Transmigrated Into The Body Of The Cursed Prince Wife-Chapter 226: Go To Him

"I did what I had to do, Your Majesty, because no one was telling me about his whereabouts, and if you’d decided to punish me for going against your rules, I’ll accept it. But first, I need to know what is wrong with my husband," Ave said as she tried to keep her true emotions out of her voice. She had been terrified down there when she stepped on a human hand, but now she was mostly still in shock rather than terror and needed answers. She wanted to know why he was like that and was chained up in the dark while they were all back to their human forms.

"How did you get to open the door of the dark dungeon?" came Princess Nina’s voice, who had been quietly observing everything to this point. The door was locked with a special kind of key that was kept in a safe locker in her room. On the night of the feast when she danced with Lucian, he had asked her about their dungeon here and the strongest one to keep him when he transformed on the night of the red moon, and she’d decided to show him if the dark dungeon was strong enough to hold him. They’d left the hall and gone to see it together.

She carried the keys around with her after the day he was put in there so she would be the one in charge of him in this state, but the fact that Ave had successfully tricked all of them last night by not eating and then had gotten into that dungeon puzzled her. How had she done it? Humans, especially their women, were known to be plain stupid and emotional fools. They weren’t as smart as them, which was why for years Nazia had been able to hide their secrets from the humans in the empire. Any human who happened to know about them never lived to tell the tale to the next person before their death, not unless few who swore to keep their secrets.

But a fragile-looking redheaded woman had managed to not only trick them but also open a door to a secret dungeon. How did she even know that the prince was down there?

"How I opened the door doesn’t matter now that I know about it, Your Highness. All I ask for right now are answers," Ave said pointedly to the princess as she turned towards Zane, the only person she was more familiar with among these strangers who were looking at her like she had grown two heads on her shoulders. She could feel her eyes and body begging to rest and the bed beckoning for her to lay back and fall asleep, but she wouldn’t be able to do so unless she got to know why Lucian was down there and in such state.

Zane knew Lucian better than all the people here, and he knew they were not human after they’d made him swear an oath to keep their secrets to his grave. He had also promised to look after Ave and stand guard at her door every night. But after Princess Nina had told him he had no reason to stand guard every night since Ave and the rest had been fed to sleep, he had thought nothing could go wrong at night and went to sleep in his room to return by dawn.

If it weren’t for the sharp hearing of the werewolves, who had heard the loud roar of the prince and the rustling of his chains, no one would have known she was down there. Now that she looked up at him for answers, he wasn’t certain he was supposed to tell her everything, especially when Lucian himself hadn’t told her.

"Your Highness, you should rest for—" Zane was saying; however, Ave held up her good hand to shut him up from suggesting she rest now.

"I want to hear nothing but the answers I seek from you. Tell me everything you know and keep nothing out," she demanded with an authoritative voice that sounded like that of a queen. Even her expression had no hint of her usual playfulness and looked more mature at that moment as she stared him down with slightly furrowed brows. She looked so serious Zane had no choice but to tell her whatever he knew. He would face the prince’s anger later on.

"It’s part of His Highness’ curse to be like that," he said as he looked towards the king, who was scowling down at the two of them from where he stood.

"To be a Lycan? You mean that he’s cursed to transform into a Lycan?" Ave asked with a disbelieving look.

"Lycan?" Zane was taken aback. He’d never known the name of what his prince transformed into but had heard recently that he was an ancient beast named Vargoth, cursed and doomed until eternity for an ancient sin he’d committed for the sake of his mate.

"Yes, where I come from, creatures like that are called Lycans, though we don’t believe Lycans and werewolves to be real and thought they were just myths until now..." Ave mused as she felt her arm going numb and her head pounding. She shook her head to stay awake as she looked around the confused room. Everyone stared at her with interest, except Princess Nina, who did not seem to like something she had said or done.

"You knew about our kinds from where you come from? Aren’t you originally from Gina?" came Prince Kale, the youngest and calmer of the princes. He stared at her with interest, his arms folded against his chest.

Ave wasn’t in the condition or state of mind to dive into how she knew about them and Lycans at this moment; she was barely keeping her eyes open with thoughts of her husband. She recalled the pained look in his eyes and the way he seemed to be fighting with himself not to attack. The memories of him twisted a nerve in her heart and made her throat tighten with emotions. All these days, he had been locked away there while making her believe he was away. He seemed to be suffering there in the darkness, tied up with chains like a criminal.

As if noticing the emotions going through her, Prince Kale stepped back and gestured for Zane to continue his explanation to her.

"His Highness was locked down there because on the days and nights of the red moon season, his curse intensifies to a level where he loses himself to the darkness inside him. During this season, he would crave nothing but an intense desire to shed blood, to kill and destroy. He recognizes no one. He would kill anything that moves and breathes. To avoid destruction and taking innocent lives, the day before the red moon, he would lock himself up with chains and keep away from sight until the end of the season," Zane told her.

