Rebirth: The unfavored Princess is the Tyrant King's favorite-Chapter 100: Flashback: Prophecy

Luciana’s eyes widened at David’s words, and in an effort to distract him, she pushed another vase onto the floor, causing a loud crash.

David turned to look at her in anger and puzzlement, but upon seeing the blood still dripping out of the little cut on her neck and staining the collar, his eyes softened.

"Why are you breaking stuff again?" He asked in a tired voice.

"Maybe it’s because I feel like it; I don’t like it here. Let me go," Luciana said with a stubborn look in her eyes.

"Court lady Naomi, what are you standing there for? Tell the maids to clear the room," David said and walked away, not before leaving behind a warning.

"You are mine, Luciana. Not even death can take you away from me."

~~~

"My princess, you shouldn’t have been so impulsive; why did you hurt yourself? The little prince and the eldest prince need you," Dora said.

"How did you come here? Did you come with Nicholas?" Luciana asked in a low voice even though they were the only ones in the bathroom.

That was the most important part; she needed to know if Nicholas had come for her.

"He didn’t come with me, but he’s close enough. My princess, what happened? The staff around you have also increased," Dora asked.

"David is going to be crowned as the emperor very soon; the emperor is very sick and bedridden. I heard that he wouldn’t make it past tonight, and after the mourning period, David would be crowned. I think David has something to do with the emperor’s condition."

"He wants to use my son. He has already presented him to the court as his heir, and due to that, everyone is waiting for the emperor to breathe his last so that they can confer David as the emperor and me as the empress," Luciana explained.

"Due to the emperor’s situation, the tension in the palace is high, and I’m sure David is under pressure because he knows Nicholas is still out there and he could prevent him from successfully becoming the next emperor."

"To keep me under his control, look at what he put on me," Luciana said and held the collar on her neck.

"It’s a magic-suppression collar. When they took me away and I woke up, it was already on my neck, and I couldn’t access my magic. I hate being here, but without my magic, I’m at his mercy. Please tell me Nicholas is here to take me away," Luciana said, her voice mixed with hope and despair.

"The eldest prince wants to come for you; he’s just worried about your safety and how to get you out of here safely. We must gather information and send it to him. He would infiltrate the palace and come for you," Dora said, and Luciana nodded.

"Good, I will get him the information he needs, but you must return to him and let him know what happened to the emperor and how I can’t access my magic. Unless I find the key to open the collar, I won’t be able to help him," Luciana said, and Dora nodded.

"I’ll let him know, my lady; let me finish helping you here before I go," Dora said.

~~~

"That is everything that happened, Your Highness," Dora reported and bowed.

Nicholas’s eyes were full of fury upon hearing Dora’s words.

’David wanted to keep his wife and son as his?’ That would happen over his dead body.

"You’ve done well, Dora; now send this letter to Luciana. Tell her I’ll infiltrate the palace on the coronation day. She should hold on; I will soon come for her," Nicholas said, and Dora nodded.

~~~

Nicholas’s posture was hunched as he took careful and silent steps toward the Grand Palace with his body pressed against the wall.

He didn’t want to come, but he wanted to see him one last time. The man who raised him even though he was a bastard.

He checked the perimeter, and when he saw no one in sight, he approached the window and waited for sounds of conversation or footsteps, but everything was quiet.

Seeing no signs of danger, he jumped into the room and saw the emperor lying there on the bed unmoving.

For a moment there, he thought he was late and that the emperor was already dead, but a weak cough escaped from the emperor’s mouth, and his faint voice rang out.

"David, is that you? I knew you would come," he said, and Nicholas nearly chuckled.

"Your beloved son didn’t come to see you; how does it feel?" Nicholas asked; his words were sharp, not caring about how his words would shatter the man’s heart on his deathbed.

Nicholas saw the almighty emperor, who always stood tall and commanded fear in the hearts of people, and refused to believe it. How was he able to reduce this sick and frail-looking man on the bed in just 8 months since he last saw him?

"Nicholas? Is that you? Are you here to settle scores with me?" He heaved out; one could tell how much effort he had put into saying such words.

"I don’t need to; the deities have already fought my battle for me," Nicholas said pointedly with no emotion in his voice.

"You deserve what is happening to you," Nicholas added.

The emperor attempted to laugh at Nicholas’ words, but he began to cough instead.

"The deities have indeed fought your battle for you, or I should say a particular deity fought for you." The emperor breathed out in a low voice.

"I know you’re happy I’m dying. Maybe I deserve it for not treating you well," the emperor said.

"Stop pretending; no need to act remorseful; I know you never cared," Nicholas said.

"I did care," the emperor choked.

"In the beginning, I loved you as my own. But you were too different, too different from me that when people began to compare you with me, I began to feel inferior. I began to see my weaknesses; I began to realize I could never compare to the son of someone like him, and I began to hate you," the emperor weakly said.

"You can keep lying to yourself if that is what would make you die in peace," Nicholas said.

"Who is my father? Why did he allow you to raise me? Why didn’t he come for me?" Nicholas asked.

"He’s a dragon king. King Emric, that’s your father’s name. I should have realized it sooner, from the very beginning. He never wanted you; he even gave me a seal so that you’d be like every normal royal child, but my hatred and inferiority got the best of me."

"King Emric must have known a seed from me will never be fit to rule and unite the lands. When I was born, there was a prophecy that my seed would be the greatest king in all of the Windermere continent, and he would unite the countries, but surprisingly, on my 10th birthday, I received no magical gift."

"Imagine my despair when that happened, and when my father, the previous emperor, began to neglect me, I put matters in my own hands and tried to rectify it. That was when I met your father after searching for a solution."

"He agreed to grant my wish; he would also give me a son to fulfill the prophecy. My son would not be like me; on his 10th birthday, he would receive a gift. I should have known that to unite the world, a strong and wise leader was needed."

"Since young, you were wise beyond your age, but after David got a gift on his 10th birthday and didn’t turn out like me, I began to think he was the chosen one. After all, he was my real son. He was my blood. Forgive me, I was a horrible father," the emperor cried.

"Don’t you think it’s too late to say those words?" Nicholas did not relent. He didn’t come all this way to show mercy to the man who never cherished his efforts since young. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

"I know. But believe me when I say it. You were born to be a ruler, and knowing that alone made you my competition; I’m sorry." The emperor’s smile became more peaceful after those words. It was as if he had gotten what he had in his heart off his chest.

He tried to stretch his hand towards Nicholas to hold him, but his hands limply fell on his side. And his eyes shut. He was gone.

"Eunuch! Call the physician," Nicholas called out.

The eunuch, who was standing at the entrance, was surprised to hear a voice from within the emperor’s inner chambers and ran in only to come face to face with Nicholas.

"El...eldest prince," the eunuch called out fearfully.

"Hurry, Father is not responding; call the imperial physician," he roared, but the eunuch just shook his head, not moving.

"Nothing can be done, eldest prince," he said, his tone calmer now since he realized the eldest prince didn’t seem like he was going to hurt him.

The imperial physician already predicted he wouldn’t last past the night. The emperor is no longer with us," he added.