Queen of Revenge - Chapter 12

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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 12
The moment I stepped into the empty corridor, I broke into a run. My destination was the Central Garden.
Before the regression, at this very hour on this day, I had fled toward the outside in a pristine wedding dress, clutching the fabric just as I did now.
For the first and only time, I had run away, turning my back on those who celebrated my marriage to a man over sixty.
Just as before, the palace guards pursued me. The urgent footsteps of knights echoed through the corridor I had emerged from.
Upon reaching the garden, I glanced around frantically.
“Haah… haah… It was definitely somewhere here…”
Deep within the garden, a meticulously landscaped thicket caught my eye.
That was it.
I pushed through the dense foliage. There was enough space within the stiff branches for a person to crouch.
The sound of heavy footsteps thundered into the garden.
“Split into two groups and search. Once you find the princess, escort her directly to the Tower!”
I retraced the past in my mind.
How long had it taken before they captured me last time?
Probably less than an hour.
My heart pounded wildly.
‘The wedding ceremony may have become a Founding Day celebration reception, but nothing about him has changed. So he will definitely come here.’
In my previous life, I had met him only once, on this very day.
The footsteps from the garden entrance drew closer. I clutched my racing heart and buried my face in my knees.
It was here, crouched just as I was now and weeping, that someone had found me. I remembered that voice with perfect clarity.
“Shall I get you out of there?”
At first, I had thought he was a stray.
The youth who thrust his shoulders through the foliage radiated an untamed wildness that thrummed with primal energy.
“If you wish it, I’ll get you out.”
Someone’s footsteps, which had been wandering through the garden, came to an abrupt halt. Without thinking, I held my breath in sync.
Crunch.
Through the quiet night air, the sound of grass being trampled echoed.
Crunch, crunch.
The footsteps drew steadily closer.
I swallowed hard several times.
Three steps away now, or perhaps two. One step.
Ah, they stopped.
“…”
Slowly, I lifted my head. The brief moment of raising my gaze felt like an eternity.
The instant I confirmed the figure before me, my entire body went rigid.
Beyond the thicket, a pair of wine-colored eyes fixed upon me with unwavering intensity.
The person’s features gradually came into focus.
Hair like silver of the highest purity, sculpted cheekbones, lips that traced the gentle curve of a mountain. His height surpassed even Lucian’s.
Yet what froze me was neither his formidable frame nor his captivating features.
It was his eyes—eyes that did not curve even as his face smiled, eyes that ensnared the beholder without the slightest blink.
Just facing him like this… my body trembles.
I knew that man.
King Kalande’s illegitimate son and commander of the Northern Border Fortress.
The man who would become a tyrant plunging the entire Continent into terror five years from now—the reason my past self had to mount the scaffold.
Kairon Winterbark. Commonly known as Commander Winterbark.
“Hello.”
The man who had parted the frigid night smiled crookedly. The tips of his ears were flushed crimson.
“Shall I pull you out?”
* * *
In the past, Kairon Winterbark had been one of the marriage candidates Catherine herself had selected for me.
Yet upon reviewing the portraits of the candidates, Catherine had excluded him first of all—she could not send her beloved sister beyond the borders.
But thinking about it now, wasn’t it perhaps because she deemed his appearance far too exceptional to waste on a husband for me?
That dangerous youth who had come to bow before the King of Elovis seized my Homeland with terrifying military might five years later, crushing all the Neighboring Countries in a single stroke.
And he demanded my head as tribute to Catherine.
Even before my death, I had wondered why.
Why did he do it? What grudge could he possibly hold against me?
When he barely knew me to begin with.
And besides…
On that first day we met, he had even asked if he should pull me out.
I stared at the hand before me for a long moment.
I remained curled small, while the man crouched beyond the brush, his hand extended through the branches without withdrawing.
A tone of voice that was difficult to refuse tickled my ears.
“If you wish, I’ll pull you out. Come.”
The exact same words, the exact same situation as before.
Back then, I had not taken that hand.
I remember nodding my head, but in that very moment, the palace guards discovered me and dragged me away. As a result, I never managed to exchange a single proper word with this man.
Is this a hand I’m allowed to take?
Though I had resolved this long ago, facing him now, my courage faltered. The nape of my neck, which had once been severed by that piercing gaze, tingled painfully.
As I bit my lip gently, the man tilted his head.
“Do you dislike it?”
At least for now, his voice did not sound like that of a malevolent spirit staining the world in blood.
I decided to place my hope in that.
“Thank you. Will you help me, then?”
I placed my hand upon his large palm.
The moment my hand touched his, he clasped it firmly. Then, with tremendous force, he pulled me upward.
“…!”
I was hoisted to my feet in one swift motion and stumbled.
The man’s arm wrapped around my waist, steadying me with ease.
“You must be careful.”
The strength in his hands and arms as he handled me was so formidable that I felt like nothing more than a cloth doll.
The man who removed the leaves tangled in Iolet’s hair asked casually.
“Your name?”
“Iolet Leonelia Belician Ronadel.”
It was her full name—the very embodiment of her station.
Belician was the name of this nation’s Elovis Dynasty, and Ronadel was the royal house of Levia, her mother’s homeland.
The man showed no particular surprise.
“A princess of Elovis, then.”
“That’s right.”
“My apologies. I noticed you entering such an unusual place and wondered if you might need assistance.”
His half-finished manner of speech had shifted to formal politeness.
Yet the languid tone itself remained much the same whether he spoke casually or formally.
Besides, had he witnessed the opening ceremony, he would certainly have recognized Iolet in her distinctive dress as she burst through uninvited.
Iolet glanced toward the garden’s edge.
“I do need help, actually. There are people looking for me, and I’d rather not go along quietly.”
“Is that so? I don’t see anyone at the moment.”
“Then I’m fortunate.”
From pushing through the undergrowth, leaves clung to Iolet’s clothes and hair.
A large hand suddenly reached out and plucked a small leaf from beneath her ear.
“You’re not asking who I am.”
The man spoke with evident amusement.
Iolet sensed that he was thoroughly enjoying this situation.
“It would be harder not to know you, Commander Winterbark. You’ve come to resolve the Northern Border dispute.”
“Well informed. I’m honored.”
My heart still raced. Time was running short.
Kairon Winterbark gestured with his chin toward the Maze Garden.
“If you need a place to hide for a moment, what about over there?”
“Anywhere works. Oh—they’re coming.”
Iolet seized his hand on impulse and pulled him into the Maze Garden.
It had been ages since she’d ventured this deep—not since childhood, when she and Benedix played hide-and-seek here. The towering hedges on either side formed an impenetrable wall.
Only then did Iolet release a breath of relief.
The man regarded her with curious eyes.
“Is this your nature? Knowing how to flee and hide?”

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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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