Rebirth: The unfavored Princess is the Tyrant King's favorite

"Aaahh," Lady Evelyn screamed in fear when she saw what was happening. 

Understanding that Lady Evelyn was pregnant and that if she miscarried the bastard in her womb in her presence, she would be charged with the murder of a royal seed despite the fact that she had not touched the woman. So just at the last minute, Luciana snagged the swaying Evelyn and steadied her on her feet. 

Nicholas, who had been walking away, heard the scream and thought it was Luciana and hurriedly ran back only to witness the scene of Luciana saving Evelyn from falling. 

"What happened here?" Prince Nicholas' voice cut through the tense atmosphere. 

Luciana was still in shock from what just happened. Was there a connection between her and Evelyn's fall, or was it mere coincidence that she wished for something in her head and it came true? 

Since she was distracted, she didn't even realize the subtle flash of hatred in Evelyn's eyes before it turned into a fearful one. 

"Your Highness, I was scared a lot just now; I thought I was going to lose our son. It was only when I attempted to keep up with her pace that I stumbled. I just wanted to tell the princess consort a few polite words. How could she walk so fast?" She spoke in an aggrieved tone and naturally went to support herself next to Prince Nicholas, her frail body leaning against him. 

As Luciana regained her composure, the true intent behind Evelyn's words struck her like a bolt of lightning. If she hadn't been walking fast and she had tried to match her pace, she wouldn't have tripped. 'How ironic that Evelyn would dare to make such a comment when she had been standing still while she herself had approached recklessly and tumbled. Or perhaps it wasn't an accident after all. In any case, some things never change—a snake remains a snake, no matter how it slithers,' Luciana thought. 

"I didn't know one could walk fast while standing in one place and cause someone to fall," Luciana said with a hint of sarcasm in her tone. She bowed subtly to Prince Nicholas and turned to leave, finding their two figures sticking so close together to be particularly an eyesore. 

"I think the princess consort misunderstands me; I meant I fell when I tried to keep up with you," Lady Evelyn explained, her expression looking like someone who had been bullied. 

"Sure, sure, one would think the first thing to say after someone helps you from falling would be a thank you," she remarked, and this time she really turned to walk away when Prince Nicholas' words caused her to pause. 

"Did I allow you to go?" He asked coldly. 

"I'm sorry for my impudence. Does His Highness need me for something?" Luciana asked, her humble tone not even showing a hint of anger. 

Prince Nicholas felt as if he was punching a sack of cotton as he stared at her nonchalant face. Could someone change so much just because he hadn't seen them for some time? This Luciana felt like an imposter compared to the haughty woman who spoke her mind and showed all her emotions on her face. The woman he knew wouldn't even want to share her man with someone else to talk of knowing he had impregnated them. This was too strange. 

"Come with me," he said and turned towards his courtyard. Luciana could only follow, seeing as his words sounded like an order. 

Lady Evelyn couldn't help but stare at the receding figures with hatred in her eyes. 

'Prince Nicholas belonged to no one but her. She had even sacrificed her virtue to a lowly soldier because she wanted Prince Nicholas to think they had slept together that one night after he returned from battle drunk in a stupor. 

He kept mumbling the words, 

"No, you can't be his daughter," over and over again. That night he had kissed her passionately and called her 

"Wildflower." 

"Wildflower, you are mine; you can't be his daughter." She had not understood his words, but she was too happy he was finally kissing her to even understand what he meant. Who knew after riling her up and awakening her emotions, he wouldn't go all the way and fall asleep on top of her? 

She could only make him believe they slept together and that he took her first time, so she had told the soldier to be rough with her so that there would be marks to show how rough Prince Nicholas had been with her when he woke up and saw the bruises on her body. 

But who knew Prince Nicholas would still be unmoved and still treat her like a stranger? But luckily, she had gotten pregnant from that encounter; she was going to use it to her advantage. Prince Nicholas can only be hers or no one else's. 

Luciana continued to follow Prince Nicholas until he brought her to his study. Her gaze moved around the large space, taking in the large number of books and scrolls. Everything looked neatly packed as if it was done by an expert. 

"The poison you used to drug the wine yesterday, where did you get it from?" He had taken a sip of the wine and realized it was poisoned. The poison was rare and very potent, and he had been finding an antidote for it for about 3 years now. 

He had been taking regular doses of poison to strengthen his immunity ever since he was ambushed in his teenage years by his enemies. He knew lots of poisons, the common ones and the rarest ones. He was quite surprised she could come into contact with such a rare one. 

Luciana contemplated if she should tell him the truth; she was the one who created the poison. She had been selling it to a merchant under a secret identity since the poison had three uses according to the dosage. But what if he was feeling vengeful and wanted to punish her?

It could serve as an antidote, it could mess with people's brains and cause them to become mentally unstable, and it could also kill someone. 

"I bought it from a merchant from my country," Luciana lied. 

"Do you have a way to get into contact with the merchant? I need the antidote for someone very important to me," Prince Nicholas said. 

'Someone important?' Luciana thought, her mind racing. Apart from the empress, Nicholas' mother, and his right-hand man Peter, Luciana had never seen Prince Nicholas care for someone before. 

"I don't know how to get in contact with him from Gloryland, but I could try. Can Your Highness at least tell me the identity of the person involved?" she asked. 

Prince Nicholas' gaze became sharp as he stared at the woman in front of him. He thought about it briefly before answering, 

"My mother, the empress of Gloryland." 

Luciana's eyes widened when she realized her assumptions had been correct. 

"If Your Highness could allow me, can I have a look at the empress?" Luciana asked. 

"Why do you want to see her?" he asked back. 

"I have knowledge in poison and medicine. I could help the empress if I could personally see what is wrong with her," Luciana said. In her frequent escapes from the palace, she had met a poison master who taught her how to create poisons, their antidotes, and some rare medicines.

However, her words had just ended when a man who wore a black mask jumped into the study from the ceiling. 

"Your Highness, please reconsider; you cannot trust her. The relationship between the princess and the second prince is still unclear," he said. Luciana looked at the unknown man and realized he must be Prince Nicholas' shadow guard. 

Luciana stood at the side and didn't rush to defend herself; Prince Nicholas himself would decide what he thought was best.