Transmigrated Into The Body Of The Cursed Prince Wife-Chapter 304: Reconciling

Rylan had not bothered introducing himself to the woman because he had believed she would have been told who he was. He had transformed into Rylan the moment the Banzai family left the palace.

Before he could talk, Celeste had come to her mother’s side, blushing shyly as she said, "Mother, he is Rylan, the brother of Her Majesty. He was with us in Nazia. He came here after Brother’s coronation."

Seraphina’s brows drew together as she realized how she had failed to see how much the man looked like Ave. She nodded her head in understanding but frowned when she noticed his eyes glued to her daughter, though he looked away as if realizing he was being watched. Seraphina turned to her daughter and saw how flushed she was.

"It’s a pleasure to be in your company, Your Highness." Rylan bowed to Lady Seraphina, who was now regarding him with a glare in her eyes for the way he had glanced at her daughter.

"Where have you been living until now?" Seraphina asked, interest in her voice.

"Mother, he has been living in Nazia. He was taken by one of the nobles when he was young and made into a noble guard. But now that his sister is our Empress, his status will be more than that of a guard. Mother, he is very skilled with his sword, and we watched him spar with a soldier in Nazia, and—" Celeste began to pour out everything she thought would impress her mother about Rylan because she desperately wanted her mother to like him and see how he would be a perfect match for her. But Seraphina cut her off.

"I wasn’t talking to you, Celeste. The gentleman is well capable of speaking for himself without you being his spokesperson," she chided her in disappointment.

Rylan smiled as he gazed at the pouting princess. He assured her with his eyes to listen to her mother and keep out of it before he bowed gently to the elder woman.

"With all due respect, Your Highness, I think Princess Celeste only spoke because she is proud of me," Rylan said smoothly. "And I must say, I’m honored to have someone like her speak so highly of me." His gaze flickered to Celeste, a hint of amusement in his blue eyes. "Everything she said is true. I lived in Nazia before."

A smile graced Celeste’s lips as she flushed to the root of her head. Most of the men she had been introduced to for marriage would never speak on her behalf when she was scolded by her mother. Instead, they would scold her along with her mother to gain her good graces.

However, Rylan was different in every way. He was everything she wished to have in a man she would spend the rest of her life with. If only he would give her attention and hope.

Lady Seraphina frowned and was about to part her lips and talk when a bang from the library startled all of them back to the current situation.

"Are they fighting in there?" Orion asked, startled.

"Should we open the door?" came Zane’s voice.

"I think we should," Rylan agreed when another loud bang sounded from the library, but Ave shook her head.

"No. We won’t open it. Let them fight and make up."

Meanwhile, inside the library, after his wife had refused to open the door, Lucian had calmly strode to the desk side where Alden had been sitting before he came in and sat on it without bothering to acknowledge the First Prince’s presence in the space.

She wouldn’t open the door, right? Then he would sleep here. She would eventually open it tomorrow, as it was the banquet day. She wouldn’t leave him here. His powers hadn’t been able to counter hers, but he could force the door out of the frame if he wanted to. However, he wouldn’t be caught hurting his wife because he wanted to leave his annoying brother’s presence.

He would pass his time reading until tomorrow. With that thought, Lucian picked up the first book that came into view on the table, which happened to be The Art of War and was opened to the middle page. He was about to start reading it when it was yanked away from his hand by none other than the First Prince.

"I was reading that and was sitting there before you came in. Get up," Alden snapped in irritation as he slammed the book shut on the desk and glared down at Lucian without caring that he was the Emperor.

Lucian gritted his teeth as he sat firmly back on the chair and glared back at his brother. "You got up from it, and now I am sitting on it. Go look for somewhere else to sit because this is mine until they decide to open the door." He reached out to yank the book back from him, but Alden pressed it with his fist on the desk.

This was the only desk and chair in the library, as it wasn’t the main library but a mini one. It was smaller compared to the many libraries in the palace. It was either he kept standing or sat on the floor, but Alden wasn’t willing to do any of that, as he had been sitting right there before Lucian came in. And the book—he had been reading it first as well.

"Don’t test my patience, Alden," Lucian warned calmly as he tried to yank the book, but the First Prince refused to take his fist off it.

"Don’t test mine, Lucian. Get up before I make you do it. I have had enough of your stubbornness for twenty-five years, and I won’t care if you are the Emperor right now because regardless, I am your eldest brother!"

Apart from the fact that Alden had tortured Lucian for the reason that he had been made to believe that Lyria had killed his mother, Alden had been onto Lucian for another reason—his stubbornness and unwillingness to follow anyone’s orders.

Though after knowing now that he had wronged Lucian in many ways before, he didn’t want to apologize to him as he believed they had both been victims of Elara’s scheme. He had made up for everything by giving him the throne without a fight—that should end everything.

"You are not my anything, do you understand, Alden? I am your Emperor, and you are my servant, and you will respect me!" Lucian shouted as he yanked the book away, but before he knew it, Alden threw his fist and hit him squarely on the nose.

