Transmigrated Into The Body Of The Cursed Prince Wife
Chapter 160: Pretending To Be Sick

Chapter 160: Pretending To Be Sick

[Long Chapter.]

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Ave walked into the chamber and closed the door behind her. Surprisingly, his chamber wasn’t as dark as it used to be in the doomed palace where one couldn’t tell if it was morning or night. Now, he had pulled the curtains apart a little and allowed the natural light in, she could see him curled up on his bed, lying still as a dead person.

Fear and panic washed over Ave to the point she didn’t even realize Zane was in the room as she hurried towards the bed and climbed onto it to sit beside his head, which she cradled on her lap. "Oh my goodness, Lucian. You are burning up!" she exclaimed when she touched his forehead and felt how hot his temperature was. She smoothed his hair away from his face and used her palm to rub his burning cheeks as tears of terror pricked the back of her eyes.

No wonder he hadn’t come out. She should have known that the spell would affect him. It was a killing spell, for crying out loud, why didn’t she come earlier?!

"Lucian! Open your eyes for me, please don’t lie this still. You’re scaring me..." she muttered as she rubbed his cheeks and caressed his fine eyebrows. He didn’t move. And just as she was about to think about what to do, she heard someone clear their throat at the side, making her almost jump out of her skin in shock, as she hadn’t expected another person to be here.

Turning her head in that direction, she saw Zane standing there by the desk, looking at her with an awkward smile on his face. The fact that he had been standing there while his friend looked to be in a bad condition and hadn’t done anything about it angered her. She glared at him and said, "Aren’t you enjoying yourself far too well standing there and doing nothing, Zane? How can you even stand there when he looks like this? Don’t you care about him?" She scolded displeasingly as her hands kept stroking Lucian’s face subconsciously.

However, because she wasn’t looking at Lucian, she didn’t realize when he peeked open one eye and glared at Zane, who was standing, stunned and puzzled from being scolded for something he didn’t know about. What was he supposed to do when the prince had been just fine but, upon hearing her, had begun to pretend to be sick? Since when had the scary prince turned this petty and...

Zane saw the glare Lucian directed at him and realized he was to put on an act like the prince had told him to. Feeling awkward about what he was about to say, he scratched the back of his neck and pointed towards Lucian, "He has been like this since he arrived in the chamber. I think he is on the verge of dying, I’m sure he’d like you to leave him alone to die in peace," he told her, pleased with himself for being able to lie straight faced, thinking that was what Lucian wanted to be the outcome of his pretence.

Anyway, he recalled how Lucian never liked her to come into his space and would even put guards in the corridor to keep her out in the doomed palace. Now that they were in the main palace, he could only pretend to be sick to keep her away. Zane thought with a brilliant smile threatening to lift his lips up. Well, Lucian should be thanking him for this.

Ave’s eyes widened, taken aback that Zane could still look calm and tell her to leave the prince alone to die in peace. How could she leave him alone? And how could Zane look this calm when his friend was dying?

Meanwhile, Lucian clenched his fist under the blanket as he wished he could throw something at Zane for doing the opposite of what he was asked. He wanted her to stay and care for him, not leave him alone!

Ave’s eyes were wide with disbelief, she glared at Zane wishing she could punch him right now.

"You think he is on the verge of dying, and yet you want me to leave him alone?" Ave said with her voice sounding choked with emotions she couldn’t pinpoint.

Zane could definitely detect anger in her tone. He felt the sudden urge that she looked like she was about to scratch his whole face with her nails, and recalling the last time she’d done something similar to him, he shuddered and took a step back.

Ave eyed Zane up and down realizing this wasn’t the time to be exchanging words with him so she quickly turned to the man on the bed, her lips trembling. If Lucian died then she was doomed to be miserable in this world forever.

"I am sorry I stuck you with the spell, Lucian. But don’t worry, I will heal you and nurse you back to health," she whispered as a tear rolled down her cheek and landed squarely against Lucian’s forehead, causing him to frown slightly as he realized she was crying.

That wasn’t what he aimed to achieve by pretending; he didn’t want her to try to heal him, nor did he wish for tears upon her lovely eyes. He just wanted her to be here with him and care. He wanted to spend more time with her before they would leave for the war in a day. Wars like that mostly took weeks, if not months, before they ended, and he feared he wouldn’t be able to spend enough time with her before then. He had thought of ways to make her come to him, and he realized she would come if she didn’t see him around—that was, if she cared about him like he thought. And she had come.

Zane, on the other hand could not do anything but resume his seat at the desk as he watched the two, a frown on his face. What was Lucian up to? He wondered silently as he couldn’t allow himself to miss such a thing and sat down with mild interest shining in his eyes as if trying to detect whatever games Lucian was trying to play.

Feeling that Ave was going to attempt to heal him if he didn’t open his eyes and assure her that it was nothing serious, Lucian forced out a dry cough and slowly opened his eyelids to gaze up at her tear-filled eyes. He saw the relief in them as she noticed he’d opened his eyes, and before he knew it, she had cradled his head against her and leaned down to kiss his cheek as she tenderly stroked his hair. "Don’t close your eyes again, keep them open. Keep them open," she chanted as she turned to Zane and ordered,

"Get me a cloth and a bowl of cold water. Hurry up!" she urged. Turning back to Lucian with a gentle voice, she said, "I’ll try to bring down your fever." She ran her fingers into his thick hair and massaged his scalp.

