Transmigrated Into The Body Of The Cursed Prince Wife
Chapter 143: Seductive goddess

Chapter 143: Seductive goddess

After the Princess of Banzai Kingdom performed her dance and was given gifts and praise by all of the guests, the activities and chatter in the hall resumed, with the guests trying to build connections between each other, completely unaware of the swirling incense sticks and Edward, who was walking from one guest to another while pretending to talk about politics. At the same time, the platform was being arranged for the Pendragon Princesses to perform for their father as a gift for his 50th birthday ceremony.

The ceremony had always been more about making connections rather than its true purpose, and as guests made acquaintances with others, Lucian, who was sitting at the royal table with none of the princes indulging him in their conversation, as he has always been considered an outcast and a short-tempered monster, sat there and nonchalantly pretended to be interested in whatever Madeline was saying. In reality, he didn’t hear even a single word she spoke. His eyes were either on Ave or on the Empress and her brother, who seemed to be suspiciously moving around the hall as if looking for something, which Lucian couldn’t quite figure out yet.

Ave had disappeared from his sight a while ago, and he reckoned she’d gone to change with the other Princesses to make their performance. Though he had no idea what she intended to dance, since she didn’t even know how to dance their traditional dance, he hoped she wouldn’t end up doing something to cause the royals to make fun of her, especially the woman sitting next to him, who despite not knowing what she was saying, he could tell she was talking down on his Ave, and he would rather not listen to whatever she had to say before he’d shut her up forever.

Instead, Lucian tried to pay attention to what the princes around him were saying, along with his half-brothers, who seemed too indulged in the conversation and were occasionally laughing. With Caelen, who as usual always look for ways to bootlick the first prince.

"I must say I am proud of brother Alden for his achievements, and after this war, we all know he will come back victorious and a strong fucker as usual, unlike someone whose mother hadn’t only been a bed warmer to the Emperor but had bred a cursed burden to our land," remarked Caelan as he swirled the wine goblet in his hand, while his eyes shifted briefly to Lucian and then back to his friends at the table. They let out a bark of laughter as if he’d said a really good joke to them.

Lucian’s mother had been accused of many things because she had been brought as a concubine and then made a consort, and though Lucian always tried to remain nonchalant when she was disrespected, as he’d heard worse than that since he was growing up in the palace, it was always hard for him to stay calm when he heard it. And just like always, he tried to control himself from throwing his fists right at Caelan’s face.

"A cursed burden indeed," laughed Prince Lance. "I can’t see why the Emperor is giving him back the right to sit on the throne when he has been removed. And all this could be avoided, Prince Aaron, if you could talk your pretty little sister into dropping the idea of marrying him, don’t you think?" He turned to look at Aaron, who had been sitting quietly as if he wasn’t a part of them, but hearing his name, he looked towards Lance with a bored expression.

"She’s sitting right over there, five seats from you, Prince Lance. How about you try to talk her out of marrying the man she wants?" Aaron said with a sigh as he sipped his wine and reclined in his chair, with a nonchalant, unbothered air around him as he stared at Lance, as if daring him to try to talk his sister out of her wishes.

Prince Lance looked towards the direction of where Madeline was sitting, too busy talking to even hear what the discussion between the princes was about. And though they were talking about Lucian, with how far his chair was from them, he wasn’t supposed to hear them, but when Lance met his darkened amber eyes, he averted his eyes so quickly as he felt the murderous glare from the Cursed Prince.

Even though they were talking about him, none of them had the courage to say that in front of him, as they knew what he could do to them. Even now, they were talking freely because the elder Pendragon prince was present at the table, they all believed Lucian wouldn’t attempt to do anything with him around, as the elder prince had been said to be the one to train Lucian and even punished him when they were younger if he crossed the line.

"Isn’t it your responsibility, Prince Aaron, to talk your sister from damnation? Aren’t you afraid that once she marries our number one cursed burden, she’ll be doomed forever?" came Caelan’s amused, curious voice as he stared at the elder prince of Banzai, whom most of them didn’t like or get along with quite much due to his arrogance and unbothered nature.

"After all, you wouldn’t want her getting sacrificed on a full moon night to the deceased witch of his mother who—" Before Caelan could complete his words, Lucian had abruptly stood up from his chair and the chair fell back with a banging sound that was drowned out by the loud chatter in the hall. He rounded the table to Caelan’s direction. But before he could reach him, the elder prince, who had been doing more listening than talking around the others, was also out of his chair and in front of Lucian, blocking him from reaching the third prince.

"You might want to rethink that decision of yours, Lucian. Go back to your seat and keep your damn temper in check. Whatever is being discussed here has no lie in it," gritted Alden as he glared at Lucian, who stood the same height as him despite the four-years difference in their age. Though Alden wasn’t the kind to talk badly about anyone, when it came to Lucian, he never said anything to stop his brother and others from speaking badly or mocking him.

