Queen of Revenge - Chapter 19

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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 19
“I desire you.”
The moment I answered, a dangerous flush crept across the Commander’s cheeks. His expression was unmistakably that of someone thrilled by first love.
‘When exactly did he see me?’
Words and expressions ill-suited to the moment only heightened the tension. My spine tingled as though I stood before the gaping maw of a beast.
Indeed, I saw it clearly. He was a ferocious predator who might tear out my throat at any moment if things went awry.
And that was precisely why I needed this man.
“Become the formidable weapon I wield and command.”
“….”
“Pledge your loyalty to me and become the tiger that devours the world. Do so, and you shall obtain everything you desire.”
“Everything I desire.”
The man echoed my words.
As though captivated by that phrase, he repeated it several times before his lips curved upward.
“There is no reason to withdraw my proposal.”
I extended the back of my hand.
The man took my hand and pressed his lips to my pale skin. At the ticklish sound and sensation, I flinched.
Our private conversation ended there. I stepped through the door he had opened.
As I passed him, Kairon’s low voice brushed against my ear.
“A disloyal dog is worse than useless, Princess.”
“…I shall remember.”
I acknowledged him and turned to leave.
The brilliant light of late afternoon bathed the Tower’s narrow corridor in gold. Beyond the window where shadows lingered, someone stood at the boundary.
“…?”
When I opened my eyes after a brief moment of darkness, I met Lucian’s face, etched with shock.
* * *
Throughout that entire day until dusk, my steadfast knight uttered not a single word.
[Princess]
[That]
[Dislike]
[Rude]
Bara, sensitive to the killing intent, shook her cards and whimpered. The way she growled toward the back made it clear that Lucian’s aura was far from ordinary.
“It’s alright, Bara.”
I stroked Bara’s head.
“Will you check if anyone is coming down the corridor? I need to speak with him for a moment.”
[Don’t want to]
[Not] [on] [our] [side]
[Definitely]
Bara held out her word cards and whined. But beneath my gentle yet firm touch, her shoulders eventually drooped in resignation.
Bara bounded toward the doorway, shot the knight standing like a statue a sharp glare, and stepped into the corridor.
The door slammed shut behind Lucian.
Just as it had been four days ago, only the two of us remained in the Bedroom. I swallowed a sigh and turned to face him.
“Perein.”
“I have but one question.”
The knight’s expression had frozen into something colder than I had ever seen.
“Two days ago, you took a solitary walk in the Garden of the Main Palace—is that correct?”
“It seems you wouldn’t believe me no matter what I said.”
“I’m in no mood for word games. Did you have the same conversation with Commander Winterbark that day as you did today?”
Before I could answer, Lucian struck with his words.
I closed my mouth instead of making excuses, and that silence itself was an admission.
As if he had been waiting, a sharp rebuke came flying.
“You have committed a conspiracy I cannot simply overlook.”
So this was the face Lucian wore when confronting a clear enemy. The chill of his killing intent ran down my spine.
“I turned a blind eye to bringing a person of unknown identity into the Royal Palace. I procured the delegation’s roster for you, and I pretended not to notice your attendance in attire unsuitable for Founding Day. My priority must be to serve Your Highness’s commands above all else. That was the extent of what I could accommodate for you.”
“Yes, I’m grateful for that, Perein. But—”
“However, treason is another matter entirely.”
Lucian cut off my words.
“There is a fundamental difference between being cast out from the Royal Family and hiding oneself in the gray zones beyond the reach of royal authority in order to plot treason. Had I known you harbored such intentions, I would not have followed your commands at all.”
Lucian’s voice grew increasingly unable to conceal his anger.
I waited for him to finish speaking before I opened my mouth.
“I didn’t know you were eavesdropping on my conversation with Kairon Winterbark. Even if I had, I couldn’t have stopped you.”
“I won’t belabor the point. Tomorrow, go to Commander Winterbark at once and refuse his proposal.”
“I have no intention of doing so.”
“If I report this matter to His Majesty, your safety will be in jeopardy, will it not?”
“Then my meager dream ends here, I suppose.”
“…How can you be so composed about this?”
Lucian stared at me as if unable to comprehend my expression, which hadn’t changed in the slightest.
“Treason carries at minimum a death sentence. Even mere conspiracy without execution warrants life imprisonment. Your status as a princess offers no exception.”
