Habdoul took a few steps forward to approach the young woman. She was beautiful and serene. She was a mulatto... Her mother was a half-breed and he could recognise half-breeds and Alicia was not one. So much the worse... She was wearing a little dress that went up to her thighs and one could even see the smoothness and the thinness of her long legs while the roundness of her hips jumped to the eyes. She was splendid...He stooped to her height to admire her more closely while pulling down her dress, not wanting to succumb to the temptation she was...She was beautiful... Very beautiful. She seemed soft and docile but that was just the fact that she was sleeping. Habdoul smiled and pushed a stray lock of hair back from her cheek. She was beautiful... But he knew that the young woman was very angry with him... No, "angry" was far too weak. She was very angry with him. And if she woke up now, she was going to call him names. But what was wrong with him? By Allah, he was a Sheikh but also a fool...He smiled again as he saw the young woman frowning in her sleep. She would probably wake up... He moved away from her and sat down on the bench. For a moment he admired her, but finally pulled himself together before shaking her off at her back, her feet. When the young woman made a slight movement, he said:
- 'As far as I know, I've given you your quarters with a bed, too. If you are sleepy, you should use it.
From the deep, husky sound of the voice, Alicia could tell that it was the Sheikh...but what was he doing here? In a quick, energetic movement the young woman woke up in a hurry before turning back to the sheikh with a look that announced the next world war. The sheikh almost laughed, but pulled himself together in time. The young woman's hair was in a mess and some herbs had lodged on her cheek. Her slightly reddened eyes seemed to glare at him. She had a wild beauty...
- You? she asked in growing anger.
- Yes, me. And please be so kind to me. I am your Sheikh now.
Alicia opened her mouth in surprise... Not only did that cad lock me up for nothing, but now he's ordering me around. God, I hate him... she thought. She turned her back on the sheikh and walked towards the exit of the garden, as she was about to leave, she turned and said to him:
- Not only did you spoil my photo shoot and confiscate my mobile phone, you also spoiled my night. You also ruined my dream and now you want to ruin my day! I hate you! Frankly, I assure you I hate you!
She turned around and before she left his field of vision, the sheikh answered with a smile:
- And I assure you that the feeling is mutual!
The young woman left without saying anything more. She raged against the sheikh and called him every name she could think of because he had woken her up from her most beautiful dream. Frankly, he was a first-rate fool...with a royal face. She let herself go on her bed and released her anger. She was going to get revenge...bitter and sweet revenge at the same time.
- I have to see Sarah! If I don't, I'll go crazy.
She walked out of her room and flipped off the guard at her door. Frankly, she hated everyone here... Except the queen and the princess... Those two angels... But that demon Sheikh who failed on earth... She hated him with all her soul.
- Have you seen a blonde with long hair and white skin?
- No, I have not. I'm sorry, miss.
This was the tenth time the maids had said the same thing to her. Sarah, where are you? Sarah was in love. No doubt she was hanging out with the prince. She returned to her chambers accepting that she was in for a bad day and trouble.
When the Sheikh left the garden after a few minutes, he went to his office. He began to work again. He had regained his good humour thanks to the young woman and he was going to take advantage of this to move forward with his responsibilities. A few hours later, as night fell on Jaipur, Alicia's door knocked gently. The latter smiled, knowing perfectly well the habits of her best friend. She jumped to her feet and opened the door.
- I'm sorry. It's Habdil's fault. He took me places and stuffed me with chocolates and ice cream. I didn't want to go out but he made me. God, I assure you...
- Shhh! Come on in. We'll talk about it... I missed you! Alicia replied, laughing at her best friend's face.
A few minutes later, the corridors were filled with their laughter. Honestly, you could tell by their laughter from more than 120 cm away. Sarah was living a real fairy tale. Sometimes Alicia felt that she should be living something like this. But for the moment she hated the sheikh too much to love a man. When night fell completely and midnight came, Sarah finally left her best friend's flats and Alicia could finally go to bed.
- I'm thirsty. Sarah made me talk too much.
Alicia then put on a dressing gown and left her bed. She looked into her small refrigerator and saw that her water can was empty. She sighed and left her room. The guards were no longer at her door. She frowned and headed back to the unfamiliar kitchen, which she would have to find on her own. Not only was the castle huge, but she had no idea where she could get water.
- If I had a palace, where could I put the dining room?
She seemed to think, then stopped short.
- I don't have a palace. It's normal that I can't answer that. Lord, I must find a servant.
She wandered the corridors for a while but no one was there. The whole palace was probably already asleep. Frankly, she wasn't going to sleep with this thirst... She was going to have to drink water from her bath. She walked down a corridor and at a bend in the road a voice was heard in a room. She turned to see the direction of the voice. It was coming from a half-open door.
- I told you I didn't have the money yet... Habdoul has blocked everything about the bank accounts.
-...
- Just give me a little more time. Don't threaten me.
-...
- You made the diversion to the wrong account, do I have to remind you? That's why I can't pay you. You're a first class idiot, you've been doing it for over 8 months and now you've decided to make this mistake!
-...
- I'll call you tomorrow, I have to find my wife before she comes looking for me. Find the owner of that bank account and bring me my money!
Alicia's heart was pounding. She shouldn't have been listening to that conversation. She didn't understand anything. But when she heard the person put down the receiver, she knew it was time to run for her life. And that's what she did. She started to run with all her strength, her heart pounding. She had forgotten the way she had come here so she ran through the corridors but after a while she ran into the chest of someone... very strong... Frankly, she was going to have one of those headaches. She looked up and came face to face with a face with hard creases and then the hard creases were replaced by a softer, worried face:
- Alicia? What's the matter? You look like you've just seen a ghost...
Alicia opened her mouth to tell him what she had just seen but nothing came out. She was scared. Alicia, no!!! And if it's royal business, you see these kinds of secrets between the king and the law... Her memory told her. She should keep it to herself.
- It's normal! I just saw YOU!
She rounded the Sheikh and continued her mad dash until she saw the white door of his flats at the end of the corridor...