After all, whatever was said held no lies. Lucian’s mother had been a witch despite no evidence to prove it; Alden knew it, and he believed she had been the cause of his own mother’s death. Normally, he liked keeping to himself and staying away from noise and others, but he found pleasure in seeing the second prince get affected by the insults thrown at his witch of a mother, and he would find even more pleasure in killing this particular brother of his if it weren’t for their father, who was against the brothers being at each other’s necks.

Lucian could barely contain his rage as he stared at Alden. He looked him eyeball to eyeball, his fists clenched so tight at his side he wanted to slam them into his elder brother’s face, as well as the third prince, who was seated behind Alden with an amused smirk as he sipped his wine with a gesture Lucian knew was intended to mock him.

He had grown up among these brothers of his, being a pushover and getting punished for things that weren’t his fault. Their father had given Alden the full right to punish him and train him the way he saw fit, and Lucian had been warned by their father to obey him unless he wanted to be exiled from the lands itself along with his mother—that was when she was alive, and after her death, Lucian still could not break out from that mentality of obeying his elder brother for fear of losing everything he had worked hard for.

He had many bad memories of being at the mercy of Alden on the battlefield, memories that, whenever he revisited them, made him want to take revenge by torturing Alden to his death for it. He had been whipped by Alden with a leash soaked in salt water countless times in his childhood. Despite the fact that he’d grown up now, those memories would forever be imprinted in his mind.

And with those memories and everything else the elder prince continued to do, Lucian’s hatred towards his brother kept building up. He had watched how Alden would jump out of his skin to protect his siblings but would relax when it came to him, and if it were up to Lucian, he would have long killed this particular brother of his in one of their many battles.

"I said go back to your damn seat and sit quietly. You are bringing attention to our table and disrupting Father’s ceremony. Unless you want to be hung outside and whipped until you can no longer move, Lucian, get back there and sit down," Alden warned with a silent mania in his voice, his index finger pointing towards Lucian’s seat, where he had been sitting quietly until now. It wasn’t a new thing for Alden to punish Lucian; it had happened many times in the past with the Emperor’s permission, and if he didn’t listen right now, it would happen again.

Lucian’s Adam’s apple moved up and down his throat as he fought to control the rage coursing through his veins and body. He fought to control the urge to kill, the urge to wrap his fingers around Alden’s neck and watch in satisfaction as he struggled for breath until his last. Lucian wouldn’t have moved from that position even if the world was crumbling until he would have hit either Alden or Caelan with the anger he felt, if it weren’t for the appearance of Ave in the hall again, now dressed in another set of attire that seemed to draw every single person’s attention to her.

Lucian’s fists unclenched as his eyes fell on her, and before he knew it, he felt his anger subsiding for no reason. Glaring one last time at Alden and then at Caelan, who was no longer looking at him but at Ave, Lucian made his way back towards his seat and fought down another fresh bout of anger rising in him, not from what had happened but from how the men around their table were looking at Ave, who had dressed in an attire Lucian knew without a doubt was from the future but had a touch of their era in it.

Even he couldn’t look away from her as she made her way towards the platform with the three girls following behind her, looking nervous, while she walked with her chin held high with a confidence that was rare for the real Selene when it came to performing. The dress she wore was a beautiful maroon dress that seemed detached from the skirt and top. The skirt clung to her curved, well-rounded hips and then flowed to the ground from the knee, with a slit running down from the knee to the hem.

As for the top, Lucian felt his breath hitch as he took in the long-sleeve blouse that clung to her torso. It emphasized her rounded breasts and slim waist, which was no thicker than his biceps, and had a heart-shaped neckline with a slit at the chest area where the swell of her breasts was slightly showing. Despite the distance, Lucian could see her as clearly as if she were standing before him, and just the sight of her made his unpredictable mind conjure images of her from their encounter in the library.

Lucian had stopped his mind from revisiting that time they had shared in that library to avoid his urges to seek her out, but at this point, where she looked as beautiful as a walking seductive goddess, Lucian couldn’t help it. He recalled the heavy weight of her breast in his hand and how they had hardened and fit perfectly for his fingers when he caressed them. Recalling how responsive she had been to him, he felt his heart skip a beat as his loins reacted to his thoughts.

She looked so beautiful he wanted to walk up there and cover her up with his coat to stop any of the princes around him from looking at her the way they were doing now, especially Caelan. Most importantly, he wanted to take her somewhere private and get his answers to how she had gotten injured and who had injured her.

"That dress doesn’t even suit her. Where did she get it from?" came Madeline’s bitter remarks from his side, but Lucian acted like he didn’t hear her. "Hmph, what’s the use of wearing a new attire when she will be embarrassing herself in public again tonight?"

Madeline waited to hear Lucian agree with her words, but when he didn’t say anything and kept staring at the woman walking up the platform, it was all she could do not to use her palm to cover his face or walk up there and tear those clothes off the wench’s body. She gritted her teeth and watched, hoping and looking forward to seeing how Selene would embarrass herself today. Because of the strange attire she wore, she had pulled everyone’s attention, but once she started dancing, Madeline knew without a doubt no one would be looking at her like they were doing now.