Transmigrated Into The Body Of The Cursed Prince Wife
Chapter 135: The man in the casket

Chapter 135: The man in the casket

Ave didn’t know why she felt sick all of a sudden, but regardless of it, she forced herself to remain under the blanket to keep herself warm as her bones were quivering from chills. She curled up into a small ball and closed her eyes, hoping to fall asleep to feel relief.

She couldn’t recall the last time she had fallen sick. The last time she felt this way was the third night she had run away from the Eamons estate to start her own life in the city and pursue her dreams. She had fallen sick from sleeping on the streets and not eating properly, feeling as terrible as she was feeling now. She had cried herself to sleep that night and woke up the next morning feeling better and stronger.

Though she knew her sudden sickness now must have something to do with the magic she had performed, she decided to suffer it alone rather than seek out a physician or even Lucian. She had to go out for dinner as well, but the thought of standing up alone made her feel stressed; thus, she didn’t bother. Tomorrow she would eat, there was a feast in the palace anyway. She just needed to get some sleep; she might feel better in the morning, just like that night in her time.

With that thought, Ave forced herself into sleeping, and to her relief, she was already so exhausted that she fell asleep within minutes of lying down on the bed. When she woke up again, she felt much better in her body and the quivering had stopped. Only her sleep didn’t feel like she had slept at all; it was like she had closed her eyes and opened them immediately.

Though Ave had woken up, she didn’t open her eyes, she laid there until she felt something off in her atmosphere and the bed she laid on. A gust of wind blew toward her and her eyes immediately flew open, she gasped in horror when she found herself not lying on the bed but on the harsh, uneven ground. Instead of staring at the familiar brown ceiling of her room, she was staring at a gloomy night sky that looked thick with heavy clouds.

Ave laid there in disbelief, unable to understand how she had ended up here. Was she dreaming again? She thought as she sat up slowly and glanced at her hair to see if she was Selene or herself. Seeing the strands of red hair that fell down her shoulder, Ave realized she was Selene.

This couldn’t be real; she had been lying in her bed just a minute ago, and now she was...in a dark, dense forest! She panicked as she looked around her and saw how she was surrounded by looming tall trees.

With her heart beating in her ears, Ave pinched herself to see if she was dreaming, but when she felt the sting of the pinch, she flinched and realized she wasn’t in a dream. But how was this possible? How did she end up in a dense, unfamiliar forest in what seemed to be the middle of the night?

Ave pushed herself up from the ground, looking down she noticed she wasn’t wearing any shoes and still wore the same dress she had slept in. Had someone sneaked into her room while she was asleep and disposed of her in this place? That could be the only explanation for this; otherwise, there was no way she would be here.

Who the hell would do such a thing? Though she knew she was a deep sleeper, she would have woken up if someone had carried her, not to mention that if she had been carried in a carriage, there was no way she would have slept through a carriage or a horse ride on the uneven roads in this era that would have jolted her awake.

There were flashes of lightning in the sky, making her look around her surroundings again. She was surrounded not only by trees but by a complete silence, broken by the sounds of crickets and a distant owl that repeatedly called out, its echo stretching into the darkness and sending an unsettling feeling into her bones and heart.

Regardless of whether this was a dream or not, she couldn’t keep standing here and wait for something to creep out of nowhere and scare the living soul out of her body. Ave decided to find her way out of the forest. She began to take quick steps to hurry away, but due to the fact that she wasn’t wearing any shoes, she couldn’t walk fast enough.

Every step made her toes numb, the cold earth unforgiving beneath her feet. She didn’t know if the path she was taking was the right one; she just kept walking until she heard something snap behind her. She froze, her heartbeat quickening, and her fingers gripped the sides of her dress tightly as she felt a chill go down her spine.

She felt a prickling on her neck, like a breath just behind her.

She wasn’t alone. She could feel a presence behind her. Something was there, but she couldn’t bring herself to turn and see, she could only drag her feet to keep walking. Whatever it was, it was walking toward her now; she could hear the soft rustling of leaves on the ground, even though she couldn’t tell if it was the wind...or something else.

Her eyes darted to the shadow stretching across the ground of the forest from behind her when another lighting flashed in the sky. Her eyes widened, and she swirled around, only to find the spot behind her empty—nothing was there.

With no need to wait and find out whatever had stood behind her a second ago, she gathered her dress in her hand and began to run with all her might. She ran like her life depended on it, because it did. Her situation was no different from what she watched in horror movies; she didn’t want to be a victim of a ghost or some evil spirit!

