Rebirth: The unfavored Princess is the Tyrant King's favorite-Chapter 161: Missing Nicholas

Luciana reached the palace gates in no time, but the place looked like it was as usual. Guards were stationed at the entrance, and the inspection officers who were inspecting people who came in and out of the palace kept working as usual at a leisurely pace.

Luciana stared at the long path in front of her and at the palace gates and saw that there was no one in sight, and her heart trembled.

’She was late; Nicholas had left!’ She inwardly cried. She saw that James had come to stand beside her on another horse, but she paid him no attention.

She just kept looking ahead onto the road, contemplating if she would be able to bolt through those doors and go after her husband.

She needed to warn Nicholas that this was a trap set by David. In her previous life, Nicholas had been later accused as the mastermind of the rebellion.

The third prince had left a written confession in his own blood stating Nicholas as the one who instigated his rebellion against their father, the emperor, and since the 3rd prince was killed, everyone later saw Nicholas as the villain.

James saw how the princess consort had wrapped her hands around the reins of the horse and held it in a strong grip, combined with her eyes focused on the road with such steely resolve, and moved his horse to stand in front of Luciana to block her.

"Princess Consort, please don’t do anything that would cause the eldest prince to worry when he finds out. I’d advise you to desist from whatever you intend on doing," James advised. Luciana stared at the man in front of her and didn’t know what to do.

But she knew he was right. Besides, she couldn’t just leave the palace without following the necessary protocol, and she couldn’t go alone, too. Any actions she takes would affect Nicholas’ reputation, especially since he’s not even around to back her up.

"If I were to write a letter to his Highness in confidence, is there any way you can get it to him without divulging its contents to outsiders?" She asked James, and he nodded.

"There’s a way. Let’s return to the prince’s estate first, and I’ll assist the princess consort with everything I know," James said.

"Okay, I’ll listen to you. Let’s go back," Luciana said and turned her horse around only to come face to face with Lady Evelyn with her maids behind her. Luciana wasn’t in the mood to entertain the woman.

Besides, she didn’t have the energy. Because after calming down, she began to feel a dull ache in her abdomen, and she realized her carelessness was going to put her baby in danger. That was also part of the reason why she didn’t stubbornly insist on doing what she wanted when James told her not to act rashly.

Luciana acted as if she had not seen the woman and urged her horse forward at a regular pace and passed her. Evelyn had come to see the eldest prince off, and she had felt on top of the world since she was the only woman present this morning.

Well... She had made sure that the remaining concubines got the time for the prince’s departure wrong, and thanks to the fact that the princess consort was still unconscious, she was the only consort present.

Seeing the princess consort rushing to the gates, she could already tell the woman had raced here to see the prince off. She must have just woken up from unconsciousness, but instead of resting, here she was, trying to show the world how devoted she was to the prince.

"Greetings, princess consort, I didn’t know you’d still have the energy to walk around when everyone is talking about how you are on death’s door. Or could it be that you were feigning illness to find a reasonable excuse for your miscarriage?" Evelyn said, and Luciana glared at the woman as if she wanted to rip her mouth off her face.

"What did you just say?" Luciana asked in a cold voice, glaring at Evelyn and exuding an intimidating aura, causing Evelyn to gulp. Evelyn never knew the princess consort could be so fierce. She felt oppressed under such chilling eyes, but she knew Luciana couldn’t do anything to her since they were in public and had an audience.

"I’m just repeating what I heard through the grapevine yesterday. The rumors said that you were so sick that there was no hope of saving you, but here you are looking so strong and even riding a horse. I was just wondering if you had a miscarriage and pretended to be on death’s door to fool everyone," Evelyn said.

Luciana wanted to curse the woman for her vile mouth, but a sharp pain coursed through her abdomen, causing her to nearly scream from the pain.

But she knew she couldn’t give Evelyn the satisfaction of seeing her in pain, so she lifted her lips in a semblance of a smile and said in a mocking tone,

"Unlike some people who find it so easy to lie and feign things to their advantage, some of us don’t have such luxury of time to play tricks and schemes against others. My son was conceived of the love between the prince and me. So people who arrived at the same results through different means would surely be envious and spread lies. I don’t have their time; the truth cannot be hidden forever," Luciana said and trotted away with her horse, with James following after her.

Just as she had predicted, after those words, Lady Evelyn just stared at her with an ashen face and stood there like a statue without causing any more trouble for her.

Evelyn stared at the back of the princess consort, and the anger within her boiled like volcanic lava. 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

’What did she mean by people who arrived at the same results through different means would surely be envious and spread lies? What did the bitch mean by the truth cannot be hidden forever? Did the princess consort know something’?

Evelyn’s heart thundered in her chest as her mind reeled with anxiety and nervousness. What even made her angry was that the woman was awake already when the imperial physicians had said it would be difficult for her to wake up. She had thought the princess consort would be unconscious for a month at least, considering the severity of her condition, but here she was, alive and well.

What about the medicine she gave to Physician Philip to feed the woman? Did he even go through with it? The woman looked like she had not lost her pregnancy even after all the efforts she went through. Evelyn gritted her teeth in anger and turned to her entourage of maids behind her.

"Ellen!"

"Yes, my lady," Ellen responded.

"Go to the royal pharmacy and summon physician Philip to my quarters. Tell him it is urgent," Lady Evelyn said and made her way to her quarters in a bad mood.

~~~

"Summon the imperial physician to the prince’s estate," Luciana said to James as soon as she realized they were out of earshot and no one would hear them.

"Are you feeling unwell, Princess Consort?" He asked worriedly.

"Yes, I think I should have listened to you. I’m barely holding up," Luciana admitted. She wanted James to realize how dire her situation was. "Can you return to the estate on your own?" He asked, looking at her.

"Yes, I can. So go," she said; sweat beads were forming on her forehead and neck, and she looked pale all of a sudden.

James looked at the princess worriedly, but he knew they were in the palace and no harm would come to her. He allowed her to go on her own while he took the shortest route to the royal pharmacy.

Luciana tried to maintain a straight posture on the horse so that no one would notice she was in pain, but she was failing miserably. And then she felt a warm sensation underneath her. Her undergarments were getting wet, and Luciana’s hold on the reins tightened.

The palace was vast, and the distances between the structures were far apart from each other. The distance between the eldest prince’s estate and the main palace gates was about 5 km.

"No, no, deities, please deities, save my baby," she mumbled under her breath and tried to pull on the reins a little to add a bit more speed to her movements, but the horse bolted forward all of a sudden since she couldn’t control her strength, and the sudden movement caused her body to be thrown off the horse.

Luciana closed her eyes in fear, bracing herself for the pain that was about to come, but she felt her body fall onto a hard chest and strong arms wrapped around her.

Luciana opened her eyes and saw piercing brown eyes mirroring hers staring back at her. She opened her mouth to speak, but she felt darkness consume her again as her eyes shut.

’Nicholas,’ she inwardly called out the name of the person she had missed so much ever since she opened her eyes this morning.