Transmigrated Into The Body Of The Cursed Prince Wife
Chapter 73: Training grounds

Chapter 73: Training grounds

In the large arena used for the yearly competition in Pendragon Empire, located on the far grounds of the palace property, many soldiers were now gathered in the sunken grounds of the large arena.

The soldiers were divided into many groups, as the arena was so large it could accommodate more than a thousand people. Among one of the many groups, Lucian was seen practicing, his expression hardened in anger as he didn’t like that he was commanded by Alden to train among the inexperienced soldiers when he was supposed to be among the elite soldiers, or even among the major generals if judged by strength.

Lucian swung his two swords with ease, his eyes never leaving the First Prince’s back, who was commanding some soldiers on the other side.

"You shouldn’t allow him to always lower your position like this, Your Highness," Zane, who was training beside Lucian, commented as his own eyes were also on the First Prince, who, if judged by his strength on the battlefield, didn’t deserve to be their commander as he rarely even stood on the front line like every other commander because of his important royal blood, and being the Emperor’s first son, he had to be protected by all means.

Meanwhile, Lucian on the other hand, had been sent to many dangerous battles and had been placed in the Frontline without anyone covering for him.

"That’s what he wants," Lucian remarked indifferently, causing Zane to turn to him with a confused look. "What?"

"I said that’s what he wants, for me to stand up and question his command so he could challenge me to a duel because he thinks he could end my life to collect the blood debt I owe him from last year. He placed me with the new recruit soldiers on purpose," Lucian explained as he swung his swords, trying to dismiss the thoughts of the day Alden had decided that Lucian owed him a blood debt.

"But it wasn’t like you really meant to kill Graham that day," Zane stated while he swung his sword to the side, but because the soldiers they were forced to train with were amateurs, his sword mistakenly hit one of them, cutting his arm and causing the young soldier to cry out in pain as his sword fell from his hand, pulling the First Prince’s and the Third Prince’s attention back to them.

Zane cursed under his breath, as it was the soldier’s fault for stepping so close to him from behind. Now his arm was bleeding profusely, and he was crying out like a baby—that was how young and inexperienced the soldiers they were forced to train with were.

Zane moved to help the boy but stopped when the First Prince’s voice rang out in the air. "What is going on here?" he demanded as he came to stand in front of the bleeding soldier, with Caelan, who had been following him to learn, standing beside him.

"Hmm, that’s a lot of blood," Caelan scrunched his nose as he glanced at the bleeding young boy, trying hard to hide his disgust as a drop of blood splashed on his shoe. "How did you get yourself injured, idiot?" he questioned, stepping back to avoid getting more blood from a lowly soldier on him.

"I-it was Lord Zane. He cut Ivan’s arm with his sword," one of the young soldiers accused as he glanced fearfully at the Second Prince and Zane. They had all been forced to train with the cursed prince, who had been intimidating them with his presence the whole time and had caused his friend Ivan to be in pain now.

Alden’s gray eyes moved from the injured boy to the Second Prince, then to his bodyguard. "Is that true?" he demanded from Zane, who was glaring at the young soldier who had spoken as if he’d cut the boy on purpose.

"It was an accident, Your Highness," Zane bowed his head slightly to the First Prince, who had never liked him because of how loyal he was to the Second Prince. Before Zane knew it, the First Prince had sent him flying back with a leg kick, and he fell forcefully to the ground from the strength of the kick.

"Accidents don’t happen here, and since when were you permitted to train among my soldiers when you are nothing but a mere guard? Your job is to stand on the sidelines and assist your master if he needs anything, not join the training!" Alden rebuked, recalling that he had ordered this same guard not to train with his soldiers after what had happened between him and Lucian last year.

"I ordered him to join the training," came Lucian’s strained voice from the side. He didn’t like how Zane had been kicked.

Alden’s brows arched as he turned his head towards Lucian. "And since when did you start giving orders here?" he demanded. "If I remember correctly, you are nothing but a mere soldier yourself."

"It seems the cursed prince is indeed eyeing your position, brother Alden," remarked Caelan with a smirk. "He didn’t just try to kill you that time but is now giving orders. I think he’s forgetting who the real fucker is in our land."

Lucian sent a glare toward the third prince but didn’t say anything, although, for the first time, he couldn’t disagree. Alden was indeed a fucker, and he wished they understood the meaning of that word. Still, he kept quiet.

"Your Highness, Prince Caelan is right," said Roland, one of Alden’s trusted men. "The cursed prince has indeed forgotten his place and given Zane the backbone to hurt an innocent boy."

Alden’s face hardened like stone as he watched the boy in pain. "Bring me the lash!" he commanded, and Caelan, who had never liked Zane and Lucian, was quick to kick a random soldier to hurry up and bring the whipping lash for his brother. He’d been forced to join the soldiers, and he’d been bored the whole time, but it seemed something fun was finally happening. He was going to enjoy this so much.

