Queen of Revenge - Chapter 33

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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 33
* * *
Iolet’s eyes opened slowly.
A pair of red eyes blinked in her hazy vision.
Bara, who had been holding her breath and staring intently at Iolet, suddenly widened her eyes, nose, and mouth. Then she sprang up at least a hand’s breadth from her seat, fluttering about.
Iolet opened her parched throat.
“What… time is it, Bara?”
“…! …!!”
Since Bara was here, it seemed I hadn’t regressed like last time. The place where I lay was also a small bedroom in the Command Tower.
But unlike when I had regressed, I couldn’t move a single finger.
As I tried to sit up, a tremendous stabbing pain erupted in my left chest. The agony was blinding white.
As Iolet let out a silent scream, Bara began to fidget anxiously. Then she bolted from the room.
‘No, Bara. Don’t go. Don’t leave—come help me up…’
Bara returned quickly. She wasn’t alone.
“Ah, you’re awake.”
“C-Commander, sir?”
The man who should have already crossed into Kalande approached the bedside without hesitation, carrying a tray with a warm pitcher of water and towels.
“How are you… I thought you’d gone to Kalande…”
“My men, whom I stationed with you, reported suspicious activity. It’s best we don’t discuss it now. The military physician stitched your wound.”
Kairon Winterbark set down the tray and wiped Iolet’s cheek.
‘Ah, the wound. My chest was pierced.’
That must be why my chest burned with such pain. Instead of answering, I began to cough.
I curled up like a shrimp and coughed for a long while. As Kairon Winterbark held out a handkerchief to wipe my lips, bright red blood came away on it.
I accepted the cup Bara offered and rinsed my mouth. The metallic taste of blood vibrated across my tongue.
Only after taking painkillers and enduring for a long time did the agony finally subside.
A cool palm passed across my forehead as I breathed weakly.
“How long have I been lying here?”
“About two days.”
“What happened to the Demon I encountered? And Perein, the other Guerrilla Forces…?”
“He escaped.”
It was unclear whom he meant. Kairon Winterbark seemed to have no intention of elaborating.
He spoke bluntly.
“It will take at least another month for your wound to fully heal. Until then, you’ll need to be careful even with breathing. Unless you wish to waste the lifespan contained in that necklace meaninglessly again.”
The nape of my neck prickled with goosebumps. Kairon Winterbark’s gaze was fixed precisely on my necklace.
‘Did he know?’
He was a man who had rolled around bare-handed in the Unregistered Territory for nearly ten years. Perhaps it would have been stranger if he hadn’t noticed.
“Well, this is… you see. It’s a keepsake from my mother. I wasn’t trying to deceive you…”
“Before that, Iolet. There’s something we need to address first.”
Kairon Winterbark paid no attention to my clumsy excuse.
He placed the blood-stained handkerchief on the table and leaned his upper body toward her.
Iolet found herself trapped between Kairon Winterbark’s sturdy arms braced on either side of the sheet, forced to look up at him. He whispered in a tone far deeper than usual.
“Since we’re in the same boat, let’s be honest with each other without hiding anything.”
“….”
“You promised, didn’t you?”
“…Yes, I did.”
“But this won’t do.”
My spine went rigid.
Kairon’s voice held no threat whatsoever, his tone remained measured, and his gaze was tender—yet I could feel through my very skin that he was angrier than he had ever been. His burning stare was like molten lava itself.
That scorching intensity made my blood run cold.
I reluctantly confessed.
“I didn’t know the Demons would demand living sacrifices. I only suspected that our Commander might be conducting some sort of transaction with them.”
“Then why did you specifically bring six Guard Knights from the Capital?”
“There were ten total, including the Border Guard. And even if I’d brought more soldiers, the outcome would have been the same. They’re no more sympathetic to me than those from the Capital anyway, Kairon.”
“Then why are you so calm now?”
“….”
“You came back from the dead without a trace of shock. Unless you planned to die, there’s no way that’s possible.”
“I didn’t anticipate everything….”
I had reached my limit.
As I struggled to breathe properly, Kairon clicked his tongue and released me from his grip.
Only when the oppressive weight lifted did my compressed lungs return to their normal state.
“I was trying to make a new deal with the Demons… I underestimated them. That’s all.”
“Then why did you keep that Black-Haired Knight by your side until the end? You must have known he came with orders to eliminate you.”
“…Because I want him.”
It wasn’t the answer Kairon wanted.
He pressed further, his tone accusatory.
“Am I not enough?”
“I need someone like you, of course, but I also need a Guard Knight who will be loyal to me alone.”
