Rebirth: The unfavored Princess is the Tyrant King's favorite-Chapter 94: Flashback: Seize him

"Your Highness, the crown princess is with child; she fainted due to exhaustion," the imperial said. At the same time, Luciana woke up, catching bits and pieces of his words.

’No way, she wasn’t pregnant,’ she told herself. All this time, after trying several times with David, she never got pregnant; how was she going to believe she was pregnant after he stopped being intimate with her for about a year now?

Almost immediately, her mind went to her one night with Nicholas, but she refused to believe it. ’This can’t be happening,’ she thought, and then her eyes widened in alarm. Her period!

She calculated the date and realized she had had her period a month prior; could it be she was pregnant and still had her period? Her heart began to thump wildly in her chest. Would David take her baby away from her?

She choked on her saliva and began to cough, making all eyes move towards her. Luciana kept her face straight, not showing a hint of what she was feeling inside.

David’s gaze hardened at the words of the imperial physician.

’She was pregnant? She cheated on him?’ He felt like strangling the woman to death.

"Sister, you are awake," Lancelot said, approaching her on the bed. He sat beside her, not acting too close, and turned to look at the imperial physician.

"My sister is pregnant?" Lancelot asked, causing David to come to his senses. He tried to hide the fury brewing within his eyes and feigned a smile.

"Yes, Prince Lancelot, the princess is indeed pregnant; after reading her pulse, she is about 10 weeks along," the imperial physician said.

’So she cuckolded him and requested a divorce after conceiving a bastard, right? His brother’s bastard?’ David thought, inwardly fuming.

"I want to speak to the princess alone. I need to make her understand that we must stay together for the baby’s sake. No one is to know the princess is pregnant," David warned.

Lancelot and the imperial physician nodded and bowed.

"We will leave you to talk, Your Highness," they both said simultaneously and retreated.

Left alone with David, Luciana gulped and shifted backward when he approached her with a menacing aura.

"For about a year now, I have not touched you, but here you are pregnant. I didn’t know you were such a whore, Luciana; you disgust me! To think you acted so righteous in front of me, but it was all fake... Tell me how many times you have made fun of me while you allowed him to fuck you like the whore you are." He growled, his eyes bloodshot.

Luciana kept quiet because she knew she deserved his anger. But why was he saying such things? She was laughing at him behind his back? The deities know how guilty she felt.

After that night about a month ago when she mistakenly hurt the maid, she had not gone to see Nicholas again. She had made Dora send him a message so that he would understand that it would be best not to see each other until her divorce was over.

Who would have thought she was already pregnant? Now everything she feared was going to happen.

"You are going to get rid of that abomination in your stomach before..."

"You’ll kill my baby over my dead body," Luciana defiantly said, interrupting David.

"I’m no longer your wife; we are already divorced; you can’t control me," Luciana said. She was exuding the strength of a mother. She couldn’t allow anyone to harm her child.

David chuckled at her words and shook his head; it was a dark chuckle full of threat.

"You would obey, because if you disobey... I’ll let the whole of Gloryland know about your shameful act and drag the man you committed such a shameless act with before the courts and strip him of everything," David promised. He meant every word.

"I’ll leave Gloryland; you will never see me again. I’m sorry for everything. Please, let’s end everything on a good note; I’ve always respected you and cherished what we had... Don’t let us part as enemies, please," Luciana said. She was indeed guilty, but she couldn’t let Nicholas suffer such disgrace because of her.

David laughed maniacally at her words. ’He should let her go and be happy with Nicholas? Over his dead body!’

David walked to the entrance and saw the eunuchs, rows of maids, and guards standing outside, and he declared authoritatively.

"Let it be known to everyone: the crown princess is pregnant with a royal seed, and she will be staying here until she delivers the royal baby. Everyone is to accord her the needed respect."

Luciana stared at him in horror.

"What are you doing?" She asked, her voice shrill.

"I would keep my voice down if I were you, princess," David taunted and added after a beat.

"You don’t want them to know you are carrying a bastard, do you?"

Luciana slumped onto the bed, feeling drained of all strength.

Luciana fell asleep after she had tried to leave her chambers and the guards refused to let her out. David had told them to not allow her to leave, and they were following his instructions.