When the soldier brought the long, strong lash that was made out of a rod wrapped with animal skin, Alden took it from him and began to walk towards Zane, who dared not stand up from the ground after the kick and remained on his knees, his head bowed.

However, Lucian stepped forward and blocked the First Prince from reaching Zane.

Alden’s gray eyes narrowed at the Second Prince’s audacity to stand in front of him. "Move aside," he said in an authoritative voice as he met Lucian’s nonchalant amber eyes.

"He didn’t cut the soldier on purpose, it was an accident," Lucian informed calmly. He didn’t want to fight Alden, but he also wouldn’t watch Zane get punished for something he didn’t do on purpose.

"Yes, brother Alden. I was here, it was the soldier’s fault. He was training too close to Zane when you’ve ordered us to train four feet apart," Prince Orion, who had also been training with the young soldiers said, as he didn’t want to see his two favorite brothers fight.

A glare from Alden was enough to make Orion shut up and stand back, only to receive a kick from Caelan, who was standing by the side with an amused smirk. "Learn to stay out of the grown-up’s matters, little brother," he said when Orion glared at him. Clicking his tongue, Caelan looked back at the amusing scene unfolding among his brothers.

"Move aside, unless you want to challenge me," Alden said to Lucian, who refused to budge from where he stood in front of Zane. Refusing to comply would mean he was challenging the First Prince, which would be seen as a form of disrespect and would end up in them fighting each other with swords, causing Lucian more setbacks than he wanted to bring to his plans.

Lucian wasn’t afraid to challenge the First Prince, but he didn’t want to cause the Emperor to banish him completely from the royal family for daring to challenge a commander and wield his sword at him. However, he also couldn’t let Zane get punished.

Even though Lucian knew Alden was doing this to make him challenge him, he decided to accept. He was about to pull out his sword when Zane reached out and grabbed his trousers. Glancing down, his eyes met Zane’s, who shook his head and conveyed to him with his eyes that he would take the punishment.

Lucian’s fingers tightened around the handle of his sword as he looked down at Zane. A surge of anger and helplessness flared within him, his chest tightening as he hesitated, but after a moment, he let go of his sword. His hand fell to his side, and he quietly stepped aside.

Alden’s jaw hardened, as he didn’t expect Lucian to step aside without challenging him, which was what he wanted. He wanted to collect the blood debt Lucian owed him by getting rid of him, and now that he didn’t challenge him, Alden’s fingers tightened around the whip. Before he walked to start the punishment, he said to Lucian,

"There will be a next time. Very soon, I will avenge Graham’s and my mother’s deaths with yours." Saying that, he proceeded towards Zane with the whip.

Lucian could not stand there and watch Zane get beaten. He turned on his heels to leave, but before he walked away, his eyes momentarily fell on Caelan’s mocking ones. Not sparing him the satisfaction of seeing his anger over the fact that he couldn’t do anything to even protect Zane, Lucian walked away, but not fast enough, as he heard Zane’s groan as the whip hit him.

Lucian walked out of the arena through the dark tunnel that led to the exit, his amber eyes burning brightly in the dark, a vein twitching in his jaw as he walked in long strides, his rage barely contained as Alden’s words swirled in his head.

’There will be a next time. Very soon, I will avenge Graham’s and my mother’s deaths with yours.’

He couldn’t help but recall what had made the hatred between them so intense that the First Prince was now determined to get rid of him by all means. Rumors had circulated that Lucian’s mother had something to do with Alden’s mother’s death, which had first made them not get along.

However, last year when they were on their way back from the border’s camp, they had been attacked by assassins who were determined to kill the First Prince alone. Even though Lucian was there, they hadn’t attacked him, and because Lucian had no business meddling with the fight, he didn’t fight with the others to protect the First Prince. It wasn’t his battle, after all, and they never liked each other enough for him to fight for Alden, so he left along with Zane.

However, even though Lucian didn’t like the First Prince, he had turned back to help, as he believed they were on the same team, having just returned from a battle and were exhausted. He went back at the time the First Prince’s soldiers were almost defeated by the assassins, with some lying dead on the ground, and the assassins surrounding Alden.

Lucian had watched them before pulling out his bow and arrows from a distance and told Zane to shoot them down with him. He was about to begin shooting them down when one of the assassins raised his sword to cut down the First Prince.

However, one of his trusted right-hand men, Graham stepped forward to stop the assassin, and in time, Lucian had released his own arrow, which, instead of hitting the assassin who had raised his sword, missed as the man moved away as if sensing the arrow. It ended up hitting Graham, who was more like Alden’s friend just like Zane had been to Lucian.

That was how the rumors of Lucian attempting to kill the first prince started, and the hatred between them intensified to the point where Alden wanted nothing but to take revenge.