Transmigrated Into The Body Of The Cursed Prince Wife
Chapter 220: Secret

Chapter 220: Secret

Ave would have gone after Lucian immediately had she not been naked, and by the time she ran towards the wardrobe and took out a dress to wear, she saw no signs of him outside the room. The hallway stretched out without a trace of him or anyone. She walked around, but it was like he had disappeared. She’d confirmed her doubt tonight: he wasn’t avoiding touching her because there was anything wrong with her or because her body had been used—it was because something was wrong with him.

She’d felt his burning skin against hers just like last time and his shaking body. He wasn’t fine, and she wished he hadn’t run out of the room before she could see what was wrong with him and attend to him carefully. Worry gripped her chest as she made her way back to their room, hoping desperately that he would come back. She paced the room, looking towards the door every now and then, expecting him to return. Minutes turned into an hour and then two hours, where her legs had begun to ache from pacing around.

She regretted accusing him of having an affair with Princess Nina. However, she had been mad and hurt, and the words had left her mouth without her control. She recalled his words: ’Do you have any idea how much I burn every night for you? How I wake up haunted by dreams of touching you, tasting you, making love to you, and hearing you cry out for more?’ he’d said, and recalling the toe-curling words, she couldn’t help but wonder what was stopping him from taking her if he wanted her that badly. She wasn’t against him touching her; in fact, she would be more than glad if he never hesitated.

Ave knew there were many things he was hiding from her, and because she believed he would never hide anything unless he thought it was for the best, she hadn’t pushed him to tell her more than he was willing—mostly about himself. But after what she’d confirmed today, she didn’t think she could continue to allow him to keep secrets from her. Something was wrong with him, and it hurt to know that he was carrying everything alone and suffering without telling her. She didn’t know much about marriage, but couples were meant to share things together. If he hadn’t been so secretive, she would never have accused him of having an affair with the princess.

Sighing silently, she walked up to the vanity table and sat on the stool. She realized she’d worn her dress inside out because she had been in a hurry to catch up to Lucian before he’d left. She pulled her arms out of the dress sleeves and pushed it down to reveal her torso, where bleeding deep scratches marred her skin. She hadn’t felt the pain of the scratches a while back, but now that she saw the angry red and touched it, she flinched at the sting.

The sharpness of the scratches made her realize one thing: this was done by long, sharp nails, and she’d held and seen Lucian’s hands many times. He had no long nails; in fact, he had beautifully manicured, trimmed nails that she secretly admired. She could have sworn that he’d grown a claw when he was kissing her earlier. She’d seen guilt in his eyes before he left the room.

Could it be that something serious was indeed wrong with him, and he feared hurting her? Was that why he hadn’t consummated their marriage and had tried not to start any sexual intimacy between them? Whatever it was, she had to find it out, and she wished he wasn’t so secretive lately and would try to tell her everything. He seemed to be hiding a lot of things from her.

Knowing there was no way she could get answers or find out the true cause unless he was back, she pulled her dress back up and decided to wait. He might return at some point when he’d believed she was asleep. With that thought, she went to lie on the bed, hugging his pillow that still held his signature scent against her chest, with her eyes on the door.

Ave didn’t know for how long she lay awake there until she could no longer keep her eyes open at some point by dawn. She drifted off to sleep until she heard movement in the room and jerked awake quickly.

"Lucian!" She called his name as she turned to look towards the source of the noise. A look of disappointment crossed her eyes when she saw it wasn’t her husband but Nadia, who had come in with the others to bring her dress for the day and prepare her bath. The room had brightened up because it was morning already. She couldn’t believe she’d slept off while waiting for him.

"Good morning, Milady," Nadia greeted with a smile on her face as she ordered the other maids in their language to leave when she noticed something amiss with Ave. They bowed to her and left the room.

Ave didn’t know what to feel at this point. She had a feeling Lucian didn’t return last night because she had stayed awake until dawn, and the sky was slowly brightening up. She acknowledged Nadia’s greeting with a smile that didn’t reach her eyes because she couldn’t think of anything other than where her husband had run to last night and why he didn’t return. Could it be that his fever or whatever was wrong with him had worsened and he didn’t want her to get worried?

It seemed Nadia noticed her distress because she walked up to her and laid a hand on her shoulder. "Is something wrong?" she asked softly as she looked down at Ave with furrowed brows.

