Transmigrated Into The Body Of The Cursed Prince Wife
Chapter 190: The calling

Chapter 190: The calling

Ave arrived at the main palace on foot as she hadn’t even waited to ask Zane to give her a horse, knowing that the moment he found out where she was going, he would try to stop her like he had been doing for the past weeks. He wouldn’t allow her to even step outside the doomed palace gates because Lucian had told him to keep her inside for her own good. Though she had tried to ask him why Lucian would order that when he had never stopped her from stepping out before, she had let it be, thinking he must be doing it for a reason and she would ask him when he returned.

However, now that there was no date for his return, and her heart seemed to be growing restless and tense with each passing minute without a word from him, she had sneaked out and ran all the way to the main palace.

Ave stopped running when she reached the entrance, leaning down with her hands on her knees to catch her breath for a moment before straightening and walking into the large open golden double doors of the entrance that were left open. When the guards at the sides didn’t try to stop her, she walked inside. She occasionally came across a few guests, but surprisingly, none of them even seemed to notice her as they moved around, looking as tense as they could be.

Grateful that none of them were paying attention to her, she trotted into the inner palace, uncertain of who to ask about the letters. Just as she was about to walk towards Thalia’s room, she saw Isolde walking out from the hallway that led to her mother’s quarters, and Ave rushed to meet the girl.

"Isolde," she called to gain the girl’s attention as she was walking in the other direction, and when she heard her name being called, she hurriedly looked up with a frown. However, upon noticing Ave, her frown fell away and was replaced by a look of concern.

"Good Lord, what happened to you, Selene?" she questioned as she retraced her steps back in Ave’s direction. "You look... thinner and paler than the last time I saw you. Are you all right?"

Ave knew she hadn’t been taking good care of herself because of her worries, and she didn’t have to look in a mirror to know she looked terrible because she indeed felt terrible. She tried to find a smile to offer the princess so she wouldn’t worry, but the smile she managed looked as fake as her attempt at humor. "Well, what can I say, without the food in the main palace, I turned into a walking ghost." She chuckled dryly, and when Isolde didn’t return her smile nor laugh, Ave sighed dejectedly and fought back the prickling at the back of her eyes.

"You’re not all right, Selene..." Isolde muttered as she stared into her blue eyes and saw the moisture in them. She had also just left her mother’s quarters in a dejected mood because her mother had called her and Celeste to remind them of their marriage. She had said if their brothers returned or not, it wasn’t going to stop their marriage to the princes they were matched to, and when Isolde had tried to speak back and tell her mother that she didn’t want to marry a prince, she had ended up getting her ears pulled by her disappointed mother.

"You don’t want to marry a prince?" she had asked her in disbelief. "Then if not a prince, who do you want to marry? Tell me, do you want to end up with some nobleman? You are a princess, for goodness’ sake; a noble rank is too low for someone of royal blood, and I will not hear a word of protest from you again. You are to marry Prince Alexander whether you want it or not, understand?"

Isolde couldn’t believe her mother had reacted like that at the thought of her marrying a noble. She couldn’t help but wonder how she would react if she knew she wanted a commoner with whom they had been exchanging secret letters in the past few weeks. How would her mother react if she knew she had sneaked out last week to meet Harry, and when he escorted her back to the main palace through the back entrance, they had shared a kiss? A kiss that had felt magical and beautiful. They were both inexperienced, but she had liked the feel of his hesitant lips against hers.

He had then quickly pulled away and told her, "I... I have never kissed a girl, and I apologize for—" she didn’t allow him to finish his words before she stood on the tips of her toes and kissed him again. Now recalling his response, she smiled and felt her heart grow heavy and her eyes prick with tears at the thought that she would never see him again. Her lips trembled, and she ran forward and hugged Ave, and they both clutched onto each other, each carrying their own sadness in their hearts.

Isolde sobbed the loudest while Ave just allowed her tears to fall down her cheeks silently as she hugged the girl. She needed this hug to feel better. They hugged each other for some time before they pulled away, each wiping their face.

"I apologize for that," Isolde apologized as she wiped her face and then asked, "Why were you crying as well?"

