I Love You, My Cursed Prince

Muriel considered running away, but that would cause more problems than could be solved. The dishonor she'd place on her family could be far too much to handle. The baron might cancel the betrothal. People would stop socializing with her sisters. Her father might even be refused some business over this stupidity. All of this might not happen if Muriel was running away from a normal aristocrat, but Muriel's mistress was a princess and the mother of the Crown Prince!!

She couldn't even imagine a proper plan for running away. She was often watched, and she couldn't exactly switch clothes with a maid in her bedroom. None of the maids were loyal to her. They wouldn't risk their jobs for her.

There wasn't a way out.

On the afternoon after the princess made her frightening suggestion, Muriel was asked to go up to a floor she had never been to. Doctor Bergson escorted her there. His hair was in a tight ribbon. His green eyes were a bit taut.

On this previously forbidden floor, they went to a long hallway that had one door at the end and many more doors on each side. The floor had gray tiles and no rugs, as if the occupant here wanted to hear all the footsteps in the area.

"Normally, all the doors here would be locked from the inside," the doctor explained. "Servants are sent here once a week to sweep and dust the hallway. Every two weeks they would be allowed in some rooms, but never all the rooms at once. The door to His Highness' bedchamber is always locked. He cares for his room on his own."

The prince cleans his own bedroom? That was almost sad in Muriel's mind. She wondered if the prince was bitter about that. She hoped he didn't take his frustrations out on her.

Especially since she was about to be helpless.

Muriel folded her arms and quivered.

The last room on the right of the hall, that was where Doctor Bergson stopped walking. Muriel had to stop too. The doctor pulled the door open. The creaking hinges sounded like a dying little creature whining its despair to the world.

There were no windows in the room. The walls had exposed stones and bricks. The floor was stone. In the center, there was a wooden chair with a light cushion in the seat and a tall back. A basket with a lid was on the floor near it. A cord hung from the ceiling close to one of the chair's armrests. On Muriel's left, facing the chair, there was a lit fireplace. To the fireplace's right, there was a tall and empty bookcase against the wall.