Transmigrated Into The Body Of The Cursed Prince Wife
Chapter 174: Strange practice

Chapter 174: Strange practice

"What kind of traditional practice was that we did? It’s strange and weird." Ave mused after they arrived at the eatery, and she stared down at the cut on her wrist, where Lucian had tied his torn shirt fabric to stop the bleeding after they were done doing what seemed to her like some crazy traditional madness that was fun and yet weird.

They had both cut their wrists with the same blade, which she thought wasn’t something safe to do, and then Zane had used Lucian’s bandana to bind their wrists together where he’d cut and then told them to bow to the west three times and then spoke in a language she didn’t understand and told her to repeat after Lucian.

Ave had done everything asked of her because she would do anything as long as it would get her back to her time and away from being an emotional yo-yo to a man before the walls around her heart would crumble down completely.

After they were done with the strange tranditional practice, Lucian had been grinning from ear to ear as he tied her wrist to stop the bleeding for her, and then he kissed her knuckle and thanked her. "For what?" She had asked him then, and he’d replied, "For doing this with me. Now all the things you desire will come true. Because all that I desired has come true as well."

Now that they arrived at the eatery, where it seemed to belong to the commoners and not nobles as the chairs and tables were kept outside and they waited for Zane to make the arrangements to sit under the shade, she’d asked him what kind of traditional practice was that and why they had to cut their wrists.

"It’s done now, you need not worry about it. I will explain to you all there is to know after we go back," he replied to her with a warm smile that caused her to frown, but then she was too hungry to inquire more about why there was a need for him to wait until they went back, and instead, she nodded her head.

Zane came back with a helper boy following behind him to help them carry their grocery bags to the table arranged for them. Normally, Lucian wouldn’t be caught eating in a place like this, but since Ave had been the one to suggest they come here, he had no choice and agreed to it.

When the helper boy came to take the bags in Lucian’s hands, he noticed his cut wrist and then noticed that Ave also had a cloth tied around her wrist, and he looked up and beamed at them as he bowed, "Congratulations to you on_" the boy didn’t get to complete his words as Zane had kicked him in the back of the knees, and he lost his balance and fell face-first in front of Ave, whose eyes widened at Zane’s cruel behavior to the young boy.

"Oh my goodness, Zane! What is wrong with you?!" Ave glared at him as she crouched down to help the boy up from the dirty ground. She didn’t know what the boy was congratulating them for, but she didn’t like that Zane had suddenly kicked him like that. "Are you all right?" She asked as she helped the boy to his feet and held both his shoulders to examine if he was hurt.

Lucian, who stood at the side, didn’t like how she held the boy’s shoulders like that and was examining his body for him. She even helped dust his shirt. Though he knew from where she came from it was totally normal for a man and a woman to hold and touch each other, in his world, it wasn’t, and to him, Ave was only reserved for him alone and no one else.

Ave felt Lucian’s hand grab her arm and pull her back from the young boy, who looked to be the age of eighteen or seventeen.

"He is fine, he_" Lucian’s words died in his throat when Ave shot him a heated look and then said, "Didn’t you see what Zane did to him, is that something you encourage him to do to innocent people?" Ave chided in displeasure while she glared from Zane to Lucian.

Lucian gritted his teeth as he jerked his head in an indication for Zane to apologize to the lad and get him away from her before he would strangle the blushing lad, who seemed to like the attention Ave was giving him even though his fall wasn’t that hard to hurt him.

Zane looked reluctant to apologize to the lad, as that would hurt his ego and pride. Men didn’t apologize to lads who were still under their mama’s care. Thus, instead of apologizing, he stepped forward and smiled at Ave before grabbing the lad’s arm and pulling him back from her. "Come on, lad, that was a test on my part to see how strong you are. You know, the last time I came here, you were being..." Zane’s voice faded away as he led the boy into the other part of the eatery, his arm around his shoulder.

Ave watched with a confused look, "Do they know each other?" She turned to ask Lucian, who shrugged casually, "Perhaps. Let’s not keep you waiting when you’re starving." He led her to their table so she wouldn’t dwell on the boy nor ask about why he had been congratulating them earlier.

When they sat down, a man walked up to them to ask what they would like to have, and Lucian looked towards Ave to give the orders, and as expected of a glutton, she ordered several plates of the the dishes they sell and a plate of her favorite chicken dish soup. The man didn’t turn to ask Lucian what he wanted as he automatically believed the lady had ordered for both of them and walked away.

