Rebirth: The unfavored Princess is the Tyrant King's favorite-Chapter 91: Flashback: Getting a divorce

"I hate you, Luciana!" Nicholas said emotionlessly and turned to walk away, knowing he couldn’t take it if he saw even a hint of sadness on her face, especially since he was the one making her sad.

Tears involuntarily pooled in Luciana’s eyes at his words. She opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. She had never seen Nicholas treat her in such a hostile manner, and it hurt more than she wanted to admit.

What did she expect? For him to stare at her as if she were the only thing he could see and that everything else was a blur except her, like he previously did? For him to smile and want to spend these few minutes with her?

"Nicholas?" His name left her lips even before she could control herself.

Nicholas’s steps paused... He couldn’t describe it, but maybe it was because her tone sounded hesitant or more like a question instead of a statement, but all the same, he paused.

"What do you want, princess consort?" He snapped at her and turned only to find her with tears in her eyes. He could tell she was about to cry, and he wanted to hold her close and whisper words of comfort and sweet nothings into her ears, but he didn’t want another cruel rejection from her.

"Won’t you speak? I don’t have all day," Nicholas growled about walking away again, but she grabbed the sleeves of his robes, a panicked expression on her face.

"Don’t touch me," he spat and yanked his hands from her hold. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

"I am going to get a divorce," she finally said something she knew he’d want to hear. Okay... she wouldn’t lie to herself anymore; all these years, she had missed him. She loved Nicholas, and after what she saw David doing with those girls, she decided not to waver in her decision.

Truth be told, on the night of their wedding, before the consummation with David, he had promised her he wouldn’t bring in any concubines if that was what she wished for.

Later, when he broke his promise, she didn’t complain because she realized she was no saint either. She had someone else in her heart, and that in itself was something atrocious.

Due to that, even though she felt hurt that David didn’t keep his word, she had decided to understand and tolerate his betrayal. Who knew he had more skeletons in his cupboard?

Nicholas turned to look at her with a gaze full of surprise.

"You expect me to believe that?" he asked with a voice full of distrust.

"You don’t need to believe it; I’m sure soon it won’t be a secret anymore," she said calmly, trying not to act weak and too affected by his nonchalance.

"Is that all?" He asked heartlessly, causing her eyes to widen.

’Wasn’t he happy at least that she would finally be free?’ she thought.

What Luciana failed to understand was that she didn’t specifically state she was getting divorced because she wanted to be with him, so if he wasn’t part of her plans, why would he be happy?

"You... It’s okay...I understand," Luciana said, swallowing back the words she had initially wanted to say. Her throat tightened, and the tears that were about to dry up welled up again.

Seeing her tears that were about to fall again, he clenched his teeth in fury.

"You dare?" He growled, causing Luciana to look at him in confusion.

"How dare you?" He asked again, his aura intimidating and suffocating. Luciana had never been afraid of him until this very moment. He looked like the god of death.

"How dare you give me hope after torturing me? Why is my heart still beating wildly in my chest because of you? Why do I still yearn for you? Why do I care for you?" He said approaching her while she also took a step back away from him.

It seemed as if he was confessing his love to her and declaring war on her at the same time. She had never seen anyone look so angry yet broken at the same time.

She began to feel guilty seeing him like that. ’Was she the cause of this? Did she do this to him?’ She remembered seeing him that night standing in the rain as if he were a statue, and her tears fell.

"I’m sorry," she apologized again, for it was the only thing she could say.

"Sorry?... Can sorry mend my heart that you shattered in pieces? Can "sorry" turn back time?" He growled, and Luciana stared at him tongue-tied.

She shook her head to deny his words as tears streamed down her cheeks.

"I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry," she repeated the words like a broken record, and Nicholas told himself not to be moved by her again.

"I was there that night. I saw you in the rain, but I didn’t dare approach you because I was scared. We are not good for each other, and I thought if I hurt you, you’d forget me and move on," she choked, her voice hoarse with sobs.

Nicholas told himself that he wouldn’t care about her tears, but before he could even realize it, he had pulled her into a hug to soothe her.

Nicholas wanted to tell her he agreed with her; they weren’t the best fit due to their identities. But was loving someone a crime? Even enemies could sometimes fall in love even if everything feels wrong.

Nicholas also wanted to tell her that everything was going to be alright, but his lips refused to move; only his large hands continued to pat her back and rub her back and forth as a source of comfort.

Maybe he just felt this moment... with her in his arms was too good to be true, and he didn’t want to say anything to jinx it.

~~~

Unknown to the embracing couple, someone had seen them and had decided she was going to pay attention to them from now on.

Evelyn didn’t expect that after she betrayed Nicholas and was tasked with monitoring him and reporting back to David, her life would take a dark turn.

After days of not reporting anything significant about Nicholas to the crown prince, David had turned her into his sex slave. It turned out that she was not the only maid who ended up in bed with David and he had been using them to fulfill his sexual fantasies.

After the brutal way David fucked her mouth without caring about her feelings, Evelyn was already fuming and in a bad mood; she had decided to use the secluded route of the palace to avoid the stares of the guards only to see a scene of Nicholas and a woman in an intimate embrace.

Unfortunately, she had just caught a glimpse of the woman when Nicholas’ hands went behind the woman’s waist, and he easily leaped over the wall with the woman in his arms as if he were flying.

Looking at the woman’s expensive silk attire and the ornaments in her hair, she could tell she was a woman with a high rank. Could she be a concubine of the crown prince or a princess? Evelyn asked herself but couldn’t come up with any answers.

It was then that a thought struck her. Crown Prince David was so sure Nicholas was hiding something, and that was why he had tasked her to monitor him.

’Could it be that this woman indeed belonged to the crown prince’s harem?’ Evelyn thought, a calculative look in her eyes.

’What rewards would David give her if she finally gave him the information he was searching for?’

~~~

"Are you sure you want to divorce my second brother?" Nicholas asked again to be sure. They were alone in his secret place, and no one came here.

It looked like a garden full of trees, but surprisingly, it wasn’t as gloomy and eerie as Luciana thought when she saw it at the time they were in the sky. The atmosphere smelled like him, the scent of earth after rain.

"How did you do that? I thought we were flying?" Luciana responded to his question with another one of hers.

Nicholas saw her inquisitive gaze and wanted to tell him about the seal, how he was trying to break it himself, and how he had unlocked a new gift, but he decided against it. This wasn’t the right time to tell her.

"It’s nothing; it’s just something I can do," Nicholas said in a nonchalant tone before adding.

"Don’t avoid my question."

"I want to divorce him," Luciana declared.

"I want to help you. I can help you with Father Emperor so that he understands and doesn’t make it a tiring process for you," he said.

"No, thanks for the thought, but I want to do this on my own," Luciana said with a resolute voice.

Nicholas saw how she wanted to do it on her terms and nodded.

"Okay, if you say so, I’m always here for you in case you need me," Nicholas said and stared at her with a deep look in his eyes.

In the next moment, his hand went behind her again and pushed her against a tree. He was careful not to hurt her, his hold strong yet gentle.

Luciana stared up at the man who held her body pressed against his but had not said a word ever since.

"How long are we going to stay like this?" She asked.

"I don’t know, maybe you are the one holding onto me?" He asked his brows raised.

"I’ve let go of you. You should do the same," Luciana said and dropped her hands when she realized she was holding onto him.

"I don’t want to," he said, causing her eyes to widen at his blatant refusal.

"I have decided from today onwards that I’ll never let you go... I can’t let you go...I won’t live another day without you by my side again."