Transmigrated Into The Body Of The Cursed Prince Wife
Chapter 76: Stay away from rivers

Chapter 76: Stay away from rivers

[Long Chapter]

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"Hey, wait for me!" Ave ran after him as she didn’t want to be left behind in this creepy place she had found beautiful a while ago. But after what she saw in the river, she knew she wouldn’t be coming here again.

Lucian was walking so fast that she had to run to catch up to him, and in her dripping wet dress, it was difficult. They followed the forest path where the trees stood tall around them, casting long shadows on the ground, dried leaves crunching with every step they took, with a gentle breeze swaying the leaves.

It was getting dark as the sun was now setting behind the horizon, casting a golden glow across the land.

When Ave finally caught up to his long strides, she huffed for breath and then began to speak. "Why are you so mean to the Princesses when they haven’t done anything to offend you again?" she asked curiously, as she’d seen how the Princesses had even stopped calling him names, yet he wasn’t being nice to them.

If Lucian heard her, he didn’t act like it and kept walking.

"You know, if my stepsisters were half as nice to me as yours were, I’d be happy. You shouldn’t push people who care about you away. You will only—" before she could finish her words, Lucian suddenly stopped, swirled around, grabbed her shoulders, and pushed her against a tree behind her, gritting his teeth.

"Don’t think I’ve forgotten that you went against my orders when I told you not to do anything but rest today. If you keep annoying me with your useless chatter, I’ll make sure you get busy doing something else with that running mouth of yours. Do you understand me?"

Ave heard him speak in a low, deep voice filled with irritation and anger. If she knew how much she was messing with his mind, she would have realized he was more frustrated than annoyed with her. She pursed her lips and looked up at his burning gaze.

"What else could you possibly make me do with my mouth apart from talking?" she scoffed at him, though she had a faint clue what else a man could make a woman do with her mouth apart from talking. He surely wasn’t referring to that—she was certain. But when she met his darkened eyes, she thought otherwise.

Gulping in nervousness, she was suddenly aware of how close he was standing to her, and how his eyes on her made her shiver slightly, causing her to subconsciously fold her arms across her chest.

Lucian’s eyes fell to the arms she folded below her bosom. Because of the cold, he could now see how her breasts had hardened, making the dress cling to them in a way that the tips were showing, as if begging for his hands to touch them—or perhaps his mouth. He had to fight the strong urge that consumed him to touch the hardened tips and rub them with his fingers by tearing his gaze away from her chest to her face.

"You are completely clueless, aren’t you, Aveline?" Lucian asked, surprised to hear the sound of his own voice, which came out a bit breathless.

Ave frowned. The cold she was feeling had made her not even notice that he had been looking at her chest. "Clueless about what?" she asked softly.

Lucian’s eyes fell on a drop of water that slid down from her chin and made its way down her neck. But before it could pull his eyes back to the breasts he had fought hard to look away from, he raised his hand and gently wiped it off her neck, making Ave shudder from his sudden touch that felt hot against her cold skin.

Ave’s eyes slightly trembled as his touch had made gooseflesh suddenly rise on her skin and made her feel a sudden warmth spread inside her. She felt his hands flatten against the huge tree behind her, caging her against it.

"W-what are you doing?" she asked nervously as she flattened her palms against his chest to keep him from whatever he thought he was about to do by leaning in towards her face. When she saw his eyes fall to her lips, she panicked.

If he kissed her, she was going to punch him. Seriously.

"Aveline," he said her name with a husk in his voice that made her heart tremble. If he kept saying her name like that, she might end up not punching him if he leaned in to kiss her at this very moment. She could feel her legs turning to jelly as she saw his face coming closer to her, but instead of what she thought he was going to do, his lips pulled into a smirk.

"You are so stupid and clueless." He stepped back, raised his hand, and knocked her head, causing her to snap back to her senses. "Ow, what was that for? And how dare you call me stupid?"

"Aren’t you?" He raised a brow as if surprised she thought she wasn’t stupid. He clicked his tongue. "I think if I want you not giving yourself away to the enemies, it’s time I get you someone to teach you manners and awareness. A lady should be aware of her own body and hide it from any man but the one she’s married to. But you..." His eyes went back to her chest, and this time, she followed his gaze and glanced down.

Ave gasped in shock and disbelief and quickly turned around as he stepped away from her, to hide her chest. Had she been standing like this the whole time since she was pulled out of the water? Was that why he stood in front of her to block her from the others earlier?

Damn it! But he had seen her! That is so embarrassing! Ave cried in her head as she tried in vain to cover her chest with the cloth that had now turned thin. No wonder Lydia had said she should wear that bra. If she had tied it against her chest, she wouldn’t have been in such a situation.

"Why didn’t you tell me earlier that my tits were showing?" Ave cried out in embarrassment, causing Lucian’s brows to arch.

"Tits?" he questioned as he had not heard of that word before.

"My boobs, idiot!" she exclaimed in frustration as she couldn’t make the dress stop being transparent.

"Am I supposed to know what boobs are?" he asked, having a clue what she was referring to, but he wanted her to say it in terms he knew.

’Pervert!’ exclaimed his beast, who Lucian had mastered the act of sealing in the back of his mind and only got to slip out when he let his guard down.

’Go back inside,’ Lucian sealed him up again.

