Transmigrated Into The Body Of The Cursed Prince Wife-Chapter 27: Falling off the window

Without a second thought, he lunged forward, his hand reaching out to grasp her arm just as she began her descent. She looked up at him with a frown as he grabbed her right hand, and instead of holding on to him to pull herself up, she gritted her teeth and began trying to pry away his fingers with her left hand. When she couldn’t pry them off, she started pinching the skin on his hand that was holding her firmly.

Lucian didn’t have time to think through her actions. The force of his grip pulled her back, and with a swift, powerful motion, he yanked her back into the room.

Both of them collapsed onto the cold floor, with Ave landing on top of him while his hand impulsively moved around her waist, as if to protect her from falling to the side.

They lay there unmoving, their breaths ragged. His eyes narrowed into a slit as he tried to process what had just happened and why he had stopped her when she wanted to take her own life. She didn’t move to get off him, even after he’d pulled her back. She lay still on him with her hands flattened against his chest, both her thighs positioned between his parted legs on the floor. Her breathing was unsteady, but he assumed it was from her near-death experience.

He was about to push her away when his sensitive nose caught the scent of blood on her body. It was so strong that it could only mean the blood was significant and not from a small cut.

’You incompetent fool, you must have injured my woman when you pulled her back roughly!’ his beast, who had not spoken since the dining hall incident spoke now that it had something to do with the princess, who he’d taken as his woman, further irritating Lucian.

He roughly grabbed both her hands that were resting on his chest to fling her away from him but then stopped again when he felt something wet trailing down the side of his neck where her head lay, her warm, harsh breathing grazing his skin.

Was she crying? he thought with a frown. Her silent sob and the rise of her chest against his immediately made it obvious she was crying.

"H-how could someone be so heartless?" she whispered brokenly, her shoulders slightly shaking. "She killed that innocent little girl right in front of me...how did I end up entangled in this mess?" She cried, her words not making sense to Lucian, who had thought at first that she was crying because her lover must have done something to break her heart. But it seemed she was crying for something completely different.

Who did they kill, and what mess was she talking about?

Though he didn’t know who she was talking about that was killed, Lucian subconsciously replied, "In this place, mercy is a luxury, and power is the only law. The weak are devoured by those who are stronger." He whispered in a low, deep voice that resonated against the wall of his chest and vibrated against Ave’s.

"No one should have to live like that. No one should have to die like that. I don’t want to die like that..." she whispered in a shaky voice that was barely audible, yet it fell right on Lucian’s ear, causing his hand around her to tighten slightly.

"You chose your path when you dared to stand against me, Selene. Your fate was sealed the day you became my enemy, and whatever you face now in the hands of your master is what you deserve," he replied indifferently.

"...I don’t want to stay one more day in this time. I want to go back home, to my big, beautiful penthouse and my luxurious BMW. How can I stay here when I’m being watched by that tyrant, devil Elara, and being controlled to do the things that that insolent Selene had been doing..." she cried, rambling to whoever was listening, her head down in the crook of Lucian’s neck.

Lucian was getting more confused with every word that left her mouth and fell on his skin and ear, raising unwanted goosebumps on his skin.

Elara—that was the Empress, he understood that. Penthouse, BMW—he had no idea what that was. Was the Empress forcing her to do something else apart from poisoning him and ruining his image at every banquet and gathering? What were they planning to do to him again? Was she being controlled and forced to do something else?

But then whatever she was saying wouldn’t change the fact to him that she’d gone to see Caelan tonight and slept with him again while they made fun of how powerless he was in the Empire, despite being the most feared prince by all. She was a disgraceful being.

And now that he was completely aware of her body pressing against his in an intimate way, and he could feel the curve of her bosom on his chest because she was wearing a thin chemise, he felt disgusted that his own body was reacting to her in such a way he had never reacted to any other woman, not even her after he realized what a tainted soul she was. But now, he was aware of everything about her.

From the curve of her breasts on his chest to her thighs pressing against his groin and her warm breath falling on his neck.

’I told you, don’t try to fight it. Let’s coax her to bed and make love to—’ his beast began to suggest, but Lucian’s anger was already beyond bearing. ’Shut up!’ he warned internally as he sat up, pushing Ave away from his body.

She fell off to the side with a light thud and quickly sat up again, her wide blue teary eyes fixed on him, her face pale, and her breath shallow as if she had only just realized she had been laying on top of Lucian the whole time and was rambling out her frustration.

Ave had left the Empress’s chamber after being given a last warning, which had been ringing in her head the whole time she had blindly found her way back to this abandoned part of the palace.

