Rebirth: The unfavored Princess is the Tyrant King's favorite-Chapter 55: Cherishing his devotion

"That’s not the point. You say you love me, but you cage me and force me to do things against my will," she cried, her tears falling.

"If you say you love me, shouldn’t you listen to my requests? My opinions should matter. Loving someone doesn’t mean you should restrict their freedom," she added, her voice hoarse.

"Be careful what you say, Princess," he warned, and Luciana knew he was angry by his form of address, but she couldn’t care less.

"I want to stay, and you can’t force me!" She declared.

"Don’t make me angry, Luciana. I always try to be gentle to you, but you are an expert at bringing the worst out in me," he spat and added.

"Now, let’s say I give you the freedom you are talking about. What would you do in my absence? Today, it was David; who else would it be the next time? I love you, Luciana! I just want you to let me in and don’t give me that speech about freedom. If you love someone, you keep them; you want them all to yourself. You should be happy I give you all my attention; you should cherish my devotion to you and be grateful for it!"

Okay, there was a bit of sense in what he was saying. It was just a pity she would never understand his point of view, but she realized it would be best to stop fighting him for her own sake.

"I’m sorry," she said, and Nicholas looked at her suspiciously. ’What was she up to?’

"I know you do everything you do for my good. I know you love me and would want to give me the best things. I heard they were going to auction a special lamp that I really wanted to get. You can let Adam stay behind with Dominic and guard me. Please believe me; I promise I will return to the manor as soon as I get the lamp," she said.

Nicholas gazed at her as if he was weighing her words, and after about 30 seconds that felt like an eternity for Luciana, he nodded.

"Don’t make me regret trusting you, Luciana. I can’t promise I’ll be gentle if that happens. I don’t want to show you my other side," he warned, his voice dropping to a dangerously low decibel.

Luciana eagerly nodded and hugged him, catching him off guard.

"Thank you, Nick," she whispered, jumping up to kiss his cheeks and running away with a shy look on her face.

"I’m going to find Adam," she added, giggling, and bounced away with him following behind her. Even though Nicholas was still suspicious of her actions, he couldn’t deny that seeing she was happy and no longer arguing with him made him feel happy too. He felt it wouldn’t be so bad if she was always having a smile on her face with him.

~~~

"Let James stay with you," Nicholas said when he reached outside the auction house and saw Luciana was about to speak to Adam.

"Oh okay, thanks," she said. Frankly, she preferred James to Adam, but she had intentionally said Adam to make Nicholas know she meant what she said. She turned to James and added.

"You are going to stay with me, monitor me closely, and report to the eldest prince how I breathe, eat, talk, walk, and even what I think in this little head of mine to him."

Nicholas heard her words and sent her a scathing glare; was she using his words against him? Luciana involuntarily shivered, seeing how his expressions darkened.

"Kidding, I’m just kidding. You wouldn’t take the words of people like me seriously, would you?" She asked, and Nicholas averted his gaze. He was beginning to feel he had made the wrong decision in letting her stay.

"Stop being mischievous and don’t cause trouble," he said emotionlessly and mounted his horse. In the next minute, all Luciana saw was a blur. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

~~~

Luciana was just about to walk into the auction house when Dora and Esther approached her with a worried look on their faces.

"My lady, the cat is causing trouble in the auction house. The staff are trying to catch him, but he’s too swift," Dora said.

She had known this cat would one day cause trouble, and it didn’t even take long for it to become unruly and try to put the princess in trouble.

’Lord Algrith was causing trouble? But why would he do that?’ Luciana wondered.

"Hurry, take me to him," she said and hurriedly followed after Dora and Esther.

Luciana, Dora, Esther, James, and Dominic all went over to check the commotion and saw how the auction had been paused because the staff were trying to catch the cat, who was so fast that they couldn’t keep up.

Lord Algrith saw Luciana approaching and called out.

"Where did you go? Hurry, I can’t hold on any longer; the soul-searching lamp is about to be bought by someone else."

Luciana’s eyes widened in realization; Lord Algrith was causing all this commotion because of the soul-searching lamp.

"Wait," Luciana’s voice rang out, and all the people running around with sticks and trap nets, and the rest turned to look at her, pausing in their actions. Most people recognized the man beside her, James, the man who was always with the eldest prince. Could she be the new princess consort?

But what was that on her neck? Was it a mosquito bite? But a mosquito bite wouldn’t look like that...

"I’m sorry about my cat causing trouble in your auction house; he’s usually very gentle," Luciana said, interrupting the people’s train of thought. She noticed the strange and curious gazes people were giving her, but she thought it was because she was a woman that was why they were all staring at her like that.

"Since my cat caused a commotion due to this lamp, can you allow me to buy it?" she said, and the auctioneer hesitated.

"This... my lady..."

"Princess Consort, Princess Consort Luciana," she said and heard the people gasp.

"Princess Consort, since this is an auction, would you mind bidding for it fair and square? I hope you can understand where this humble servant is coming from," the man said.

"Deal, I think I like that idea better," she agreed.

"And now, the last item to be auctioned today is a rare soul-searching lamp. This soul-searching lamp is believed to have been used by a powerful king 2000 years ago to receive the deity’s protection and help him protect his soul from splitting. This lamp helps you feel connected to the souls of your loved ones and causes you to dream about those you have lost and miss dearly. The starting bid is set at 50 gold coins," the auctioneer began.

"80 gold coins," Luciana countered.

"85 gold coins," Lady Evelyn, who was still in the private room upstairs and had seen Luciana’s interest in the lamp, called out. After being left alone in the private room with Luciana, David, and Nicholas not returning, she had wanted to return to the prince’s manor, but she was too angry to leave just like that.

’Why was she always the one who was ignored? She wasn’t going to let Luciana have the last laugh.

Luciana heard the voice and already knew it was Evelyn; too bad that thanks to Nicholas’ arrival, she didn’t have time to mess with Evelyn as she had intended. But if Evelyn wanted to mess with her, she was going to teach her that she could never be her match.

"100 gold coins," Luciana said.

"100 gold coins! Do I have another bidder?" The auctioneer’s voice echoed through the room.

"110 gold coins," Evelyn challenged confidently, an evil smile spreading across her face as she glanced at Luciana down in the center of the auction room.

Luciana deliberately lifted her gaze and stared at the veil at the door of the private room and declared authoritatively.

"1000 gold coins!"