"Boobs mean breasts!" Ave exclaimed, too frustrated to realize that the man behind her had wanted her to say it out loud and was having fun seeing her frustrated. Next time, she would know to wear the inner cloth rather than a dress without it.

"Why is the dress showing like this?" she asked, stomping her feet on the ground. "How am I going to walk past all the guards at your palace gates?"

Lucian’s eyes darkened at that. Though it was going to get dark soon, it wouldn’t get dark before they arrived at his palace.

Glancing at Ave’s back one last time, he began to walk forward, ahead of her. "Let’s go," he said, taking a path opposite to the one they were walking on before.

Ave turned over her shoulder and saw his retreating back. She didn’t want to walk like this through the palace gates, but staying behind wasn’t an option. She crossed her arms around her chest and hurried after him.

"Why are we going this way?" she asked when he changed routes. Wasn’t that the way to the palace, where she could already see the building from where they had stood a moment ago?

"It’s a shortcut," he said indifferently.

Ave pursed her lips. Shortcut? Wasn’t that other path supposed to be the shortcut? she thought but didn’t voice it out. When they walked for a while in silence, she said, "Lucian..."

"What did I tell you about using my name?" he warned disapprovingly.

Ave quickly rephrased it. "I mean, Your Highness. Why do you get so worked up when I address you by your name? It’s not like the age gap between you and me is that far apart. You’re only a year older than me in the modern world," she said, as she had heard he was just twenty-five and her real body was twenty-four while Selene was nineteen.

"If you are twenty-four of age, does that mean you are married?" Lucian found himself asking when he heard her words.

Ave burst into laughter at that. "Married? Eww! I am not, and I have no plans of doing that. The world has progressed from this in the future. Women no longer get married at such a young age, and it’s totally fine if a woman chooses not to marry. And I am one of those women who likes to be independent and have full control of my life." She said cheerfully as they walked, the gentle evening breeze blowing past her began drying her hair and dress.

Lucian’s pace slowed down a bit. "Then that is so sad. If you don’t marry, how do you cope with the urges that come when a woman has come of age?" he asked in curiosity.

"Oh that," Ave said. Though she had lived all her life without having a boyfriend, she had never had the urge to have sex or get attracted to anyone, which she had found strange and thought perhaps she must be mentally and physically blessed with a disorder that made her immune to men, which she hadn’t bothered to try to cure as she liked it that way. However, that didn’t mean she was completely clueless of how others overcome such desires.

"Well, there are many ways a woman can overcome those urges, you see. In my time, it’s not forbidden for a man and woman to... you know, come together and do all those things. And there are many advanced items people use, like sex to—hey!" She bumped into his back as he stopped all of a sudden.

Though Lucian had asked her a question, he hadn’t thought she would be bold enough to answer, especially not in such detail. When she spoke about men and women "coming together," it surprised him.

"Have you ever come together with another man?" he asked, but almost instantly regretted the question. Realizing he wasn’t sure if he wanted to hear the answer, or perhaps fearing her response would make him see her the same way he saw Selene, he quickly added, "Never mind. I’m not interested in your life in the future." His voice turned cold, causing Ave’s expression to fall at his words.

’He doesn’t like me enough to even care about my real life,’ she thought dejectedly as that only meant she was going nowhere with making him even love her.

Ave didn’t say anything more after that and walked in silence. However, something had been bothering her since the river incident, and she had intended to ask him before she’d gotten distracted by his warning of using his name.

"Luc— Your Highness?" she called, despite not wanting to engage with him after his harsh remark.

"Hmm?" he hummed in response.

"When I fell in that river, it wasn’t that I couldn’t swim. Something held me down. A figure, like a ghost, was at the bottom of the river, and I thought I heard her voice in my head..." she trailed off, unsure of what exactly had happened, but the mark on her ankle was proof that something had grabbed her.

"What did you hear?" Lucian’s brows furrowed as he recalled the marks on her ankle, which had caught his attention earlier.

"She said something like, ’I want your body,’ though I don’t know what that means. It’s terrifying to think about." Ave shuddered, still haunted by the memory of the ghostly figure’s hollow eyes.

Lucian’s eyes narrowed at her words. Without hesitation, he stopped walking and turned to face her. "Don’t ever go near any river again, do you understand?" he demanded, his tone serious.

Ave pursed her lips. Even if he hadn’t told her, she had no intention of going near any rivers in this world again. "I wasn’t planning to, but do you know what it means?" she asked, her curiosity piqued.

"Yes." Lucian turned back and resumed walking. "In the past, when Pendragon lived in harmony with the white witches and only hunted the dark ones, it was said that the dark witches’ souls were locked deep underground and in the oceans. Their souls fight to return to life, and the only way they can is by possessing another witch’s body and living again to avenge themselves."

Ave’s eyes widened. "But... I’m not a witch," she whispered. "Why would she want my body?"

"The dark souls can tell by your scent," Lucian said nonchalantly.

Ave sniffed her underarm and clothes before glancing at Lucian’s back. "I smell normal. Perhaps she was mistaken?" she asked with a nervous smile. The last thing she wanted was to be accused of being something she wasn’t and end up burned at the stake when rumors spread.

Lucian was silent for a moment before he said, "If you want to live, don’t tell anyone about what you saw in the water," Lucian warned. "And stay away from any water that isn’t inside. Another witch can tell just by looking and perceiving. Be careful."