Ave didn’t want to tell her it was because of Lucian, and she didn’t want to come out straight and question her about the letter from the camp, so instead, she said, "I have been feeling tense these past few days like everyone else. You know there has been no response from the camp, and if something were to go wrong, we will all be doomed. I am just scared."

Isolde placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder and said, "You shouldn’t be. Valerie has been conquered. A letter arrived this afternoon to tell Father that."

Ave’s eyes brightened up immediately at those words. However, noticing the look on Isolde’s face, she realized that wasn’t all the letter must have said. "Why don’t you look happy about the outcome?" Ave questioned quietly, as she had a feeling something was wrong.

"The letter also said one of the princes had been hit by a dark witch. He has been unconscious for a week now, and there are no signs of him waking up." She informed dejectedly, as she didn’t want any of her brothers to get harmed. She might have liked Alden more than the second prince before, but she had recently realized Lucian wasn’t all that bad, all thanks to Selene, who made them understand that.

Ave, on the other hand, had thought hearing what the letter was about would bring her peace of mind and assurance about Lucian’s return. But Isolde’s words now did nothing but increase her fear. She recalled Lucian’s words about him not being immune to witch attacks. He had said if he got hit by their spell, it would affect him like it would anyone. If he hadn’t told her those words, she would have naturally assumed he wasn’t the one among the two, but knowing he could get hit by the spell, she had a feeling he was the one.

"When are they coming back?" Ave asked Isolde, trying to control her trembling voice and hands by clutching the sides of her dress.

"It didn’t say, but I heard they are on their way back with the captives. They might arrive in a week or days; I don’t know the distance between us and Valarie." She told her. But remembering she had been sent by her mother to go and get her future mother-in-law so they could talk about their marriage arrangements, Isolde patted Ave’s shoulder and added, "Are you staying here today? I have something to do now, but if you are staying, I will come and meet you in—"

"No," Ave said absentmindedly as she tried to think if she knew of any spell to cure someone who got hit by a dark witch’s spell. If it turned out to be Lucian, she was going to do anything to cure him. She wasn’t about to become a widow and do nothing while the man she was married to died. Her husband. She thought, and then looked at Isolde, who seemed to be waiting for her to say more, and added,

"I mean, I am not staying here. I will be returning to the doomed palace now. I’ll see you again some other time," she forced a smile, and Isolde nodded her head before they parted ways in the hallway.

Ave walked without even focusing on her direction as her mind was a whirlwind of different thoughts and possibilities of the outcome if it was Lucian who got hit. She knew for as long as she was here, she wouldn’t allow anything to happen to her husband. It was surprising that she considered him as such now, and she wanted him to know that when he returned.

Deciding that she couldn’t do anything now but wait for them to return, Ave turned to go back to the doomed palace when she realized she had taken the wrong direction while lost in thought. Instead of walking to the entrance door, she had walked into the innermost part of the palace.

She stopped and sighed heavily before she turned on her heels to go back, only to feel a strange cold wind graze past her face, raising gooseflesh on her skin and causing her heart to miss a beat. She stopped in her tracks as the feeling of fear consumed her all of a sudden. The silent hallway pressed in on her, and due to the dead silence, she heard the creaking of a door opening behind her, and she turned around, expecting someone to walk out of the room. However, she saw no one.

Ave didn’t like the strange feeling in her bones and wanted to flee the hallway. Nonetheless, the moment she turned to do so, a breezy voice called her name.

"Aveline..."

It was that same voice she had once heard before in this same hallway when she had been in an intimate act with Lucian behind the pillars. It had scared the soul out of her then, and it still did. However, this time, the voice beckoned her forward.

"Come to me, my child..." The voice said softly, carrying a note of sadness in it. Ave knew she should be running away, but her feet began to walk toward the room. It was almost like an invisible force was pulling her forward. She followed the voice until she stood before the open door of the abandoned room.

Ave didn’t immediately walk inside. She stood outside the door, willing herself to walk away from there.

"Aveline..." The voice beckoned her in. And if she had turned to her right side at that moment before she entered the room, she would have noticed someone watching her with a frown on their face. But the force that pulled her forward was too strong to resist. Ave entered the room.