Chapter 82 - King's Beta

Alicia didn't need someone to tell her that this princess Luciana was up to no good. The princess reminded her of some of the ladies she had met while working in the entertainment industry. The smile was just the same, and those people usually had an ulterior motive. But this was not the time to let her know she wasn't looking forward to bonding with her. Since she was going to be her new instructor, she had to be nice and sweet so she wouldn't give her hell like Beth did and make her stand for hours. 

In all truth, Alicia wasn't looking forward to going to the dining table. She was weak, and it was strange that after being unconscious for three days, she still felt sleepy. She wished she could just stay in her room, freshen up and have something to eat here. And, of course, sleep for a while so she can fully recuperate. 

"Come on, you need to hurry up and get ready. We don't want to arrive there after the King," Luciana said, smiling. 

Paulina helped Alicia up and led her to the bathroom, which the other maids had prepared for her. She soaked herself in the large wooden bath, feeling all her muscles relax. At least these maids were smart to let her stay here herself, unlike Beth's underdogs who had to help her wash. Very awkward moments. 

Now that she was relaxed, a lot of thoughts filled her head. She wanted to know how and why she fell unconscious and also wanted to know why Princess Amber's mother had her face. She had often seen this in movies but had never thought she would experience this herself. Was she a reincarnated version? Or were these people related to her? Did it mean that Amber was also her ancestor? Then why did she come here? How had she swapped souls with Amber? That was if they really swapped souls because she didn't know whether Amber was dead, still in this body, or whether she was living her life. But what if Amber was dead? What about her own body? Did anyone find her after she fell into that water? 

All the questions were beginning to give her a headache. She knew it was nearly impossible to get answers to those questions. All she had to do was look for a way to visit that village if she wanted answers. But for now, she needed to know what caused her to fall unconscious, so she began to think about everything that happened before she fell sick suddenly. She could remember leaving the palace, so she started from there. The memory flashed from one scene to another, causing it to make less sense to her because one moment she was inside a store, another she was dancing, another she was on Harold's racing horse alone, and another she was eating. She had a feeling that something terrible might have happened. Because the more she tried to remember what happened, the more she got shivers as if it was something traumatizing. After she didn't get any tangible things for a long moment, she gave up and washed her face and her hair, deciding to go get breakfast first. Maybe her memory will come back. 

Meanwhile, Harold seemed to be in the worst mood this morning. Even his brother, Prince Ivan, who liked to taunt him, kept his mouth shut, fearing Harold wouldn't hold back. He looked like he was using a lot of energy to suppress his anger, which made the room feel stuffy for everyone inside, even though it was a large one. It wasn't until he heard the weakest one, Tyra, whimper that he realized what was happening and called down. Everyone breathed out in relief, but Tyra's was more audible. 

Ivan tried to make sense of the reason Harold was like this, and the only reason he could get was that his bride was awake. Did it mean he was hoping she would never wake up? 

For William's, however, he had the same thought, wondering what was wrong with Harold, but his conclusion wasn't the same as Ivan's because Harold had asked him to swear on his life that no one was going to know about him making medicine for his bride and if he told a soul, Harold was going to ignore the fact that he was the queen's relative and have his head sent back home to his parents. He knew Harold was capable of doing that and no one would dare be the first to raise the topic of punishing him. 

The door opened from outside with everyone expecting Alicia to enter, but to their surprise, it was the King and Queen who had arrived there before Alicia. Behind the royal elders, was none other than the King's assistant/Beta, Damon, who had been away for an official assignment after he returned from Harold's wedding ceremony in the other kingdom.

They all stood up immediately, bowing as they approached further. Now that they looked around, Princess Luciana wasn't here either.

After they sat down, they noticed how the king was frowning as he looked at the empty seats. 

But it was the King's beta who asked first, "Where are they?"

Everyone knew what an annoying perfectionist he was. He had so much authority that he could pass for the king, which meant he was higher in rank than the queen. Now that he was back, they could only hope he would return for another assignment. 

"They aren't here yet," Ivan explained. 

"Of course, he's not blind. Why aren't they here yet?" The Queen asked, frowning before turning to look at Harold to ask about his wife. But the door opened again with a loud, "GOOD MORNINGGGG!" in a sing-song voice. 

How much they missed her. 

Several lips twitched, and surprisingly, one of them belonged to the King. But two people, in particular, were not amused. Those two were the ever-rigid King's assistant, Damon, and Harold. 

"I'm sorry, my King, my Queen," Luciana bowed deeply. "We didn't mean to arrive late, we were just—"

"HOW COULD YOU SHOW UP AFTER THE KING AND QUEEN?"

Damon bellowed, causing Alicia to flinch in shock before she turned to look at the man with the thunderous voice. The voice reminded her of the person's voice in her dream, who had condemned her to death for lying about her identity. As she looked at him now, she remembered this man. It was the same man who had drawn a sword to her neck on her wedding day with Prince Harold. He seemed to have quite a temper.

"I'm sorry, My King, My Queen," Luciana cried, bowing to almost ninety degrees while shivering. 

They all knew how much authority Damon had. He wasn't one to be messed with. 

Meanwhile, Alicia wasn't bothered by him. She looked at Harold, who was just staring ahead like nothing concerned him. His facial features seemed to be a lot more rigid than they usually were. 

'Shit! He's angry,' she said to herself, wondering who the unfortunate person was that had annoyed him this time.

Not reading the atmosphere, she began to walk towards her usual seat. 

"WHERE ARE YOU GOING TO?" Damon asked, standing up angrily. 

"Dude, chill! Don't you get tired of shouting? You are going to ruin the dishes with your spit," she chastised him in a weak voice before turning to look at the King, stunning Damon, who looked at her with his jaw hanging low. He had known she was a rude, mannerless human, but he hadn't expected her to talk to him in that manner. He thought by coming here, they would have lectured her on how to behave, but it seemed he had been expecting too much. 

Everyone else tried to suppress their laugh, but it seemed to become more difficult with each passing second, especially with the look Damon had on his face. 

It was the queen who accidentally let out a laugh before she comported herself and pressed her lips into a thin line. 

"My King, My Queen," she bowed deeply, greeting the two. "Thank you for your care and concern. I am presenting myself to let you know I feel better now," 

"HEY! How... how dare you?!" Damon asked, angry at being ignored. 

"Goodness! I really should have remained unconscious if I knew I was going to face you today," she complained as she went to sit down. 

"Why are you still standing there? Come sit down!" She called over Luciana, who was waiting for the king's permission to rise from the deep bow that was beginning to make her backache. Luciana raised her head to peek at them. She didn't know whether to laugh or cry in this situation. The one who had made her arrive late was Princess Amber, who had decided to sleep in the bathroom, but now, she was seated there, leaving her here and even calling her over like she had the authority to. 

"What insolence!" 

"Enough," the King finally said, raising his hand to stop his Beta from blowing up. Even though he knew that Alicia needed to learn her manners, the place had been boring without her. She had been here for barely some minutes and the whole place was more lively now than it had been in the last three days.

"Rise and join us," the King said to Luciana. 

Alicia, who obviously didn't think she had done anything wrong, turned to look at Harold and smiled, "Hi?" 

He spared her an annoyed glance and spat out, "Hi," before turning to look ahead, ignoring her once again.