Transmigrated Into The Body Of The Cursed Prince Wife
Chapter 131: The crowd in the hallway

Chapter 131: The crowd in the hallway

Ave took a spare parchment from the drawer of the desk and hurriedly wrote down the incantation she would need and drew the pattern that was said should be drawn on the cold floor to cure a dying person. Done, she smiled and tucked it inside her dress pocket, patting it to make sure it wouldn’t fall before she left the room to go and search for Lydia, even though she had no idea where the girl could be.

However, before Ave could step out into the open halls of the palace, she heard a loud commotion coming from there, with people hovering and rushing to see what was happening. Curious, she quickened her pace and arrived there, only to stop short when she saw Lucian holding one of the male guests by his neck, squeezing the life out of the young man’s body while everyone moved back in fear of approaching to stop him as a dark invisible aura was emitting from him.

Even Ave, who stood at the side, could feel the suffocating air around him. His amber eyes glowed dangerously and murderously as they narrowed down at the young man he lifted with one hand in the air. A shiver went down her spine at the way he seemed to want to kill the man, who was struggling to break free by flailing his legs and hands, his face red from lack of breath.

On the other side stood Zane, who looked distressed and seemed to be whispering something in Lucian’s ear, but if Lucian heard him, he didn’t react nor release the man he held by the neck. He only punched him repeatedly with his other hand before flinging him to the floor like a worthless rag and walking over him to leave, he stopped when Madeline, who Ave had just realized was standing there, reached out and hesitantly grabbed his hand but immediately let go when he glared down at her as well.

"Thank you for beating him up because he tried to court me..." Madeline said shyly, avoiding Lucian’s darkened gaze that seemed to burn like the flames from hell and radiated with hot heat that would burn anyone who dared come close. And though she was terrified, she didn’t move back as she waited to hear his reply. After all, he was her future husband, and she needed to get used to his presence.

"I didn’t know the second prince liked Princess Madeline this much, to beat up a noble’s son for her sake," whispered someone standing close to Ave, who watched as Lucian didn’t even stay to acknowledge the Princess’s gratitude and walked away with Zane following behind him, his strides long and purposeful. But before he turned the corner, his hardened eyes turned to the side and locked with hers, almost like a dark glare for just a second, causing her heart to miss a beat before he disappeared from her sight. What was that dark look for? What had she done to him?

"Is he dead?" Ave heard someone ask as they checked on the man lying unmoving on the floor after Lucian had flung him away, drawing her attention there. The man looked dead, but she heard someone exclaim that he was still breathing, and she sighed in relief for some reason, thinking it would be another stain on Lucian’s reputation if he had killed one of the guests.

Why would he even beat up a noble’s son just because he had tried to court Madeline? Did that mean he liked her enough to get mad at such a thing? She thought, feeling her heart knot in her chest. Deciding to leave the scene and resume her search for Lydia, she turned, only to hear Madeline’s voice calling her from behind, and she automatically turned to her.

"Stop right there, Selene," she sneered smugly as she walked elegantly towards Ave with two of her friends—princesses from other kingdoms—and Catherine, who Ave hadn’t seen in a while, behind them.

As they stood before Ave, Madeline regarded her like an ant beneath her feet; after all, she was beneath her. Madeline was in a good mood today because the man she liked seemed to fancy her too, as if he didn’t fancy her, he wouldn’t have beaten up Lord Lendor’s son for daring to be bold enough to ask her out on a stroll when news had already spread that she would be marrying the second prince of Pendragon.

"Your Highness, if you’ll excuse me, I have other places to be," Ave said with a curt bow and a tight smile on her face, hating to see her real face looking all smug and arrogant, just like Victoria had always been to her in 2024. It was unsettling and unbearable, not to mention she was fighting the urge to really fix a few screws in the Princess’s head.

Before Ave could turn and leave, Madeline said, "And what other places do you think would be as important as being in my presence? You don’t think I will excuse you when I am not done talking, do you? If you know what is good for you, you’d better start trying to appease me. Once I marry the second prince, I will make you my maidservant." She mused as she fanned herself with the golden hand fan princesses always carried around with them here.

