Rebirth: The unfavored Princess is the Tyrant King's favorite-Chapter 54: Choose one

It was said that practice made perfect and experience was the best teacher. Luciana saw the frown on Nicholas’ face and instantly knew something was bothering him; she instinctively knew she had to tell him what he wanted to hear.

"Of course, who else can be the crown prince if not you? You are so outstanding, strong, formidable, impressive, and..."

"And what," he chimed in.

Luciana shyly averted her gaze at his question; now that he had asked, it felt awkward to say it out loud.

"I don’t remember," she confessed.

"Your expression says otherwise; I don’t believe you. Out with it," he demanded.

"Okay, you are handsome," she said and blushed.

"I know I’m handsome, but how do my looks affect my being the crown prince?" he asserted. Even though he was acting unaffected, inwardly, he had a wide grin on his face. ’Did she really mean all she just said about him? Didn’t she hate him?’

’Shameless! What a narcissist?!’ Luciana thought and stared at him expressionlessly. She had said a lot of things before saying he was handsome. Why does it seem as if it was only "handsome" he heard? She thought, inwardly rolling her eyes.

"Yes, I know you are handsome; you don’t have to repeat it. I hope our son takes after me in this life and doesn’t take after you," she blurted out without thinking, remembering how little Prince Arthur looked like a miniature version of Nicholas.

As the words she had spoken a moment ago replayed in her mind, her eyes widened when she realized what she had just blurted out. She lifted her gaze and peeked at Nicholas, expecting to find a probing look on his face but instead saw a huge grin spreading on his face.

"Why are you smiling?" She asked.

"No reason," he said and added, "Come and let’s go."

Luciana’s beating heart finally calmed down. It seems he didn’t hear what she said about "this life."

Nicholas was finally happy after hearing her response. ’She wanted to have a future with him; she even spoke about having a son with him. But did she know that to have a son, they had to do more intimate things?’ The more Luciana’s words replayed in his mind, the better his mood became.

The door finally opened, and Luciana immediately lowered her gaze after seeing Adam and James.

"Do the both of you have a death wish?" Nicholas growled, and both James and Adam laughed awkwardly, trying to look innocent.

"Your Highness, forgive us for interrupting you from making babies with the princess consort, but the emperor cannot be delayed any longer," Adam said, and Luciana raised her gaze at his words.

’Making babies?’

"Who said we were making babies? Don’t make any wild accusations here," Luciana said, trying to look as nonchalant as possible but immediately regretted doing so. Why did their gazes look strange when they stared at her? It was as if there was something strange on her face.

"Good afternoon, Princess Consort."

"Good afternoon, Princess Consort."

They both chorused as if they were now noticing Luciana. The expression on Adam’s face looked as if he was mocking her for daring to do something but refusing to admit it.

Her hands reflexively went up to touch her hair. ’Could it be that Nicholas did something funny with her hair?’ She thought.

"Why are they looking at me like that? Do I look strange?" She turned to Nicholas and asked, causing him to glare at them.

"Have you seen enough? Leave us before I change my mind and punish you for your impudence," he barked.

Adam and James knew they shouldn’t stay longer seeing how angry Nicholas was.

~~~

"Why do you think he’s angry? We were just worried about him angering the emperor," James said.

"He said it himself that we interrupted him, didn’t you hear him? Besides, with the prince’s stamina, do you think he can finish doing that thing with the princess within half an hour?" Adam snapped; he sounded like a jealous concubine who had witnessed her husband’s lovely time with his favorite consort.

"The princess consort is so petite; do you think she can keep up with the prince’s strength? Did you see all those love bites and marks on her neck and ears? I feel sorry for her; to think she’s still walking on her own two feet after the prince decided to have fun with her out of the blue; she must be finding it hard to walk and enduring a lot of pain, right?" James asked worriedly.

"She doesn’t deserve your pity, who told her to always seduce his highness? Since she’s a vixen, she should suffer the consequences," Adam said, not feeling an ounce of pity for Luciana.

James sighed; it seemed the princess consort was going to suffer quite a bit for being the object of the prince’s obsession.

~~~

Luciana stared at Nicholas, who was still not answering her question, and asked again.

"You said you were going to make me look presentable, but why do I feel you did something to make me earn those strange gazes from your men?"

Nicholas knew his men were acting that way because of the marks he had left on her fair skin. He should have held back a little, he thought, but brushed it off. ’He was her husband, and she belonged to him; why should he hold back when she was so addictive?’

"You don’t trust in my skills? You look so beautiful that I’m using all the self-control I possess to not undress you, touch you all over your skin, kiss you until your lips are swollen, and make love to you all day long. Luciana, you don’t know just how much I want you," he whispered hoarsely, and she felt hot all of a sudden, her knees going soft and nearly falling as she imagined him doing all the things he said to her.

Nicholas caught her in his arms, seeing how she swayed on her feet. He chuckled seeing how red her face had become.

"Are you okay?" He asked, and Luciana nodded.

"I have to go to the palace; would you like to come with me?" He asked, and Luciana shook her head, coming back to her senses.

’The soul-searching lamp!’ She had forgotten about it.

"You can go ahead. I will just get something at the auction house and soon follow behind you," she said, only to hear him refuse.

"No, you are either coming with me or going to the manor. Choose one," he said. Luciana felt hurt by his blunt refusal; weren’t they fine just a moment ago?

"Nick, please, it’s important I stay; I specifically came here to get it; I can’t leave just like that," she pleaded.

"No, Luciana, my words are final; there’s no room for negotiation," he declared, and tears welled up in her eyes. Why was he always this way? Anytime she thought they were moving forward in the right direction, he came right back to where they started.

"Why? I did everything you asked me to," she spat, a lump forming in her throat.

"Did you?" He asked back.

Luciana stared back at him in confusion and asked herself.

’Did she?’