Queen of Revenge - Chapter 21

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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 21
A strong conviction seized me—I had to appease him now.
“If I must bear an heir, naturally you’ll see it in your own bloodline.”
Iolet hesitated before gently patting the back of his hand holding the contract.
“We’ll explicitly stipulate in the contract that any child I bear during our marriage must carry your blood alone. I have no intention whatsoever of repeating the same mistakes as my father or yours.”
“….”
“If we need more specific terms regarding the timing of an heir’s conception, we can discuss that later. Does this suffice?”
Only then did a gentle smile bloom across Kairon’s face.
“Yes. Now I find it agreeable.”
As Iolet revised the contract with her pen, she reassessed her judgment of him.
This man was neither easily manipulated nor the type to be swept along by another’s will.
He was a man who acted solely according to his own desires.
And precisely because of that, he was unpredictable and uncontrollable. Around him, she could never afford a single moment of carelessness.
Kairon chuckled softly as he signed the blank space, then set down his pen. He brushed her hand briefly before enfolding it in his own—his grip was ice-cold.
‘Whether to be grateful for his honesty or terrified by it….’
The hand of the man Iolet would have to grasp countless times in the years ahead was frigid to the touch.
* * *
Night had fallen, the sky darkening to twilight.
Lucian made his way to the Audience Hall of the Main Palace, his heart heavy.
A week had passed since he began serving as escort to the Crown Princess.
Tomorrow he would return to his original post, and before then, he needed to report to the King and the Crown Princess everything he had witnessed and heard regarding the Crown Princess’s every action over the past seven days.
In truth, there was no need to deliberate. By merely enduring her seditious words and conduct for a week, Lucian had already fulfilled his duty.
This was treason, nothing less. He was obligated to report it.
Steeling himself with this resolve as he entered the Audience Hall, Lucian received an unexpected command.
“Escort the Crown Princess to the Border. Once you arrive, transfer your duties to the Commander of the Border Guard and return.”
The King, as always, had the Royal Concubine at his side—a different woman from the one he had last seen.
The King had apparently chosen him as the Crown Princess’s escort knight. The week-long escort duty suddenly stretched far beyond its intended span.
‘Perhaps it’s fortunate.’
The moment that thought crossed his mind unbidden, Lucian flinched.
Fortunate? What could possibly be fortunate about this?
“When should I prepare for departure, Your Majesty?”
“Depart in three days. You may also escort the supply wagons destined for the Border Guard.”
“I accept your command.”
“And ensure that the bastard from Kalande does not approach the Crown Princess unnecessarily during the journey to the Border. With that pretty face of his, seducing a young woman’s heart would be as effortless as plucking butterfly wings.”
“….”
“Watch that the Crown Princess does not become intoxicated by foolish romance. Should she display any suspicious behavior whatsoever, report it immediately to the Commander of the Border Guard.”
“…Yes.”
Lucian hesitated for a moment.
‘The report….’
I should have made it.
The King, combing through the Royal Concubine’s hair with an ivory comb, caught sight of Lucian’s troubled expression.
“Is there something more you wish to say, Lucian?”
“No, Your Majesty.”
The answer tumbled from my lips before my mind had finished deliberating.
I was startled by my own words.
Why? How could I?
“Then that will be all. You may go.”
The King dismissed me with a casual wave.
The opportunity to reclaim my words vanished in an instant.
I managed to bow respectfully, though my face betrayed the turmoil within as I turned to leave the Audience Hall.
The moment I stepped outside, I splashed cold water on my face.
‘Truly, I have lost my mind, Lucian Perein.’
I had wavered.
In the end, I had been shaken by the Princess.
“Are you not afraid of death?”
“No, not particularly.”
I should never have asked such a question in the first place.
The Princess, seven years my junior, spoke and acted with nothing but recklessness.
In her eyes, there seemed to exist only the singular path ahead—each step she must take forward.
She was like a child running toward a cliff’s edge, and how could I simply stand by and watch?
‘It is difficult to imagine she spent a normal childhood in that Moldy Tower. If she passed half her life in such an environment, it would be no wonder if she harbored resentment toward the Crown Princess.’
Words spoken in anger need not be acted upon. Perhaps she would be reformed along the journey north.
Since I had gained time before reaching the Border Region, I could attempt everything within my power and report only afterward.
Yes, but…
“Sigh…”
I ran my fingers through my hair and exhaled heavily.
I had no certainty that persuasion would succeed.
Even I found it difficult to comprehend the circumstances surrounding the Princess.
Over the past week, unanswered questions had accumulated within me.
Why had the Crown Princess neglected her beloved younger sister?
Why had she cast such absurd slanders upon her, attempted to marry her to a man over sixty, and imprisoned her like a criminal?
This was, by any measure, abuse masquerading as neglect.
Then was the Princess’s resentment the cause, or the consequence?
“…”
I stood with my back to the Main Palace, then finally changed direction.
My feet carried me toward the Crown Princess’s Palace to the west.
‘Surely the Crown Princess must have had compelling reasons for all of this. I need only understand that.’
Though I was not as close to the Crown Princess as my father, Marquis Perein, I knew well how compassionate and thoughtful she was, being nearly my own age.
The Crown Princess would surely offer a rightful solution.
I believed this, and I had to believe it.
To refute the Crown Princess’s unwavering conviction that ‘there is no other way if it is not treason’—by any means necessary.
When Lucian knocked on the Crown Princess’s office, Catherine was personally tending to a vase of flowers she meant to place by the window.
Catherine, scissors in hand as she trimmed yellow chamomile, spoke without turning around.
“I hear Mother has made her decision. You must have received the royal command as well.”
“Yes, Your Highness. As you commanded before, I have prepared a report on Princess Iolet’s movements over the past week—.”
“Never mind. I’ve lost the desire to know.”
The sound of Catherine’s scissors cutting through the flower stems rang out with unusual sharpness.
Lucian had no opportunity to voice the words he had prepared.
In the very next moment, Catherine spoke with casual indifference.
“Princess Iolet must not arrive at the Northern Command Tower, Perein.”
“…I beg your pardon?”
“It typically takes a fortnight from the Capital to the Northern Border Region. See that it is handled within that time and you return. Make it appear as an accident caused by a Demon Tribe attack.”
It took time to comprehend the true nature of the command.
Lucian’s pupils dilated.
“Your Highness, forgive me, but what is the reason for such a sudden order—.”
“Does a sovereign require a reason to command?”
A boulder crashed down upon my heart.
In the Crown Princess who plucked leaves from the stem one by one as though snapping them, there was no trace of the benevolent liege Lucian had known.
Lucian’s jaw clenched visibly.
“Please, tell me the reason.”
“How uncharacteristic of you to be so verbose, Perein.”
Catherine shoved the mangled heap of flowers into a vase devoid of a single drop of water.
“Will you disobey if you cannot be convinced of the reason?”
You, dare to defy me?
Contempt gleamed in the Crown Princess’s downturned gaze.
He could only falter. The Crown Princess now showed not even the bare minimum courtesy of masking her twisted mood before her subordinate.
“As Crown Princess, I have neither the need nor the reason to persuade a mere knight of my decisions. When I command, you obey.”
Such cruelty in her voice—and such open, cutting disdain—was unprecedented.
Through the beautiful facade, an entirely unexpected core had been laid bare. A chill ran down his spine even as an ominous premonition scraped against his bones.
The knight’s instinct soon became reality.
“I will not repeat myself. To restore order in Elovis and eliminate the princess who disturbs the Royal Family’s peace and stability, you will end her life without hesitation or mercy. Prove your loyalty—yours and your house’s—by ensuring it is done.”

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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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