Transmigrated Into The Body Of The Cursed Prince Wife
Chapter 170: Seal a deal

Chapter 170: Seal a deal

After Ave was done bathing and eating her breakfast alone in the dining halls of the doomed palace, she appreciated the silence around her more than she had before her deposition. If only she had the right to stay in this palace all day rather than have to go back there to face someone like Madeline and everyone of the guests.

She left the dining halls after she was done, in search of Zane, who she’d heard didn’t go to the training camps like the rest because the first prince had banned him from ever stepping his feet there. She first went to his room and knocked on the door repeatedly, but despite how much she knocked, no one answered. However, she thought she heard faint, frantic movement inside the room.

Frowning, she tried to open the door, but it was locked. Had she just misheard the movement in the room? If so, then where could Zane be when they had made arrangements to meet here this morning? Did he forget about the appointment she made with him? Ave thought as she made her way outside.

Nonetheless, no matter how much she looked around and whoever she asked, none of them had seen Zane this morning. Ave stomped her feet in frustration as she stood outside the palace with her hands on her hips, wondering where the idiot had gone without telling her. She wouldn’t have bothered looking for him and would have gone alone if she had enough coins to use to buy everything she needed. She knew her way around the village and the markets, but the only thing stopping her were the coins.

If only she had a job or some way to earn her own money, she wouldn’t have been in this condition, but she had been thrust into a world where women were good only at giving birth and nothing else, and any woman who dared to go out of the box would face execution. Such a cruel world for a woman to be. She thought furiously as she made her way back inside to go and get Lydia to show her to the training camps, perhaps Zane had gone there.

But as she was about to enter the palace again, Harry came running to her and called out, "Milady, good morning," he greeted when she stopped and looked at him with a small smile on her face.

"Good morning to you too, Harry." She replied cheerfully as she recalled how the boy had entertained them yesterday afternoon with his beautiful singing.

Harry blushed earnestly at the fact that she had greeted him back, something no noblewoman would have done. "You are being summoned outside the stable, Milady. He is waiting for you there with his horse to leave," he reported to her with a bow of his head.

Ave’s eyes brightened at the thought that Zane had been at the stables all along while she was busy looking around for him. He wasn’t a forgetful idiot after all; he had started preparing even before she was ready. With that thought, she followed Harry to the stables and saw the tall figure standing close to the black horse she knew as Aziz, the second prince’s horse. It seemed they would be going with Lucian’s horse, she thought with a smile. He was grooming the horse and brushing his mane with a thick brush.

Ave stopped in her tracks. Zane wasn’t as built as the man grooming the horse with his back to her. The man wore an attire she’d seen the commoners wear here, with his hair tied under a bandana, which made it impossible for her to see. But she was certain this person wasn’t Zane. Frowning in confusion, she approached the person with the intention of asking if he would be going with her to the market instead of Zane, when she stopped again in her tracks as he suddenly turned to face her as if he’d felt her presence behind him.

Ave blinked twice as she stared into Lucian’s burning flame-like eyes that stared back at her. Her heart missed a beat when he asked, "What took you so long to get ready, Milady?"

What did he mean, what took her so long? Ave thought as she snapped back to her senses. What was he even doing here when she’d been told he was in the training camps? "Where is Zane?" she asked instead as she looked around, trying to see if the man would also appear.

She heard Lucian sigh deeply, "Why does it seem like you are not happy that I will be going with you to the market? Do you like Zane’s company that much?" he questioned with a serious look on his face that made her frown. What did he think? She was trying to avoid him as much as she could and had even been happy that she wouldn’t be meeting him for some days, but he’d suddenly appeared in front of her, taking the place of Zane to escort her to the market. How could she be happy with that when the traitorous body she was in was excited about the fact that he’d be her escort?

Though she felt a thrill go through her body at the thought that Lucian would be the one taking her to the market, she refused to accept the feeling. "I don’t want you to escort me. Call Zane from wherever he is hiding," Ave grumbled with pursed lips and her arms folded in front of her chest as she glared at him through her lashes.

Lucian’s eyes narrowed down at her in displeasure. Did she really like Zane’s company better than his? He had not only spent the whole night training so he could get to escort her to the market, but he had neglected his daytime trainings to get to spend every second of today with her before they left tomorrow.

He didn’t know if he was to direct his anger at Zane or at the woman before him who was making him furious this morning. Last night, before he left the doomed palace, he had paid her a visit in her chamber, where she was sleeping in a sitting position on her bed with her head crooked to the side and snoring loudly.

He had watched her peaceful sleeping face for some time before he fixed her sleeping position for her. He had thought she had slept off in that position because she was waiting for him, and he’d been happy at that notion last night and had thought she would look happy to see him this morning, but it seemed he had been wrong. She didn’t look happy to see him like he’d expected, and that alone made him furious.