Not long, their meals were brought steaming hot and placed in front of them on the table with a whole chicken dish in a steaming soup that made Ave salivate and giggle to herself as she inhaled the delicious aroma of the soup and closed her eyes.

Lucian, who sat opposite her at the table, stared at Ave in fascination as he’d never seen a woman act crazy about food before. The women in this era were always careful about what they ate and the portion they consumed, but she didn’t seem to care.

He leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table and interlocking his fingers, propping his chin against them as he watched her with quiet intensity. He noticed how she took large bites and stuffed her mouth with her food, and he’d never known anything to be as adorable as she was at that moment. His eyes remained on her lips as she chewed, and he suddenly wondered what it would feel like to eat from her mouth. He recalled how sweet she tasted yesterday and how she had quivered uncontrollably and come undone in his hands. She was exquisite and wonderful.

Recalling yesterday, he felt his breathing turn shallow and his loins grow hotter. He had suffered throughout yesterday with a painful erection and an unattended desire that had made his mood bad. He had made sure not to think of how she melted into him while he kissed her and how she had been moist and ready when he’d touched her there; it had taken everything in him yesterday to forget about those images as he buried himself in training without a rest, and up till now, he could still feel the strain in his muscles, but those were overtaken by the heat surging through his veins and the desperate need to kiss her again.

As if finally noticing his eyes on her, Ave looked up from her plate to him, and when she saw that he wasn’t eating, a frown settled on her face. "What’s wrong? You don’t like the food?" She asked as she stared down at his untouched food in front of him. He hadn’t made any orders, and the man had given him the same as hers.

"I prefer watching you eat," he whispered softly, and when her frown deepened, he sighed, "I am not hungry."

"Nonsense!" Ave exclaimed, "You didn’t eat last night and this morning, and you tell me you are not hungry? Che, not on my watch, you are going to eat." She said at the same time she spooned the chicken soup along with a piece of the meat and brought it up towards his lips for him to eat.

Lucian looked down at the food and at her urging eyes for him to eat. He smiled and gladly opened his mouth and took it at the same time Zane returned back to the table to see him eating the chicken dish from Ave’s hand.

"Your Highness, you can’t_" Zane exclaimed in horror as he knew the prince wasn’t supposed to eat that, but Lucian ignored him and chewed the food like the most delicious thing on earth. He then looked at Ave with an eager hopeful eyes as if waiting for her to feed him more. He looked like a desperate puppy begging his owner with its puppy eyes to feed him, and Zane almost facepalmed in embarrassment.

What on earth has gotten into Lucian? he thought, incredulous. The prince he knew would never be caught eating that and would never have that expression on his face. Zane hoped no one from the palace would one day notice the prince behaving like this towards this woman or they would know without a doubt that he was madly and crazily in love with her and she would be an easy target if they wanted him.

Deciding not to interfere, he sat at another table in the eatery and ordered his own meal while looking out because at any moment, the prince might fall sick for what he was consuming.

Lucian didn’t touch the food with his own hands and waited for Ave to notice so she could give him more. And when she finally noticed that he wasn’t eating, she took the empty plate placed in front of him so he could add the portion of the chicken dish according to his liking and began to do it for him.

She cut the meat into pieces for him and also added a few side dishes that were brought along with the other things she ordered. She arranged the meal for him in ways she believed he would like and then placed the plate back in front of him. "You have to finish all of it before I will let you leave," she said sternly as she looked at him.

Lucian didn’t argue. The fact that she had taken her time to prepare his plate of food and added everything she seemed to like in it made him pick up his spoon and begin to eat it without complaining. He ate like never before. Whenever he was almost done eating, Ave kept adding more to his plate without even looking up as she was busy trying to figure out the ingredients used to make the dishes in her head, without noticing that the man sitting beside her was turning red and his hands were trembling as he kept eating what she added for him.

Ave needed to memorize the ingredients and identify them from the taste. She recalled when she had worked in the five-star restaurant, she had always been fascinated by how the chef could identify ingredients used to prepare dishes from the taste, and she tried to do just that as she intended to make this dish in her own way when she returned.

"I can make out bay leaves and a bit of rosemary and..." Ave’s words died down when she heard a bang sound come from Lucian’s direction only to look up and see that he was no longer sitting in front of her. Where did he go? she wondered but saw Zane running towards their table in panic. It was when he fell to his knees that she tilted her head to the side and saw Lucian on the floor, breathing heavily as he clutched at his chest, and her eyes widened as she hurried towards him.