Transmigrated Into The Body Of The Cursed Prince Wife
Chapter 116: "Don’t go."

Chapter 116: "Don’t go."

Ave could already feel her heart hammering so loud against her ribs, like it would burst out as she stared at the drawing of one of her worst nightmares she had buried in the depths of her mind. But it had resurfaced, and she had ended up drawing an image of it, just like she used to do in the past when she first discovered she could draw her imaginations and darkened thoughts on paper. But she never allowed anyone to see them before she would burn them down.

Now, however, she hadn’t only allowed someone to see them, she had seen them herself after a long time of fearing to face that Chapter of her life. She felt her breath turn labored, and her hands clenched at her sides as she stared at it, almost in a trance-like state, almost as if she was revisiting that memory of her life.

She recalled how the huge shadow loomed over her bed and how he would reach out to pull her out of bed with a coaxing voice that made her skin crawl in disgust. She recalled how he would guide her small hands into doing things that she had drawn in the paper in Lucian’s grip now. She recalled how she would cry to him that she didn’t like doing any of that and would end up being struck on the cheek.

As those memories began to flood her mind, Ave felt herself falling into despair. Her chest tightened as if an invisible hand was squeezing the life out of her, each breath a struggle while her heart pounded erratically, and the room spun, trapping her in a rising wave of suffocating panic as she fell back on the stool to the ground, covering her face with both her hands, trying not to see the image on the paper.

Ave couldn’t register anything else after that, and the next thing she felt was being pulled into strong arms. She flinched at the feel of someone’s touch and tried to instinctively move away, but the grip tightened around her, and a familiar scent swirled to her nose. Then she felt the arms wrap around her trembling body and hugged her to his chest, his head buried in the crook of her neck, where she felt his warm lips press to her skin as he muttered words of comfort to her—words she barely heard but slowly began to penetrate her panic and enter her chaotic mind.

"...Shh quiet now, my fierce kitten, I am here. It’s okay, everything is going to be all right," he whispered, his warm breath falling against the skin on her neck. Instead of focusing on her trauma, she allowed herself to focus on his words and the comfort he was currently offering—a comfort she hadn’t received from anyone in ages. His lips pressed on her neck, and his arms wrapped around her body made her relax, and she turned in a way that she slipped her arms around his waist and hugged him, biting down hard on her bottom lip to hold herself from crying or breaking down.

Her fingers clutched fistfuls of his shirt as she hugged him, her chest tightening, the weight of her pain pressing down on her like a vice, while her eyes burned with tears that refused to fall. But the moment his hand began to move up and down her spine in a gesture she found both coaxing and reassuring, her shoulders began to shake with her silent sobs, every tear a painful release of the anger and sadness that had been building up inside her for so long. The anger was directed at a man she despised so much but couldn’t report when she was a child, as she felt embarrassed, and when she had grown, she was scared of fighting against him, as she had nothing. When she finally had something to fight with, she had been taken away from the world.

"I...I hate him so much," she cried, tightening her hold around his waist while she buried her head deeper into his chest, as if to seek refuge from her own thoughts and pain. "I want to make him pay...I want to..." She sobbed, her words unable to leave her mouth again as her voice shook so badly she could hardly form a word.

Lucian held her through it all without letting go. Though he had no idea who she spoke of hating, he had a faint idea of what had happened through the drawings he’d seen—the hands of a little girl wrapped around...his jaw clenched so hard at the image, he could feel the veins bulging along his neck as every muscle in his body strained with barely contained rage at the thought that some bastard had done that to her as a child.

The look he had seen on her face when he held up the drawing, how she had drained of color and looked lifeless all of a sudden, had scared the hell out of him. When he saw how she fell to the floor, trembling and covering her face, he couldn’t describe the emotions that had coursed through him. What kind of life had she lived in her time, and what had the future become to let a child do such a thing to a grown man?

A man he didn’t know, but the thought of it sent him trembling with rage and the taste for bloodlust—a desire to kill him and hang his limbs where vultures would feast on them until there was no remains left of him.

Though Lucian would love to hear how all that had happened to her, he knew it wasn’t the right time now that she was in such a state—a woman he knew for being loud and reckless, bold and daring, was now reduced to such a state. Without hesitation, he pulled his head away from the crook of her neck and moved back, intending to gather her into his arms, but she seemed to think he was leaving and tightened her hold around him.

"Don’t go..." she cried softly.

Lucian leaned down and pressed his lips to her hair, his lips lingering there for more than a second before he whispered, "I am not going anywhere. You can’t remain on the floor. Let’s get you into the bed and covered up; you feel cold," he muttered, at the same time standing up and swiftly and easily gathering her into his arms as if she weighed nothing at all.

Her arms went around his neck with her fingers interlocking at the back of his neck. He carried her to the bed and gently put her down, but her interlocked fingers didn’t let go, as if she feared he would disappear until he gently raised his hands and pried them apart. When he looked down at her, her tear-filled blue eyes met his in a silent plea for him to get into the bed as she made space for him at her side.

