Transmigrated Into The Body Of The Cursed Prince Wife
Chapter 63: Ugly maid

Chapter 63: Ugly maid

Ave, who had been standing outside with Lydia wondering what was happening to Lucian, decided to go back inside. But as she turned to leave, she bumped into the physician who had been dragged inside by Zane. The man looked so frightened that when he bumped into Ave and his box fell to the floor, he didn’t bother to wait and pick up the medicine that had fallen nor the box itself. Instead, he gasped in horror at the sight of Ave before hurrying away.

Ave raised her hand to stop him and asked what was wrong with the prince, but by the time she looked up, the man had disappeared into the carriage that was now speeding away towards the gates. ’What was that about?’ she thought as she glanced down at the box the man had left behind, where blood-stained rags now lay on the ground.

She had also caught sight of blood on his fingers when she bumped into him, and seeing the rags stained with blood did nothing to lessen her worries for a man she didn’t want to think about, nor worry over.

She couldn’t help but wonder if the wound hadn’t healed like the first one. Though she usually caught a glimpse of Lucian leaving the palace every morning, it was strange that she hadn’t seen him today at all, which meant something bad had happened.

Ave bent down and picked up the box of medicine. She stood up and continued walking. When she reached the corridor that led to the South Wing, she found that the guards were still there. Recalling her experience with them the last time, she sighed and walked back to her chamber knowing they would never allow her into his room.

However, no matter how much she tried to think less of Lucian, the scene where she had stabbed him kept haunting her mind, making her feel restless. What if it was so bad he died from it? The physician hadn’t stayed long enough in his room to treat such a wound. He had left looking so frightened that Ave doubted if he had even done anything before he was scared away by the so-called cursed prince everyone feared.

Ave, being a foodie, couldn’t even eat tonight and only stared down at her food with a lost expression. If she didn’t go and see him to make sure he was fine with her own eyes, she might go crazy with worry.

"Your Highness, the guards are no longer there," Lydia, who Ave had sent to check on the South Wing’s corridor, returned and informed her. "They’ve taken a dinner break and will be back shortly. If you want to pass, you should go now before they return."

Ave didn’t waste time. She quickly went back to her room and picked up the medicine box and the dress she had promised to give back to him. She also didn’t forget to take a lamp, as she knew how his chamber and corridors were always dark. Packing everything she needed, she hugged them close and began to run before the guards returned.

Ave didn’t stop running until she stood before his chamber door. Knowing knocking was useless, she turned the door handle and stepped inside instead. Just as she thought, the room was so dark she could barely make out a shadow until she turned up the lamp flame.

"Lucian?" Ave called his name warily, as the room was so silent and the bed curtains had been drawn around the bed, concealing it. "Are you in there?" she asked as she walked towards the bed carefully, making sure to look around to avoid a surprise attack from him.

Dropping everything except the lamp on a nearby desk, she walked towards the bed and pulled the curtains apart. Her eyes widened in shock, and a gasp left her lips.

"Oh my God, Lucian!" she exclaimed, horrified.

Back in the main palace, inside the Empress’s chamber where she sat in her high chair with a teacup swirling in her hand and a displeased frown on her face, she watched the maid bowing before her and reporting.

"She dares to go against my orders yet again," the Empress gritted her teeth in annoyance as she slammed the teacup on the table when Catherine told her what Ave had done.

"Yes, Your Majesty. Princess Selene also said she didn’t care about your stupid orders and that I won’t be allowed to ever step foot inside the doomed palace again," Catherine reported, making sure her voice sounded as pitiful as possible. ’Does Selene think she can get away with humiliating me like she did today? Che, she must be mistaken.’

Elara’s hands clenched into tight fists as she couldn’t believe Selene was making their plan much more difficult instead of easier. Though the girl had stopped seeking out Caelan, and from what the spy from the second prince’s palace had said, she was working hard to gain Lucian’s trust, which Elara was happy about, but then Selene seemed to have grown some wings and thought she could fly without the hands that once held her up, by repeatedly acting without orders and disrespecting the Empress’s commands.

