Rebirth: The unfavored Princess is the Tyrant King's favorite-Chapter 76: Lurking in the shadows

"Nick, you... you... did you tell the imperial pharmacy that I was in pain because we... we... did that thing?" Luciana forced the words out through gritted teeth, glaring at him and fuming from embarrassment.

’How was she going to walk around the palace without everyone imagining what happened between her and Nicholas? Even the bed was going to be changed! This was so embarrassing!’

"Oh, is that what you are worried about? I didn’t tell them it was your first time since the palace already thinks we’ve consummated. I just told them I was a little bit rough with you than usual," Nicholas innocently said, only to see her angry face look even angrier.

’Was she throwing a tantrum because he was acting gently with her? Will she stop being a brat if he goes back to his usual cold and aloof attitude?’ He thought, feeling displeased by her actions.

Luciana saw he was exuding a cold aura all of a sudden and decided to calm down before she said or did something to anger him.

He might even take advantage of it and decide to ’unreasonably punish’ her. It seemed going for the hot bath was the right thing to do after all.

Nicholas saw her getting off the bed with difficulty, and his eyes softened. "Where are you going? Wait, let me carry you."

"I can walk on my own," she said, carefully placing her legs on the ground and trying to stand on her feet, only for a tingling pain to shoot up through her legs, causing her to stagger, about to fall.

"Luciana, careful," Nicholas called out and swiftly jumped to her side and held her staggering body.

In the next second, the sound of something falling apart, heavily hitting the floor, and creating a loud thud was heard.

Luciana nearly jumped seeing the bed that had come apart. It looked like a strong force had swept through the room.

Nicholas tried to look nonchalant and unaffected as her gaze kept moving from the broken bed to his face.

"You’re a beast," she said.

"I know," he agreed.

"Now be a good girl, and let’s go and have a bath to relieve the soreness. Otherwise, I’ll have to carry you everywhere today," he said and carried her.

She wrapped her hands around his neck to stabilize herself; her face was in his neck.

’It seems that no matter what she did, everyone would know she had made love with Nicholas.’

"To tell you the truth...I don’t mind carrying you around all day long... And I’m going to make sure that by the time you begin to feel those legs of yours again, you’ll think of me anytime you walk," he said, causing a shiver to run down her spine.

Luciana should have known the beast had an agenda; under the guise of helping her soak in the hot tub and giving her pain relief medicine, he had taken advantage of her, letting her guard down, and made love to her inside the hot tub.

"The servants are replacing the bed; we should do something to pass the time while we wait, don’t you think?" He had said those words, and before she could even protest, he was already inside her. When they were done, more than an hour had passed.

Luckily they didn’t break the bathtub this time around.

~~~

Luciana lay in bed and sluggishly tried to pry her eyes open. She could tell it was almost 7:00 pm. She tried to sit up, but she felt extremely lazy. Thanks to Nicholas, she felt too tired to even lift a finger; she couldn’t even think straight.

’Nicholas was still not back from the palace; how odd! Was he that busy? At least, it would give her some time to rest.’

Her stomach was begging for food, but she felt too tired to even move.

She would just wait for Nicholas, she thought, and lay back on the bed only to fall asleep again without realizing it.

In her state of drowsiness, Luciana felt the hair on the back of her neck stand on end as if sensing something dangerous.

In just a brief moment, Luciana felt as if she was in a trance and tried to wake up, but she couldn’t even pry her eyes open, and the feeling became stronger and stronger. Someone was watching her.

She could feel cold fingers trailing on her skin from her ankle and over her dress on her from her knee upwards. She stiffened at the touch that felt both familiar and unfamiliar.

Her heart was drumming in her chest as she felt her side of the mattress sink, and icy fingers brushed her face. Luciana tried all she could to open her eyes, but her eyelids felt too heavy to move.

’Someone was there in the room with her, and the person gave her a very dangerous feeling.’

And then, she felt both of his palms on either side of her cheeks, this time, her eyes flew open only to see a pair of hazel eyes looking down at her. 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

’Nick?’ She called out in her mind but realized there was something different about those eyes staring down at her. It looked cold and dark and also sad—heartbreakingly sad.

Different emotions were swirling within them. His stares were like someone who was seeing her after a very, very long time apart.

She couldn’t explain it, but it was as if she could instinctively understand the intense sadness behind his gaze.

"I thought I’d never see you again," he whispered and leaned in, an indication he was going to kiss her, causing Luciana’s eyes to widen.

"Don’t!" She yelled. At the same time, she heard someone barge in through the door. Luciana looked around, and there was no one in sight.

’Strange, what just happened? What kind of dream was that? It felt so real... too real.’

Nicholas had arrived and was walking towards his chambers when he heard her scream.

One look at how she was looking around in fear, and he could tell everything was happening in her mind.

’She must have had a bad dream,’ he thought, but unknown to him, whatever was happening wasn’t in her head; it was very real.

Nicholas approached her, hugged her tightly, and rubbed her back to calm her down.

"Shhhh...It was just a dream," he said in a gentle tone.

"Can you tell me what you dreamed about to make you look so scared? I promise I’ll slay all your demons even if they’re in your dreams," he said, only for her to stiffen in his arms.

’What was she going to say? That she saw another him in a dreamlike state that felt very real and that he was about to kiss her?’