Zane jolted at her sudden about in his direction, he didn’t know what to feel about this. Lucian wasn’t only pretending to be sick, he seemed to be enjoying himself as she massaged his scalp for him. He could have sworn he heard him purring like a cat with how he was leaning into her and rubbing his head against her stomach, where she had allowed him to lay his head on her lap. Wasn’t he pretending because he didn’t want her here? Why was he acting like... like an infant about to nurse?

The sight of it unsettled Zane, as he wasn’t used to seeing his friend like this. They had grown together, and he’d known the prince better than anyone. He would never allow anyone to touch his hair or face like that, not even his late mother. Whenever consort Lyria wanted to console him when he was angry or in pain after his transformation, Lucian would refuse her touch, reminding her he had grown up and didn’t need to be treated like an infant, while his face and ears would turn crimson. Zane recalled the third consort would burst out into laughter at her son’s reminder.

However, here he was, pretending to be sick while acting like that same infant on a woman’s lap, while she touched him in ways he was sure had it been the Lucian he knew, she wouldn’t have her hands intact for daring to touch him.

Zane was too lost in thought; he’d forgotten Ave had ordered him to go and bring something, until she swiped her head towards him and narrowed her eyes on him. She looked like a displeased mother about to discipline her disobedient child as she said, "What are you still standing there for? Where is the cloth and bowl of water?" she demanded with pursed lips.

"...Zane...do as she told you... cough!" came Lucian’s weak voice as he glared at Zane, who was too stunned to move.

Zane’s mouth fell open slightly, could it be that he was dreaming? Was this the same Lucian or a figment of his imagination?

Ave hurriedly turned to Lucian and placed her fingers against his lips. "Hush. Don’t talk and don’t strain your body." She turned to glare at Zane, who snapped back to his senses and went to do as he was told.

When Zane left them, Ave looked down at Lucian with worry in her eyes. Though she didn’t like the jerk, she didn’t want to hurt him. The thought of him dying didn’t sit well with her, not one bit. Ever since she was in the Eamon estate, not once had she ever cared for anyone there like she did for this jerk. It was a surprise that she was being this emotional.

"Why did you lie to me that you were all right in the morning? What will I do in this era if you were to die?" she whispered, her throat burning with emotions as she allowed her tears to fall. Why the hell was she even crying, Ave thought in displeasure, unable to control her emotions and keep them at bay.

Lucian felt his heart tighten at the sight of her tears. He frowned as he reached up his hand and wiped them away. Though he still felt a mild discomfort in his chest where she had struck him, he felt no pain at all. He had only used his powers to make his skin burn and to appear like he was sick, but in truth, he was fine. Seeing her tears, he didn’t know if it was time for him to break the act, as he didn’t like that she was crying for him.

He cupped her cheek and used his thumb to caress her skin. "Don’t cry... please..." he whispered softly, but she only broke down into more tears and sobbed loudly, further confusing him and causing him to not know how to console her.

He felt a tug in his chest, a strong urge to make the tears stop, but he had no idea what to say. He wasn’t the type to deal with emotions like this, but seeing her cry stirred something in him. Slowly, almost hesitantly, he moved his head away from her lap and lay on the pillow before wrapping his arms around her and pulling her to him. It felt foreign, this act of consoling, but when she didn’t push him away, he relaxed just a little. He couldn’t help but wonder if she was crying because she was that worried and guilty about what she did to him this morning.

Ave was painfully aware of how fragile her emotions felt whenever it concerned Lucian’s life. She didn’t know why the thought of losing him scared her more than she wanted to admit. She laid her head on his chest as she felt him pat her back silently.

"I am fine now. I no longer feel like I’m sick, the pain is gone," came Lucian’s words of reassurance that made her frown and push away from his chest as she recalled he had looked too weak to sound this healthy a moment ago. She raised her hand and touched his forehead and was astonished to feel that his temperature was back to normal, and his sickly face now looked healthy.

"What the hell? How can you recover so quickly?" she muttered in disbelief as she stared down at him, tears still clinging to her long lashes and cheeks.

Lucian swallowed hard for a moment as he was at a loss for excuses. He wouldn’t want her to know he had been pretending, as he knew Ave would not hesitate to hit him with how she was looking at him suspiciously now. He had made her cry and worry, and from her character, she could lose her cool at any moment if she knew the truth.

Nobody had ever made him feel this way in all his life before. Clearing his throat, he said with a straight face, "I think because you are the one who cast the spell, whenever you are close to me, I will be fine, and whenever you are not, I will be on the verge of death." He lied through his teeth.

"Is that possible?" Ave muttered softly. She hadn’t studied the spell book enough to know if that was possible, and if someone hadn’t taken it away from her, she would have gone to study the spell again. "Damn whoever took that book. May they lose their limbs before they can get me in trouble," she gritted out before she could stop herself.

"What book?" Lucian asked, even though he knew what book she was speaking about. And the fact that she was cursing him made his eyes tremble, as there was a saying that the curse of a witch always hits its mark. What if he indeed lost a limb?

Ave, who heard his question, quickly smiled as she didn’t want him to know about the spell book. "Nothing. Just a novel I was reading but couldn’t find, someone has taken it. And I hope whoever took it, if it was a woman, may she never get to enjoy her miserable life and get paralyzed before she uses it against me. And if it was a man, may he suffer for—" She didn’t get to finish her words before Lucian slipped his hand behind her neck, pulled her down towards him, and covered her mouth with a fierce kiss to keep her from cursing him further.

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