"I think it’s time I tested her loyalty and saw where it lies," the Empress muttered softly, as if things continued this way, her plans might not work through because of Selene. "If she dares to fail me this time, it will be time I kill her with my own hands."

Catherine’s face brightened in delight as she knew with Selene’s current behavior, it would only be a matter of time before the Empress killed her. "Yes, Your Majesty." She bowed her head, and even though she was curious about how the Empress planned to test Selene’s loyalty, she dared not question the Empress and kept her curiosity to herself.

Elara dismissed Catherine, but before Catherine could leave, the Empress said, "You don’t have to go to the doomed palace anymore. The other person there will report back to me with news, just like I’ve gotten a report a while ago."

Catherine gritted her teeth at that, as she wanted to be in the doomed palace to make sure Selene failed in whatever she was assigned to do so the Empress could get rid of her quickly. ’How am I going to ensure that the second prince never falls in love with her again, or even make sure the mission assigned to her fails terribly?’

"Yes, Your Majesty." She bowed deeply and excused herself, seething in rage at the fact that she wouldn’t be going to the second prince’s palace. ’If only I was the one with the Princess title and Selene the maid. If only I had been picked to marry the prince.’

As Catherine stepped out of the Empress’s chamber, the third prince stepped in while munching on an apple and glaring at Catherine’s back before he proceeded into his mother’s chamber and casually threw himself on the lounge mat beside his mother’s feet, scrunching his nose as if he was disgusted.

"Ma, what did that ugly maid come here to do?" he asked as he dropped the half-eaten apple on a nearby table and added, "Did she come to report to you about Selene?"

"Hmmm," Elara hummed, deep in thought on how to test Selene. Before Catherine had come to make her report, she had already received a report from the spy in the doomed palace that the second prince had exited Selene’s chamber last night, bleeding from his side. Moments later, Selene had run out of the room with her hands covered in blood.

’Did she try to kill him, knowing it wasn’t possible with the curse he was born with?’ He could heal faster than anything on earth, which had made their assassination plans fail every time, but Selene stabbing him could mean she was trying to ruin her plans. She was supposed to make him trust her, but by stabbing him, she would achieve the opposite.

However, her spy had also reported that the second prince had summoned a physician this evening, which meant he wasn’t immune to injuries after all. Something wasn’t right or something had changed, and she needed to find out more by testing the theory again through Selene.

"Ma," Caelan’s voice broke into her thoughts. "Did you order Selene to stop seeing and paying attention to me?" he asked, as he didn’t like that she had stopped looking at him like she used to and wouldn’t even send him love letters anymore, which he used to make fun of but now missed. Not to mention, he missed her so much he wanted to send for her so they could find another inn in town to spend time together.

"Yes," Elara remarked, trying to sound strict. "Don’t even think about sending for her and making things difficult for me. If you want a woman to spend time with, there are many out there, or you can wait until you get married." The last thing she needed right now was a repeat of what had once happened in that inn.

Caelan didn’t like the sound of that. When he used to mess with Selene, he had thought it was because she was easy to manipulate, but it turned out he really did like her more than he knew and didn’t want to stop having fun with her.

"Ma, why did you even pick Selene for that cursed Lucian when you could have just chosen that ugly maid to be his wife and given Selene to me as my concubine when I become Emperor?"

"Did you think I wouldn’t have chosen Catherine if she was as beautiful as her half-sister? That girl is more obedient than Selene, but she doesn’t have the face for the mission. And if you want Selene alive to be your concubine when you become Emperor, make sure to stay away from her for now and focus instead on your future wife who will be arriving soon."

Outside the chamber, Catherine heard everything the two spoke of, and her hands balled into tight fists at the insult. The more they compared her to her half-sister, the more her hatred and anger towards her intensified.