Everyone watched the scene before them in awe, and for some reason, it felt like it was the calm before the storm.
It was obvious to everyone that Harold didn't want her to be awake, but they weren't sure whether it was because he didn't want her to bear the pain she was feeling all over, or because of something else. Perhaps something he planned to do.
Harold patted her hair gently, and his heart ached when he saw the marks on her body. Trying not to disturb her sleep, he carefully lifted her into his arms and closely watched her face as he did so. If Harold wasn't already furious, his blood boiled when she cried in her sleep and painfully tried to adjust in his arms. She seemed to be in severe pain, even in her sleep.
Harold clenched his teeth as he paused with her in his arms for her to settle back into her sleep.
Seeing this, anyone in their right mind would not interrupt, especially seeing how his wild angry pheromones were still in the air, making it difficult for them to breathe.
But it seemed like Damon had forgotten who Harold was for a moment. And as the main person with authority there, he stepped forward and tried to speak, "Your high—"
"Shh..." Harold interrupted quietly without raising his head to look at Damon. That was all he said, and he had said that to Damon. But chills ran down the spines of every single one of those present there.
The Queen turned to Damon and the aristocrats, wondering why they were not doing or saying anything.
How could he just show up and disrespect all of them by doing what he liked, yet no one was doing or saying anything?
Sensing the Queen's angry gaze on him and how most of the aristocrats were depending on him to save them, Damon made the second mistake and cleared his throat to speak again, despite the suffocating air around them.
"Your highness, we are glad to see that you are awake now. But you can't take your wife from here..." He swallowed what was left of his sentence when Harold snapped his head up and his burning red eyes settled on Damon's face.
"No movement until I return," Harold said in a very quiet voice as he turned to leave with Alicia.
p His warning had been simple enough for everyone to comprehend, but there were always going to be those who liked to challenge people.
Even Damon, who was the king's beta, knew better than to say a word, but a low-ranking aristocrat who was probably looking for a chance to climb up the ladder for being "brave" took a step forward.
"It is disrespectful to—" He didn't get to complete his sentence when Alvin threw his dagger directly at the man, burying it deep in the man's throat without caring who he was. The unfortunate man made a guttural sound as he crumpled to the floor, startling everyone around. The man's shaky hands went to his throat, but he couldn't reach it before his hands fell limply beside him.
Alvin walked over to where the man fell and retrieved his dagger, which he wiped on the man's clothes. There were muffled gasps around them as everyone was too scared to make a sound lest Alvin or Harold single them out.
While this was happening, Harold walked out of the scene, unbothered by whatever was happening there.
By this time, people were visibly shaking, but the good thing was that they could breathe freely, or maybe not, since they were still too scared to even sigh.
They knew that Harold would not hesitate to get rid of them if they so much as coughed. So even after Alvin followed his master, everyone still remained where they were standing. They really wanted to know what was wrong with the prince. Because that wasn't him. It seemed like something else had possessed him.
"You would have been the first to die today," Harvey told Lance, who still hadn't gotten over the shock from earlier. His father had shot him several curious and warning glances that he chose to ignore and act like he didn't see.
Lance turned to look at Harvey. He looked stupidly confused as he wondered what Harvey was talking about. He shook his head to clear his thoughts and said, "Prince Harold wouldn't have killed me. I had no hand in this." Lance reminded him.
"But... I will," Harvey said calmly.
Ivan, on the other hand, turned to look at Luciana, but surprisingly, she was nowhere around. He had no idea when she left. He was furious. All his plans had been ruined. Just when he thought everything was going smoothly for him and Harold's wife was going to die, everything changed. He felt like screaming at someone. As much as he wanted to storm out of that place, he decided to stay back until Harold returned and see what the bastard was going to do. After all, he was watching from the balcony, so he was safe.
At the same time, Damon had a lot of things to be worried about. He didn't completely believe that Tyra had been telling the truth when she said it was Princess Amber who had hurt her. It didn't make sense to him the same way he knew it didn't make sense to the Queen either.
Now that Harold was awake, he was going to be in a difficult position, and his sense of judgement was going to be questioned, especially if Harold looked into what had happened and was able to prove that his wife was really innocent.
Not to mention how he would have to face the king, who would be pissed that they had attempted to do something like that without his knowledge. Why had he allowed the Queen to talk him into indulging in this foolish venture?
Damon turned to look at the Queen, whose eyes were tightly shut and her fists clenched. It seemed like she was trying to hide her anger. But no matter how angry she felt, she was bound to obey.