Rebirth: The unfavored Princess is the Tyrant King's favorite-Chapter 62: You only have one chance

"You—you are already betrothed to be married to her?" The princess had asked the crown prince on the verge of tears.

’She had betrayed her father and country for him because he promised she would be his only woman, his only queen, but he was betrothed to someone else already. Then what about her?"

"If she said it and is not laughing afterward, it could only mean she is not joking," the crown prince said indifferently.

"The head maid would show you to your room," he added and walked away, with Evelyn following after him.

"What did you get for me?" Evelyn’s playful voice asked him as they walked away without paying her any attention.

Princess Luciana didn’t know what came over her; she couldn’t understand what was going on and hurriedly ran after him.

"You...Your Highness, don’t you think you should explain to me..."

"I’m tired, princess; I’d rather we talk tomorrow," he snapped, cutting her off.

That was the last time she had spent more than an hour in his presence. The crown prince had spared no effort to avoid her after that day. Anytime she would see him, he was either in the company of Evelyn or busy with his men.

"Let’s talk later; I’m busy," he always says to her when she tries to get close to him. Anytime she went through those etiquette trainings as the soon-to-be queen, she wondered if it was best to be his betrothed so that he could have his attention at least.

Even after their marriage ceremony, and she became the crown princess, he had never visited her chambers, even if it was just to keep up appearances; instead, he was always in the concubine’s chambers.

Evelyn had become his concubine after their marriage ceremony, and it was clear she was the only woman he had ever wanted.

His lack of attention had made her bitter, and she hardly smiled; everything felt like a bad dream. She was even harboring evil thoughts of killing the woman, but she couldn’t. His betrayal was shattering her heart to pieces since he was the only person she had in her life after her father disowned her.

She was utterly alone. She was lonely and sad.

Today was the coronation day; the previous king was abdicating his crown to the crown prince. Today was his transition from the crown prince to the king, and since she was the crown princess consort, she had to be present at the coronation ceremony to be crowned as his queen.

"Your grace, are you okay?" Dora asked her mistress, who looked as if she was spacing out. Dora had a worried look on her face. It was no secret that the new king disliked the princess. It would be best if she didn’t anger him.

Luciana snapped out of her daze and looked at Dora.

"Get me ready; we are running late," she said.

’If the deities who cursed her and Nicholas to have an ill-fated relationship sent her to this timeline to hate Nicholas and leave him, they have succeeded. She couldn’t help but hate him all over again after seeing what this version of her had gone through because of him.

~~~

The eldest Prince’s manor in Gloryland,

"Why is she still unconscious? It’s morning already! Do you people even know what you’re doing?" Nicholas snarled, and the physicians flinched, seeing the murderous aura he was exuding.

"The princess consort is physically fine, your highness; it’s just that she seems to be in a deep sleep. She would wake up on her own after a few days of rest," the head physician said.

Due to the Princess Consort fainting out of the blue, all the imperial physicians in Gloryland had been summoned. After checking the Princess Consort’s pulse, even though her pulse was weak, resembling someone on the verge of death, her other vital signs were normal; it was as if she was sleeping.

The problem was that even though they tried to explain the strange condition to the prince so that he could understand what was happening, it seemed he just didn’t want to believe them. They couldn’t blame him because they were also baffled by the Princess Consort’s current situation.

"Get out, all of you. Leave my presence this instant!" Nicholas growled, his eyes bloodshot. Since Luciana fainted, he had not shut his eyes for even a minute.

He didn’t know if the deities hated him so much that they couldn’t even allow him to be happy. It was just yesterday she survived an assassination attempt, and they didn’t even wait for him to calm down from that frightening situation. They wanted to take her away from him again.

Lord Algrith, Dora, and Esther were all currently in the prince’s manor due to the assassination attempt on Luciana the day before.

Lord Algrith had already sensed her soul was missing from her body. There was only one person he knew who could do this. The only person who had power over Luciana’s soul was her.

’If he wasn’t sure at first, now he was totally sure there was something wrong with the imprisoned soul; she is not the innocent mistress he made a life contract with. She was more evil and sinister. It seems it was time to let the dragon king know,’ Lord Algrith thought.

He rounded the prince’s manor and found a quiet spot. He looked around, and when he realized no one was in sight, he disappeared. Dora saw Lord Algrith walking away and thought it would be best to keep an eye on him so that he didn’t cause any trouble again, but she turned a corner only to find it was empty; that part of the Prince’s manor was a dead end.

"Strange, did the cat scale the walls?" Dora mumbled under her breath.

~~~

The dark forest...

"Greetings, great one. I’m sorry for invading your holy abode without permission, but it was very important; the dark princess is in danger," Lord Algrith said and bowed in front of the sleeping dragon.

The dragon’s eyes flew open, and Lord Algrith gulped; his gaze looked fierce and full of killing intent.

"I’m not supposed to meddle in the lives of mortals; why are you telling me this?" He asked, his voice booming with authority.

"Please forgive this humble servant, but it’s because this is their last chance to fix everything; this is the last chance to fulfill the prophecy so that the Windermere continent would go back to its former glory," Lord Algrith said.

"You sure have a glib tongue; aren’t you afraid I’ll kill you right this instant? Or are you unafraid because you are a cat and you have nine lives?" The dragon king drawled, his voice sounding dangerous.

"It’s because I know you have a kind heart even though you make people believe otherwise and..."

"Enough!" King Emric demanded cutting Lord Algrith off.

"So what do you want from me?" He added.

"I have strong suspicions that the soul trapped in the vast space has been compromised; she is not the previous dark princess, Great One," Lord Algrith said.

"Are you talking about her?" King Emric said, and the huge glass jar with a woman’s soul floating in it appeared in front of Lord Algrith.

’It seems the dragon king had also realized the trouble she has been causing,’ Lord Algrith thought.

"Great one, please, my humble suggestion: why don’t we issue this soul to the heavenly pagoda punishment? I’m sure she would tell us the truth if she experienced it," Lord Algrith said, going straight for the kill. He knew no coaxing or threats would make her talk, so why waste time?

Dragon King Emric saw the look of extreme fear that passed through the woman’s features and agreed. He could tell she was hiding something at a glance.

"If you think so, then let’s take her there. I was searching for a suitable punishment for her anyway," he said.

The woman’s eyes widened in horror. The heavenly pagoda punishment was the worst kind of suffering a soul could go through; it could be compared to being in the last level of hell. The piercing and shrill screams of souls who were tossed there were the best testament.

"No, no, please have mercy; I will tell you everything you want to know, please," she pleaded; she didn’t even want to imagine what would happen to her if she set foot in that pagoda. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

"I’ll only give you one chance; lie to me and forget my mercy," Dragon King Emric said.

"Now tell me. Where is the real soul that was initially trapped in the large space?"

"Th...that...this..." she stammered without saying anything significant.

"One chance...You only have one chance; think carefully before you speak!" King Emric barked, his voice full of authority.