Transmigrated Into The Body Of The Cursed Prince Wife
Chapter 218: The woman with her husband

Chapter 218: The woman with her husband

After the lecture Ave had received from Nadia, Lucian had come back to the room to get her as the few guests were said to be arriving at the hall. She noticed how Lucian didn’t even admire her in the red dress to give her a compliment; he just smiled faintly and held his arm out to her before he began to lead her downstairs to the hall.

Ave tried not to dwell on it and promised she would make him notice and be unable to resist her when they returned to their room tonight. As they walked into the hall, where the guests weren’t more than twenty apart from the royals of Nazia, she noticed the Pendragon siblings with Zane doing just fine around the guests as they mingled.

Lucian moved around with her, introducing her as his wife to some curious guests, who offered her stiff smiles that didn’t seem welcoming while they only tried to indulge Lucian in their discussions. For some reason, she noticed how they were all giving him the same respect they gave King Talinor, perhaps even more respect. She couldn’t help but wonder why...

They were talking to a couple, who seemed too eager to please Lucian, when Princess Nina walked up to them with a wide smile on her beautiful face. She didn’t even bother to acknowledge Ave’s presence and turned to greet Lucian with a kiss on his cheek.

"May I have this dance with you?" she asked him as music broke out into the hall and guests began to move out to dance with partners. Ave couldn’t believe her audacity and boldness to ask a man to dance when he was standing with his wife.

Before Lucian could give his reply, the princess turned to Ave, "You don’t mind me dancing with your husband, do you? In our lands, women who stop their men from dancing with another woman are called insecure with no trust in their men," she said sweetly, with an accent in her English that made her even more alluring in Ave’s eyes.

Her voice wasn’t low when she said those words to Ave, thus the people standing around them turned in their direction. Ave wouldn’t have wanted Lucian to dance with this walking seductive goddess if it were up to her, but she’d hate for him to think she had no faith in him, even though a voice in her head was telling her: So what if he thought so, as long as he wasn’t going to be anywhere in close proximity with a woman like Nina?

Lucian was about to refuse when Ave let go of his arm and said, "It’s fine with me. You two can dance," she said with an encouraging smile to her husband, who looked at her with furrowed brows for some reason.

He stared at her for some time before he nodded. "As you wish," then he took Nina’s hand and strode toward the dance floor with her. Ave watched them begin to dance with Lucian’s arm around her bare waist because she was wearing a cropped blouse and a flowing skirt that had a slit that occasionally exposed her smooth thighs that grazed his in ways Ave didn’t like.

She was still watching them when King Talinor, who had been mingling with his guests like he wasn’t a king, in casual attire, walked up to her and took her hand, jolting her from his sudden hold. She looked at him when he brought her hand to his lips and pressed a kiss on her knuckles. "Dance with me, my lady." He led her to the dance floor before she could tell him she didn’t want to dance.

He began to lead her to the music, and she would have protested if his bringing her to the dance floor didn’t give her a clear view of her husband with his sister dancing. She noticed Nina leaning down to whisper something in Lucian’s ear that made his lips twitch as if he wanted to smile, and she wondered what the woman said to him.

"You’ve got so much jealousy in you for a human woman," came King Talinor’s voice that made her look away from them to glance at him.

"Pardon me?" she asked, as she didn’t quite catch what he said.

The king smiled. "I said I never knew Lucian was into fragile women like you. So tell me something, my lady, how are you still intact after marrying a man like Lucian?" he asked with a hint of curiosity in his voice as he stared into her eyes.

Ave didn’t know whether she should be offended by how he and his sisters thought of her as fragile, but his words got her more curious than she was offended. She chuckled softly, "Tell me, Your Majesty. What makes you think I’m too fragile for my husband?"

Talinor let out a bark of laughter as if she’d said something funny. "Because you are. Have you ever seen a kitten with a lion together before? Your husband is like a lion while you’re a kitten. You are not fit for him nor do you deserve him after everything you’ve done," he said casually.

Ave was going to retort when he chuckled dryily at her offended expression, cutting her off with, "Why did you change your name and personality? The red-haired, blue-eyed woman I remember was named Selene and would always go around the halls of the banquet talking bad about her husband. Last year, when I was in Pendragon, I overheard you saying he has a foul smell you couldn’t stand and whenever he came in close proximity you felt nothing but disgust. You used to be one big bitch, and I recall he used to hate you for it, so tell me, what changed? Did you cast some spell on him to take you back?" he questioned with his eyes narrowed down at her, though he tried to keep his expression neural. Ave could see the disdain in his brown eyes. He didn’t like her, and she didn’t blame him.

