Queen of Revenge - Chapter 22

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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 22
* * *
Preparations for my departure to the Northern Region progressed steadily.
I had expected the Royal Family’s dowry to be modest, yet the King proved surprisingly generous with his provisions.
Iolet sorted through the jewels and ornaments received from the King and sent them to the Canzail Trading Company. She had intended to send Bara, but Bara refused adamantly.
[Bara protects the Princess.]
[Run the errand.] [Send her instead.]
Bara pointed confidently toward the doorway.
Lucian, standing just beyond the partially open door, raised an eyebrow.
“Did no one teach you that pointing fingers at your superiors is discourteous? If you haven’t learned, then learn now.”
Bara waved an [I don’t like it] card back and forth.
Lucian scoffed dismissively and turned to address Iolet.
“A carriage awaits at the base of the Tower. I shall escort you.”
By royal decree, he had been tasked with accompanying Iolet to the Border.
Judging by the fact that he hadn’t yet been dragged to Prison, it seemed he hadn’t confessed Iolet’s dark intentions to either the King or the Crown Princess.
As Iolet stepped into the Corridor, Lucian draped a thick cloak across her shoulders.
“The day is cold. The journey ahead will be colder still.”
“Thank you.”
Warmth radiated from within the cloak, a lingering effect of his holding it.
Iolet descended the stairs slowly and emerged from the Tower.
Just as she was about to turn toward the carriage, she spotted an unexpected figure.
A red-haired boy stood idly in the Front Courtyard.
“Hello, Ahil.”
“…!”
The boy’s eyes widened in surprise—he hadn’t expected her to know his name.
After a moment of hesitation, he thrust the notebook he’d been holding toward her.
[I heard you were leaving. They said you wouldn’t return, so I wanted to say goodbye. I’m sorry for bothering you when you’re busy.]
Iolet glanced at the boy’s gaunt wrists. Fresh bruises had appeared beneath his sleeves in the days she hadn’t seen him.
“…I’d like to speak with Ahil for a moment. Perein, would you take Bara and step away?”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Lucian withdrew, pushing the snarling Bara ahead of him.
Iolet adjusted her cloak and faced Ahil directly.
“You can use sign language. I’ll understand.”
The boy, who had been staring blankly at her, suddenly came to his senses. His hands moved swiftly.
[The Crown Princess’s mood has been poor all along. I’ve seen her express anger toward you. It seems she means to harm you, so please be careful.]
“I suspected as much. Thank you for telling me.”
His cheeks and earlobes flushed crimson—a sign of how long he’d been waiting here.
Iolet reached out and cradled his cold cheek in her palm.
“Ahil.”
The boy opened his mouth as if to respond.
Iolet gazed at the faint trembling of the boy’s tongue within his reddened lips.
She observed every fleeting movement—from the moment his crimson tongue touched his teeth and withdrew, to the tension that gathered in his jaw.
It was not difficult to discern what method this boy had chosen to survive.
“This place offers no mercy—one must kill or perish.”
“….”
“If you lack the strength to kill, you must find a way to obtain it. The same applies to you as it does to me. Perhaps you’ve managed to cling to life by feigning muteness until now, but those days are finished. If you wish to live, you must carve out your own place in this world.”
Iolet tightened her grip and drew the boy closer.
Her voice dropped lower still.
“Become the adopted heir of either Marquis Melshier or Count Sernan.”
“…!”
“Among the families that have maintained neutrality for generations, only those three remain without heirs. Once you obtain a noble title and leave the Royal Palace, Catherine will not dare lay a hand upon you so easily.”
But how?
The boy’s eyes wavered as he posed the silent question.
The fact that this child had served as a butler in the Royal Palace until the age of sixteen meant the King held him in considerable favor.
Ahil’s greatest weapon was the King’s affection.
Depending on how it was wielded, it could prove far more potent than the power held by the Crown Princess herself.
Iolet pressed a tiny glass vial—no larger than a single finger joint—against Ahil’s cheek, concealed within her sleeve. She had requested it from Kairon Winterbark the day before.
“Saving the King’s life would provide more than sufficient justification for receiving a new station.”
“…!”
“How you use this is entirely your burden. The choice, the decision—both are yours alone.”
The boy covered the back of her hand with his own, and the vial passed from her to him.
Though Iolet did not explain what lay within, the boy seemed to understand through intuition alone.
After gazing at the vial in silence for some time, the boy slowly tucked it into his breast. Then he gestured a question.
‘If I survive that way, will it help you, Your Highness?’
As Iolet hesitated, the boy continued his silent inquiry.
‘If I do this, will I be able to see you again?’
Even as he accepted the poison, the boy’s golden eyes trembled with anxiety.
Looking at this child suffocates me.
He is like a mirror reflecting my former self.
I see the person I once was—so easily swept away by affection, like dew falling upon parched earth.
One must never carelessly kindle hope in an innocent child.
When one’s own survival hangs by a thread, becoming the measure of another’s life is an uncomfortable and burdensome thing.
Yet despite all this, Iolet had not entirely abandoned her humanity.
She pressed her lips to the boy’s cheek, which grew gradually warmer beneath her body heat.
“When we meet again, call me sister. I wish to hear your true voice at last.”
“…!”
“I will wait.”
The final words were spoken so softly that it remained uncertain whether Ahil had heard them at all.
Iolet turned away, evading the boy’s desperate reaching hand.
Kairon Winterbark stood before the carriage—though for how long, she could not say.
With his arms crossed, he leaned against the carriage at an awkward angle and spoke bluntly.
“Are you placing the Royal Concubine before even holding the ceremony?”
“I was merely greeting my younger brother.”
“Younger? He’s practically a grown man.”
“He’s only sixteen. Are your preparations complete?”
Iolet deliberately tried to cut the conversation short with a cold tone. But against Kairon Winterbark, it was futile.
“Do you pity that boy?”
“Does it matter?”
“You were the one who said there should be no secrets between us.”
“While I build my strength at the Border, I need someone in the Capital to irritate Catherine and keep her in check.”
Iolet answered reluctantly.
“Catherine derives pleasure from tormenting Ahil, so she won’t simply stand by and watch the toy she once abused gain the King’s favor and rise to nobility.”
“So you’re positioning that boy as a new rival to divide the Crown Princess’s attention? Do you think he can manage it? His eyes have that tiger cub gleam, though.”
“If it works out, excellent. If not, there’s no loss.”
Kairon Winterbark smiled knowingly.
“Not very honest of you.”
Iolet deliberately lengthened her stride and overtook him. The feeling of having one’s intentions exposed was never pleasant.
As Ahil receded behind her, rooted to the spot, she did not look back at the boy.
Just as before, no one came to see her off on her departure.
Iolet lifted her gaze to the sky.
The same day, the same hour as my previous life.
Banished from the Royal Palace where I had lived my entire life to a small Rural Estate I didn’t even know existed in this country, the air was unusually cold today and the wind pushed sharply against my back.
I had thought it a cruelly frigid day, but returning now, it was not so.
Iolet drew a deep breath.
The air was as clear as it was cold, and the sky was blue without a single cloud.
My mind awakened sharply as I inhaled the crystalline air deeply.
I will return here. When I come back to this place, much will have changed.
Iolet took her first step forward with determination.

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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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