Transmigrated Into The Body Of The Cursed Prince Wife-Chapter 257: Get rid of it

Ave teased her brother until she saw the blush that rose to his face and how he looked quite uncomfortable that she seemed to have known about him with Celeste. She would have continued to tease him if he hadn’t quickly changed the topic and told her that he was leaving today. Her smile fell away immediately.

Ave knew that he would leave today; Lucian had told her about it. But she had hoped that something would happen to change his mind because they’d only known each other for a few days and now he was leaving. But then he had a huge responsibility that awaited him back in Banzai, and she could never be selfish to make him stay or make him feel guilty because he wanted to leave for his other responsibilities.

She managed a smile and walked up to him. Without a word, she flung herself into his arms and hugged him. He held her back and even stroked her hair gently as he said, "I will be back after I settle things in Banzai," he promised.

Ave chuckled despite the tears burning her eyes. "I’ll hold on to that promise, Rylan."

"Little sister, don’t you think it’s high time you started calling me Brother Rylan?" he teased as he eased away from the hug to look at her face. In their time, little siblings were required to add ’Brother’ before the name of their elder. Not that he minded, but he just wanted to lighten up her mood, and as expected of his modern sister, she rolled her eyes and scoffed.

"You once gave me the permission to address you by your name alone, and I am not changing that now, Rylan." She called his name with emphasis, and he laughed as he flicked her forehead with his fingers. "Silly girl. Take care of yourself, or I will hold your husband responsible for anything that happens to you in my absence, understood?" he demanded with a brotherly strictness that made Ave nod her head immediately.

"I will. And what about your new girlfriend? Does she know you are leaving today?" she asked, wiggling her brows at him, trying to cover her true emotions by teasing him.

Rylan didn’t exactly know the meaning of that phrase, but he pieced it together from the terms she used and realized she was referring to the girl in his room. Celeste wasn’t his anything, but then he spoke before even thinking about it. "She doesn’t. Keep a close eye on her for me before she goes around looking for someone to fulfill her fantasies with."

Ave blinked in confusion but shrugged, agreeing to keep an eye on the girl for him. She believed her brother simply meant that he didn’t want the girl to cheat on him while he was away. They talked for some time, even exchanging jokes to avoid parting with tears—especially for Ave.

She walked him to his horse, and before he mounted, he turned and handed her an old brown box he had taken from a pouch beside his stallion. "This is the only thing I have of Mother. I’ve kept it safe for years. Now, you can keep it safe as well," he said with a bittersweet smile, his gaze lingering on the box in her hands as if he were lost in memories of their mother.

Ave clutched the box tightly to her chest and watched as Rylan mounted his stallion. He turned back to her with a smile, reminding her to take good care of herself, before snapping the reins and galloping away. A tear rolled down her cheek as she watched his retreating figure, but she hurriedly wiped it away before her husband could sense her sadness from where he was.

After Rylan left, Ave opened the box he had given her and found a beautiful chain necklace nestled inside. Beneath it lay a folded drawing of Anne on a piece of parchment with Rylan’s name signed below. He had drawn it, she realized with a bittersweet smile as she traced her fingers over the delicate smile of the beautiful woman in the portrait. The resemblance between herself and Anne was striking.

It seemed artistic talent ran in the Glynn bloodline. Ave had heard from Lydia that Kori, her father was an exceptional artist. She had often wondered how she had such remarkable skill to draw anything she set her eyes on in the modern world when neither of her parents knew how to sketch anything. Now she understood with a warm smile—it wasn’t a random gift; it was an inheritance from her true family.

The drawing was beautifully done, and from the date written on it, Rylan had drawn it a long time ago. Her mother, she thought, clutching the drawing to her chest with a bittersweet smile. She glanced once more toward the gate where her brother had ridden away and disappeared into the distance.

"Safe journey, brother..." she whispered before turning back toward the palace.

Ave got to talk to Celeste, who was frantically looking for Rylan when she woke up in the afternoon. Then she began to count the days left until Lucian’s return. On the day her brother left, she’d had to console Celeste with the words that Rylan liked her and that he’d told her to watch over her. Celeste had beamed with happiness and even slept in Ave’s room that night so she could talk to her about Rylan and also get advice on how to make him love her.

