Transmigrated Into The Body Of The Cursed Prince Wife
Chapter 105: The courtsan

Chapter 105: The courtsan

Lucian woke up even before the break of dawn as he would have to leave through the window before the day breaks and the guards would see him going down. When he opened his eyes and tried to move away from Ave, he couldn’t move as she had twisted her limbs with his in a way that made him stop his movement so he wouldn’t wake her up.

One of her legs was between his, and the other was draped over his waist, causing her nightdress to ride up, with the blanket also slipping off their bodies, exposing her thighs. Her arm was draped loosely over his neck. He couldn’t believe she had entangled her limbs with his in such fashion.

With meticulous care, he slowly moved her arm away from his neck and shifted the leg she had draped over his waist to her side before he could stand up from the bed.

She chuckled softly in her sleep and hugged the pillow he had been using a moment ago to her chest, draping her leg over again, but this time, instead of his body, it dangled over the edge of the bed. Lucian stood by the bed with a ghost of a smile on his face as he watched her sleep in an unladylike manner, before he shook his head and leaned forward to move her back to the middle before she could end up falling off the bed.

Bending one knee on the bed, he moved her gently to the middle and then placed the pillow back so she could keep hugging it to her chest before he slowly pulled the blanket over her body, even though he knew she would probably end up kicking it off in her sleep again.

After making sure she was comfortable, Lucian sat on the edge and put on his shoes before he turned one last time to glance at her sleeping form. Then he walked towards the window and unlocked it. Without looking back, he jumped out of it, and the window magically closed gently behind him and locked itself from the inside.

He landed squarely on his feet on the ground below. Looking around at the quiet palace grounds with the guards dozing off at their posts, Lucian made his way back into the palace through the main entrance, his footsteps barely making any sound against the polished floor. He walked without caring to hide from the few guards who were awake and watching him, probably wondering where he was coming from at this time of the night.

He had purposely taken the door so whoever saw him would think he hadn’t spent the night in the main palace building or gone anywhere near Ave’s chamber. Not to mention, he knew a woman was still probably waiting for him in his chamber, and waking up to see him come in through the window wouldn’t be good for him, especially if the Empress, who had sent her, knew about it.

Lucian walked up to his chamber and turned the doorknob. As expected, she was there, shamelessly lying on his bed in little to no attire. And as if sensing his presence, she jolted awake and bolted to a sitting position, looking confused at first, but when she finally registered who had come in, she was off the bed in seconds, bowing.

"Y-your Highness, welcome back..." Lucette, the courtesan who had been sent to serve Lucian that night at the courtesan’s house and had narrowly escaped death, trembled in place as she greeted him. She had never thought that lying about him sleeping with her that night would make the Empress send her here again to try and gain his trust, hoping to make him addicted to her like the other princes.

Lucette had dared not refuse, knowing the consequences of disobeying an order. She had been relieved when she didn’t find him in the chamber, thinking he wouldn’t return before morning so she could lie again that he had slept with her. But who would have thought he would return before dawn?

When he didn’t respond to her greeting, she risked a cautious glance at him, only to be met with his burning gaze now in front of her. Her breath hitched in her lungs.

"What are you doing in my chamber when I haven’t requested your presence?" he demanded, his voice as cold as ice. His mere presence made it difficult for her to breathe properly.

"I... I was sent by Her Majesty," she stammered nervously, feeling the urge to step back but daring not move.

Lucian’s eyes narrowed at the woman, whose exposed chest only further fueled his anger. "You didn’t tell Her Majesty that I didn’t like your company the last time you served me?" he asked in a murderously calm voice that made her tremble even more.

"I... I... told her, but she sent me here anyway. I will leave. I won’t disturb you again," she cried nervously. When she saw Lucian pull out a dagger, her eyes widened. "Please... spare my life," she pleaded.

"If I spare your life now, the Empress won’t when she finds out you lied about that night. Besides, I don’t want her sending random women to my chambers. You will have to serve as a warning to the rest and to the one who sent you," he remarked with a nonchalance that made the woman glance at him, then at the blade he was turning in his hand.

"D-does that mean you’ll spare me?" she asked anxiously. She would never approach him again if he spared her life now. But then, a cruel smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth.

"I will spare you from the torture and make it quick. Send my greetings to Yama." Saying that, he didn’t give her time to register anything else and swiftly slit her throat. She died instantly, her eyes rolling to the back of her head.

Her body fell limply to the floor, blood pooling around her. Lucian watched with an emotionless expression, noticing a small bottle nestled at her waist. He knew why she’d been sent—to poison him.

The Empress couldn’t poison him through Ave, so she’d sent a courtesan she’d assumed he’d slept with to do the job. So desperate to get rid of him, she hadn’t cared about risking someone else’s life. Lucian glanced at the pool of blood, then at the bloodstained dagger in his grip.

Without thinking, he brought the dagger to his lips and licked a small part of the blood. However, his face scrunched up in disgust, and he wiped his mouth with his sleeve before flinging the dagger away. Her blood tasted like blood—nothing like Ave’s. It seemed he was only attracted to his little rebellious soul’s blood and body.

Not long after, Lucian heard a knock on his door before it creaked open. He didn’t need to look to know who it was.

"Throw her body where everyone will see it in the morning," Lucian ordered Zane without turning around. "It will serve as a lesson to any woman who thinks she can walk into my chambers without my permission."

Zane, who had seen the courtesan enter the room and had even wanted to stop her—since she was a woman he had once enjoyed his time with at the courtesan’s house—looked down at her body with mock pity. He clicked his tongue as he bent down and began to carry the body. "Such a waste of a pretty little thing. She was a great bed warmer," he muttered in disappointment.

"You can still take her to warm your bed. Her body’s still there, even though the life has left. It’ll save you the trouble of having to interact with her," Lucian deadpanned in a serious voice as he took off his shirt, which had Ave’s scent on it before but now reeked of the courtesan’s blood, further irking him and ruining his mood as she’d made Ave’s scent disappear from his body.

"I prefer her with life in her. In this state, she’s better off outside than in my bed. I’ll find another as good as she was," Zane remarked as he slung her body over his shoulder like a sack of grain and walked out the door.

A few minutes later, he returned, huffing for breath, bringing a frightened elder maid to clean up the blood trail he’d left behind the corridors and the blood in Lucian’s room.

By the time the maid was done, Lucian had bathed and changed into a new set of clothes. He returned to Zane, who informed him, "She’s on display outside."

"Good," Lucian said, making his way to the window, where the sky had begun to brighten, and the morning birds were singing. "I heard the weapons for the upcoming war arrived last night. Did you bring the books from Gina you said would arrive with them?"

"Yes, Your Highness. I wanted to tell you about it last night, but you were nowhere to be found. I put the books away in the library at your palace. You can check them when you’re ready."

"Mm," Lucian hummed in response. He really needed to find out more about Ave and why everything about her was special to him. He didn’t like how he felt whenever he was around her, and he hated to admit that he was becoming attracted to her. The sooner he figured out why she was affecting him, the better it would be for both of them.

"Your Highness," Zane called. "Have you decided which of the princesses you’ll be taking as your wife?" he asked curiously, noting that the prince had not made any moves to approach any of the princesses with the intention of taking one as his bride.

"I haven’t decided yet," Lucian replied, and he didn’t think he would be deciding anytime soon with a certain person already changing his original plans.

Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.