Queen of Revenge - Chapter 56

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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 56
Iolet wondered if he might actually kill the prince.
“….”
Yet unexpectedly, Kairon Winterbark did not move. Instead, he surveyed his surroundings in a slow circle.
I assessed the attention fixed upon me, and among them, the resentful faces of the Fortress Army soldiers.
The wine-red eyes of the Second Prince, who had drawn his sword at some point, swept across his troops before gradually growing calm.
The Second Prince had descended with two companies of the Capital Elite Forces. With numbers reaching four to five hundred, it was hardly a small force. Even the quality of their weapons differed.
Once Kairon Winterbark finished his assessment, he clicked his tongue sharply.
As if suddenly aware of his current position, he issued a low command.
“Remove your hands from your blades.”
“Commander…!”
“The prince is giving an order, isn’t he? You didn’t hear?”
The Fortress Army soldiers, who had remained unmoved even by the prince’s displeasure, gradually lowered their weapons one by one.
Prince Dietrich gestured dismissively with his chin.
“A superior should set an example before his subordinates.”
“….”
“You yourself should discard your weapon and kneel, Kairon. Do you mean to receive the royal command while standing with your spine straight?”
Kairon Winterbark closed his eyes for a long moment, then opened them.
He unfastened the sword belt at his waist and hurled his blade to the ground. Then he knelt upon the dirt.
Dietrich laughed with a snort. His gaze was contemptuous, as if questioning whether this was truly all, and his foot prodded the kneeling man with casual jabs. Contempt reverberated through his every motion.
“That temperament of yours hasn’t changed one bit from your childhood days of receiving beatings. At this rate, you won’t live out your natural span, Kairon.”
—Remain composed, Iolet.
I reminded myself.
From what the Village Elder and Franz had disclosed, I had grasped the situation at the Northern Fortress well enough.
A living hell where, even after sacrificing one’s life to defend the border, all that returns is contempt and oppression.
I was not ignorant of this. Therefore, there was no need to rage anew. Anger breeds haste, and haste is the shortest path to failure.
Yet I could not stop my hands from trembling.
Kairon Winterbark was her husband.
That also meant he was the son-in-law of King Elovis.
No matter how common his birth, in Elovis he would be treated as the princess’s husband.
Yet for them to treat Kairon with such contempt before her very eyes was no different from disrespecting the princess herself, and moreover, it was an insult to Elovis.
Had this been a diplomatic occasion, Kalande would have had no grounds to protest even if Elovis declared war upon them.
Prince Dietrich, his face brimming with satisfaction, turned his back and headed toward the building where the Commander’s Office stood.
Kairon Winterbark brushed the dirt from his knees and rose, then immediately made his way toward the stretchers bearing the casualties.
‘He is accustomed to this. To such circumstances, to such treatment.’
Iolet withdrew a scroll she had tucked into the inner pocket of her cloak. She handed it to Bara, who stood beside her, and gave her instructions.
“Bara. Go at once to the Commander’s Office and hide this there. And listen carefully to everything the prince says.”
* * *
Prince Dietrich’s capacity for action was remarkable.
After stripping Kairon Winterbark of his commander’s position and declaring the fortress a direct royal holding, he set the Guard Knights in motion to seize the Commander’s Office first.
When the bewildered staff refused to vacate the Commander’s Office, a sharp rebuke came down like thunder.
“Did you not hear the Prince’s orders? From this moment forward, the Commander of the Fortress is the Prince himself. Any man who follows the previous commander will face severe military discipline!”
“Surely you must grant time for a proper handover, