Rebirth: The unfavored Princess is the Tyrant King's favorite-Chapter 106: Flashback: The end

"You did what?" Nick asked through gritted teeth.

"I did what I thought was best, okay? I just didn’t want to make her go through the pain of losing a child again; it would break her, and I couldn’t watch her go through such agony again," Nicholas said.

"And did you think lying to her would solve anything? I can already tell the facade you built didn’t last, right? Your lies further shattered her heart into pieces," Nick spat.

Nicholas nodded, his gaze full of guilt.

"Everything returned to how it was after that day. Her lifeless eyes were filled with light again, and after 3 years, when the unexpected didn’t happen and the prince kept growing in good health, Luciana finally became even happier."

"She loved the prince dearly. He was the center of her world until 10 years later. I had stopped bothering about Evelyn and became lax in monitoring her. I didn’t realize that Evelyn still being in the picture would cause a problem. One day, she told Luciana the truth, and everything came tumbling down."

"She was so devastated and disappointed about the lies I had fed her all those years that she decided to leave. I begged and tried all I could, but it was too late, and the harm had already been done. She left me."

"After two years without her, I couldn’t take it anymore and decided to find her. The men I had tasked to keep an eye on her told me she had entered the dark forest two years ago."

"I was angry when I found out they had kept such information from me, but I decided to find her nonetheless."

"The dark forest wasn’t for the faintest of hearts. It was full of traps, evil spirits, and death. Every time I went through a life-and-death situation, I began to experience a breakthrough, and the remaining seals placed on me began to break one after the other."

"I realized my body was changing. Scales resembling that of a water dragon began to form on my skin, making me confused and scared. Until I met the dragon king. He helped me with how to control my abilities, and later, I was able to shift at will. That was when I met Luciana again."

"The Luciana I met was different from the Luciana I knew. She was so powerful then, but her magic was full of darkness. She had lost her humanity, and her wickedness knew no bounds. I know I did that to her. I had created a monster out of a kind soul. I tried to bring her back, but I realized our magic fiercely clashed against each other."

"After trying all I could to awaken her humanity and failing again and again. I had to kill her," Nicholas concluded, his voice solemn.

"You killed her? Are you telling me you were the one who killed her?" Nick barked, his tone full of fury.

"She was the princess of darkness. The destruction she wreaked on the Windermere continent wasn’t something to ignore. She needed to be stopped. She had to die! Do you think I enjoyed doing it?" Nicholas growled, his voice full of fury and his eyes bloodshot.

"I didn’t want to do it, but she was unstoppable. Do you know just how much I prayed for the deities to give us a chance to rectify the past? But due to that damn curse, we became each other’s doom. Something that began as a few words spoken out of ill intent grew, and it became an unstoppable darkness," he added.

"That doesn’t justify your actions. It was all your fault! You should have told her the truth when you had the chance!" Nick snarled.

"I know," Nicholas said; his voice sounded tired and remorseful.

"That’s why even though I knew our souls might never stay together and we would be star-crossed lovers, I still chose to die a mortal death. I gave up on my immortality so that I could be reincarnated."

"After 2000 years of waiting and hoping for a miracle, you are the miracle. You must fulfill the prophecy and break the curse. You must do that before she reaches her full potential. She has little time left. On her 18th birthday, her remaining souls will come together, and the darkness that had always resided within her would begin to manifest, and that would be bad," Nicholas added.

"So if I’m right, you’re saying Luciana and I are under an "eternal punishment curse:" We have been cursed to suffer a recurring fate. We would experience doomed relationships and repetitive cycles of loss and pain until we fulfill a prophecy or break the curse through a selfless act?" Nick asked.

"Yes, that’s exactly it, but there is a time frame for it; you must not delay. You only have until her 18th birthday," Nicholas said.

"I will be helping you behind the scenes," he added.

"And how are you going to do that?" Nick asked, raising a brow at his words.

"You will soon find out," Nicholas said and winked at him.

"Before that, I want to show you a glimpse of something...Maybe you’d understand me after seeing this."

~~~

The scene changed, and Nick saw himself in a wasteland. It could best be described as a wasteland because everything from about a mile radius from where Nicholas stood had been crumbled into pieces.

Buildings had crumbled, trees had fallen, and black fumes of smoke filled the air. Dead bodies lay haphazardly on the ground. The picture best describes the scene after a devastating war.

"Luciana, what have you done? These people are also your people. They didn’t deserve this. Please stop hurting the innocent; come back with me. Let’s go home," a voice said, and Nick turned towards where the sound was coming from. It was Nicholas.

Luciana stood there in black robes, which were fluttering fiercely due to the wind, and her long black hair blew following the direction of the wind. She had a bleak look in her eyes, and seeing this version of Luciana, Nick thought she looked like a demoness from the land of death who found joy in causing pain to people.

"Home? Where’s home? They took away my home, so I’ll take away theirs. They must all suffer and feel pain like I did. They deserve what is coming for them," Luciana said coldly, her gaze full of darkness and hatred.

Nicholas tried to approach her, but seeing he was planning to get close to her, she leaped up into the sky, and her eyes blazed with fury.

She stared at Nicholas as if he were her biggest enemy, stretched her palms toward him, and unleashed a rain of fire toward him. A torrent of searing fire, a searing inferno, was directed towards him.

Nicholas swiftly raised his elbow and held it in front of him, his clothes burned to a crisp, but the gleaming shine of his dragon scales repelled the flames, and with a fierce clash between the two, the flames met the dragon scales and withered into smoke and nothingness.

His scales didn’t only repel the rain of fire but dispelled it effortlessly.

Feeling furious, Lucifer stretched her hands, and a sword appeared out of thin air.

The next moment, she attacked Nicholas with blind rage. He defended himself and kept blocking her attacks with his hands and elbows.

The sound of the sword against the dragon scales on his hands was so piercing, like two metals.

They both kept fighting with no winner in sight.

Nick could tell Nicholas was going easy on Luciana and trying to talk her out of her dark path, but when he realized Luciana was intent on killing him, he then became serious.

After a few clashes, he effortlessly pushed a dagger that materialized out of thin air into her chest, and Luciana stared at him in shock.

The expression on her face switched from betrayal, hurt, and pain to acceptance.

"Thanks for setting me free," she said and lifted her hand to touch his cheek and rubbed his cheek before adding her next words in difficulty.

"In our next life, let’s not meet each other again."

Her hand fell limply at her side as soon as she finished speaking. Her eyes had shut and her breath had stopped, but tears still slipped from the corner of her eyes. She was gone.

A loud howl tore from Nicholas’ throat, and he hugged her lifeless body as if she were the most precious treasure in his life.

"I’m sorry," he whispered and kissed her forehead, his expression full of guilt and remorse.