Transmigrated Into The Body Of The Cursed Prince Wife
Chapter 113: Drawings

Chapter 113: Drawings

By the time they finished with their adjustment dance practice in Thalia’s chamber, the sun had already set behind the horizon, and everyone was preparing for dinner. Since she was there with the princesses, Ave went to the dining hall together with them while letting her hair fall down her neck to cover the mark on her skin.

This time, Ave was already inside the hall before Lucian arrived with the prince of Nazia, who both looked deep in conversation. Lucian had a deep frown on his face as he listened to whatever the other prince was telling him. He only replied with a few words with his lips barely moving as they both made their way to their seats. However, before he sat down, his golden eyes found hers for a fleeting moment before she quickly looked away from him.

When Ave looked back, he was already seated beside the beaming Madeline, who like before, began to engage him in a conversation while reaching out to pat his arm and telling him about things he obviously didn’t seem to give a damn about, his expression remained stone-cold and impassive. From how everyone around him seemed to look nervous, Ave could tell him killing the courtesan was the reason behind it.

She looked away from him and headed inside her part of the dining hall. She never thought she would be this grateful for having to dine on the separate side until now; at least she wouldn’t have to sit in the same room with a man who was skilled at messing with her mind even without trying to.

A few minutes later, Ave didn’t even finish her dinner for the first time, it wasn’t enticing at all. The moment the Emperor left the hall with the Empress, she also left, not bothering to glance at anyone at the royal table but only nodded curtly at Prince Aaron before she walked out. She made her way to her room and made sure to lock the door behind her before she threw herself on the bed and sighed in exhaustion.

She stared at the ceiling with many thoughts running in her mind, most importantly the thought of how she would need to go out herself to get ingredients for her cooking in the town’s market after the ceremony to cook the meal she would present to the elder woman. Then the thought of how, if Lucian married Madeline, his path to the throne would no longer be impossible with the help of her family and kingdom.

She’d inquired from Zane that day and heard that Lucian had appointed Hugo to the stable to take care of the horses while also giving his teenage son the work of cleaning weapons in the training grounds. She was yet to go and see for herself, but regardless of it, she believed Lucian was ready to be a good ruler, and all that was left for her was to gain him the support he needed after his marriage to the princess to make things easier for him.

If he had the support of Nazia, Banzai, and Chen, including the villagers who she heard were now requesting his return as one of the successors, things were going as planned, and she wouldn’t have to worry about anything even after she went back home.

Though she knew with her little presence in this past, the future she knew would have the butterfly effect of not being the same. Something must have changed, but then as long as she hadn’t interfered with anything too much, she knew her life must still be the same. The only changes would come from the Pendragon Empire, which would or would not have turned into another country.

She was probably Madeline’s descendant, and for as long as nothing had happened to the brat, her life in the future would be there, and all she had to think about now was how to get back there on her own. She’d heard Lucian repeatedly accuse her of using a spell to swap her soul when he’d first learned about her. Then it meant she might somehow find a spellbook if she looked closely, perhaps in his palace library?

She had never been there before since the day she’d been thrust here. Since his mother had been a witch, she was certain she might find something helpful there and get her job easier once his marriage to Madeline was over. Nonetheless, the thought of Madeline being his wife and getting all his attention made her chest suddenly feel stuffy and uncomfortable in a way she couldn’t pinpoint.

She tried to imagine him kissing and holding her like he had done with her, and she felt a tightening in her left chest side, and her breath turned labored, causing her to quickly sit up as she felt somehow sick for no reason. Taking deep breaths, Ave decided to remove every thought of her plans and imagination of Lucian’s life with his future wife from her mind.

Trying to calm herself, her eyes fell on the table where the sheet of papers and colorful bottles Lucian had given her yesterday to draw with were still there. Without hesitation, she got up and approached it. Pulling out the chair at the desk, Ave sat down and picked up the black ink while she stared at the blank sheet with a little smile in her eyes. She would draw until her mind could no longer wander off to unwanted territories.

Ave picked up one of the papers that looked and felt nothing like the papers in her time, as they looked and felt thicker. She leaned down and began to draw from her imagination things from her time the second prince would find fascinating and would never get the privilege to see with his own eyes with the distance in time from the future.

