Queen of Revenge - Chapter 4

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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 4
The King was spending a leisurely afternoon with the Royal Concubine when his second daughter suddenly burst through the doors.
He was startled by Iolet’s unexpected visit—she rarely sought him out—but his shock paled when he saw his daughter’s tear-streaked face, and words escaped him.
With her lips pressed firmly shut, crystalline tears rolled down her pale cheeks in a sight so pitiful it broke his heart.
And what she said was that Count Castlane had fallen into a coma?
Lisi gasped frantically.
“I didn’t hurt the Count! It must have been Princess Iolet! Arrest her at once and hold her accountable, Your Majesty!”
The King’s face darkened with displeasure.
“But didn’t Count Castlane himself point to you, his maidservant?”
“That, that was—!”
Lisi’s face drained of all color.
The moment Iolet alerted the Main Palace, the Guard Knights rushed to the Tower. The Count, barely conscious, had given his own testimony.
“The princess’s maidservant… behaved recklessly and struck my head with a serving tray. Then I fell… and, cough, her conduct has always seemed improper, I thought, but—cough!”
Iolet sighed with evident regret.
“I was waiting for Lisi by the window, Father. I was going to bring in the Count’s gift. But Lisi went into the Dining Room first and screamed. That’s when the accident happened, it seems.”
“No, no! How dare you tell such a lie in front of—!”
Lisi thrashed about desperately.
But the King’s gaze was cold. At this rate, she would not escape severe punishment.
Lisi glanced around frantically, spotted Catherine, and crawled toward her.
“Your Highness, the Crown Princess. I truly did nothing! You know well how faithfully I have served your orders until now—!”
“Enough. Wait.”
This foolish creature—how dare she drag me into this?
Catherine cut off the maidservant’s words and clenched her teeth.
Only two people had entered the Dining Room. If one was not the culprit, then the other must be.
Catherine turned to look at Iolet with doubt in her eyes.
‘Could it really be… her?’
Her younger sister’s inscrutable blue eyes stared directly at Catherine.
In that moment, a chill ran down her spine.
A fear Catherine had never experienced before seized her.
Iolet parted her delicate lips.
“If Lisi is not the culprit, then there must certainly be someone with ill intent within the Royal Palace.”
“What?”
“With the Founding Day festival just around the corner, for such a sinister incident to occur… Please search the Royal Palace at once and find the culprit, Father.”
“Are you saying there is an intruder in the Royal Palace?”
The King’s expression changed instantly.
With the Founding Day festival approaching, delegations from neighboring kingdoms were arriving at the Royal Palace in succession. This was a time when the Royal Guard needed to be at its most vigilant.
The King’s cold gaze turned toward Catherine.
“How did this happen? Crown Princess. Why is the security of the Royal Palace in such a state?”
Catherine had taken charge of all preparations for the Founding Day festival. She also commanded the Royal Guard.
Catherine’s complexion turned ashen.
“Bring the Guard Knight who protects Iolet’s quarters. While the maidservant was behaving so brazenly, what in the world was that knight doing?”
“Your Majesty, I truly…!”
“Silence! I never gave the maidservant permission to open her mouth. Should I cut out her tongue to make her stop?”
At the thunderous rebuke, Lisi Keis immediately clamped her mouth shut. The maidservant’s hunched back trembled violently.
“Crown Princess, why do you have nothing to say? Where is Iolet’s direct Guard Knight? I will hold him accountable.”
Catherine bit her lip in secret.
Iolet could not possibly have a dedicated Guard Knight. She had eliminated them all herself.
The only servants in Iolet’s Tower were a maidservant and the Butler—just the two of them. Since Iolet rarely left the tower anyway, there was no need for Guard Knights.
But if Iolet reported this fact plainly to the King, the arrow of blame might well turn toward her.
This was an unforeseen variable in her calculations.
Her deliberation was brief.
Catherine painted on a picture-perfect smile.
“There are no gaps in the security of the Royal Palace, Father. Please have no concerns.”
Catherine stood before the kneeling Lisi Keis.
“Lisi Keis. Think carefully once more. Are you truly certain it was you who did this?”
Lisi Keis’s pupils wavered wildly.
She had served Catherine for a long time. A faithful maidservant who understood her mistress’s intentions from a mere glance and carried them out.
Her mistress’s eyes urged her to confess falsely. If she did, she would be saved from this situation.
There was no other choice.
“I, I apologize… It was all… my doing.”
Lisi Keis’s voice trembled violently.
“As I thought. Then why did you lie?”
“I was afraid of punishment… I was wrong. I was wrong, Your Majesty. Please show mercy…!”
The King issued an irritated command.
“A brazen maidservant indeed. Cut off both her arms and send them to Count Castlane. That should suffice as punishment.”
“What? Wait, Father.”
“While you’re at it, cut out that frivolous tongue as well. What audacity, confessing falsehoods?”
Catherine only then realized her mistake.
She was about to protest that it was excessive, but Iolet, wiping her wet cheeks, interjected.
“How merciful of you to let it end there, Father. You are truly compassionate.”
This girl?
Catherine glared at Iolet with blazing eyes.
Her sister’s expression remained innocent and guileless.
“Hands that commit forbidden acts should naturally be removed, shouldn’t they? Don’t you agree, Elder Sister?”
What did she know to say such a thing?
No matter how one heard it, the words were laden with meaning.
“No, this cannot be! Your Majesty, Crown Princess Your Highness——!!”
Lisi Keis screamed as she was dragged away by the Guard Knights.
The maidservant, bereft of both arms and tongue, would be cast out beyond the Royal Palace walls. No one would treat a maidservant who had incurred the King’s wrath, and she would wander the streets, dying a miserable death.
The King gestured wearily.
“Go and see for yourself, Crown Princess. And ensure that such unseemly incidents never occur again. Do you think I granted you command of the Capital’s defenses so that I would have to involve myself in state affairs at my age?”
“…I apologize, Your Majesty.”
“Postpone Princess Iolet’s marriage. Until Count Castlane recovers.”
“Yes, Father.”
Catherine answered reluctantly.
As she strode past me with long steps, Iolet wore that idiotic smile the entire time.
The same vacant expression I had witnessed from my younger sister for years.
Yet I could not suppress the vile sensation of being struck from behind without warning.
* * *
As Catherine turned coldly and departed, only The King and Iolet remained in the Audience Hall.
The King, who had summoned the Royal Concubine back with a gesture, cast a glance at Iolet.
“Is there anything more you wish to say, Princess?”
“Please assign Guard Knights to me, Father.”
Iolet answered as though she had been waiting for this very question.
The King, drawing the beautiful Royal Concubine’s waist close and settling her upon his lap, furrowed his brow.
“If you possess the audacity to shatter the skull of the nobleman who will become your husband, there would be no need to parade about with a retinue of Guard Knights, would there?”
He was testing Iolet.

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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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