Queen of Revenge - Chapter 44

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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 44
* * *
News from the Capital reached the Border Command Tower a week later, on a mid-morning.
“The discussion regarding the enactment of the Forbidden Succession Law has passed the Royal Council unanimously, it seems.”
“Is that so?”
Iolet, who had just finished her examination with the Military Physician, was adjusting her clothing. Lucian carefully wrapped a fur shawl around her shoulders.
“The wound is healing slowly. To be frank, I’m not sure how you’ve survived this long. I wonder if you’re dying and coming back to life every night. You mustn’t move about for the next several months.”
The Military Physician clicked his tongue and issued another confinement order today.
Iolet, who had been curious about the Mining Site at heart, gracefully abandoned her plans.
“It has been quite some time since the Royal Council reached unanimous agreement.”
“There was no one who could have opposed it, so it’s only natural.”
Lucian knelt at the Princess’s feet, choosing his words carefully.
From the moment he heard the news, something had been bothering him.
“…Why did you help the Crown Princess, Your Highness?”
“Me?”
Iolet tilted her head in confusion.
“If you had said nothing and allowed Count Leon to stand trial, the Crown Princess would not have escaped responsibility for recommending such a man. She would have lost His Majesty’s trust as well. I thought you would leave it at that.”
“Then House Perein would have collapsed with her.”
Lucian, who had been putting fur slippers on her feet, paused.
“Wouldn’t it be better if House Perein lost power? You would lose the majority in the Royal Council.”
“It’s not good for me if my Elder Sister loses real power right now. Even if she does, it won’t become mine, and there’s no need to fuel unnecessary resentment in her.”
Iolet answered flatly.
“If she’s cornered, my Elder Sister will stop at nothing. Catherine is that kind of woman.”
She might truly poison the King if things went wrong.
Without evidence, I believed that the King’s sudden death in my previous life was Catherine’s doing.
After receiving substantive authority from the King one by one, she easily removed the hollow shell of a king and ascended to the throne.
My power was still far insufficient to prepare for that worst-case scenario.
“Still, ultimately nothing has changed, has it? You must be disappointed.”
“Do you really think so?”
This time, Iolet could not suppress her laughter.
Her knight was truly far removed from politics. His brother, on the other hand, had grasped her strategy at once.
“Three of the elders in the Royal Council right now are sitting in their positions because of Catherine’s influence. Montperre, Deloras, Lorang. How do you think they became elders?”
“The elders of the Royal Council are directly selected by His Majesty from among the candidates, as I understand it. …Then are you saying the Crown Princess petitioned His Majesty?”
“Exactly. That’s why they are her steadfast allies.”
A seat as an elder of the Royal Council was the only opportunity for nobility to participate in politics, and the highest position a noble could achieve.
Selection considered not only a family’s history but also wealth, influence among the people, accomplishments and honor built in each field.
Those who rose to that coveted seat with the Crown Princess’s help inevitably came to realize one thing.
If they rose by the Crown Princess’s favor, they could also be pulled down by her hand.
Therefore, they could never betray Catherine first.
It was not only the Royal Council. Catherine’s influence was distributed throughout the bureaucratic layers that moved the Royal Family.
“Your greatest weapon, Elder Sister, is your status as Crown Princess. The official heir recognized by Mother. The one closest to absolute power in this nation.”
Catherine was perpetually surrounded by a swarm of ambitious courtiers bearing bribes, vying for her favor—nobles, bureaucrats, merchants, all without distinction.
Catherine selected those who seemed most advantageous and placed them in positions of influence.
Thus she seized control of the Royal Council and the Royal Bureaucracy, securing their unconditional support. The saying that advancement followed the Crown Princess’s approval was hardly mere gossip.
Yet that very path had been barred by the Prohibition on Hereditary Succession.
“The Crown Princess can no longer guarantee advancement. That’s what matters. After this incident, not just the nobility but the royal administrators—even the servants—will understand it well. There’s no real benefit to currying favor with the Crown Princess.”
This was precisely the most uncomfortable situation Catherine could face.
I chewed on the handful of almonds Bara had pressed into my palm. The nutty flavor was quite delightful.
“While I’m away from the Capital, Catherine’s power won’t weaken further, but it won’t grow either. And besides, it’s not as though I’ve gained nothing from this.”
I extended my palm, heaped with almonds, toward Lucian.
When he merely raised an eyebrow without responding, I plucked one almond and pressed it past his sealed lips.
With merely a few words of guidance to Simon Perein, I had secured a handsome price.
“I ask nothing in return. Only that you refrain from interfering in Lucian’s future. And—”
“There is more?”
“One favor, in time to come. I would ask that you grant it.”
Simon appeared deeply suspicious, yet he did not refuse.
When he asked whether a contract should be drawn up, I simply smiled without answering.
There was no need for such tedious formalities. I had Lucian.
“Do not worry about House Perein. Your family will suffer no harm.”
“…Yes.”
Lucian, regarding me with an indescribable expression, slowly chewed the almond.
The tension that had gripped his lips gradually softened.
I gazed upon Lucian with satisfaction.
‘My knight. And my captive.’
Simon was not so inhuman as to refuse the terms of our agreement while his younger brother remained a hostage.
So long as I held Lucian as my own, I had no intention of directly attacking House Perein.
Perein could continue supporting the Crown Princess as they always had, for all I cared.
But when that one decisive moment arrived—whenever it came.
Perein would not raise a hand for the Crown Princess.
* * *
The lights in Valer Duke’s Capital Residence burned through the deep hours of dawn.
“Your Grace, we have prepared all the supplies and medicinal herbs you requested. Shall we send them to the Border now?”
“Have them depart early tomorrow morning. Ensure the journey to the Border takes no more than ten days.”
“Yes, understood.”
Ten days.
Even riding without rest, it would take a week. A full fortnight for the round journey. Benedix pressed his throbbing temples.
The distance to the Border was far too great. Communication was difficult enough; the thought of making the journey himself was unimaginable.
I would have no opportunity to speak with Iolet directly. That fact gnawed at me with anxiety.
Iolet. Iolet.
My beloved Iolet.
“I miss you.”
Benedix barely managed to suppress his contorting lips.
What could she possibly be thinking? Had she suddenly developed ambitions for the throne? If that were the case, then I….
No, truthfully, that didn’t matter.
Simon Perein’s words—’The Crown Princess doesn’t appear to have recovered yet’—left me restless and agitated.
‘If she truly was revived by Queen Charlotte’s lifespan, she must be far weaker than before. It’s not as though it were a cure.’
Since Iolet’s birth, I had never been separated from her by such a distance.
I had steeled myself when her marriage was arranged, but now that the situation had unfolded, I found it nearly impossible to calm myself.
Even the House of Valer’s private soldiers I had sent to report on Iolet’s movements had vanished without a trace.
“Damn it.”
Benedix roughly tore open his cravat.
The delicate face of the girl consumed his mind entirely, flooded his very soul. It was a quiet tempest.

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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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