Queen of Revenge - Chapter 45

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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 45
“There’s been a slight improvement. A very slight improvement.”
The Military Physician, who examined Iolet every other day, delivered his verdict with evident dissatisfaction.
“You may take a one-hour walk outside per day now. But you absolutely cannot exceed one hour. If you catch even a cold, you’ll be bedridden for another month!”
“I understand….”
It took over an hour just to reach the Mining Site. Iolet’s brief elation at hearing she’d improved quickly faded into disappointment.
“Don’t let her look at documents late into the night, check on her condition every three hours while she sleeps, massage her legs regularly to ensure proper circulation….”
The Military Physician, abandoning any hope of lecturing his uncooperative patient directly, instead cornered Lucian and rattled off his recommendations.
Iolet made a grim vow to herself.
‘Next time, no matter how dire the situation, I mustn’t die. This recovery is far too slow….’
The melancholy morning hours passed in this manner.
Despite the Military Physician’s endless nagging, there was still work to be done.
Separate from the considerable progress made in just a couple of months, facing the Capital nobility and the Merchant Association—Catherine’s stronghold—required far more than merely local forces.
So the only answer remained external allies.
Tap, tap.
A hawk perched outside the window pecked sharply at the glass with its beak.
Marcel opened the window on behalf of Iolet, who couldn’t rise quickly from her seat due to the pain in her wound.
“A message has arrived, Your Highness.”
“Hand it over? Thank you.”
It was word from Kairon Winterbark.
[Marriage Approved]
King Kalande’s consent to the marriage had finally been granted.
Below that, another line was written.
[Arrival in Four Days]
“I’ll need to prepare for the wedding.”
Lucian, who had been securing the curtains to let in sunlight, paused.
“A grand ceremony would be tedious. What if we simply sign the marriage contract instead? Would that be acceptable?”
“Why are you asking me that?”
Lucian’s voice carried an oddly cold edge.
Iolet recalled his words: “A ruler’s dignity is the weapon of her servants.”
“—Ah, you’re right. That would be too perfunctory for a princess’s wedding, wouldn’t it? Even a modest ceremony would be more appropriate.”
This time, no response came. Clearly, this option pleased him more.
“Bara, do we have any of the new dresses suitable for a wedding?”
[Finding one] [!]
Bara, who had been watering the potted plants, hurled down her watering can and bolted from the room.
Just before the empty watering can could strike her, Lucian caught it and ground his teeth.
Iolet shouted after Bara’s rapidly disappearing figure.
“You don’t need to bring it here! Just lay it out in the bedroom!”
With Bara gone, an awkward silence settled over the office.
Lucian’s expression had grown even more rigid than before, so Iolet decided it was best to hold her tongue.
Yet unexpectedly, Lucian asked.
“What will you offer as a betrothal gift?”
“I’ve already given that some thought. It’s time I began making moves against Kalande.”
I tapped the military map spread across my desk with deliberate precision.
While I bound Catherine’s hands and waited for the mining operations in the Unregistered Territory to bear fruit, my next steps were already determined.
‘I promised Kairon Winterbark two years. Nearly three months have passed, so I have twenty-one months remaining.’
It was tight, but if I moved with purpose from this moment forward, it would be more than sufficient. Two years was abundant time to place the Silent Boy upon the throne.
I studied the border map centered on the Unregistered Territory with careful deliberation, my pen moving across the parchment. This was material I would show Kairon Winterbark upon his arrival.
‘Military maps are indeed complex. The mining site sits slightly east of the Unregistered Territory’s center, and below it lies Elovis Territory. In other words, the Demons cannot cross from the east….’
But as long as human lives continued to be necessary, the Demons would relocate elsewhere.
I drew a horizontal line from the Demon Territory westward into the Unregistered Territory.
At its terminus lay Kairon Winterbark’s Northern Fortress.
* * *
“So, your wedding gift is a horde of starving Demons?”
The man I hadn’t seen in a month looked as immaculate as any court noble.
In formal dress rather than battle garb, his characteristic wildness was refined into something more orderly and composed.
Despite arriving with such courtesy, Kairon Winterbark’s posture as he reclined on the office sofa was decidedly irreverent.
“I was wondering why those creatures I’d kept suppressed suddenly began stirring again….”
“Have there been clashes already?”
“Signs of conflict are appearing everywhere, causing quite the commotion. Thanks to that, discipline at the fortress has tightened considerably.”
“Your fortress garrison should be able to manage it, then?”
Kairon Winterbark had spent enough time in the Northern Region to know it well. Moreover, the Demons feared him.
Indeed, he answered with an expression of reluctance.
“It’s annoying, but manageable to some degree. So I’m wondering—will you explain how something that annoys me becomes a wedding gift?”
“Because through this, you will become a nobleman.”
“…It seems several crucial steps have been omitted.”
Had he been able to receive a title for slaying Demons, he would have obtained it long ago.
Nobility was granted by the King, and Kalande’s King was naturally timid, an elderly puppet weakened by illness. Pressured by the princes and constantly watching which way the wind blew, such a King would never grant a title to a bastard like him.
“Of course, you cannot become a nobleman without cause. From this moment forward, we will create that cause. In that sense….”
I suddenly extended my hand to him.

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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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