Ave was rendered speechless for a moment. The night she had once met him in that form, it was a normal full moon. He hadn’t looked as dangerous as he did this time around. She didn’t even know how to feel about everything, but one thing was for certain: Lucian had recognized her when she called his name. He had looked ready to kill her, but the moment she called his name, he seemed to know who she was and stepped away quickly.

"What are the red lights on his body?" Ave asked quietly as she recalled how he had been writhing in pain when the lights penetrated through his body.

A frown came upon Zane’s face at her question. He stood up from the side of the bed and massaged his temple. "You shouldn’t have gone down there, Your Highness. Whenever he is locked down there, he suffers through unbearable pain when transforming at night and fighting his curse during the day. But whenever he tries to take over the darkness in him, a hellish flame goes through his veins and burns him from the inside." He turned to look at her with a grim face and continued,

"He was cursed to cause destruction, but when he fights the curse, his pain intensifies double."

"Is there no way we can help him?" Ave asked as she looked up at Zane’s grim face with remorse. She had no intention of causing him more pain than he was already suffering, and if they’d told her this sooner and not hidden anything from her, she wouldn’t have gone to look for him.

She imagined how he had gone through all these years suffering through his curse, and a shudder went through her. Her heart ached for him, and emotions bubbled in her stomach.

"There has never been a way. He’s been going through that every year of his life. He will turn back to normal by the end of the red moon season," Zane said.

"How long until the red moon season ends?"

Zane glanced toward the werewolves royals for an answer.

Prince Acer let out a weary sigh before replying, his tone laced with disdain. "It will end in four to five days, but thanks to your interference, making him resist his killing instincts, he will now face additional punishment. Even after the red moon has passed, his suffering will continue for an additional few days." He shot her a sharp look, his voice hardening. "He was locked down there for a reason, yet you couldn’t help but meddle."

They all knew about Prince Lucian’s curse from their legendary ancient books, but none of them had realized he was the one born with the curse in this lifetime until he told them. This was why they had kept him deep in the inner part of the dungeon. Lord knows how this meddling human had managed to find her way into that place.

Ave’s eyes widened, and she began to shake her head before she even spoke. That was too long. He had been there for four days now, and she couldn’t imagine leaving him there for another five or more days after she had unintentionally interfere with his curse punishment.

"If you allow me to go back in there, I think I can help him," she said with certainty in her voice. She had a feeling there had to be a way to stop his suffering, but if she didn’t try, she would never know how to do it.

"What do you think of yourself, his mate?" Nina scoffed at Ave’s words. "You are nothing but a human. You can’t help him. He needs his mate in such a condition; only she can help him. But as we all know, he was cursed to never find her, and a mere human like you can’t do anything but jeopardize things for him even more like you already have. Stay away from him until he’s back to normal; that way is the only way you can help him."

Zane didn’t like the way Princess Nina had spoken to their princess, but he couldn’t help but agree with her point. Ave couldn’t do anything, just like they also couldn’t. If she went back in there and Lucian killed her without knowing, if he were to regain his senses and turn back to normal, things would be chaotic because they would all be doomed to face his damnation.

"His mate? What do you mean only his mate can help him?" Ave asked as she looked up at the princess, who was looking down at her in distain.

"Every Lycan, like you call it, and werewolf, are bound to have a mate, a partner who means more than anything to them. He can love another woman, but the moment he found his mate, that love would die and his mate will be all he would see. He would desire her and want to protect her all the time; it’s a natural instinct no one can fight. Prince Lucian is the first of his kind, and from what I know, he is similar to us. As the ancient books had said about him, only his mate can save him from his curse. But his curse also included that he would never get to meet her. No powers can ever bring them together, and he would suffer until the end of his time. Take my advice and keep yourself away from him." Saying this, Princess Nina sized her up before she turned on her heels and left the room as if she had no intentions of listening to a human talk about helping a Lycan.

If Nina or anyone in the room thought their words would stop her from going back to Lucian, they were wrong. She didn’t know why she had a feeling that she could do something to help him. Though the thought of him being destined to another woman, whom he was cursed to never meet, twisted something in her heart, she dismissed it and looked determinedly at the king.

"I want to go to him again. Give me the chance to help him. If anything happens to me, I will take full responsibility for my actions. I can write a letter down for him when he comes back to normal to read if he were to kill me," she said desperately.

"Your Highness, do you think His Highness would bother reading any letter after he realizes he’d killed you? He will kill us all before he’ll care to read anything you write for him. I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to go back there. It’s dangerous," Zane said. He wasn’t ready to face the wrath of the prince nor risk her life.

---

A/N

HAPPY NEW YEAR!! (⁠^⁠^⁠)