Selene had done many things Ave couldn’t believe the woman was capable of, had she not seen some with her eyes, like when she was in that inn with Caelan. Recalling it made her hate the woman as well, and the fact that everything she had done before, Ave would have to pay for it made her wish she could find the bitch and settle the score with a physical fight.

She would have retorted to the king, but if she were in his shoes, she wouldn’t trust herself as well. To them, they would think she was still that same Selene pretending. No wonder none of them were welcoming.

"For as long as you are in my land, every eye is going to be on you. If you make any little mistake, you’ll be out. I don’t care who Lucian says you are; all I know is you do not fit with him," he said those words with a friendly smile on his face before he released her and stepped away to grab another random woman to dance with.

It seemed apart from getting her husband to bed, she had to prove herself to these people. She had to show them that her intentions were good and she had nothing bad by standing by her husband’s side. Selene had done a good job of tarnishing her image, and she had to repair it.

Ave was still standing there, thinking about ways to go on about everything when Lucian walked up to her.

He pulled her to the side and leaned down to whisper, "I’ll be right back."

Ave frowned and glanced up at him in confusion. "Where are you going?" she asked before she could stop herself. She sounded like a clingy woman who didn’t want to part with her husband, but she didn’t care, not when she had a feeling he was going somewhere with Nina, who seemed to be waiting behind him.

Lucian noticed her eyes swayed to his back, where Princess Nina was waiting, and he couldn’t help but bite back a smile at the fact that she at least was jealous this time and didn’t like him being with other women now, even though she had been the one to allow him to dance with the princess.

"I need something in the palace. Princess Nina will show me where to get it. I’ll see you soon." He caressed her cheek and was about to turn and leave when his wife reached out and grabbed his arm.

"Can I come with you?" she asked quickly, but not to appear like she didn’t trust him, she added, "I mean, I’m bored here."

"Don’t worry, I won’t stay long. I’ll be right back," he assured her as he patted her head gently and left before she could insist on going with them. What did he need that the princess couldn’t go and get for him until he followed her? Ave wondered depressingly as she watched them leave the hall together.

She’d never thought a day would come when she would be a worried wife because she was afraid of her husband slipping away from her grips. She considered following them but then decided against it and went with the twins, who came to pull her away to join the table where the food was being served.

Ave ate while she stared at the door every now and then, expecting them to come back, but even after the dinner was over, there was no sign of Lucian nor Nina. The guests continued to mingle among each other, and not being able to stand among them anymore, she decided to return to their room and wait.

She went back to their room and absentmindedly closed the door behind her. However, no matter what she did, she couldn’t remove the thoughts of Lucian and Nina leaving the hall together from her mind. Where were they going? What were they doing now? Was Lucian really going to allow himself to get seduced by that woman?

An image of them naked in bed flashed into her mind. She imagined Lucian touching Nina’s beautiful figure and basking in her body the way he had been avoiding doing with her, and she felt her blood boil with heated jealousy. Why was she allowing herself to doubt him? It could be that he really needed something, and it was completely different from what her traitorous mind was conjuring.

She trusted Lucian; it was the woman he was with she didn’t trust at all, Ave thought as she walked to sit on the bed, only to notice Nadia had brought the things she promised to get for her to use in seducing Lucian tonight. A sheer black dress and robe and a box of scented oils were laying on the bed.

Gazing at them while she bit the inside of her cheeks, she contemplated whether she should leave it until tomorrow night or just get it over with tonight. After a bit of thinking, she finally decided to do it tonight because she might lose the lessons taught to her by tomorrow.

This wasn’t going to be so hard if she played it exactly as Nadia had told her to do, Ave thought as she took off her current dress and wore the other one but paused when she noticed how it almost felt like she was naked after wearing it. The more revealing it was, the better, she told herself and turned on the candles on the vanity table.

Done with setting the mood in the room, she sat down on the stool in front of the mirror and began to carefully take off her jewelry with nervous hands. When she heard the sounds of approaching footsteps outside, she hurriedly took on the act she had been taught.