Rebirth: The unfavored Princess is the Tyrant King's favorite-Chapter 104: Flashback: The truth

"Don’t touch me with the same hands you used to touch her," Luciana said and began to walk away; tears were already welling up in her eyes, but she refused to let them fall.

"Luciana...Wait, please don’t go... It’s not what you think; I’d never betray you, you know that." He said and pulled a robe to cover his nakedness and hurriedly went after her.

He held her again even though she told him not to touch her. As expected, she furiously resisted his touch.

"Luciana, would you please listen? I thought it was you..."

"You betrayed me, and I saw it with my own eyes. Are you telling me you are blind? I’d be able to recognize you even if I were blind in both eyes. You thought it was me? Tell me a believable lie," she cried, cutting him off, her voice full of anguish.

"Luciana, love, do you think I’d willingly do something to hurt you like this? Is that what you think of me?"

"I don’t know; I thought you’d be different, but you are just like the rest," Luciana snapped.

Nicholas stared at her tongue-tied, not knowing what to say since she looked so angry and heartbroken.

He then realized he had indeed felt something different about the "Luciana" in his bed, but he was just too happy that she was taking the initiative this time around to care.

These past few months, Luciana was always so withdrawn and wouldn’t show any enthusiasm for sex, except he tried all the tricks he knew to seduce her before she succumbed.

So today’s treat had come as a pleasant surprise, and he didn’t even need to verify since he knew no one would be so bold to enter his bed except her.

He had gone to bed half-dressed when soft hands wrapped around him with her perfume entering his nostrils. He was just too eager to have her. Plus, with the dim source of light, he hadn’t paid attention because the woman smelled like his Luciana.

"Wait...It was your blend of scented oils and perfume. She used your items to make me confused. She tricked me," Nicholas said and walked back to the bed to drag the woman out, only for him and Luciana to call out at the same time.

"Evelyn?" Evelyn didn’t shy away and stared at Luciana with a mocking smile on her face.

"You?" Luciana’s voice was full of shock.

"I treated you as my sister; I cared for you," she added, feeling betrayed, but Evelyn’s face lacked remorse; she even looked quite happy, showing Luciana the hickeys and love bites she received from Nicholas.

"My baby died because of you; I’m just paying you back for being the cause of my suffering," Evelyn spat, her voice full of hatred.

"Slap!" Luciana slapped Evelyn with all her might, and she felt like her palms were burning.

Evelyn’s case seemed worse. Her head was tilted to one side, her cheeks already looked reddened due to the impact, blood was slipping out of the corner of her lips, and her already messy hair was sprawled all over her face and body.

Nicholas held Luciana’s hand and began to softly rub and massage her palms with a tender look on his face.

"Don’t hurt yourself trying to deal with scum like this. I will make sure she experiences the 18th level of hell before dismembering her body, limb by limb," Nicholas told Luciana, his voice full of devotion. It was as if he was promising to lay his entire wealth and kingdom at her feet.

Evelyn involuntarily shivered hearing the threat in his voice.

"Guards!" Nicholas called out, and in the next minute, guards entered the room.

"Your Majesty," they greeted and bowed.

"Drag this whore away and let her parade herself naked throughout the capital before throwing her into a brothel. Make sure to tell the owner to let her be the one to attend to the ’special’ customers. We’ll come for her after a month," Nicholas commanded.

"I’ll show you what hell looks like after your one-month vacation." He turned to Evelyn, his gaze intently locked with hers, before enunciating each word without emotion.

The guards came forward and held Evelyn, dragging her out amidst her pleas for forgiveness and tears, but Nicholas looked on coldly, only for Luciana to intervene.

"Wait!" She said,

"Just escort her out of the borders of Gloryland. From this day onwards, I have no such sister," she added, but Nicholas refused.

"Some people don’t deserve your kindness; let us do it my way." Luciana, however, felt his method was too cruel a punishment for a woman and begged him to let Evelyn go.

"Let’s just banish her from Gloryland, and she should never return," Luciana said.

Nicholas reluctantly agreed, but he secretly instructed his men who were tasked to send Evelyn to the borders not to give her anything else apart from the clothes on her body.

She was to fend for herself and find ways to survive on her own. After that night, Nicholas used every opportunity he got to make it up to Luciana and ask for her forgiveness.

After several weeks of begging, she forgave him. Eight months soon arrived, and it was time for Luciana to give birth again, and this time, she gave birth to twins, a boy and a girl.

The happiness Nicholas and Luciana felt this time was double. They had received double what they lost, and the celebration of the birth of the new prince and princess lasted for a week.

Their lives became blissful again, and gradually, Luciana even began to forget about the death of her first son, Prince Arthur.

~~~

Three years passed smoothly, and everything was blissful until history began to repeat itself. The strange illness that previously struck the late little Prince Arthur struck little Prince Kyrell, Luciana’s 3-year-old son.

Just like little Prince Arthur’s case, no one could cure him. After trying all they could, they still couldn’t save him. He died soon after.

On the day little Prince Kyrell died, Luciana couldn’t take it and fainted. Fortunately or unfortunately, it was found out that she was about a month pregnant.

Even after Luciana found out she was pregnant, she couldn’t even be happy about the news since she feared for the life of her unborn baby and her little Princess Audrey.

Soon, her fears became reality; little princess Audrey fell sick with the same strange illness, and from the previous two little princess cases, Luciana realized it usually took about a month before her babies died, so she only had a month left.

The search for a cure began again, and after a week passed with no results, Luciana was barely holding up. They were running out of time.

Her little princess was at death’s door, and it was during this time of crisis that Luciana began to search for a miracle.

She told Nicholas about her wish to go out of the palace to search for the one powerful sorcerer who could cure Little Princess Audrey, but Nicholas refused.

"It is too dangerous. I don’t know what I would do if something happened to you out there. You are safe here in the palace," he said with a hint of finality in his voice.

"I can’t lose another child, Nicholas; please let me go," she insisted, but Nicholas refused. After going back and forth, he gradually relented.

"I’ll go instead," Nicholas said.

"I’ll find a powerful doctor, magician, sorcerer, or whoever it is that would save our daughter," Nicholas said.

He set off the next day, leaving Luciana as his stand-in to take control and care for his kingdom.

~~~

When Nicholas set off from Gloryland, he already had a location in mind. He had heard of a powerful sorcerer who could solve all kinds of problems and mysteries, and that was where he was going.

After days of journeying and barely resting day and night, Nicholas finally met the powerful sorcerer five days later, and he promised to help him.

"I can help you, but you must be willing to cooperate with me and do as I say," he said.

"Tell me what I need to do, and I’ll do it," Nicholas said. The sorcerer told Nicholas the same thing the late priest he murdered had told him.

"You and your empress’ love is cursed. Even though the caster of the spell’s intent was malicious and powerful. He was able to achieve the desired effect because you had lied about him and stolen something from him in the first place, causing the deities to understand his pain."

"Your actions created a source for the dark energy following his words, and now you are paying for your actions," the sorcerer said.

"I lied?" Nicholas asked in puzzlement.

"Yes, the whispering spirits never lie. The first night you tried to steal what wasn’t yours, you told a lie. You made the princess believe her other half was with his mistress, and you had intentionally left marks on her for your brother to see."

"Also, the night you sent the maiden into your brother’s chambers, you already knew the perfume could also act as an aphrodisiac if one inhaled it for long periods, but you withheld that information. From the very beginning, your actions had never been fair; you manipulated things in your favor. Tell me I’m lying." The sorcerer said, and Nicholas stared at him, tongue-tied.