Transmigrated Into The Body Of The Cursed Prince Wife
Chapter 221: Not bad

Chapter 221: Not bad

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.

"He left to another kingdom without bothering to stop by and tell me about it himself? And why didn’t he take you along?" she asked suspiciously as she looked closely at the man before her. She had a feeling something wasn’t right. Lucian wouldn’t have left without at least coming to see her or leaving a letter behind for her.

"The king of the kingdom insisted he come alone, and His Highness said he’d feel more at ease if I stayed back to protect you in his absence. He said he’d mentioned going away early this morning to you last night," he explained to her, hoping she would stop looking at him with that suspicious look on her face.

Ave tried to remember when he mentioned leaving this morning to her. She was about to argue with Zane that he’d never mentioned such a thing to her when she recalled something he’d said last night.

’Aveline, it’s getting late, and I have a place to be early tomorrow morning.’ Was that what he meant by he’d mentioned leaving to her?

"Oh, I see..." she mused, as it seemed he had indeed left the kingdom without coming to at least see her and let her know that nothing had happened to him last night and his fever had gone down. Since he could travel this morning, it meant she had nothing to worry about regarding his health. But then, why was she feeling uneasy for no reason? The worries in her heart seemed to grip her even more despite Zane’s words, like a relentless vine tightening around her chest, creeping over her, smothering every spark of comfort, and leaving her feeling like something wasn’t right.

"You need not worry about His Highness. He will be back as soon as possible when he settles everything," Zane assured her when he noticed the distressed look on her face. For some reason, he had a strong feeling she didn’t completely believe his words, with the look in her eyes.

"You should go eat your breakfast. His Highness said to make sure you didn’t miss any meals," he told her when she seemed to be staring at him strangely, as if she was trying to look through his soul, making him feel nervous for the first time in the presence of a small woman like her, whose head barely reached his shoulder. Could it be that she suspected him?

Zane barely knew how to act with her penetrating blue eyes locked on him, and when she nodded her head and turned back to the room, he let out a sigh of relief and closed his eyes for a moment, as her eyes had made him feel tense. But when he opened his eyes again, he almost jumped out of his skin when she stood before him with her eyes narrowed on him.

"Your Highness?" he said, uncertain of why she came back when she’d gone inside just now.

"Do you know where I can find a bow and arrow here? I need to clear my mind by doing something," she said quietly.

Zane blinked, taken aback by her words. Of all the things he’d expected her to say, this wasn’t even remotely close. "A bow and arrow?" he echoed, a hesitant smile tugging at his lips. "If you don’t mind my asking, what do you need it for?" His tone held amused curiosity, as he found her request for a bow and arrow absurd. Could she even lift a bow, let alone string one?

"To shoot you down," she deadpanned, her sharp tone accompanied by a small glare that made his smile falter. Her words had a sting, but he brushed it off. She was clearly annoyed—about what, he wasn’t sure yet. Perhaps because she knew he wasn’t telling her the entire truth about Lucian’s whereabouts.

"I’m not that useless, you know," she added when she noticed his expression, crossing her arms as if daring him to say otherwise. "I’m good at archery, and I’ll appreciate it if you’d get a bow for me to practice outside in the yard."

If she were to go back into that room, she would be reminded of last night, where she’d been in bed with her husband one moment, and then he stood up and left the room. She had a feeling something wasn’t right, and if she were to be in the room, she would overthink things until her brain was fried. It had been a while since she’d used her years-taught skills in archery, and she thought she might benefit from honing those skills more now to clear her mind. She’d attended archery classes when she wanted to work as a stunt double.

Zane raised an eyebrow at her words. Good at archery? Surely, she was joking. Archery wasn’t as simple as she might think it to be, and for some reason, the thought of her pulling back a bowstring was almost unimaginable with her delicate hands. Yet, her glare carried a stubborn resolve that made him dare not to suggest she do embroidery to clear her mind rather than what he thought she wanted to do with a bow and arrow.

His gaze flicked over her, trying to imagine her holding a bow. It was impossible. She didn’t strike him as someone who could handle the strength and precision it required. Still, she seemed serious, and he didn’t want to push her temper further.

"If you insist, Your Highness," he finally said, though his doubt was clear in his voice. "Come with me. I’ll get one for you." He nodded toward the hallways, leading her out. Perhaps getting her the bow and arrow and having her pass her time trying to figure out how it works would get her to stop giving him that suspicious look.

But then another thought struck him. What if she hurts herself? He cast a wary glance in her direction. Lucian would have his head if she so much as scraped her finger. He sighed inwardly, deciding to keep a close watch on her to prevent any mishaps. Just because she said she was good at archery didn’t mean she was, and he wasn’t about to trust her word on something so... far-fetched.