Just because I had entered into a marriage alliance with Kairon didn’t mean I could command him as I pleased. We were equals in our contractual relationship.
What I needed was a protector who looked only to me.
A knight who would sacrifice his life for me alone in a perfect hierarchy.
Bara existed, but she alone was insufficient.
But truthfully, my desire for Lucian Perein wasn’t born from needing a loyal hound.
Who could resist such a man?
I remembered vividly the face and voice of Lucian I had encountered beneath the Execution Platform in my previous life.
“May you find peace in God’s embrace.”
That was the last voice I heard before the previous Iolet died.
As I was dragged up to the platform and glanced back, the knight stood with his eyes closed, reciting a brief prayer.
Lucian Perein was the only one who prayed for a woman everyone else was screaming to have executed.
In all five years I spent in House Castlane after being driven from the Capital, I had never encountered such kindness.
What if such a man were to offer his loyalty to me alone?
I appreciated his curiosity, his hope, his honest nature—everything I desired. He was genuinely good.
And the halo of being ‘Perein’ itself was attractive. So I wanted to keep him by my side, even if it meant taking on a bit of risk.
“Because Lucian said he would protect me. *cough*.”
“….”
“Even if he agonizes and suffers, when I’m in danger, he won’t turn away from me—I knew that about him. That’s why I deliberately brought him along. …I never expected things to turn out like this, though.”
Since regaining consciousness, I hadn’t found Lucian. The fact that he still hadn’t appeared meant he hadn’t returned to the Command Tower.
‘It’s a failure, then.’
Iolet closed her eyes with a heavy heart.
From the moment his subordinate’s blade cut me down and my consciousness severed, I had no memory of anything. I didn’t even see what expression Lucian wore as I fell.
Iolet had considered asking Kairon for the full account, but abandoned the thought.
‘He must have returned to the Capital with his men.’
Since I was dead, the Demons would have released Lucian and the Guard Knights, and they would have left the Border immediately. After that, Kairon and Bara must have discovered me.
I suppose I was too greedy. They say excessive greed invites disaster, and I was the perfect example.
‘Some things simply cannot be, Iolet.’
Iolet swallowed her regret along with the medicine Kairon had given her. His mood remained twisted.
“In the end, I need that bastard.”
“It’s in the past now, so let’s not dwell on it. Let’s think about what comes next.”
Kairon exhaled a dissatisfied sigh instead of answering. Then he roughly suppressed the faint killing intent that had spread.
Iolet gauged the passage of time. If I’d been lying here for two days, I hadn’t completely failed yet.
“Is there any possibility of meeting that Demon again, the one I encountered, Bara?”
[Hurts]
[Hurts]
[Hurts]
[Princess] [Idiot]
[No] [No] [No]
Bara, her eyes swollen and puffy, tugged frantically at Kairon’s sleeve.
With her small hands patting her chest repeatedly, she seemed frustrated—as though her words were overflowing but she had no way to express them.
Kairon dismissed it with a single statement.
“This is not the time to be thinking of such things.”
“The fact that it didn’t touch you suggests it’s indeed lenient toward its own kind. Then there’s a possibility it might approach again. If they ever call to you, you must tell me immediately, understand?”
Bara, her eyes glistening with tears, turned her head away sharply.
Iolet grasped Bara’s hand and faltered.
“Bara. Are you upset? I’m sorry.”
“Hmph.”
Kairon snorted.
“Perhaps show even half of that hesitation toward me, Your Highness.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t realize you’d worry this much. And I’m truly grateful you saved me…. Come to think of it, I should have said this first.”
Iolet hesitated before continuing.
“Though my body is in this state now, I will certainly keep my promise to accelerate your ascension to the throne. This incident is the first step toward that as well. So there’s no need to worry too much.”
“What exactly is your problem?”
“What are you talking about?”
Kairon Winterbark scrunched his face in bewilderment.
He had been staring intently at Iolet, but now he shook his head slowly.
“Whether you truly don’t understand or are feigning ignorance….”
“Would you explain it more clearly?”
“Never mind. For now, I won’t even glance at the Throne, so focus on your recovery.”
A large hand covered Iolet’s eyes. She had thought his body temperature was low, yet his palm radiated unexpected warmth.
Iolet gazed into the darkness before her eyes, then slowly closed them.
The hand concealing half her face tenderly caressed the delicate hair at her nape.
Drowsiness crept over her with the ticklish touch. In her half-sleep, she seemed to hear a voice with a fractured edge, faint and distant.
“To think I would witness such a sight twice in my lifetime….”

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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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