All he could see on her eyes were the fear of being left alone, the fear of being in solitude where she would have no choice but to be plunged into the memories that seemed to plague her. Lucian felt his heart tighten.

He had no intentions of leaving even if she were to tell him to, he didn’t hesitate when he saw the invitation in her eyes. He pulled the blanket from underneath her body, climbed into the bed, and laid down. The moment he did, she moved closer to him and snuggled into his arms with her back to his front. His arm found her waist and pulled her as close as she could get to him, then just like last night, he draped his leg over hers under the blanket, she felt extremely cold and he wanted his body warmth to transfer to her.

Ave, who was finally calming down with him this close to her, found herself sighing in relief. In the past, when she went through such series of panic attacks, she had never had anyone to calm her down. Even if people made any attempt to touch her in such a state, she felt repulsed by their touch, whether male or female. It would take her hours before she would get herself together and return to normal, but tonight was different.

Lucian’s touch had felt like a safeguard from the demons in her mind. She had calmed within minutes, not hours. She hadn’t recoiled from his touch, but instead longed for it. Right now, with his arm curved around her waist, his chin resting at the crook of her neck, and his leg draped over hers, she felt protected and safe.

Lucian could feel how she had calmed down, and though the question lingered at his throat, he didn’t know if it would be okay to ask her about it now. He wouldn’t want her to fall back into such a state again—he would never want to see her like that.

Instead of asking that question, he asked another to lighten the loud silence that had fallen after she had quieted down. "You didn’t answer my question earlier, fierce kitten," he muttered, his husky voice falling on her ear.

Ave stiffened, and her heart knotted as she thought he was asking her about the drawing again, and she didn’t know she was holding her breath until she heard his next words.

"Do you know what is used to make those communication boxes you called...what are their names again?" he asked, even though he recalled their names but just wanted to hear her speak.

"Mobile phones," she provided in a small voice, and he couldn’t help his mouth from pulling into a smile.

"Do you know how I can make one?" He would like to gift them to her, as he had heard the longing in her voice when she spoke about them.

Ave, who heard his question, couldn’t help the small smile that pulled her lips upward. She shook her head, "I just own them, but I have no idea how to make them. Even if I did, there are no equipments to make them here." She said, feeling more relaxed than she was a moment ago and happy that he hadn’t pushed her for any questions regarding the drawings. She wasn’t ready to talk about them or revisit them without feeling like killing herself or the man responsible of her worst nightmare. The thought of it alone made her shadder involuntarily.

She felt Lucian’s arm curve in a way he interlocked the fingers of her right hand with his and then bent it in a way he held it against her chest from behind, causing her heart to tremble and her stomach to flutter with an unfamiliar feeling, but before she could dwell on that gesture or position, he had spoken again.

"Are mobile phones used to communicate alone?" he whispered, his breath warm and ticklish against her neck, and she found herself subconsciously clutching his hand tightly to her chest, where it pressed firmly against her breast as she wasn’t wearing anything underneath her shirt.

"No," she muttered. "They are used for many other things apart from communication and they can be quite addictive. Once you own one, you will feel like something is missing from your life without it. It’s used for..." She went on explaining everything one can do with a phone, and he listened quietly to her and only asked,

"Do you miss it then? Do you feel lonely here without it?" He waited for her answer. The last thing he wanted now was for her to miss anything from her time that would make her want to go back. Even though he could tell she had no idea how she had come here, he didn’t want her to long to go back when she had begun to warm her way into his heart and mind. He was willing to give her anything to make her stay. Anything.

Ave was silent for a moment. Though the first time she found herself here, she missed her phone, but at this point, her phone was the least thing in her mind among the things that made her want to return to her time. Thus, she told him, "I don’t miss it. And about loneliness, I do feel it at times, but when I hang around with your sisters," and you, she added that one in her mind, "I don’t feel that alone..."

"Hmmm," Lucian hummed softly, glad that even though he didn’t like those brats of his siblings, she found pleasure in their company. However, he knew after the ceremony, when he would be gone for the war, his half-siblings would keep her company, and to ensure something like this wouldn’t happen again while he wasn’t here, he said,

"You don’t have to draw anything for me again. I have seen enough of the future," he whispered softly. Then, not giving her mind the chance to think about what she had drawn, he added, "By the way, I heard you have made arrangements to cook some sample meals for the elder woman of the Chen. You can write down all the ingredients you’ll need tomorrow, and I will send Hugo and his son to get them for you once the ceremony is over. Do you like that?" he questioned, his leg that was draped over her moved even more so he entangled it with hers under the blanket.

Ave felt her heart tremble, not only from his attempt to help distract her from her own woes, but his leg that was entangled with hers underneath the blanket. She nodded her head, "Yes, thank you..." was all she could say as she felt her exhaustion finally taking a toll on her. She yawned and adjusted her head on Lucian’s arm that served as her pillow. Then she began to fall into a deep sleep, but amidst her sleep, she heard Lucian’s deep voice,

"Good night, my fierce kitten."

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