When they got to the courtyard of the palace where a few of Lucian’s men were training and trying to wield off the cold by moving their bodies, they all stopped when they noticed their prince’s wife walking to the courtyard with Zane following behind her with a bow and a pack of arrows in a bag, and out of curiosity as to why she was walking here with a determined look on her face , they momentarily stopped to greet her. She acknowledged their greetings and then stopped at the archery section of the training yard and held her hand out to Zane, who seemed to hesitate before placing the bow in her outstretched hand.

Oliver, who was about to start his daily promised routine of training Harry into a strong man, walked towards them with a frown on his gruff face. "What do you think you are doing giving her a bow?" he demanded from Zane as the princess moved to stand a distance away from the target board in the courtyard. He couldn’t believe Zane was stupid enough to bring her out in this cold with a dangerous weapon that could injure her and get them all in trouble if the prince found out about it.

Zane didn’t look away from Ave like a worried father as he replied to the soldier beside him, "She said she wanted to clear her mind by practicing archery, and I couldn’t deny her that." He told him as he watched her begin to stretch before she took one arrow from the bag and placed it against the bowstring.

Oliver gave Zane’s shoulder a strong slap that almost made him lose his balance, but the big guy held his coat and pulled him up before he grumbled under his breath for only him to hear. "You fool! If she told you to hand her a sword to cut herself, would you have done that? She’s the prince’s woman and would be our Empress if we take back the Empire from that wretched woman and her damned son. If anything is to happen or go wrong, the prince will have your head along with ours!" Oliver shoved him aside and strode towards the princess to take the dangerous weapon she thought she was playing with from her hands.

She would be better off clearing her mind by doing what women do. Oliver walked up to her and was about to tell her to hand him the bow she had positioned in front of her face with an arrow poised on the bowstring, when she released it at the same time he called, "Your Highness—"

Ave missed her target because of the distraction, and the arrow went flying towards the other men at the side watching her. They all ducked their heads and dodged it when it shot in their direction. Ave’s eyes widened ; if someone hadn’t pulled Orion, who stood shocked in one spot, away quickly, the arrow would have struck the idiot.

She turned to glare at the bulky soldier who had distracted her.

"What is it? I almost shot someone!" she exclaimed as she turned to him with a displeased look, as he’d almost caused her to shoot her senseless brother-in-law.

Oliver scratched the back of his head as he gestured towards the bow in her hand. "You shouldn’t be playing with that, Your Highness. You almost shot the prince. Worse still, you could hurt yourself," he told her as he reached out to take the bow from her hand, but she stepped away from him.

Zane hurried to agree with what Oliver had said, but Ave glared at both of them and told them, "Move aside." She said as she took her stance and positioned her arrow again. She was already mad at Zane for hiding something from her about Lucian’s whereabouts, and if he annoyed her more by the way he and Oliver were making it seem like she was a child playing with a knife, she might as well shoot them both down and get the anger off her chest. But because she liked them both, she would show them she wasn’t as fragile as everyone believed her to be. Because of Selene’s laziness, her body wasn’t fit and looked slender and fragile, but that didn’t mean her soul was. She’d had to go through many trainings to get fit as a stunt double in the modern world.

She didn’t allow any distraction to get to her this time. She ignored all the worried murmurs of Lucian’s men as they watched her. She could even see from the corner of her eyes how Oliver and Zane looked distressed and looked like they would reach out at any time to grab the bow from her hand. She smirked and squinted her eyes to target the middle of the board. Taking a deep breath, she released the arrow.

To everyone’s surprise, it struck the middle. It was a bullseye! She didn’t stop there. She began to reach out for arrows upon arrows and shoot them in a speed that left everyone slack-jawed as they watched her. In no time, the target board was filled with stuck arrows shot by the fragile-looking red-haired princess, who stood without breaking a sweat as she watched her handiwork with a bored look in her eyes.

"Where did she learn to do that?" Oliver asked Zane, who also watched in disbelief. He’d never known she had such skills up her sleeves and had even doubted she could hold a bow.

"She’s wonderful..." Zane muttered as he felt his admiration towards his friend’s wife increase. He couldn’t help but wonder if Lucian knew she had such skills. From the top of a window, King Talinor watched her display of skill with his sister Nina beside him.

"She’s not that bad," he remarked as he sipped his wine.

Nina scrunched her nose. "She’s still not fit for him. He needs someone stronger by his side, someone similar to his kind."

"You mean someone like you?" he smirked as he turned to look at his sister.

"Yes," she muttered confidently.