Ave didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at this point. If she didn’t leave this world before that happened, it seemed she might really end up killing this Princess. Smiling, Ave replied calmly, "I shall look forward to serving you then, Your Highness. Is that all you want to say to me, because I really gotta go."

She was in a hurry, and this Princess kept delaying her.

Madeline’s brows arched at the word "gotta," but she didn’t comment on that and smirked, "I heard you’d be performing tomorrow as well, as usual, the butterfly dance—the only thing you are good at but has long turned boring and outdated. Tsk, you should really not bother embarrassing the Pendragon princesses with your useless dance tomorrow because it’s going to be your last ever performance, which no one cares about, right, ladies?" She turned to her friends, who giggled and chimed in.

"Just like last year, no one would care to watch her dance," laughed one of the girls.

"Do you remember how no one even clapped for her as the people in the hall were busy showering Princess Madeline with praises, and how she tripped over her dress from embarrassment? She looked so pitiful and stupid, and she will disgrace herself just like that again tomorrow," said the other, as they talked as if Ave wasn’t standing there in front of them. Even Catherine was giggling as if remembering the embarrassing scene Selene must have gone through.

Ave could already imagine such a scene. Poor Selene, she thought, as she couldn’t imagine herself performing on stage with no one cheering her on. She was used to being the star of a show, and if these little brats thought they would take the spotlight from her tomorrow, then they were dead wrong. But not wanting to brag to them or show them she had a whole new surprise in store for them tomorrow, she put on a tamed and terrified expression as she looked at their amused faces.

"Oh my Lord, I am so scared, please Princess Madeline have mercy on me tomorrow. I don’t think I can handle another embarrassment," she said in a voice anyone from the future would know was laced with sarcasm as she hugged herself and looked from Madeline to her friends, and the fools indeed believed she was scared and looked pleased.

"Then quit," Madeline sneered smugly. She had always known Selene to be a coward and a lowly slave with no talent apart from her outdated butterfly dance, and she couldn’t believe this stupid Catherine behind her had told her that Selene had changed and had become bolder and more daring and that she needed to be wary of her. Wary of this lowly being? Not in this lifetime. Her behavior now proved she was just as spineless as she had always been before, and Madeline would put her right where she belonged tomorrow if she didn’t decide to quit by herself now.

"Since you are scared of my talent, you can quit and save the princesses from embarrassing themselves tomorrow," she added.

Even though Ave had stopped looking forward to the dance because of all the things she had had to face lately, this encounter with Madeline made her determined to show the brat who the star was. She would show them what talent really was and how she never failed to have the spotlight. She was Aveline Eamon, the best actress of 2024, and performing had always been what she liked to do. However, she wanted to take this Princess by surprise, so she continued to act all scared and pitiful.

Wringing her hands in front of her and avoiding eye contact, she muttered, "I cannot quit because Her Majesty wants me to do it, so I will have to perform tomorrow just like you..."

Scoffing and raising her chin into the air, Madeline laughed, "Worthless piece of person. I look forward to seeing you trip over yourself, and I also look forward to seeing those stupid Pendragon princesses embarrass themselves along with you." Saying this, she glared at Ave and bumped into her shoulder before she walked away with her lackeys following closely behind her.

Ave turned to look at their retreating backs and smirked. "Let’s see who will be embarrassed, Maddy. Though you have my face, I can’t help but want to put you down just like Victoria. Damn, I can’t believe I will be competing with myself," she muttered under her breath, but recalling she had something to do, she hurriedly made her way to the servants’ quarters to find Lydia.

After asking around and getting ignored by half of the people she asked, she was finally directed to a certain room where Lydia was said to be laying as she was unwell, and the head maid didn’t want her spreading her sickness to the others, so she was asked to move to the dark room at the end of the corridor in the servants’ quarters.

Once Ave got there, she pushed the door open and entered into the dimly lit room where she could hardly see anything at first, until her eyes adjusted to the darkness. Then, she found Lydia lying face up, unmoving on the cold floor, and Ave felt her heart drop to her stomach as she called the girl, but she didn’t answer.

"Lydia?" She called again, this time walking closer to see how her face had turned ghostly pale, her lips parted. She was as still as a rock on the floor, and Ave felt her blood run cold as she rushed to her side.