Rebirth: The unfavored Princess is the Tyrant King's favorite-Chapter 66: I’m a monster

Nicholas stared at the woman sitting on his bed, and seeing she wasn’t going anywhere, the intensity of the blue flames swirling in his eyes began to diminish; his eyes were becoming their usual hazel color again.

"It’s changing," Luciana whispered, but because his senses were heightened during such times, he heard it.

"What is?" He asked.

"Your eyes, it is becoming normal again," she said, and he began to approach her on the bed. Luciana saw his bare upper body, a perfectly toned chest and abs, and gulped.

"Do you want to touch it?" he asked, catching the glimmer of curiosity in her eyes as they flitted from his chest to his hands. The words slipped out of his mouth before he could stop himself.

"May I?" she replied, a hint of excitement in her voice.

Nicholas hesitated for a moment and brought his left arm in front of her.

Luciana placed her fingertips on his skin and froze from how tough it was. The scales resembled that of a carp’s, and it was green and cold to the touch; she kept touching it with such deep concentration, and in about a few seconds the scales began to recede, and his arms became bare again, showing his strong biceps and the muscles in his arms twitching as she touched it.

Luciana’s eyes bulged in amazement. "It’s disappearing," she said, the wonder in her tone apparent.

"Ye... Yes, it’s disappearing," he said. His tone sounded surprised too.

"It usually doesn’t disappear so fast like this," he admitted. Luciana’s gaze whipped up to look at him,

"Then what do you think happened?" she asked.

"I don’t know, maybe it’s you. Your presence made me calm, and it disappeared because I was calm," he said, and Luciana smiled.

"If you don’t stop rubbing your fingers on my skin like that, I will not be held accountable for what I do next," he said, and Luciana blushed. She realized that even though she was initially touching the scales, after it began to recede, she had unknowingly been exploring other parts of his body.

"Erm... Sorry," she said and took a step back, but he held her wrist and pulled her back to him. He leaned in closer as if to kiss her, and she shut her eyes.

Luciana didn’t know if she was still being influenced by the feelings of this body, but seeing him look at her like that made her heart skip a beat. But it felt wrong; it was as if her heart was reacting to another man who wasn’t her husband—her Nicholas.

"My queen doesn’t need to apologize for touching her husband," he said, his breath fanning her face, an indication that their faces were just inches apart and her heart skipped again.

’Her husband,’ she thought, the words feeling strange and comforting at the same time.

"Are you okay? Your face looks red; are you having a fever?" He asked, placing his hands on her forehead. He saw the cloak and helped her to take it off, his scent enveloping her as his hands went behind her to discard the cloak. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

"It’s usually hot in here at night because of me," he explained, thinking that was the reason she looked red.

When he had not kissed her like she thought, Luciana’s racing heart calmed down a little, but she involuntarily stiffened when he got close to her like that, and she suddenly began to feel hot all over her body, her heart thumping erratically.

’Damn heart! Why won’t it stop beating?’

This time Luciana knew for sure that even though she had control of this body, when it came to matters of the heart between her and Nicholas, she didn’t have any control.

’This body was helplessly in love with the man in front of her, and she must admit, she also loved him, no, not him, her Nicholas.’

"No, no, I’m fine," she finally stuttered out after having an internal monologue with herself.

Nicholas had seen how she went stiff under his touch and dropped his hand.

’She was scared of him. Then why was she pretending and not fleeing from him?’ he wondered.

"I need to get out of my wet clothes," he said and walked away from her.

Luciana watched Nicholas as he began to pat himself dry and went behind the screen to change into dry clothes. Luciana didn’t notice her eyes had been following all his actions until he disappeared behind the screen and continued to stare when he exited the screen.

Luciana felt as if this version of Nicholas was very gentle in his actions compared to her Nicholas. It felt as if it was him and not him at the same time.

"Am I so handsome that my queen can’t stop staring?" he asked in a husky voice, locking eyes with her, and she blushed, averting her gaze.

"Sorry, I didn’t mean to," she muttered, lowering her gaze.

"Stop saying sorry every time I say something," he said, a hint of dissatisfaction in his voice.

Both of them became awkward after that, and the room became suffocatingly silent. Luciana searched her mind to find something to talk about with this version of Nicholas.

She was sure if it were her Nicholas, there wouldn’t be such a dull moment between them; he would have used this moment they were alone together and been naughty and touchy-feely with her.

It wasn’t as if she was expecting this man... this husband of hers... to make a move on her, but she was just saying—they really felt like two different people.

Luciana: "Um, about your condition, when did it start?"

Nicholas: "Are you sure you are not scared of me?"

They both spoke at the same time and turned to stare at each other.

"No, I’m not scared of you. Why would you think that?" She asked,

"No reason, I just don’t want you to force yourself when you’re clearly not comfortable with being in my presence," he said, keeping what he had observed to himself.

"I’m really not scared of you. Now, can you answer my question? When did it begin?" she asked. She wanted to know if her Nicholas would also one day have such a strange case.

"I don’t remember; maybe I was born this way," he began.

"Ever since I was a child, I had always felt I was different, and my sentiments were proven when I realized how my father treated me differently from my brothers. He always looked at me with fear and scorn as if I were a monster," he continued. Luciana quietly listened to him.

"It was only my mother who cared for and loved me just as I was, but she also died when I was barely a teenager, leaving me all alone and unwanted. During the war between our country and the Northern Kingdom, I asked my father to send me to join the war. I thought maybe dying would be better than such despair and loneliness of not understanding what I was."

"And then, during the war, I was in the front line together with the soldiers, and when the sound of the battle drums sounded, it felt like an awakening. I killed everyone in my path with such strength, agility, and bloodlust that I began to believe it myself when everyone looked at me with fear. I am a monster, Luciana."