Ave ran around, but no matter how much she ran, she saw no end to the trees nor the forest. It almost seemed like she was running in circles around the place, and slowly she could feel the wind picking up as the leaves swirled around, and lightning repeatedly flashed in the sky with the distant sound of rumbling thunder.

Ave didn’t stop running, as she would rather keep running than stop and feel a presence around her. However, it seemed the heavens were against her tonight; she tripped over a tree twig and felt herself falling forward. She let out a scream as she fell face down on the unforgiving, hard ground.

The fall was so hard she suddenly felt a bolt of dizziness wash over her. She was still trying to focus herself and her vision from blanking out when she saw thick fog clinging to the ground, swirling around the forest ground and slowly reaching toward where she was.

Ave gasped as she hurriedly sat up from the ground despite the pain she felt on her knees from the fall. The fog had now covered everywhere, making it hard for her to see anything beyond where she was. And when another lightning strike hit the sky, she saw a black crow fly out of nowhere and rest on the lower branch of the tree beside her. The crow was staring at her with its red eyes; it almost felt like it was looking deep into her soul with its creepy gaze. When it opened its beak to caw, gooseflesh broke out on Ave’s skin from fear.

She began to move backward by dragging herself on the ground as it seemed she’d lost the ability to stand up and run again as many other crows began to fly overhead, circling her and cawing.

Ave was still dragging herself back when she felt her back hit something behind her, only to turn and see it was a box—or more accurately...a casket!

She pushed herself up again to take a proper look at the casket, only to gasp in surprise when she noticed that it wasn’t just one casket but dozens of them lined up in this part of the forest. Could this be a manufacturing forest where caskets were made with wood and sold? She thought in wonderment, as it seemed like it. Otherwise why would anyone keep so many of them stored here?

If that was the case, then it seemed she had nothing to worry about. If she were to be here until morning, someone who works here would come, and she’d ask for help out of this creepy place, which also meant she would be missing tomorrow’s performance! That last part wasn’t something she wanted; she wouldn’t want to look like a loser to Madeline for not showing up.

But then, if the workers came early, they might help her return before it would be too late, the dance performance wasn’t going to be early in the morning but closer to evening. With that thought, Ave tried to block out the annoying and creepy sounds of the crows circling the forest by looking at the caskets to pass time.

She ran her fingers along the caskets’ wood, where cobwebs were already covering the surface. She frowned. "It seems no one is buying these caskets; they are beginning to lose their quality and are covered in cobwebs," she muttered under her breath as she ran her fingers around the side where the handle to open it was.

As she lifted it up to open it, she stopped when she felt how the crows were now flying so low and the fog was getting thicker around her. Ignoring this, she raised it up and opened it, but her eyes widened in horror and her breath hitched when she found a body inside the casket as lightning flashed.

She took a step back in disbelief. Who would put someone inside a casket? The fact that the body looked fresh and had no foul smell meant the person had not been placed there for long. It was a handsome middle-aged man in a golden robe; he looked more like he was sleeping rather than dead, his hands resting on his stomach with his long lashes resting peaceful over his high cheekbones.

Deciding to make sure if the person was still alive or dead so she could help, Ave took a step forward to stand in front of the casket. Bending down, she reached out, intending to check the person’s pulse when one of the crows flying above her swooped down, its red eyes flashing savagely.

Ave instinctively raised her hand to protect herself from the crow, and the darn bird began to attack her hand where her wound had yet to finish healing. Cursing under her breath, she began to shoo the crow away with a stick she grabbed by the side.

"Get away from me, you little fucker!" She swung the stick until the crow flew away from her, but she felt the pain on her palm where it had reopened her wound. Hissing in annoyance, she flung the stick away. "It seems this wound is cursed to never heal," she muttered when she saw it had begun to bleed again.

Clenching her palm to stop the bleeding, she turned back to the man in the casket to resume her examination. Bending down, she reached out to check the man’s pulse again when she thought she heard something behind her. She hurriedly turned, almost losing her balance and falling into the casket, but she somehow steadied herself.

She turned back to the man again, but gasped when she saw her blood had smeared on the man’s face from when she had panicked a moment ago. She quickly reached out to wipe it off with her other hand, but unfortunately, when her blood had fallen on his face, a drop had slid to the side of the person’s mouth.

She was still cleaning his face when his eyes suddenly flew open—eyes as red as blood and dark as a bottomless pit with white around the iris that made her freeze. When their eyes locked, Ave felt her stomach knot and her heart quicken. She quickly retrieved her hand, but before she could pull it back to her side, the man had grabbed her wrist.

"Long time no see, Rosette," he rasped, his lips pulling up into a wicked grin that sent unsettling shivers down her spine.

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