Rebirth: The unfavored Princess is the Tyrant King's favorite-Chapter 48: You want to escape from me? Keep dreaming!
"You can use this room over here, Your Highness; there’s a box with medicine and medical supplies on the desk," the staff at the Pearl Auction House said, gesturing to a door in front of them, pushing it open before bowing and retreating.
After leaving Evelyn alone in the private room, David called the manager and requested medical supplies and a room to treat his hand.
When David entered the room, he realized Luciana was not following him in and looked over his shoulder at her. She was still standing at the door.
"You must enter to be able to help me, Luciana. Don’t tell me you have changed your mind," he said, and Luciana didn’t know what to say. 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂
’Why was she acting this way? She had a clear conscience, and she was just helping an old friend, nothing else,’ she thought and walked into the room. It was only when David pushed the door closed that she realized this might not be a good idea after all.
She couldn’t help feeling a knot forming in the pit of her stomach. She hoped Nicholas would not find out she was alone with David in a room. She had thought David would make her attend to his wounds in an open space with someone around; she hadn’t expected such a private place.
There was a neatly made bed, a couch, and a desk in the small room. There were sparse decorations in place; the room looked like something a scholar from humble beginnings would inhabit.
David saw how Luciana stared at the closed door and explained,
"It’s for our privacy; if we don’t want people to talk, we shouldn’t make them see something to talk about."
Luciana wanted to tell him that closing the door would rather let people’s imaginations run wild, but she stopped herself. She must hurry up and get out of here before things become more awkward.
"I understand. Sit, and let me check that for you," she said simply. She expected him to sit on the couch, but he instead gestured to her to sit on the desk.
"You should rather sit; I’ll stand," he said, and she naively jumped onto the desk to sit since the box containing the medical supplies would conveniently be by her side on the desk.
David then came to stand before her, in front of her legs, to be precise, and with his good hand, he spread a towel on her legs and spread his palm open. With David standing so close to her, she felt caged. And because she was so sensitive to smell, she could even smell his scent as it enveloped her senses.
She decided not to be affected by the proximity, picked up a tweezer, and pulled out the first shard. She moved to the second and pulled it out with full concentration, trying her best not to show just how uncomfortable everything was.
"You don’t seem too happy to know I’m Talon," David said out of the blue when she was about to pull out the last shard, causing her fingers to twitch.
She mistakenly pressed the tweezers onto the shard that was sticking out, causing David to wince for the first time since she began working on his hand.
"Are you angry?" He asked.
"No," Luciana replied with one word. ’What was she supposed to say? Many things would have been different in her past life if he had told her he was Talon, but with all the knowledge of his brutality against Nicholas, plus everything she had seen in her dreams, she didn’t even know what to say or how to treat his wanting to be close to her.’
"Luciana, talk to me; I don’t know what to think of your silence. I didn’t expect you to be happy and screaming after knowing I was that little boy from the past, but I expected you to say you were glad I’m alive and well at least, but why does it seem like you are not happy at all?" He asked.
"I am. I’m happy that the only friend I had in my childhood is all grown up and in good health, okay," Luciana said.
"It’s just that I don’t know how to treat you because of our identities. You are my husband’s brother, and I’m your brother’s wife. You and I both know it would be bad for us, especially if I’m always in close proximity to my brother-in-law; people will begin to gossip. And I don’t want such rumors going around," Luciana said, and David stared at her with a piercing gaze.
"Luciana, have you fallen in love with him? I don’t understand; he killed your parents," David said, and Luciana’s eyes snapped to look at him in confusion.
"Why are you asking me such a question all of a sudden?" Luciana asked back.
"You care about what people would say because you are afraid he would find out from the rumors. You don’t want him to misunderstand you; you don’t want him to misunderstand my being close to you," he said, and he looked hurt as if he had suffered a huge blow.
"He’s my husband; I should care about what he thinks of me, shouldn’t I? Is it wrong to want to live with him in peace without any misunderstandings?" Luciana asked again, a stubborn look on her face.
"He killed your parents, Luciana; your parents would turn in their graves if they heard what you just said," David spat, the anguish in his tone evident.
"Does that mean I should live my life in revenge and not be happy?" Luciana asked again; her voice sounded tired.
"You... you have fallen in love with him. You have fallen for your parent’s murderer," David said. He said it in a matter-of-fact tone.
Luciana took in a deep breath and decided not to talk; she didn’t even know what to say herself. She had decided to stay with Nicholas in this life, but was she in love with him? She didn’t even know the answer to that herself.
"You can’t be with him, Luciana; he would kill you too if he realized your true identity. I can’t sit by and let you die too. You must leave Nicholas. I can help you escape, and no one will find you. I will arrange everything; just trust me..."
The door flung open, and Nicholas stood there with a murderous gaze full of killing intent.
"You want to escape from me? Keep dreaming," he growled before throwing a punch in David’s face.