Ave could barely hear what the girl was saying because she was too lost in her own thoughts of Lucian, wondering if they had reached their destination, if he’d eaten, or if he’d gotten to rest and talk to the Alpha of the north they had journeyed to meet.

After that day, Ave spent the rest of her days with Nadia, who had been bedridden as she complained of backache and her legs were slightly swollen. None of the others were paying attention to her or taking care of the pregnant woman—not the servants nor her sisters-in-law. Apart from Nina, who had come one time when Ave was there to check on her, the rest hadn’t.

Ave had sat in awkward silence with Princess Nina in the room. The princess did not give her the bitchy look she used to before and tried to act neutral. It was obvious that she had backed out of seducing her husband after realizing that he had marked her. If she wasn’t after her man, Ave had nothing against her.

On the day it was said that Lucian and the rest would return the next day, Nadia went into labor as she was talking to Ave about their return. At first, Ave had thought her child had kicked again, but then she saw the water sliding down from between her legs and panicked.

"Oh Lord, you’re in labor this time around!" Ave exclaimed as she got to her feet, confused and concerned as she had no idea what to do to help until Nadia told her to get Nina.

As if on time, Nina came in with a strict-looking woman walking closely behind her, who appeared to be the midwife. Ave wanted to leave the room, but Nadia was clutching tightly to her hand, leaving her no choice but to stay back and watch the process of her delivering. She couldn’t help her embarrassment when the midwife stripped away every piece of clothing Nadia was wearing and gave her something black to drink in a bowl.

Ave had seen her own mother give birth to her when she went into that mirror, and from that, she had expected Nadia’s labor to also be like that of her mother’s, but this was different on all levels. It was taking longer than she expected. Nadia’s eyes had turned red and puffy from how she kept pushing and screaming. Sweat covered her forehead and neck, and Ave tried to wipe it off with the linen in her shaky hand. Her other hand had turned unfeeling and numb because Nadia’s grip was so tight she thought it would break.

"You can do it," Ave encouraged as the midwife kept yelling rudely for her to push in their language. Though Ave couldn’t understand her words, she knew she was being harsh on the woman in labor.

"Shut the fuck up, woman! She’s trying her best here!" Ave lost her cool as the woman angrily yelled and glared at Nadia like it was her fault.

The midwife looked at Ave in surprised disbelief at her audacity to raise her voice at her. Not even the werewolves could raise their voice at her, but a mere human thought she could do that. She had lived for many years helping the women of their kind give birth, but she had never helped an omega birthing an Alpha’s child until now, and the weakling wasn’t pushing hard enough to get the baby out of her womb—and that, she could not stand. She stopped to glare at Ave.

"Who are you to talk to me like that?" she demanded as she completely ignored Nadia to face Ave.

"I am Aveline Lucian Pendragon, and I swear if you don’t get back to your work and help her deliver this baby without you yelping like a bitch, you’ll never get the opportunity to be a midwife to any other woman again because I’ll make sure you lose your damn tongue!" Ave said in a dangerously quiet voice as she met the woman’s eyes head-on without flinching. Even when the woman tried to intimidate her with her overwhelming presence, it had no effect on Ave.

Nina interjected when the midwife looked ready to say something else. The princess spoke to her in their language, and the woman turned to look at Ave in surprise before she nodded her head and turned back to help Nadia. This time, her voice wasn’t as harsh as it was before.

The labor went on for the whole day with no progress. Nadia had lost her voice and strength to the point she could barely speak as she lay there, pale and weak. Her hand gripping Ave’s had weakened and fell slack at her side.

"Why isn’t the baby coming out?" she asked the midwife, who seemed to be talking to Nina in a grave tone that made her sense something was wrong.

It was Nina who answered. "She’s not strong enough to birth the child. She’s just an omega, and it’s a surprise she has carried that baby until this time. My sisters and I tried to warn her when her pregnancy was first announced. We warned her of the danger, but she refused to heed our words to get rid of it before it caused her harm, and she decided to take us as her enemies because we tried to tell her what danger it posed to her life."

Ave felt her stomach churn. "Get rid of it..." she muttered, the word tasting bitter in her mouth. She couldn’t blame Nadia for refusing them. If it had been her, she wouldn’t have listened either.

Ave turned to look at Nadia as she heard her muttering something. She moved closer to her to listen.

"Save... save my baby... save him," she was saying.