Transmigrated Into The Body Of The Cursed Prince Wife-Chapter 278: Disappointed

Thalia wanted to run to him and hug him, to cry in his arms and tell him all about the things she had gone through in the hands of the man he held a sword to, but she held back as she knew she had no right to go and hug him like her heart longed for.

They had no relationship even before she was brought here, she had secretly loved him but he wouldn’t have known that. Her feelings for him was only on her side. But the fact that he was here and he at least cared about her was more than enough for her now.

"Are you all right, Princess?" He finally broke the spell that locked their gaze.

Thalia could barely speak as emotions choked her throat. She could only nod her head. She almost smiled when she thought she saw a look of relief cross his face, however, his next words made her snap back to the reality of it all.

"Thank goodness. I will get you off my hands in one good shape." He breathed out.

"Why are you here?" Thalia asked before she could stop herself. Her hopeless romantic mind had overtaken the sense of reality she had begun to realize and accept, and she had believed for a few stupid, unrealistic moments that he had come for her sake and because he cared. He was her knight in shining armor until he told her,

"I was sent by Prince Lucian to get you back to the palace. Go up and pack anything important, we are leaving immediately," he said to her as he motioned for the soldiers to take the minister who was bleeding from his nose and mouth after the blow he had received from Zane when he first came in. The first blow was for the way he had once treated him in Pendragon, and the second blow was for the princess.

Zane turned to look in her direction, expecting to see that she had gone back upstairs to pack whatever was important to her, but she still stood there, watching the scene and him with a somber expression that had been on her face the first time she came down.

She looked different in ways he couldn’t quite put a finger on. The innocent look in her eyes he had expected to find was nowhere to be seen in the eyes that stared back at him now. Her pale pink lips were tightly clenched, as if she were fighting back some emotions as she gazed at him.

Zane was in a hurry to get everything over with and return her to her brother. The day’s journey here, without a night of rest, had left him grumpy and in no mood to coax a princess into hurrying.

Why was she standing there like a statue instead of moving? If it were a normal occasion, he might have paused to wonder what had changed about her and why she was staring at him like that. But Lord help him, he wasn’t in the mood for such thoughts, nor was he about to let her delay their departure when the weather seemed likely to worsen at any moment. It was sheer luck that the weather hadn’t held them up on their way here, and he wanted to leave before it trapped them on the way back.

"Why are you still standing there, Princess? Go get your things and get back here," he said, a bit harsher than he intended. Damn, his exhaustion and hunger were getting the better of him, and her behavior wasn’t doing anything to improve his mood.

"I am not going. Release my husband and go and tell the prince that I have a home here now," Thalia finally opened her mouth to speak, making sure her voice matched his harsher one.

Did he think he could command her like she was one of his men? Since he didn’t come here because he wanted to nor because he cared, what was the need of going back with him when her life wasn’t about to get better after she had been forced to marry already?

She was way past the marriageable age, and no man would want her again. No man had wanted her before she was forced into this humiliating marriage, and no man would want her even more now. What was the point of going back? She would rather remain here and live her life being the wife of the minister. It was better than living alone for the rest of her life!

Zane couldn’t believe her words at first when he heard them. Did she just call this man her husband and even ask him to release him? Something jabbed at Zane’s heart at that. Well, if she thought he would leave her to this life now that he was here, then she was dead wrong. He was her protector until they went back to the imperial palace. She was under him, and she would do as he wanted.

Scowling in displeasure, Zane said, "I am here to take you back, and I will do just that, Princess. For as long as I have not taken you back to the imperial palace, you are mine, and I will make the decision for you since you are not in the right mind to decide."

Thalia’s heart skipped a beat against her will at his words. You are mine. Did he even know the meaning of those words he so casually used just now? If only he meant it, she would have gone with him.

"You’re here because Prince Lucian ordered you to be. You didn’t come for me. You don’t care if I rot here as long as your duty is fulfilled. Go back and tell him I have made the decision to stay here. I am married now." She whispered the last part with a bitter note in her voice that betrayed her feelings of not really considering this life the one she chose.

"I didn’t come here to argue with you. Pack your things. We leave now," Zane said firmly and sternly. What did she see in this old man that would make her want to stay back for him? She was beautiful and alluring, and any man but him would want her despite the fact that she had been married.

