Queen of Revenge - Chapter 5

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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 5
“Do you truly believe I committed such an act?”
“Who can say? I have no desire to hear the details either.”
The King made it abundantly clear that he was compulsively avoiding any concern for me.
It had always been this way. Ever since my mother’s death.
The King had taken two queens.
The first queen, Laila, was born of common stock.
While inspecting the Capital, the King had fallen head over heels for a beautiful commoner woman and pushed through their marriage despite fierce opposition from his ministers.
When the nobility’s resistance only intensified, he went so far as to immediately appoint his firstborn daughter, Catherine, as Crown Princess the following year. It was truly an extraordinary display of favoritism.
Yet when the Queen met a tragic and untimely death, the King soon felt the sting of loneliness.
He swiftly took a second queen.
She was none other than my mother—Charlotte, a princess of the Levia Kingdom.
A daughter was born from the King’s union with Queen Charlotte. The King cherished his second daughter, myself, as dearly as he adored the Queen.
Then a scandal erupted—an affair between the Queen and a Guard Knight.
Though the evidence was insufficient, the Guard Knight’s striking appearance and the Queen’s defensive stance toward him had offended the King’s sensibilities.
In his fury, the King imprisoned the Queen and his second daughter in the Tower.
After the Queen took her own life, he entrusted my welfare entirely to Catherine and withdrew all concern.
Yet it was not hatred that the King harbored toward me. Had it been so, he would have disposed of me long ago.
If I were to define the King’s feelings toward his second daughter, it would be discomfort.
‘Father knew Mother was innocent. She died bearing a false accusation, and now she remains like a thorn he cannot remove—a permanent source of unease.’
In the end, I was a victim of the King’s misguided judgment.
Yet the proud King refused to acknowledge his own error.
So he turned a blind eye to the unreasonable treatment I endured.
He openly transferred his power to Catherine, as if attempting to erase the second princess’s very existence.
And yet, on the other hand, the King did not refuse all of my requests. Especially not when they concerned his own dignity or the Kingdom’s prestige.
Perhaps that was the last shred of conscience remaining in him as a father.
If so, then the King was the only person within these palace walls upon whom I could pin my hopes.
“You will be married soon. Is there some additional protection you require?”
“I require nothing additional. A single Guard Knight to protect me until the wedding would suffice, Father.”
“Are you saying that a princess of this realm has no guard at all?”
Only then did the King’s expression shift to one of surprise.
“Do you have someone in mind? I shall assign whomever you choose. I can grant you that much as a wedding gift.”
I could not suppress a bitter smile.
‘As expected. He is determined to marry me off and drive me from the Capital by any means.’
There was no need to attempt a dangerous gambit here by refusing to marry. Besides, I harbored no intention of fleeing.
Marriage is necessary. Only the groom need be different.
“I request Perein, Vice-Commander of the Royal Eagle Knights, as my guard.”
“Very well. Take him. But henceforth, I shall tolerate no further trouble from you. Conduct yourself with propriety, focus on your wedding preparations, and ready yourself to depart from the palace.”
“Yes, Father.”
I bowed deeply before the King. As I turned to leave, the submissive smile fell from my face.
I emerged from the Audience Hall while listening to my father kissing the Royal Concubine.
“…!”
The Silent Boy standing like a fixture before the door startled and stepped back. He was a delicate attendant with eyes that tilted upward like a cat’s.
When I fixed my gaze upon him, the boy lowered his face deeply. On his youthful visage—appearing no more than sixteen—disappointment was etched.
‘Red hair and golden eyes.’
Though I had never seen him at such close proximity before, I recognized him immediately.
He was the sole remaining child among the countless Royal Concubines my father had kept since his youth and the roughly twenty illegitimate offspring they had borne—the only one still dwelling within these palace walls.
The reason was simple: he could not speak.
“It appears His Majesty is indulging in afternoon amusements, so do not disturb him.”
The Silent Boy, his lips pressed firmly shut, nodded his head.
I impulsively reached out and caressed the boy’s pale cheek. Though younger than I, he stood taller, and despite his lean frame, his bone structure was remarkably sturdy.
Feeling the warmth of my hand, the boy blinked uncertainly. A faint bluish bruise peeked from beneath his collar.
When I adjusted his collar to conceal the marks, the boy’s cheeks flushed a soft pink. A faint glimmer of life kindled in those golden eyes that had seemed so lifeless.