"Well, you have no choice, Milady. It’s either I be your escort, or you won’t be going out to the market at all. Write down the lists, and I’ll send Harry here to go and get everything you’ll need in the market for you while you go back to the main palace and wait for his arrival," he said sternly as he stared down at her and noticed how her expression turned from stubbornness to anger. Her blue eyes flared up at his words, and he couldn’t help the amusement that bubbled up inside him as she walked up to him and held up her fingers to point at his face but seemed to think of something and brought it down as she gritted through clenched teeth,

"You cannot stop me from going out, Your Highness!" She addressed him by a respectful title despite her anger as she knew they weren’t alone out here. Harry was watching them, so was his father from the stables and other guards. She might be angry, but she would try to save his image by not completely disrespecting him outside in public. And it was all Lucian could do not to pull her into his arms and crush her delicate body into his embrace for her consideration of his image when she’d never cared about it before when she first came here and yelled his name out in public however she wanted.

"I do not need to stop you from going out, Milady. The gates are open; you can go ahead," he taunted with his lips pulling up into a cunning smile that irked Ave and made her want to wipe that smile off his face. And to think she had been worried about him earlier. He knew she had no money and wouldn’t be able to leave.

"You..." She pointed a finger at him and then brought it back down when she heard a gasp from the onlookers who were watching them. She glared at them, but none of them took the cue to get lost so she could speak with Lucian alone, and they continued to stand where they were, with some of the servants peeking through the curtains of the palace windows to watch them.

The two had no reason to be together when they had no marriage between them anymore, and the fact that they were together and seemed on the verge of arguing about something, the servants couldn’t miss the opportunity to find something to gossip about later on when they would be bored.

However, a look from the second prince that shot toward them like an enemy’s arrow made everyone crumble away and resume their work, including Harry and his father, who had been watching.

When Ave noticed that everyone had left and the two of them were the only ones left there, she turned to Lucian and said, "I really don’t want to go with you. Where is Zane?" she asked softly. She wasn’t stupid enough not to see that Lucian had left his training to come here to escort her, and she wasn’t blind not to see how his face didn’t hide the fact that he hadn’t slept well. He not only looked exhausted but also sleep-deprived.

Furthermore, she would like to spend as little time around him as possible until she left this world. He was doing so much for the sake of the body she possessed that she was the one being affected by it. If she didn’t have this body and face, he probably wouldn’t be doing all of this to help her, even though she was doing everything for his sake as well.

Lucian, who had expected her to yell and become aggressive after all the servants left, was surprised that she had spoken softly to him. He looked down and saw her expression looked somewhat dull as she gazed at his throat instead of his eyes. He didn’t like seeing her dull for any reason; he preferred her energetic enthusiasm and loudness more than this. Was she sad because she didn’t want him to go with her?

Unable to hold himself back, he reached out his hand and cupped her right cheek. She flinched at his touch as if she hadn’t expected it, but she didn’t move away from it and looked up to meet his eyes. "What’s wrong? You don’t like my company?" he questioned calmly, even though there was nothing calm about him on the inside. He was doing everything he could to win her over and make her decide to stay, but it seemed he was pushing her away instead.

Ave shook her head before she could think about it. "No..." She liked his company more than she was supposed to because he made her feel safe and protected. She wasn’t supposed to, but she did, and that was why she didn’t want him to come. She saw his eyes brighten, and his thumb caressed her cheek before she felt his hand slowly slide away from her cheek and rest at the side of her neck. A shudder went through her nerves as he caressed her throat with his finger, then her shoulder, where his hand lingered before falling back to his side.

"Zane is out to do something important; he can’t come with you, that’s why I decided to take his place," Lucian explained as he looked down at her. "Since you do not dislike my presence, you shouldn’t mind me coming with you. Besides, I know better markets than Zane does," he boasted confidently, hoping she wouldn’t refuse again.

Ave could tell he was only boasting, and that almost made her smile before she hid it with a pretend cough and then nodded her head. "Fine. You can escort me, but you have to promise you won’t stop me from exploring the places that catch my eye like you did the last time we went to the market." She asked with a lift of her chin. If he was going to be a party pooper, then it was best she found someone else who was ready to enjoy the full fun of going out.

Lucian hesitated for some time before he sighed and nodded his head. "I promise. As long as it’s not anything dangerous you want to explore, I shall not stop you." He gave her his word, but it seemed his words weren’t enough; Ave held out her hand for a handshake to seal the promise.

"You don’t trust my words?" he asked with an amused smirk.

Ave shrugged. "Duh, I just wanted to seal the deal with you completely so you won’t end up screwing up my plans to explore. Shake my hand," she jerked her head towards her hand. He shook his head and then reached out, clasping her smaller hand in his larger one that enveloped all of her hand. Before he asked curiously, "What does screwing up mean?"

"It means don’t fuck me up when we go out," she deadpanned as she tried to pull her hand away from his, but he still held on as a frown settled on his face and then a look of amusement crossed it. "I have no intention of fucking you in public, Babe." He whispered thickly as he released her hand and then walked to his horse. "Shall we?" he turned to the stunned Ave, who couldn’t believe he’d taken her words literally and had used them to stir up something within her again.