"Yes..." She muttered softly as she pulled her knees up to her chest to give Nadia space to sit at the edge of the bed. She glanced dejectedly at her drawn-up knees as the pregnant woman sat down beside her.

"What happened last night? Did our plan work?" asked Nadia.

Ave didn’t know why she even trusted this young woman, but for some reason, her friendly nature and the air about her made Ave feel like they were friends and she could share anything with her. Perhaps it was because she acted more mature than she actually looked and seemed to understand her problems.

"It kinda didn’t work, and now I wish I hadn’t done it. If I hadn’t, he wouldn’t have left last night in such state. Did you see him around the palace this morning before you came here?" she turned to ask Nadia, who shook her head.

"No. I didn’t," she muttered. "I can’t believe he wasn’t tempted by your act of seduction. Could it be that your husband is seeing another—"

"No, he is not. I suspected that last night, but it was a big mistake. He is loyal to me," she exclaimed quickly before Nadia could judge Lucian wrongly. He was the best husband she could ever have asked for in her life.

"I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to jump to conclusions," Nadia apologized as she placed her hand against Ave’s. "If you trust him so much, then I believe you have nothing to worry about. And I guess, from the dress I gave you last night now lying torn on the floor, he must have gotten onto you like any man would to the woman they want and then resisted you for some reason, right?" she questioned as she stared into Ave’s eyes.

Ave frowned as she nodded. "How did you know? Has something like that happened to you before?"

Nadia scrunched up her nose as she nodded slowly. "Well, you see, when I first met my man, he wasn’t so nice to me and tried to push me away all the time, even though he knew we were destined to be together just like I knew he was the one for me. I could see the desire burning in his eyes whenever he saw me, but he resisted with everything in him..."

"Why?" Ave asked curiously.

"Because he didn’t want to accept I was chosen for him by the moon godde..." Nadia trailed off as if just realizing something and sighed. "You won’t be able to understand. You come from a different land. His resisting has so much to do with our culture. Maybe you should ask your husband and confront him about his own reasons," she suggested.

Ave nodded. That was exactly what she intended to do. "Let’s get on with the bathing and all so I can go and look for him. I need to make certain he is fine," she said as she hurried out of bed and walked into the adjoining room with Nadia following behind her.

Ave bathed and was helped into a cream dress that looked similar to the white one she wore yesterday morning. She was adorned with gold, but all the while Ave couldn’t wait to finish up all the dressing and go look for her husband. She would have said he wouldn’t miss the Royal breakfast had Nadia not told her that for the next eight days, the Nazias would be celebrating their moon festival. There would not be a public breakfast served in the dining hall but in their rooms.

Lucian had already warned her about the festival and also told her not to wander off at night or get curious about what their festival was about. At this point, she didn’t care about their festival or what they did; all she wanted was to find Lucian.

Done with dressing, she thanked Nadia, who had tried to help her alleviate her worries by assuring her that her husband would come back to her. It wasn’t like he would leave her. Ave appreciated her help and kindness. She was the only person among the people of Nazia who treated her nicely.

After Nadia left, Ave’s breakfast was brought to her in the room. She noticed it was for one person, and they hadn’t included her husband’s meal on the breakfast tray. Not even bothering to eat or touch the meal, she left the room to go and look for him. However, the moment she stepped out of the room, she bumped into Zane at the entrance, who stood with his back turned to her door.

"Gosh, Zane!" she exclaimed as she steadied herself from falling back from the impact of bumping into his broad back. He turned around to face her before bowing to her in apology, but she waved it off dismissively as she asked, "What are you doing at the door of my room standing? Forget that—have you seen Lucian?"

Zane nodded his head at her question, and Ave almost sighed in relief when he opened his mouth and told her, "He left at dawn."

Ave was taken aback, and she frowned and glared at him. "What do you mean he left at dawn? Where did he go to?"

"He had some urgent matters to attend to in the neighboring kingdom next to Nazia. He asked for their support, but they needed his presence to sign an agreement. Thus, he had to go there today. He said to let you know he would be back in a few days from now and you shouldn’t worry about his whereabouts," he told her what Lucian had ordered him to say to her last night if she asked about his whereabouts this morning. She must not know where he truly was or why he had to be there, and Zane knew he must not mess up and give away the fact that the prince hadn’t gone to any neighboring kingdom.

However, the way Ave was eyeing him suspiciously after what he said, with her brows drawn together, he almost thought she saw through his lies and cleared his throat awkwardly.