"I’m not going anywhere. At least here, I have a place. Back there, I have nothing to go back to. Now release my husband and take your men out of my house!" she yelled furiously, wanting to be left alone so she could cry for the last time and then move on with her life.

Zane’s anger and frustration boiled over at her words. "So you’d rather stay here and play wife to a man who doesn’t deserve you? Is that your idea of a life?" he scoffed mockingly and in disbelief. And when she nodded her head, he almost yanked his hair out in anger.

The minister, who had been watching the two let out a laugh, blood still trailing down his nose and lips as he looked at the princess proudly. "You heard her. You have no right to come in here to take my unwilling wife away from me. She doesn’t want to go; now release me and get your dogs out of my_!"

He received another blow from Zane that made him stumble over and fall backward before he could complete his words. Thalia gasped and rushed to meet him, but Zane grabbed her wrist before she could run past him. He closed his fingers around her slender wrist, and just that little contact seemed to send a jolting, electrifying feeling into his body that traveled to his heart and burst into heated sparks. He released her quickly and glanced at his hand with a frown on his face.

Recovering from his momentary shock, he turned to the minister and declared, "She’s coming with me whether she likes it or not. And you are under arrest for conspiring with the Empress to give a hand in killing the second prince. Your judgment awaits you in Pendragon. Take him away!" he ordered the soldiers standing and waiting for his command before he then turned to the princess.

"If you don’t want your brother tearing his way here to get you himself, you better come with me," Zane said to her.

Meanwhile, Thalia naturally assumed he meant Lucian when he said her brother. She might not have anything back at the imperial palace to go back to, but she didn’t want to cause trouble to the rest of the innocent servants here.

Without a word to Zane, she strode out and followed the soldiers dragging the minister. They threw him into the wagon they had brought along with them and locked him up. She didn’t care anymore for the minister than she cared about the life that awaited her once she returned. She would rather be on familiar ground and be miserable there rather than stay in this mansion when her so called husband has been arrested.

Zane walked out of the mansion to find the princess looking around for the carriage that she would ride in. She even asked one of the soldiers, who then turned to gesture to Zane.

She turned to him and demanded coolly for the royal carriage. She would make sure to never be nice to him ever again from now on. She had done all her niceness since childhood and even harbored stupid feelings for him, and now was the time to kill those feelings before they got back to Pendragon. He had been ordered to come here, hadn’t he? She would make him regret coming and hurting her all over again!

The way she was demanding the royal carriage made Zane remark, "You know, for someone so eager to stay behind, you sure look relieved to be leaving." He chuckled when she glared at him with hostility, then promptly ignored him to demand the carriage again, her chin raised high like so many spoiled princesses before her. freeweɓnovel.cøm

The condescending tone she used, as if he were her servant, snapped the last of Zane’s patience. He had come all this way to bring her back, and here she was—difficult to reason with and a completely different person from the innocent gray-eyed princess he thought he knew.

"I’m sorry to disappoint you, Princess, but there is no royal carriage on this journey! We ride on horseback, and you, just like everyone else, will ride a horse!" he said, feeling a flicker of satisfaction as he caught the horror in her eyes when she looked toward the mighty steed they had ridden in on.

"Surely you don’t expect me to ride one of those beasts all the way back to the imperial palace!" she exclaimed, pale and terrified of being on horseback. She had never ridden one before, and she wasn’t planning to sit on one now to journey that long road that had been torturous even in the carriage that had brought her here. She had been sick for days when they finally arrived because of the journey, and now he wanted her to sit on a horse.

Zane noticed how she looked sick at the thought of riding a horse. He would have really enjoyed tormenting her for being difficult a while ago instead of being happy that she would finally be free of this damned marriage, but for some reason, he couldn’t bring himself to torment her more. She must have gone through a lot, and the last thing he would need was to add to her trauma.

Without a word, Zane mounted his horse before holding his hand out for her to take. She glared at his outstretched hand and then up at his face.

"You can choose to ride with me or ride alone. You know more than anyone how the road to the imperial palace is. Choose wisely and don’t allow your dislike for me to cloud your judgment," he said calmly as he watched her face, patiently waiting for her to decide which of the two she wanted.

She chose wisely and took his outstretched hand.