Transmigrated Into The Body Of The Cursed Prince Wife
Chapter 97: Unexpected announcement

Chapter 97: Unexpected announcement

The royal dining hall was so full that the servants had to join two long tables together and add more chairs so all of the guests would have their seats. The table extended to the end of the hall, with the royal family from different kingdoms and important nobles all seated, the Emperor at the head of the table as usual.

The guests were talking among themselves, not even realizing that the Pendragon Princesses were yet to arrive.

"What is going on outside the palace this morning? We heard the commoners are making a request to the Emperor," remarked a minister from the royal court who was present at the breakfast table.

"Che, to think these commoners are crossing their boundaries after so many years again and making another request. I think it is best they be ignored this time," said the man representing the King of Banzai kingdom as he sipped from his glass of appetizing drink before the breakfast.

"Their last request had been a good one though; they had wanted the cursed prince executed or removed, and I think many of us had agreed to that," came the words of Edward, the Empress’ brother, who was also a part of the royal court. "It wouldn’t harm anyone to hear what they want again; it’s not necessary the Emperor should agree to it." He added, believing they were making another request to execute the second prince, who they believed was the cause of their poverty.

Princess Madeline, who had entered the hall a while ago and was sitting close to her family members and other half-siblings, glanced at the second prince sitting four chairs across from her. His expression was devoid of any emotion despite the people talking about him, and his eyes were staring straight at the prince of Nazia kingdom, who was talking to him about something, but he barely acknowledged it or replied. She’d always found the prince attractive no matter what anyone said.

Then, recalling what she had witnessed outside the dining hall—his wife Selene and the Princesses—she turned her gaze away from the second prince and glanced at the fourth consort, who was trying to appease the mother queen of the Chen kingdom, a kingdom known for coming up with new food ideas and ingredients, and cleared her throat to gain the woman’s attention.

"Everyone is here, but the Pendragon Princesses are not. Tsk. Isn’t it disrespectful to arrive after the Emperor and Empress?" she said with a clueless expression as she swirled her spoon in her teacup.

Seraphina’s expression turned grim as she realized her two daughters were indeed not in the hall yet. She couldn’t help but blame all this on Selene. Ever since her daughters had started going to the doomed palace to dance, they had begun to act differently from how she’d trained them to be.

Even her son, Orion, was no different. He did nothing but talk about the second prince, just as he was doing right now with the young princes of Nazia kingdom, who looked fascinated by whatever he was telling them and not paying attention to the Empire discussion like the other men were.

However, what bothered Seraphina more at this moment were her two daughters. They were supposed to be picked by the princes, but arriving late to the hall would not only ruin their chances but her own image in the eyes of the guests.

Just then, when everyone had already realized they weren’t present and were questioning the reasons for it, something fell to the floor from a certain direction in the dining hall, drawing everyone’s attention to it. Their eyes widened upon noticing the three princesses, including Selene, crawling on their hands and knees toward their chairs.

Ave had already reached her chair and was yet to sit on it when Isolde dropped the stupid glass-handled fan she usually carried around with her. She had put it between her teeth to crawl on the floor so their mother wouldn’t notice they had arrived late and end up scolded. However, the fan slipped from between her teeth and fell to the floor, its delicate glass handle shattering and making noise.

Ave froze between her chair and Lucian’s, who was now looking down at her with a resigned and disbelieving expression. So much for trying not to act like herself, he thought.

Ave quickly stood up from the floor and cleared her throat as all heads were now on her. The three princesses also began to stand to their feet as they had been caught.

"What is the meaning of all this? Since when have the royals begun to act like animals, crawling on the floor?" came Queen Katrina, Madeline’s mother’s astonished voice as she looked from the Empress to the fourth consort sitting across from her.

"First, they arrive late, and now they crawl in on their hands and knees. I can’t believe a well-trained royal would behave like this. Seraphina, your daughters are on the path of remaining spinsters forever, no prince among the guests would want to wed them after this," whispered the noblewoman sitting beside the fourth consort in mockery, causing a vein to throb on the fourth consort’s head.

"Don’t blame it on the Pendragon royals. I heard the slave Princess is starting to get sick in the head. She must have made them do it. The princesses are always well-behaved," Queen Katrina remarked, shooting a glare at Ave, who wanted so much to speak but dared not and remained silent along with the three other princesses.

The Emperor, who had been silent the whole time, finally signaled for them to sit down, but his expression was one of displeasure as he glanced towards Ave and firmly said, "Not you, keep standing." He ordered, causing Ave to gulp down nervously as she felt all the eyes on her. It was just like in high school when a teacher would ask you to stand up and all the heads in class would turn on you.