’There will be eyes on you, and your movements will be reported to me. If you don’t complete your mission before the Emperor’s upcoming birthday banquet, it will be your head laying on that floor next. And trust me, I will make your death much more painful than that of your little sister.’

Ave had been dismissed after that warning with a small bottle of what she was told was a toxic poison to add to every one of Lucian’s meals. The Empress had said this poison was much more toxic than the previous one, and it would paralyze him for the rest of his life until he would die in agonizing pain.

Ave had taken the bottle with shaking hands and left the chamber. She had never in all of her life witnessed anyone beheaded, not to mention a little girl her heart seemed to call to even though she didn’t know her. The image of the blood and the girl’s scream had filled her mind, and when she returned to this chamber, all she wanted was to disappear from here.

She didn’t want to have anything to do with any of these cruel people. She never thought she would say this, but she would have preferred staying in her father’s house rather than be in a world like this.

Ave couldn’t imagine waking up in this era again. She took off her bloody dress and flung the poison bottle away without caring where it landed. She climbed onto the window frame, ready to jump down and go back home, when this prince had chosen that moment to enter. Couldn’t he have just entered a little too late?

And after everything that bitch Selene had done to him, he’d rushed here to pull her back up instead of allowing her to fall. She’d thought Lucian was the villain and the cruel one, but after seeing and knowing everything, she realized he was another victim.

But what angered her was the fact that he’d stopped her at the moment when she couldn’t think of the pain she would go through if she were to fall. She was too shaken and emotional to care about the other possibilities if the fall didn’t take her back to her time.

Ave glared at him with tear-filled eyes and cried out, "You idiot, why the hell did you have to pull me back up? Now how will I gain the courage to throw myself off another building?!" She turned to hit his chest with her clenched fists, but he swiftly caught her wrists in both his hands and wrapped his fingers around them.

"You...!" he breathed out, his voice laced with something he didn’t want to acknowledge.

He tugged at her wrist, and her body lunged forward until she was seated on her knees between his folded long legs. He stared down at her tear-filled eyes as she tried to glare at him through her tears. Her small rosy lips were slightly trembling, and his eyes momentarily lingered on them before he looked back into her eyes.

"Did you think I would ever let you die after what you’ve done?" he said calmly, his voice lowered and laced with indifference. It was as if she was no longer worth any of his emotions, including anger. His fingers, which were wrapped around her fragile wrist, tightened in a grip that threatened to break her bones.

Ave’s lips trembled as if she wanted to say something, but no words came out, and she kept glaring at him, ignoring the burning sensation in her wrists where he grabbed her. He could hurt her as much as he wanted, and she would no longer try to fight him. Selene deserved to be punished by him, but she wouldn’t be staying here to receive that punishment.

Lucian’s feelings for Selene had died completely the day he’d caught her in an inn and heard all that she’d discussed with Caelan, but the thought of her dying before he could get the satisfaction of punishing her for her crimes didn’t sit well with him. Death was the easiest punishment one could get in life after committing an unforgettable crime; there were worse punishments than death, and he wanted Selene to have the worst of them, along with her accomplice.

They would all burn down along with the empire.

Looking into Lucian’s eyes that burned like flames as they locked with hers, Ave felt a chilling realization—the more she looked, the more they seemed to drain of life, becoming a hollow reflection of something no longer human, and the words of that shadow woman came rushing back to her mind.

’You were brought to 1303 to soften the heart of a man who can ruin the world and destroy everything to the point that the world you know would cease to exist.’

’What? How?’

’Because Lucian Pendragon will destroy everything before your time, and a different world will exist instead of the one you know. A world filled with demons and monsters, a world built from hate and pain.’

’There will be no 2024 if you don’t do this. The world you know will be gone, and there will be no Aveline Eamon either.’

Could it be that whatever that woman had said was true? Was Lucian turning into someone evil against his nature? The eyes never lie, and what she saw flash in those reflective eyes of his told her he was starting to fall into the darkened world of no return.

Still holding her wrists as they stared at each other, Ave’s brows furrowed together. "What have you let her do to you?" she asked before she could stop herself, referring to the real Selene.

He frowned as if not knowing what she was saying. Then, with a sharp breath, Lucian pushed himself away from her, standing up with a rigid posture. He looked down at her with his hands behind his back.

"Don’t even think for a moment you can escape this easily by taking your own life," he said, his voice calm, but held no emotions in them. "You won’t take the easy way out, Selene. You will live and suffer the consequences of your actions."

He turned his back to her, fists clenched behind him as he walked away, with Ave watching him until he disappeared from her sight. And then she made her decision; if she was going to be stuck here until she found her way back, she knew what to do.