Rebirth: The unfavored Princess is the Tyrant King's favorite-Chapter 119: Congratulations, the princess consort is pregnant
"Where’s the intruder?!" Nicholas growled, his voice sounding like he wanted to spill someone’s blood.
Nicholas stared at the open window and the swaying curtains, and his eyes darkened.
He dropped the sword on the floor and immediately approached the shivering Luciana and hugged her tightly with all his might.
Since his focus was on Luciana, he didn’t notice the rolled-up parchment she was sneakily trying to push under the pillow.
"Are you hurt?" He asked with a voice full of worry, guilt, and anger.
He lifted her chin and examined her face and neck for any bruises or signs that might suggest someone tried to strangle her but found none and released the breath he didn’t know he was holding.
It was then that he realized she was still naked under the sheets, just like he had left her this morning, and his racing heart, which had been calm a minute ago, rose again with fury.
Seeing how scared she looked, he could tell the intruder barged in while she was still sleeping and must have seen her in her almost naked state.
’Who was so audacious to barge into his room in broad daylight? He was going to find him and tear him apart limb from limb for daring to have designs on his wife.’
"I’m going to find him and make him feel what hell on earth feels like. Don’t be afraid, Luciana; tell me; you must have seen his face, right? Who was it? I’m going to make sure..."
"Yes... I mean... No!" Luciana said in panic, interrupting him.
She saw how his eyes looked bloodthirsty and the ominous sound in his voice, which promised death and suffering upon the culprit, and decided to lie.
She averted her gaze, seeing his hawk-like eyes staring at her in puzzlement.
’If she told Nick it was David who barged into their room a moment ago, wouldn’t there be a full-blown war between the princes?’
"You didn’t see the intruder’s face?" Nicholas asked again in surprise, but Luciana frantically shook her head, an indication that she didn’t see the intruder’s face.
’How was that possible? He suspected the intruder dared to barge into his room in broad daylight because he had no idea Luciana was in bed since everyone in the palace knew he didn’t like his concubines being close to him.
So he thought it was someone close to him. He speculated that the person might have seen him leave his chambers and had used the perfect opportunity to come in to steal or do whatever it was that they came for.
The strange thing was that the intruder left without hurting Luciana. Or could it be that the intruder was after his life, but since he couldn’t find him, he decided to let Luciana go because she wasn’t the one he was looking for?’
"I don’t think he must have gotten far; do you remember the color of his clothes or maybe something peculiar about the person, perhaps?" Nicholas asked gently, his voice soothing as he tried not to be overbearing so as not to overwhelm her.
’She must be so scared that it is affecting her memory,’ he thought.
But Luciana shook her head.
"I really didn’t see anything," she insisted.
"I was sleeping, and I felt someone touch me; I thought it was you and opened my eyes. But as soon as I realized it wasn’t you, I screamed, and he also ran out the window in panic after hearing the guards at the door. Everything was so scary, so I didn’t even pay attention to him," Luciana said, and Nicholas hugged her even tighter.
Feeling her in his arms calmed him down; it made him feel she was fine and that she was safe and sound in front of him.
"Just calm down and see if you recall something, Love. We must find him to put an end to any future similar acts like this," Nicholas said and gently rubbed her back with his palms, soothing her as if she were a baby.
Luciana felt tongue-tied and decided not to speak. She had a feeling that if she kept denying it, Nick would realize she was hiding something.
So she decided to do something to take Nick’s mind off the incident. To achieve this, she began to feign sickness.
"Nick, I think something is wrong with me. I feel nauseous, dizzy, and lightheaded all of a sudden. I want to lie down. You must still be very busy, right? I’ll have Dora and Esther come over to keep me company. You can go ahead and leave me with my maids," Luciana said, and Nicholas raised his brow in worry.
"You are not feeling well?" He asked, and Luciana demurely nodded, her expression like someone who was on the verge of dying.
"I can’t say I’m very sick, but I suddenly feel weak all over and lightheaded," she said. She indeed felt weak, but it wasn’t as severe as she was making it out to be.
"You there, come here quickly," Nicholas called out, and a male servant entered and bowed. He was standing behind the curtains that surrounded the bed so he couldn’t see the prince and the princess consort.
"Your Highness, you called for me," the male servant said respectfully.
"Summon the imperial physician at once," Nicholas commanded, and the servant bowed and ran out.
"The imperial physician?!" Luciana exclaimed, but when she realized how Nicholas was watching her with a probing gaze, she realized her reaction had been too extreme and lowered her voice this time and said,
"I don’t think summoning the imperial physician is necessary. I think resting for a while will make me feel better."
"No, I think it would be best if the imperial physician checks on you. It could be that the contraceptive you took is having side effects. Let’s just let him check your pulse again, okay?" Nicholas coaxed the big baby.
Luciana nodded like a good girl, and Nicholas picked up clothes for her to wear and awaited the royal physician’s arrival.
Luciana could only continue with her act and tried not to even lift a limb as Nicholas made sure to play dress-up with her as if she were a doll.
All the while, Luciana’s heart was thumping wildly in her chest. Anytime Nicholas got close to the bed, she prayed he wouldn’t lift the pillow because the rolled-up parchment David gave to her that had a map on it was there.
She couldn’t keep calm, especially when Nicholas briefly stepped out of the room and she heard him instruct his men to search around the perimeter and the entire palace grounds for any suspicious-looking man.
She didn’t like hiding things from Nicholas, but she realized this was a necessary evil. She just wanted peace.
She just needed a little time before the birthday banquet so that she could meet David and let him know that she had never thought of leaving Nicholas. She didn’t want to escape.
But before that, she must prevent a fight from breaking out between the two princes at all costs. She also hoped the imperial physician wouldn’t see through her ploy and call her out on her feigning sickness.
Nicholas saw how she looked pale and out of sorts and thought she must be really feeling scared and sick at the same time, causing his worry for his little wife to increase.
He kept glancing at the doorway every second to see if the imperial physician would walk through those doors any time now, but it felt like an eternity, and the imperial physician didn’t show up.
In actuality, it had just been about five minutes since the servant left, but Nicholas, whose worry for his wife was at an all-time high, felt like ages had passed.
Both Nicholas and Luciana had strange expressions on their faces with different thoughts running through their minds. One was worried about being caught for lying, and one was worried sick for his spouse.
Nicholas was about to walk out and see what was causing the delay himself only to see the man finally walk through the doorway.
"Greeting to His Highness, the eldest prince, I’m..."
"Enough with the pleasantries," Nicholas cut him off and added in a stern voice.
"Come and check on my wife."
The imperial physician heard the urgency in Nicholas’ voice and how he lovingly addressed the princess consort as "his wife" and hurriedly got to work.
They all knew about the prince’s bad temper; he knew not to keep him waiting.
The imperial physician approached Luciana, and she demurely placed her wrist on a flat surface for the imperial physician to take her pulse.
The imperial physician’s face scrunched up in deep concentration as he pressed his fingertips on her vein to read her pulse.
Nicholas watched the scene unfold, his heart drumming in his chest, and he prayed it was nothing serious.
The imperial physician finished checking, and his eyes lit up. He bowed respectfully and called out loudly.
"Congratulations, eldest prince, the princess consort is with child; she is pregnant."
Both Nicholas and Luciana stared at each other’s faces and spoke at the same time.
Luciana: "I’m pregnant?"
Nicholas: "Are you sure?"
The imperial physician’s gaze moved from the prince and princess consort, and he felt as if he was imagining it.
’Why did it look like they didn’t seem happy about the news?’
