NOVEL WEB Chapter 19: Prove it to you
Seeing her widened eyes that stared up at him in surprise, he couldn't help but lean in closer, curiosity flickering across his face. "You seem genuinely surprised; it is as if you don't believe me," he remarked, his tone serious yet tantalizing.
"Do you really doubt my words?" With a hint of mischief, he leaned in even closer and added, "Perhaps you'd like me to prove it to you?"
Nicholas knew he wasn't an angel. When she chose to stay in instead of going out with him, it just had given him more time to spend in her presence. Alone with her, he couldn't help but admire the graceful curves of her body. His fingers would gently brush against her skin through the fabric of her clothes, igniting a thrill that danced between them in those quiet moments they shared.
Luciana might think he was being forceful and wanted to show her who was in charge. But only he knew the kind of restraint he had put in place to not undress her and touch her anyhow he liked without any clothes, but she looked so frightened, like a little lamb who had been cornered by a tiger.
Even though she told him she had accepted her fate, he could still see the unwillingness in her eyes, but it was good she knew she couldn't provoke him any further and test his patience. Because he was going to make sure her opinion of him changed, she might not want him now, but she would soon yearn and pine for him. He was going to make sure of that.
Luciana heard the word "prove," and her head spun with countless things Nicholas might do to prove his words, and she frantically shook her head. The effect caused her to feel dizzy all of a sudden.
"I believe you. You don't need to prove anything to me," she said and looked up at him with an earnest gaze and added,
"Nick, it's just that I feel very bad within my whole body; I think I'm coming down with a fever. Can we do everything you want us to do another day? Please."
"What did you just say? Repeat what you just said," Prince Nicholas said, his voice louder than usual, causing Luciana to look around to see if no one was looking at them. '
Why does he seem happy all of a sudden?' Luciana thought in confusion.
"I think I'm coming down with a fever."
"No, the one before that."
"That I feel very bad within my whole body?"
"No, before that, the one about me, you mentioned my name," he said like a child who was on the verge of throwing a tantrum. That was when Luciana realized she had called him Nick in her moment of confusion. 'Was he going to become angry because of that?' She thought.
"Please forgive me for offending you just now and not addressing you with the proper title, Your Highness; I won't repeat it," she said, her voice sounding like a plea.
"Who said anything about not addressing me with the proper title? Far from it. Why don't you repeat it? I like it when you call me that. No, I think the right word would be... I love it when you call me that," Nicholas confessed, and for a moment, Luciana stared up at him tongue-tied. This wasn't what she had expected to hear him say.
"If I call you, would you listen to my request?"
"And what is your request?" he asked with raised eyebrows as if he had not heard what she had been trying to tell him for the past hour.
"That I'm not feeling well and…"
"Add my name," he said, interrupting her. Luciana took a deep breath to calm herself from her raging emotions.
"Nick, I'm really not feeling well; I just want to rest and lie down for a while… Please," she said.
With a wide grin on his face, he placed his large palms on her forehead, and for a moment there, Luciana nearly took a step back away from him, but knowing he would be displeased, she forced herself to stand still.
"You really have a bit of a temperature," he said.
"I think I can allow you to sleep for a while," he added, and Luciana felt all her tensed muscles relax at his words and was about to excuse herself and return to her courtyard when his next words made her freeze in her steps.
"Let's hurry then so that you can have a good rest on my bed. It is bigger and more comfortable, and I can personally take care of you," he said with a wicked grin on his handsome face.
Luciana felt all the hairs on her skin stand on end as a chilling truth settled in—she would never escape his grasp. She squeezed her eyes shut, desperately fighting the wave of emotions crashing over her and making her feel dizzy, determined not to succumb to the dizzying rush of despair that threatened to pull her under. 'She would accept her fate.'
"I'm grateful for your care, your highness," she said in no mood to argue. Besides Nicholas was someone who wouldn't listen to anyone else but himself.
"You forgot to call my name again, but I'm patient; you would soon get used to calling me that," he said. And that was how Luciana was 'willingly' led to the prince's courtyard.
~~~
2nd Prince David's manor,
"Have you managed to secure a maid from the princess consort's courtyard, as I requested?" Prince David inquired, his tone laced with anticipation. Eric, however, shook his head, a hint of nervousness in his eyes as he was afraid of the prince's reaction to the news he was about to give him.
"Your Highness, we have yet to find a bath maid from the princess' courtyard. It seems the princess consort doesn't have a lot of maids," Eric said. He couldn't help but wonder why the prince would specifically want a maid who bathed the princess to be hired to be their spy.
Besides the eldest prince, their main focus, he didn't know why the 2nd Prince's attention had been on the princess consort of his brother lately.
2nd Prince David felt angry and wanted to lash out about the incompetence of his men, but Eric's words caused his eyes to flash imperceptibly. Wasn't it said that his eldest brother was always with the princess consort? If he favored her like the rumors, why did he not hire more slaves and servants to wait upon her every whim?
Could it be that Nicholas is just getting close to the princess because of him? The night he had entered the summer palace to return the fake pendant to the princess, even though he made her believe he wasn't seen by anyone, he had made sure Nicholas' men saw him.
Knowing his overly paranoid brother, he knew that the princess's unexpected behavior in the palace—acting as if they were strangers—would only heighten his brother's suspicions. And that's precisely what he hoped for: a tangled web of doubt surrounding his new princess consort.
Now, it was only left for him to find a bath maid who could verify the flowerlike birthmark on Luciana's lower elbow for him. The little princess he had met in Serenevale had a birthmark that looked like a flower on her lower elbow. He must confirm it and find out why she was now the princess of Florendel.
"Listen closely," he said, his voice laced with a chilling edge. "I expect results within two days. If you fail to locate a bath maid from the Princess Consort's courtyard by then, don't blame me for what I do next."
Prince David's gaze sharpened, revealing a burning determination. He needed to uncover the truth about the girl who haunted his thoughts and consumed his every waking moment—was she truly the same woman?