In his helpless response to such a small kindness, I saw my former self.
My heart grew heavy in an instant.
“Do not be grateful for something so trivial.”
“….”
“Be wary of those who treat you kindly. Strike first with all your might before they can strike you. Do not presume to pity others, do not carelessly help anyone, and expect nothing. Only you can save yourself.”
The Silent Boy, his cheek resting against my hand, stared blankly with blinking eyes.
Beneath the King’s irresponsible neglect, I too must have worn such a hollow, lonely gaze.
I clenched my teeth and turned away sharply.
‘This is only the beginning, Father.’
To have lived my entire life in suffocating silence, only to be called troublesome for this—it was unacceptable.
If you regard me as nothing but a pawn, then I shall place you upon my chessboard.
Without your knowledge, you shall become my blade, wielded by me until you shatter. By the second daughter you deemed so forbidden.
* * *
I emerged into the Garden of the Main Palace.
The moment my feet touched the soft grass, someone seized me with forceful strength and turned me around.
“Iolet.”
It was Benedix Valer—my childhood friend and former betrothed. He appeared to have rushed here, his breathing labored.
Upon seeing the distinct tear stains on my cheeks, he asked urgently.
“Were you crying? Are you hurt anywhere?”
Benedix Valer was a handsome man with neat navy hair and deep gray eyes.
His expression was composed and intellectual, yet when he looked at me, his eyes would curve like a crescent moon—remarkably gentle.
“I worried the Count might have tried to harm you. I’m relieved you appear uninjured.”
There was not a trace of insincerity in Benedix’s expression as he concerned himself with me.
That fact sent chills down my spine.
“The marriage will be postponed for some time. Count Castlane’s condition is more serious than expected. Perhaps it’s for the best. I’ve been troubled about sending you to the Count….”
There was no need to hear more.
I cut off Benedix’s words.
“The marriage will proceed as planned.”
“What are you talking about? You didn’t want to get married. Just last week you said you were suffering so much—.”
“There’s someone I want to marry.”
“…What?”
Benedix stammered as if struggling to find the right words.
“Someone you want to marry? That’s impossible, Iolet. Who do you even know in the Royal Palace? Or did someone approach you?”
“Well, is it any of your business?”
“Iolet, I’m your friend.”
Friend.
I laughed bitterly at the word.
He had been my betrothed since before I was even born, right up until I was seventeen and the engagement was nearly broken—and now he called himself merely my friend.
‘As if you don’t know how desperately I loved you.’
Once, this face was my entire world. The only world I could reach from within the Tower.
After days of silence, breathing felt possible only when I saw Benedix.
“I wasn’t lonely because you were there.”
“….”
“Because you and Elder Sister were there….”
Benedix and Catherine.
Once, those names were my breath and my life.
Now I had returned to erase those names from this world.
I pushed Benedix’s hand away forcefully.
“Not a friend, but a former betrothed. It seems you’ve lost the right to meddle in my affairs, so I’d appreciate it if you’d step aside, Duke.”
I had never rejected him so coldly before.
Benedix appeared genuinely taken aback.
“Are you upset about the broken engagement? It wasn’t my intention. The elders of the Royal Council opposed it, and there was no other way, as I explained.”
Ha!
A hollow laugh escaped me.
I wanted to slap that shameless face of his right then and there.
The declining prestige of House of Valer due to maintaining a betrothal with an abandoned princess.
The narrowing influence within the Royal Council as a result.
That was the reason for the broken engagement.
I felt the urge to laugh loudly.
“So you’ve been intimate with Elder Sister? For the sake of your house’s honor, with your former betrothed’s half-sister?”
“What… are you saying about the Crown Princess? Iolet, how could you misunderstand such a thing?”
Benedix’s brow furrowed with displeasure. His acting was truly remarkable.
Yet I remembered so vividly that final moment—him holding Catherine, mocking me!
“Is that so? A misunderstanding?”
Just then, Catherine’s dark, curly hair appeared in the distance of the garden. The Crown Princess was approaching with quick steps. She must have heard the royal command regarding the Guard Knight appointment.
Upon spotting them, Catherine came to an abrupt halt. Benedix, focused on me, couldn’t see her.
A cold gleam flickered across my eyes.
“Then kiss me. Right now, right here.”

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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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