Rebirth: The unfavored Princess is the Tyrant King's favorite-Chapter 101: Flashback: Pick up the sword and fight me

Coronation day (5 days later),

The weather had not yet cleared since it began to rain 5 nights ago after the death of the emperor. Dark clouds ran across the sky, causing the atmosphere to become gloomy. Cold, biting air blew all around, sounding like ominous whistles.

Despite the dreary weather, David insisted on going ahead with the coronation.

The ministers of the court had initially decided that the mourning period would last for a week and the coronation would happen after, but due to the strange events that kept happening, David moved the coronation day forward.

The first strange event was Nicholas visiting his father the night he passed. There had been rumors circulating in the palace that his father had given his blessings to his brother to become the next emperor.

When the head eunuch told him about seeing Nicholas in his father’s chambers on the night of his death, it came as a surprise because David had thought Nicholas’ priority would always be Luciana and his son, but he didn’t even come for them, and what caused him to be on edge was that he was able to bypass all the security he had put in place.

’He treated the palace like his playground!’

David could only comfort himself with the fact that the security around the Grand Palace was the weakest, but even thinking like that wasn’t helping.

He had given the man the most potent poison 8 months ago to ensure his swift death, but he was still alive and well; what sort of monster was his brother?

The past few days, there had been strange occurrences within the palace with the servants and guards whispering about how the emperor’s ghost was haunting the palace.

There was also a strange incident of a whole pond of koi fish dying the same night the emperor passed.

Another strange incident was when the memorial tablet made to mourn the emperor exploded into smithereens during the state burial ceremony.

Some guards also swore they had seen the ghost of the emperor, and he told them to tell him that "he was coming for him."

All these incidents were causing fear and panic among the subjects, and David didn’t want to wait any longer.

David had a strange feeling that Nicholas was behind these incidents and that he wanted to scare him.

So he came to the conclusion that Nicholas wanted the throne and the perfect time to attack was on the coronation day, so he brought the date forward to catch Nicholas off guard.

~~~

"James, this disguise would only last for an hour at most, especially since it’s still raining. Timing is of the essence; no distractions. Don’t fail me this time; saving my wife, my son, and Dora depends on you," Nicholas said, and James nodded.

"Understood, Your Highness," James said.

Nicholas gave his final instruction to the remaining men, and they began to spread out.

His plan was simple: James would disguise himself as him and lead 500 men through the main gates to serve as a distraction while he’d use the back door to gain access and extract Luciana, his son, and Dora first.

After that, he would go to the throne room and get the seal since David would need the seal to become the king.

After his talk with the emperor that night, he had decided. To protect his son and Luciana better, he must become the emperor.

With the power that comes with being a sovereign, he would place the world at Luciana’s feet, and with their son, they would live happy and peaceful lives.

"Are you ready?" Nicholas asked his men, and they gave him a solemn nod.

"Thank you for doing this with me. You all are my brothers, and I will forever engrave today’s impending victory in my heart," Nicholas said, and they all silently cheered in their hearts.

~~~

Nicholas heard the chaos coming from the main palace gates and smirked.

There were about 30 men with him as they made their way through the back entrance, killing the guards who rebelled and leaving the ones who surrendered.

He was using his abilities alongside his swordsmanship, and it was a deadly combination. Most of the palace guards didn’t dare to attack after seeing his formidable power and instinctively dropped their swords as he approached.

He leaped over walls, approached his enemies at the speed of lightning, and snapped their necks, and with his current power of using fire, he burned soldiers alive in front of their eyes.

David had indeed prepared for the worst; the palace was swarming with guards, but unfortunately for him, the guards couldn’t help much since he had no idea Nicholas was now a man with multiple abilities.

Due to Nicholas’ strength and his out-of-this-world abilities, which caused fear to be instilled in the soldiers, he soon reached Luciana’s chambers, kicked the door open, and nearly thought he was dreaming again when he saw Luciana’s face.

"Luciana," he said and walked over to her. He hugged her as if he wanted to merge their bodies together.

"You are safe; everything is alright," Nicholas said when he saw the tears falling from her eyes.

He used his thumb to brush away her tears, but Luciana kept crying, making him realize there was something amiss.

"My love, what happened? Where’s our son?" Nicholas asked, his worry growing.

"I don’t know," Luciana said.

"I left him with Dora, but I can’t find them. No one seems to know where they are, and David is already in the temple; the coronation is going to be held there; he wants to be crowned as the emperor as soon as possible," Luciana said.

"Stay here. I’ll find them; I’ll take care of David and get our son. Wait here for me," Nicholas said, but Luciana shook her head.

"No, I’ll go with you. I don’t think I want to be separated from you ever again," Luciana said, and Nicholas nodded.

"Alright, let’s go."

They had just exited the courtyard and were walking towards the temple when a loud blast sounded with smoke rising in the air and mixing with the rain. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

Nicholas saw the smoke, and his eyes lit up.

"It’s Dora; she is giving us a signal," Nicholas said, and the next moment, he hugged Luciana in his arms, and they began to fly through the sky in the rain. They soon spotted Dora running as she carried a bundle in her arms, and some men were chasing after her.

Nicholas immediately descended, and in a few minutes, three men were lying on the ground dead, and Nicholas’s sword was dripping with blood being washed by the rain.

"Dora," Luciana ran towards Dora and hugged her with the baby in her arms.

"My princess, they wanted to take the baby away from me. So I ran; they had nearly caught up to me when I remembered to use what the eldest prince gave me," Dora said.

"Good, good, thank you, Dora. I really mean it," Luciana said.

"No need to thank me, my lady; my loyalty and my life would forever be yours and the little prince’s," Dora said.

"What about me?" Nicholas said to break the atmosphere since it seemed they had forgotten about him.

Both women turned to look at him. Dora bowed, and Luciana smiled.

"I had hoped to introduce him to you under better circumstances, but I guess this isn’t so bad. Meet our son, Authur; it means courageous. Do you like it?" Luciana asked.

Nicholas stared at the baby, and countless emotions ran through him. He felt like everything he had endured was worth it for his little family.

"I don’t think I like it. I love it very much; our little prince is brave just like you," Nicholas said, and as if he was scared of hurting the baby, he gently poked his cheek with a careful look on his face, making Luciana giggle as his expression was too out of this world.

She had never seen such a loving and gentle expression on his face before, ’except when he was doing that "thing" with her while she was pregnant, and he would look at her with the same expression and ask, "Are you okay?" and then he would try to move gently within her.

But her naughty self would be urging him to move faster.’

Luciana’s train of naughty thoughts was broken when the sound of a horn signaling the commencement of the coronation was heard, and Nicholas also broke out of his peaceful moment of reunion with his family.

"Do you remember the little garden full of trees I took you to last time? You and Dora should wait for me with my son there. I’ll go and stop the coronation and come back for you, okay?" He told Luciana.

Luciana knew she couldn’t put herself and the child in harm’s way, so she agreed. Besides, she would only distract him if she was present.

"We will be waiting for you; take care," Luciana said, and Nicholas kissed her before he disappeared like he was never there in the first place.

Only her fluttering clothes and the scattered leaves flying in the air told her what had just happened.

~~~

"Don’t you think you’re forgetting something?" Nicholas said and burst through the temple gates.

David looked at him in horror. ’How did he come here? Where were the guards?’

The ministers present and the priest also began to scramble and hide when they saw the man with a murderous aura surrounding him at the gate.

Nicholas saw David’s panicked expression and threw another sword at his feet.

"I won’t attack someone who can’t defend himself; pick up the sword and fight me!" Nicholas growled.