Rebirth: The unfavored Princess is the Tyrant King's favorite-Chapter 71: Whether you like it or not

Lord Algrith would have become pink if not for the fur covering his face.

"This is a very private subject between the princess and the prince, and my opinion on such a subject shouldn’t matter," the cat said. His mind was clearly on something else.

Luciana rolled her eyes at his words. Who said she wanted to air her private affairs in public? She was just worried that consummating their marriage now instead of doing it on the day of the Red Moon Festival would prevent what they had hoped for.

She had gotten the soul-searching lamp, and she had synched her mind to be intimate with him on that same day after all.

"Would my consummating with him today affect what I was supposed to do with him during the red moon festival?" She asked through clenched teeth, and now she had Lord Algrith’s attention.

"I can’t tell for sure, but I only know that it would be best if it was your very first time surrendering to him in this lifetime," Lord Algrith said in a heavy voice.

"So you mean to say if I consummate with him today and give him my first time, all our efforts to make him remember on the day of the red moon festival would be futile, right?" Luciana asked again to be sure.

"Yes, princess, the probability of him remembering would be high if it was an auspicious day," Lord Algrith agreed.

A look of understanding flashed past Luciana’s eyes at his words; she had to prevent Nicholas from consummating with her today at all costs if she wanted him to remember the past. But the most important question was, how was she going to achieve that?

’Luciana, if I want to make love to you, nothing would make me change my mind. You are mine, Luciana.’

Luciana couldn’t help but shiver when she remembered Nicholas’ words that night they had taken a bath together. He had said it with such certainty that she knew he had meant every word. It seemed it was going to be a long night.

"Least I forget about my soul leaving my body. Do you know why that happened?" Luciana asked, trying to take her mind off the consummation for a while.

Lord Algrith decided not to disclose to her about the evil woman who was currently inhabiting the original soul and had visited her dreams for now. He would also not talk about the dragon king since Nicholas was the one directly related to him, so he told half of the truth.

"You were sent into that timeline to change the course of fate; due to your allowing them to settle their differences and helping them share the truth with each other, their tragic ending was changed."

"Luciana, you changed the course of faith, and for the first time, a part of your soul lived happily ever after, and this in itself has weakened the potency of the curse. I already told you, if there’s someone who can overcome this, then it is you," Lord Algrith said in a proud voice.

"But please try and keep your emotions calm at all times; even though the potency of the curse is weakening, this is the most dangerous time. If you don’t control your emotions, any outburst could cause severe or irreparable damage," Lord Algrith warned.

Luciana nodded and said, "I will keep that in mind."

’Apart from Lady Evelyn, she didn’t think there was anyone else who could affect her in such a negative way, and for now, she was a pro at keeping her emotions in check in the presence of that two-faced woman,’ Luciana thought.

She thought she had everything under control regarding her emotions, but she had no idea the person who would provoke her was someone she least expected.

"About that thing that happened to Nicholas in that timeline, does my Nick have the same problem? Is he a monster too?" Luciana asked only to receive a vague answer from the cat.

"What do you think? I will allow you to figure that out yourself," Lord Algrith said.

~~~

"My lady, the eldest prince asks for your presence in the dining room," one of the new maids came to report to Luciana.

"Tell him I’m feeling sick and am currently having a medicinal bath to reduce the fever," she said and hurriedly began to undress. She slid into the medicinal bath that had already been prepared and was awaiting this moment.

Luciana had come up with an idea to prevent herself from consummating with Nicholas. She was feigning sickness, and she had not left Nicholas’ bedchamber since morning.

Since morning, she hadn’t touched any of the meals sent to her from Nicholas’ kitchen and had only allowed Dora to sneak in food from her courtyard for her to eat in secret when she began to feel hungry.

Nicholas had returned from being busy outside all day and found out Luciana had barely eaten the food that was served to her in the morning. The maid also reported she had not touched the food that was sent to her in the afternoon, and she had also not eaten supper.

When the emperor had told Nicholas not to go to the Southern region because he needed him around for some official duties, Nicholas had thought the emperor was just saying something to make him stay and take his mind off events in the Southern region.

But since he left his manor for the palace this morning, he had been busy throughout.

At about noon, he still had mountains of work to complete. It was as if the emperor had dropped all the pending state matters onto him.

But because he was adamant about spending time with Luciana tonight, he had overworked himself, and together with James and Adam by his side, he had completed most of his duties only to come home around 7:00 pm to hear such news.

He had a feeling she was acting this way because of what he told her this morning.

’Was she trying to escape from him? She should keep thinking that her tricks were going to work on him,’ he thought, inwardly smirking.

"Tell her to come and join me for dinner," he had told the maid. About a few minutes later, he heard footsteps approaching and thought it was Luciana, only to find a frightened-looking maid.

"Your Highness, the princess consort said she had no appetite and is currently feeling ill, so she’s soaking herself in a medicinal bath," the maid reported, only for Nicholas to abruptly shoot up off the chair, causing it to tumble loudly onto the floor.

The harsh sound caused the maid to nearly jump out of fear, especially when she saw the prince approaching her with such a deathly aura surrounding him as if he was the lord of death coming for her head.

The poor girl could only let out a sigh of relief when the prince passed by without paying her any attention.

~~~

Luciana was sitting in the bath when she heard someone forcefully kick the door open. She had locked it from the inside. She didn’t have to be told to know who dared to kick the door open.

She quickly pressed her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around her legs to prevent herself from showing too much skin.

"What are you doing? I should be given some privacy as your wife, shouldn’t I?" Luciana yelled in a displeased voice.

"You seem to have too much energy for someone who claims to be sick," he said and chuckled with a dark aura surrounding him.

Luciana kept quiet at his words. ’Had he seen through her act?’

He approached the tub and squatted beside her. He rolled up the sleeves of his robes and dipped his hand into the water as if to test its temperature. His gaze locked onto her all the while with such intensity that it scared her.

"Luciana, do you know how I punish those who lie to me and think I’m a fool?!" He snarled, and Luciana’s heart skipped a beat, but she tried not to be terrified by him.

"Wh...What do you want from me?" She stuttered, the nervousness in her tone apparent.

He took in a deep breath as if to calm himself down.

"Luciana, I tried to be gentle. I tried my best to accommodate you, but it seems I’ve spoiled you too much; you want to see my monstrous side. You don’t want to see my other side, Luciana, so you are going to be a good girl and come with me for dinner," he said, and Luciana let out a sigh of relief only to hear his next words.

"I’ll feed you first before I allow you to feed me; I must make sure to satisfy you both physically and emotionally, and don’t blame me if I become a beast and devour you whole because it was you who set the beast free. I will make you mine tonight, Luciana, whether you like it or not."