She had always been a good artist in her childhood. Until her days in high school, she would always draw her thoughts, which had always been dark, as nothing in her life had been sunshine and rainbows since the day she was born. She had been raised by several nannies who she couldn’t keep track of, as they all found it troublesome to bring up an infant without a mother. The only nanny that had stayed to raise her was as good as nothing, as she would always sleep off, leaving her alone.

Ave could still faintly recall times in her childhood when she was about five or four when her father would come into her room and stare down at her with resentment after he’d gotten drunk and her nanny was asleep. He would always say things like she wasn’t his daughter and he would never welcome her as his. He would blame her for the death of her mother while saying she was bad luck to him.

Recalling all those memories fueled her mind into drawing more to bury them away in her mind like she had always done before. She imagined the view of the night city from her new penthouse in New York and drew them down—the shimmering lights of the buildings and a beautiful view of the traffic. Her fingers moved so fast she could barely think about anything else but the drawing she was doing.

In no time, Ave was done with drawing the city view and painting it with the colorful bottles of ink and little brushes tied together with a string. She put that one aside to dry and picked up another paper. She drew different kinds of cars she had owned after her fame in 2024, then the private jet she’d always dreamt of having on the paper.

Ave got lost in the drawings so much that her mind became as blank as a moonless night and as empty as a newborn baby. She didn’t allow herself to think nor feel the ache that came with the recollection of her past and how she wanted to get back at her father and his family. She drew everything she’d promised to show Lucian without even thinking about them.

Her fingers were aching, but she didn’t stop. Her hand muscles were twitching from repeatedly moving them, but yet she didn’t stop until she’d filled the papers and all the inks were empty. Then she slammed the last piece on the table with a bang and a deep exhale of breath. When she looked down at what she had done, she gasped in disbelief and shock.

On the brown desk were different kinds of drawings, from cityscape to cars and electronic devices and everything else she’d promised to make for Lucian, including a quick sketch of her high school building, which made her question if she had indeed been the one to make them, as she’d never drawn anything as close to realistic as this before.

"Wow, it seems my creativity flows well with anger..." She muttered as she massaged her aching wrist that also felt numb. She didn’t know for how long she had been sitting there, but her backside hurt from sitting in one position for so long. She stood up and stretched her body to release her sore muscles.

She decided to take a quick soak in the bath to feel much better after sitting for this long. However, she suddenly heard her stomach growl. Had it been long since she’d left the dining hall? She thought as she made her way towards the bathing room, rubbing her stomach as she was feeling hungry.

Perhaps it must be because she didn’t finish her food due to the emotions going through her earlier, and now she would have to sleep until tomorrow morning. This was one of the reasons why she missed her time. All she’d had to do in situations like this was call and order food or go and make quick noodles in her modern kitchen.

Sighing, Ave took off her dress and stepped into the bathing water that had turned almost cold as she had wasted most of her time drawing when she first came in. She shivered slightly as she sat in the water.

Since it wasn’t as hot as she wanted, she didn’t stay long inside and washed her body quickly before hurrying out and wrapping herself in a robe. She cleaned her body and put back the magic dress, and then she imagined a cream-colored silk spaghetti-strap nightgown that stopped above her knees and clung to her figure and had a slit at the side, giving her body the free movement she always liked before bed.

Done packing her hair to prepare for bed as she didn’t wash it, she felt much more relaxed and left the bathing room only to stop short in her tracks when she walked into the bedroom to find a certain someone sitting on the chair beside the desk where she had sat to draw, his head leaned down as he was busy admiring the drawings with a concentrated expression that made him look like a businessman going through some important documents.

Her heart momentarily skipped a beat as she stared at his profile. He was wearing black trousers and a robe-like shirt, which men here used as night attire, and his hair was let down, looking disheveled, like the wind had blown it into that messy state.

Her eyes then fell on his large bare feet at the side of the desk, where his shoes were now casually laying next to her bed that looked a bit creased as if he had laid on it before noticing the drawings and walked barefoot to the desk.

A frown settled on her face as she glanced toward the window and door, which she had been certain were locked before she entered the bathing room. Both were still locked, yet this person had entered her room and made himself comfortable. Her frown deepened.

Before she could demand how he had entered, he seemed to sense her presence without turning around to look at her. He spoke with his eyes on one of the drawings, "Come forward and explain to me what all these beautiful strange-looking things are, Aveline."

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A/N: Check the comments section. ^⁠_⁠^