Cursing angrily, Lucian got up and returned the punch. "You made my life hell and dare call yourself my eldest brother?!" Lucian growled. "Where were you the days I was being tormented by your men and spat upon like trash?! Where were you the nights I camped outside in the snow without blankets and food?! If I were a normal human, I would have been dead by now—all because of your blinded hate for my innocent mother, who tried everything to make it up to you before her death! You have no right to call yourself my eldest brother! You have no right to demand I obey you anymore! I have no older brother!"

Lucian raged and spoke out each word at the same time he kept punching Alden, who no longer fought back and let him hit him after hearing the words that left his mouth in rage.

"You are nothing to me!" Lucian yelled furiously as he grabbed him by the collar. "Fight back! Fight me so I can beat out all of my resentment!"

Alden bled from different angles of his face, and his eyes had turned bloodshot red as blood rolled down the side of his mouth. He stared at Lucian with shining gray eyes that slowly filled with tears. "If hitting me will make you feel better, little brother, go on. Hit me until you can learn to forgive my past actions."

Lucian’s breaths came out in ragged pants, his grip on Alden’s collar trembling. Alden’s words—his acceptance, his surrender—only made it worse. How dare he stand there and let himself be beaten? How dare he act like this was some sort of penance?

"Do you think this is enough?" Lucian’s voice was hoarse. He shook Alden violently. "Do you think letting me hit you will erase the years I suffered because of you? That I’ll suddenly forget the nights I bled, the days I was made to crawl like an animal, the humiliation I endured at your command?"

Alden winced but didn’t fight back. He had not considered all this when he thought he had made up for everything by giving up the throne. He had almost forgotten all the things he had made men do to his brother because of the seed of hate that had been planted in his heart. But hearing it now from Lucian’s mouth, the memories came flooding into his head, rendering him motionless.

He had caused so much pain for his brother to make him miserable, and the worst part was that he had not thought about how it must have affected him until now.

Alden said nothing anymore and just stared at Lucian with those damn gray eyes—eyes that once only held contempt for him but now held something else—guilt. Regret.

A tear rolled down Alden’s eye.

Lucian’s grip on his collar slowly loosened, his hands trembling as he took in his brother’s beaten face.

The blood trickling down his mouth, the swelling around his tearful eyes—he had done that. But what unsettled him most wasn’t the injuries. It was the way Alden just stood there, not defending himself, not fighting back, and for the first time, he saw his warrior brother shed a tear.

Lucian let out a shaky breath, his chest rising and falling with the weight of emotions he had buried for years. Hatred, resentment, grief—everything he had carried since childhood because of how he had been mistreated by his elder brother.

He had watched Alden care for all their other siblings—everyone except him.

From a young age, Lucian had envied his brothers who received the First Prince’s attention. He would watch them from a distance, feeling like an outsider. They treated him as if he carried a disease, and when they called him names, he believed them. He would hide in corners, crying alone, until the day he finally accepted that he would never be one of them—never be treated as their equal.

So he stopped crying. He stopped wishing for their attention.

And instead, he began to wish he could burn them all to the ground.

And yet, for the first time, he saw something in Alden’s eyes that he had never seen before.

Lucian’s throat tightened. "You’re an idiot..." he muttered, his voice hoarse with exhaustion. "Standing in front of me like this... thinking a few punches will make up for years of neglect and torment I suffered in your hands. Do you really think I want to hit you? That I want to hate you forever?"

Alden swallowed hard, his hardened gray eyes still glistening. "Then what do you want, Lucian? What do I have to do to put the past aside forever?"

Lucian exhaled sharply, his fists still clenched but no longer raised. He stared at Alden for a long moment before finally shaking his head. "I wanted an apology. I wanted you to say you regretted it, to acknowledge that you made my life a living hell. I wanted you to tell me that I mattered—that I wasn’t just some unwanted burden prince you needed to break."

Alden’s jaw tightened. "You mattered, Lucian. You always did. I was just too blinded by my own bitterness to see it..."

Lucian let out a hollow laugh, but it wasn’t out of amusement. More like disbelief. "You’re years late, brother."

Alden lowered his head. "I know."

Silence stretched between them, thick with everything unsaid. But then, Lucian took a step back, his shoulders sagging as though an invisible weight had finally been lifted off it.

"I don’t want to hate you anymore," he admitted, his voice quieter now. "I’m tired of carrying that emotion. I want to live happily with all of my family.

Alden’s head snapped up, his bloodied face frozen in surprise.

Lucian looked away briefly before meeting his brother’s gaze again. "I won’t forget what you did, brother. I can’t. But..." He sighed, running a hand through his hair. "If you truly regret it, if you truly want to make things right... then I’ll try to forgive you."

Alden blinked. His throat bobbed as he swallowed thickly, and when he finally spoke, his voice was unsteady. "That’s all I could ever ask for. Let’s live differently from how our parents did. We have a big family, and I know it will only grow bigger. Let’s not let hate take over us. I am sorry..." he said.

Before Lucian knew it, his elder brother had crossed the distance between them and wrapped his big arms around him in an awkward hug.

Hesitantly, Lucian raised his arm and hugged him back.

For the first time in years, they weren’t just enemies bound by blood. They were brothers again.