“I know.”
“In four more days, I will report this to His Majesty and the Crown Princess.”
“Yes, I understand.”
“…Do you understand that I serve the Crown Princess?”
“Yes.”
Lucian grew increasingly bewildered.
Looking back, it had been strange from the start to deliberately choose a knight who served Crown Princess Catherine as my escort.
At this point, I even began to suspect whether being caught in the act of plotting treason was part of the plan.
Did she think I would remain silent out of mere compassion? Or did she have some other hidden agenda?
“Treason is punishable by beheading. Are you not afraid of death?”
“Ah—”
I slowly opened my eyes. My gaze, which had been fixed somewhere in the empty space above, gradually, very slowly, returned to its proper place.
I smiled faintly.
“Not particularly.”
Lucian’s lips pressed into a thin, rigid line.
A madwoman. This princess was thoroughly, irredeemably mad.
Not a trace of guilt or fear could be found in the Crown Princess who dared speak of treason.
Even as Iolet uttered words of death, her eyes remained utterly barren.
She possessed nothing, making this conspiracy utterly impossible to realize, destined to end in a pathetic death—and yet.
“But Kairon, if I’m going to die anyway, I won’t just sit idle and accept it.”
Why did she speak as though this were the only path available?
Iolet spoke to him gently, as if soothing a child.
“If the outcome is the same regardless, isn’t it better to attempt something? That’s all I’m trying to do—exhaust every possibility available to me.”
“If you’re concerned about establishing your position within the Royal Court, I would choose to prove my usefulness to the Crown Princess instead. Not to stand against her.”
This time, no answer came quickly.
“If it were that simple, I would have welcomed it.”
The Crown Princess spoke slowly, as though holding her breath.
“There were good times. I loved my Elder Sister. I truly did. Very much.”
“Then—”
“Let me be clear, Kairon. This is not a fight I started. To my Elder Sister, my usefulness amounts to nothing but being manipulated as she wishes and dying pathetically.”
“The Crown Princess would never do such a thing.”
“No? Then arranging my marriage to Count Castlaine—a man over sixty—was befitting of the Crown Princess?”
“….”
“People believe only what they wish to believe. If you intend to ignore everything you’ve witnessed and heard, we should end this conversation here.”
Yet even as she spoke these words, Iolet’s eyes posed a question.
Could he truly turn away from the truths he had learned?
Lucian could only bite his lip.
A Bedroom fit for commoners, a disrespectful Butler, soldiers who had forcibly restrained the Crown Princess, the Tower now strictly forbidden as of yesterday.
And yet the sordid rumors circulating about the Crown Princess surfaced one after another.
He found no words to refute them.
For it was true—the Crown Princess, equitable and compassionate to all, was cold only to her half-sister.
Princess Iolet would not compromise with him.
But could he simply leave matters as they stood?
‘I must find some way to persuade her—’
“However, Kairon.”
Iolet stepped closer to him.
“I am genuinely grateful that you speak to me so honestly.”
At the Banquet, Iolet had observed not only Kairon but many nobles and knights with careful attention.
None among them had concealed their displeasure and wariness toward Iolet as meticulously as Lucian.
Through this, she had come to understand his indispensability.
A righteous man.
One who would never betray a lord he had once acknowledged.
His world was like a great tree that grew straight and true toward the sun.
If only I could make someone so righteous and steadfast my most reliable ally.
Iolet’s hand, extended into the empty air, came to rest against the knight’s chin.
“…!”
The tremor of his startled frame transmitted directly through my fingertips.
‘If only I could uproot you and plant you in my soil….’
Lucian’s body went rigid under the weight of Iolet’s gaze, drawn so close. A longing so fierce and unguarded seized him entirely.
He could not escape those blue eyes—like the calm center of a tempest.
“Don’t… look at me… like that….”
Lucian, who had opened his mouth too hastily, quickly clamped his jaw shut.
“I shall take my leave. Please rest.”
The knight, choosing flight over entanglement, left the bedroom without so much as a backward glance. His departure was hurried—the gait of one in pursuit.
Iolet remained alone in the chamber, the fireplace now cold and dark.
She gazed at the door that had closed so loudly, and murmured softly to herself.
“You will become mine in the end. Whether you wish it or not.”

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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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