Queen of Revenge - Chapter 101

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 101
“Yes, well… I’ll tell you immediately if I learn anything. So there’s no need to worry about it. We can’t afford to be shaken by something so trivial when the ground beneath us is still unstable.”
“Trivial?”
Kairon cut off her words and raised his voice.
Iolet jumped in surprise and covered his mouth with both hands.
“Trivial?”
Kairon lowered his voice again, but the sharp look in his eyes remained fixed on Iolet, as did his grip on the nape of her neck.
“Trivial? How is this trivial? There’s barely half left.”
Iolet glanced down at the necklace that had slipped across her chest. The crimson light dwelling within the jewel was now less than half of what it had been, and even less than half of that.
When Mother had given it to her, it had been full. After the regression, it had diminished by half. Then when she died in the Unregistered Territory, it had been halved again.
She vaguely suspected that only one opportunity remained. Iolet had found solace in the fact that at least one chance still existed, but Kairon clearly did not.
It seemed she had carelessly brought up the subject of her remaining lifespan. Iolet felt somewhat at a loss.
If Kairon was this conscious of that fact and shaken by it, it would bode ill for their plans ahead. He shouldn’t be charging recklessly into the Queen’s Palace like this without consultation.
How could she possibly soothe this man…?
“Do you have any plans for tomorrow?”
“…At the grain storage facility on the outskirts of the Capital. Permission came through to personally retrieve military provisions.”
“The Grain Storage Facility? The one to the west of the Royal Palace?”
Iolet, who had been trying to probe him subtly, widened her eyes.
Anastasia had mentioned it in passing once.
There was a large grain warehouse at the Grain Storage Facility, a short distance from the Royal Palace, where the tax grain collected from the southern regions of Kalande was stored. It was from there that military provisions for the Borderlands were distributed, as well as grain for export in trade with Bilebach.
In other words, it was Kalande’s granary. Life returned to Iolet’s face.
“How fortunate. That’s somewhere I wanted to visit as well. While we’re there, let’s examine every corner thoroughly. A supply warehouse will prove useful later.”
“Is that all you have to say?”
“Shall we have dinner together when you return?”
Kairon’s expression became utterly bewildered, as if he had never imagined her making such a suggestion.
“I’ll leave Count Valenstein’s Mansion around sunset. How does that sound?”
“…Just dinner?”
“Dinner, and perhaps a walk through the streets. What do you enjoy? We don’t know when we’ll have leisure like this again, so let’s do everything we want.”
It would be good to familiarize myself with the streets of the Capital’s Commercial District. Walking through the streets alone with Kairon would spread rumors of us being a devoted couple among the people.
I’m not sure what image Kairon has among Kalande’s citizens, but rumors that the Fortress Commander can’t take his eyes off his wife shouldn’t do any harm.
“I heard there’s a small canal flowing through the center of the Capital. It would be nice to take a boat ride there. …Huh?”
Iolet trailed off her cheerful words with a gasp. For the first time in a while, the tips of Kairon’s ears had flushed red.
“Why so suddenly…?”
Iolet blinked in confusion, then hastily averted her gaze. She had just realized the true meaning of a thought that had seemed so innocent.
‘The Fortress Commander can’t take his eyes off his wife…’
Why had such a thought sprung forth as if it were obvious?
Another voice within Iolet answered as if to say, how could you not know?
‘Because it’s the truth.’
Kairon always looks at me with such eyes.
‘Because he loves me. Anyone can see he’s a man in love.’
Love.
Kairon Winterbark loves me?
Suddenly, Iolet realized how absurd that proposition was.
“I’m going to cut off your neck and send it to the Tyrant of Kalande.”
Catherine’s haughty voice echoed in my ears.
“I needed a peace offering to send to him, and he happened to demand you—a descendant of the Levia Royal Family.”
Goosebumps erupted across my nape. Seized by an inexplicable sense of danger, Iolet pushed Kairon’s shoulder away.
“I’m sorry. Just a moment—I think we’re standing a bit too close….”
Then, a presence made itself known from above.
Queen Cecilia was stepping out onto the balcony. Directly above them.
“…!”
Iolet hurriedly nestled back into Kairon’s embrace. His stiffened arms wrapped around her back and pulled her close with surprising strength.
“Shh.”
As our bodies pressed together, the thundering of his heartbeat transmitted directly through my chest. The warmth that had flushed his ears seemed to spread to my nape as well.
Fortunately, the Queen had only stepped out for a breath of air; she retreated into the inner chamber shortly after. Only then could Iolet breathe again.
The conversation had been awkwardly interrupted. Iolet steadied the turbulent emotions in her heart and spoke.
“So, do you have time tomorrow or not?”
“Is this a date proposal?”
“Well… yes. But if you don’t want to, never mind.”
The man who had buried his face in Iolet’s neck let out a low chuckle. When the breath against her skin tickled and made her shoulders tense, Kairon murmured languidly.
“You’ve grown so much. Even learned how to flirt.”
His whispered, casual tone made my heart skip.
Iolet felt his hand stroking the back of her head and blinked blankly.
A strange sense of déjà vu washed over me.
Since I was still only nineteen, his words were peculiar, but nothing particularly remarkable in themselves.
And yet, and yet….
My chest tightened painfully. An emotion—whether tension or foreboding—drummed against my heart like a drum.
Catherine’s venomous voice that had circled through my mind faded away, replaced instead by this man’s voice from our first meeting, echoing anew.
“Shall I get you out of here?”
Until now, I had thought that memory of our first encounter ended there.
That brief few minutes after I had fled the wedding reception with Count Castlane and hidden in the garden before Kairon Winterbark found me—a fleeting moment with no conversation exchanged, nothing significantly changed.
But suddenly, a new fragment of memory surfaced.
“You’re too young to become the bride of such an old fool. How old are you?”
“…Eighteen. But who are you….”
“Insane.”
His face had scoffed as if it were absurd. Then his hand extended toward me.
“If you wish, I’ll get you out. Come with me.”
The man who spoke to me so casually, as if indifferent to who I was.
Until now, only his face, expression, and wild aura had dominated my memory. So I had never paid attention to anything else.
For instance.
‘His tone of voice….’
Those fragmented words Kairon occasionally let slip without much thought suddenly felt significant.
He sometimes spoke to her without honorifics, as though he no longer needed to maintain formality, or as if he had known her for a very long time.
Just like moments ago.
‘Could it be.’
The fragments of dissonance I had felt during my conversations with Kairon seemed to shift into place.
‘Could it possibly be….’
I barely managed to move my lips.
“Don’t speak to me informally.”
“Yes, of course.”
Kairon chuckled softly against my ear, then pressed his lips to my flushed earlobe as he held me with utmost tenderness.
As though he feared that the slightest pressure might shatter me, he released nearly all his strength, cradling me with the gentlest touch.
“Tomorrow evening, then. I’ll wait for you in front of Count Valenstein’s Mansion.”
“…Yes. All right.”
I closed my eyes, feeling the heartbeat that no longer belonged to either of us alone.
My mind felt as though it might burst at any moment.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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