Luciana had wanted to fight back, but she didn’t want to make a mountain out of a molehill. She would just stay here for a while and plan for her escape without making a huge scene.

She didn’t know how long she had slept for when she felt someone gently tapping her.

"Luciana, Luciana, wake up..." The voice was full of urgency, causing Luciana to forcefully pry her heavy eyelids open.

~~~

4 hours earlier,

David was holding a wine jug in his hand as he entered Nicholas’ manor, swaying on his feet.

"Brother! Brother!" He loudly called out, causing Nicholas to come out into the courtyard. He was surprised to see a drunk David in front of him because even though they stayed in the same palace, he couldn’t remember the last time they had been this close to each other, but he didn’t show it.

"How much did you drink? You can’t even stand straight," Nicholas scolded, acting like an elder brother once again.

David thrust the wine jug into Nicholas’s arms and slurred,

"1st, brother, drink with me; I feel like my heart is tearing into pieces. Luciana, she...she..." David said and began to hiccup.

"What happened to Luciana?" Nicholas asked worriedly, forgetting to address Luciana properly and saying her name straightforwardly without adding her title.

David sneered in his heart at the form of address.

"What happened to Luciana?" Nicholas asked again, placing the jug on the table and trying to help David to sit on the chair. He had been worried sick after Luciana fainted, but he couldn’t get any information from her estate no matter how he tried.

Who knew David would come and visit him drunk and tell him incomplete sentences with Luciana’s name in them?

David flung Nicholas’s hand away, rejecting his help and unsteadily stood on his wobbly feet and pointed to the wine jug.

"Why are you not drinking with me? Are you also looking down on me?" David whined.

"No, second brother, how could I look down on you? Here, see, I’m drinking with you," Nicholas said and swallowed a mouthful of wine and was about to put it back down, but David pouted, acting like a big baby.

"No drink more, Luciana; she broke my heart; you must be drunk with me," David whined.

Facing this unreasonably drunk David, Nicholas reluctantly took a few mouthfuls and wiped his mouth.

"Is it okay now? I have almost emptied the jug," Nicholas said and added,

"Now tell me what happened."

"Luciana, she’s pregnant," David didn’t beat about the bush, and Nicholas’ eyes widened.

"She...she’s pregnant?" Nicholas asked again to be sure; it was as if his ears were playing tricks on him.

"Hmm," David nodded.

"You’re not happy about her being pregnant?" Nicholas asked tentatively, his heart drumming in his chest.

"Of course I am. We’ve been trying to have a baby for a while now, but she found out she was pregnant soon after our divorce, and she still insists on leaving me; she wants to go away from me. It’s as if she doesn’t want the baby to grow with his father," David lamented.

From David’s words, Nicholas put two and two together, and he came to a chilling conclusion. Luciana might be carrying his child.

’Luciana was carrying his child. His and her baby, the fruit of their love.’

"I’m sorry to hear about that," Nicholas said, and David pouted.

"You are no fun. You don’t even know how to comfort me," David said and clumsily made his way out, taking the wine jug with him.

"I’m leaving; I’m going to get drunk to a stupor," he declared drunkenly. Nicholas didn’t know a bright smile was on David’s face as he exited his courtyard.

’He had achieved what he came here for,’ David thought in glee.

~~~

Luciana drowsily opened her eyes and saw Nicholas hovering over her, and in her panic, her sleepiness immediately vanished.

"Nicholas? Why are you here?" Luciana asked in a groggy voice.

"I’m taking you away from here; I know you are pregnant; you are carrying the fruit of our love, Luciana; we must go immediately. David is drunk and in deep slumber, and I’ve taken care of the guards; let’s go before he realizes. Please, Luciana," Nicholas said.

Luciana hesitated only for a moment before she climbed down the bed and gave Nicholas her hand. ’Yes, she must leave,’ she thought.

They had just made it out of the heavy doors of her quarters when they saw they were surrounded.

About 70 armed men with their swords and bows stood in the courtyard, and David was standing in front of them with no signs of drunkenness.

"What a lovely scene, my wife and my brother, hand in hand, about to elope together," David said and added.

"Guards, seize him!"