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Alvin feared that she had misunderstood him and that she might end up confronting Harold over it, which would, in turn, put him in trouble, so he ran after her.

"My lady, I think there is a misunderstanding," he called after her as he ran up to catch up with her, and Alicia stopped once again.

Seeing the crease on his brow, she figured that this was important to him, and since she still intended to somehow find a way to use him, she decided to be nice, "What misunderstanding?" She asked with a slightly raised brow.

"I only wanted to talk to you about the rumors going around the palace. Unless Prince Harold already mentioned it to you," Alvin added, wondering if Harold had told her about it already.

So he wasn\'t trying to talk her into accepting Harold\'s decision to send Paulina away? "Rumors? About Paulina?" She asked, confused.

"Yes, my lady."

Or was this a ploy by Harold to make her believe that there was a rumor, hence Paulina had to leave? "What rumor?"

So Harold had not told her about it? Then what did Harold say about her maid to make her so angry? Did it have anything to do with the reason she had sent him out of his room the previous day? Alvin mused.

"The rumors started while you were ill. Your maid has been spending a lot of time alone with Sir Williams," Alvin said, hoping that she would figure out what he was driving at.

"That is the rumor? What is wrong with that?" Alicia asked in disbelief.

Where did this lady come from that didn\'t see anything wrong with an unmarried female spending too much time alone with an unmarried man in secret? "Everyone thinks that they are having an affair," Alvin spelled it out for her.

"Is Williams married?" Alicia asked in confusion, not seeing what the problem was.

"No."

"Good. Then it\'s fine. Although I was going to hook you up with Paulina, Williams is a good catch too. I hope the rumors are right," Alicia said with a happy smile as she turned around and continued walking, leaving a stunned Alvin.

What kind of person was she? Alvin mused as he followed her.

Alicia, who had been seething with anger earlier, was floating with joy at the thought that Paulina had found love. It was just like in the romance movies she watched. The poor girl would end up with a wealthy man. Paulina was like Cinderella, only that she was thankfully lacking the evil stepmother and sisters.

She hoped that it was true and that there would be no obstacles in their path. She was going to make sure of it. That way, even if she succeeded in escaping alone, she wouldn\'t feel guilty about leaving Paulina behind. She would be certain that Paulina was happy and was well taken care of. She didn\'t want the poor girl to live her entire life as a servant.

As she approached the royal gardens, the guards standing by the entrance moved away for her to go in, and she eyed them with disdain as she walked past them when she noticed that they were the same set of guards who had refused to grant her entry the first time.

Once Harold saw her coming, he sat up in his seat. His brows pulled together when she smiled at him. Why was she smiling? He had expected her to be fuming angrily after last night, so why did it seem like she was happy to see him?

"I\'m sorry I kept you waiting, My lord," she said with a polite bow before sitting down.

My Lord? He didn\'t feel good about this at all.

What was this woman up to this time? Harold thought wearily. He would have preferred her to call him anything but that. He knew how much she despised calling him that. This must mean that she was up to something.

"It\'s not a problem. How did your training go?" He asked, observing her closely to see if she was only pretending to be in a good mood. He had been surprised to hear that she had chosen to go for her training rather than have breakfast with him.

"It was perfect! Princess Luciana is a very good teacher. Much better than Beth," Alicia said, and then relaxed in her seat when the maids came to serve them.

Perfect? Harold mused as he watched her. What was she up to?

Once the maids were done setting the table and they left, Alicia leaned forward in her seat and then cleared her throat to get his attention. "About last night... I thought about everything you said. You are right."

He raised a brow. "What exactly?"

"That I cannot leave here. So I just have to accept it and learn to live here." She hoped Harold would believe her and let his guard down around her. So that by the time she had a proper plan, he wouldn\'t see it coming. She laughed evilly in her head, but her hope was shattered when he laughed while looking down.

"What is funny?" She asked in annoyance.

"That you think I am stupid," he said before reaching for his wine. He served himself and took his time smelling the aroma before he drank from it.

\'Damn it! Why does he always have to be so smart?\' She muttered to herself as her hands fisted beside her.

Of course, Harold heard her but pretended like he didn\'t.

Out of annoyance, she picked up her goblet and began to fill it with the wine Harold had drank from, not the one in front of her.

"What are you doing?" He asked, the smile leaving his face. Alicia stubbornly ignored him and began to gulp it down, startling him. He slightly panicked and reached for the goblet, but he was too late and she had drank half of it.

"WHAT?!" She yelled at him, angry that he had snatched the wine from her. Not that the wine was tasty—in fact, it tasted disgusting now that she had stopped drinking it—but it had been her way of venting.

Harold observed her closely, counting down the seconds. He didn\'t know how it was supposed to affect her since he had never seen a human drink this before. It was specifically made for their kind. Ever since she came to this palace, they made sure that whatever she drank was that which was suitable for humans. But she was just too nosy and liked to touch everything.

"HAROLD!!! PLEASE HELP THIS POOR GIRL OUT!" She suddenly wailed loudly, making him almost jump out of his seat. It was barely five seconds since he took the cup from her, yet she was already acting crazy.

He looked around at the guards guiding the garden, who were trying to pretend like they were neither seeing nor hearing anything.

"Do not address me that way in public." He spoke softly.

"Address you what way? HAROLD?" She shouted loudly before bursting into tears. "But I like to call you Harold." She said in between tears.

\'Not again,\' his wolf sighed tiredly.

Barely 24 hours ago, she had been crying, and now he had to deal with this again? How was he supposed to handle her, especially right now when she was drunk at this time of the day?

"Fine. Just stop crying."

"So I can call you whatever I want?" She asked, looking up at him with teary and misty eyes.

He sighed before nodding and hoping that would get her to stop crying, but who was he kidding? She burst into tears again.

"I want to go back home. I really want to go back." She tried to reach for the goblet again, but he quickly grabbed it and poured the contents on the floor, despite how expensive it was.

She pouted sadly and continued rambling. "But whenever I think about leaving, I... I feel reluctant," she said, looking lost. "I wonder how Paulina is going to live here. I wish I could take her back with me. I wish I had someone there who would love me like Paulina." She began to sob again, but Harold was frowning.

"That\'s it?" He asked, unimpressed. He should be feeling sad for her that she had no one there, but he was more angry at the fact that Paulina was the only reason she was reluctant to leave.

She shook her head and looked him squarely in the eyes.

"I... I also worry about you," she confessed.

"Why?" He asked, relaxing in his seat casually. It was rare for them to talk like this, so now he had to take advantage of her drunken state.

"Because you make me worried," she said before throwing a piece of grilled meat at him for no reason at all.

He didn\'t dodge it and simply looked at the piece of meat that hit him on the chest before it fell on his lap.

"Why do I make you worried?" He asked, not sure he wanted to know the answer to that question.

If he happened to have grown on her, then it would be a big problem for the two of them. He would prefer they didn\'t have any sort of emotional attachment. That way, no one could use either of them to get to the other. Also, he didn\'t want anyone at all to like him that way. It was... uncomfortable.

"Because..." She hiccuped and continued. "Be-cause... I... you... you are like a younger brother I never had." She said, making every thought in his head stop as a big frown formed on his face.

"Unthink that rubbish thought!" He said in an angry tone as he threw the piece of meat back at her, and it hit her forehead.