She had always hated those moments as they always happened to her in school. She couldn’t let go of the habit of sleeping in class, as those were the only moments she got to sleep. And now, it was no different from that, only these were adults and royals who wouldn’t hesitate to behead her, not to mention the Empress’ eyes were boring daggers at her.

Ave had thought crawling in while everyone was busy talking among themselves would be easier than walking in with so many people and getting punished for arriving late. They would have made it if Princess Madeline hadn’t spoken to the fourth consort and allowed Isolde to drop the fan.

Ave heard the Emperor clear his throat before he said, "Now that you are here, it’s time I made the announcement of the request the second prince gave to me a few weeks ago. You have gone against the rules more than three times now, Selene, and announcing this request for everyone to hear will be part of your punishment."

What request? Ave thought, as she didn’t like the sound of that when announcing the request would be her punishment. She turned her eyes to look at Lucian and noticed his brows were drawn together, but his expression remained the same.

"The second prince gave me a document requesting the disposal of his wife, and I accepted it last night. From today onward, she will no longer be a princess nor his wife and will remain a woman without a title in the palace until he chooses another wife. Then, he can decide to take Selene as a concubine or dispose of her to a position of a servant."

Ave felt her heart sink at that announcement. Disappointment curled it’s way into her. She couldn’t help but recall just a moment ago when she found herself lost in the heat of his arms, turns out he’d been trying to get rid of her? Lucian had made a request to dispose of her as his wife? Since when? Though she wasn’t his real wife, she hadn’t expected him to do that, and now she would be a woman without a title. What on earth did that even mean?

Murmurs and words of agreement broke out in the hall, but Ave could hear nothing but the ringing in her head and the tightening in her chest. She wanted to glance at Lucian and see his reaction to this but heard the fourth consort speak.

"You may now step away from the royal dining hall, Selene, and proceed to the other side behind that curtain, where concubines and untitled women like you are supposed to sit," she sneered, gesturing towards the end of the hall where a curtain was draped, and Ave hadn’t noticed it until now. When she didn’t move, she heard someone say,

"What are you waiting for? To be dragged out of here by the guards?"

Ave swallowed the lump in her throat and proceeded towards the curtain without looking at Lucian or anyone. She was too upset to think about anything at that moment. If he was going to dispose of her, then why the hell did he kiss her like that earlier? To think she had been helping him, but he had embarrassed her publicly.

Ave clenched her fists and walked behind the curtain, where no one was present, as there hadn’t been any concubines in the palace yet. Just like the dining hall, there was a long table here as well, and she sat on one of the chairs where she could hear the conversation going on inside the dining hall and could make out the people through the curtain.

Not long after, two servants walked in and brought her food, both of them snickering and not trying to hide it as they looked at her in mockery.

"A slave will always be one, and nothing can change that fact," one of them sneered, and the other one laughed as they left the room.

Ave glared at the royals through the curtain and cursed Lucian with everything in her as she began to stuff her mouth with food without even bothering to taste it. She was so mad she swore at that moment not to help him with anything again or do anything to support him. It would serve him right if someone else took the throne; however, deep down, she knew she was only kidding herself.

As Ave ate her food, she listened to all the conversations going on in the dining hall.

"Have the guards found out which nobleman in the lands allowed a woman to dress like a man yesterday and even disrupt the peace of the noble market by cutting a merchant’s hand?" asked someone among the guests.

"It’s the top topic in town, and I think this noble should be punished for such behavior. It’s not a good influence on our young children—a woman wearing a man’s attire. She should be apprehended and beheaded," rebuked another man, Selene’s disposal completely forgotten, as she was not an important person among the royals but a slave princess who had now gotten what best suited her.

Ave almost choked on her food upon hearing that, but she controlled herself. Beheaded? Why was it that everything always led to beheading in this world? What was the crime in wearing pants and a t-shirt?

When she was crawling in earlier, she had heard someone mention the commoners making a request. It seemed the people had started doing what she’d requested them to do; however, she was no longer sure what role she would be playing now that she had been disposed of, which to her seemed more like being divorced by Lucian. Why hadn’t he told her anything about this when they had been together the whole of yesterday?

Ave sighed, masking the pain she felt in her heart by eating more. Now that she was no longer a princess, she had no idea how her life here would be from now on.

Well, a few minutes later after breakfast, Ave realized being disposed of was worse than being divorced. Everywhere she walked, it seemed they had all heard about her disposal and were now mocking her, from the servants to the people she didn’t know, pointing fingers at her.

She walked without paying attention to anyone until she stumbled upon a beast lying down peacefully in the corridor. When she said a beast, she meant a real one, literally lying there until she stumbled upon it. It growled at her, and before she knew it, it had pounced on her, and she let out an ear piercing scream that echoed down the halls of the palace walls.