to take over from Beth since she wasn't doing a good job and we don't trust the others to serve you well either, seeing as everyone fears Prince Harold," Luciana said with a wide smile, which Alicia found suspicious.

"How can a member of the royal family serve me?" Alicia asked, wondering who would approve of something like that.

The smile remained on Luciana's face. "I'm not exactly serving you. For the time being, I'll simply instruct the maids on how to serve you. I will be training you too.. Once you have passed all the tests, you won't be needing me anymore," Princess Luciana said as she walked over to the bed and grabbed Alicia's arm with a wide smile on her face, "I'm hoping that we can bond in this period."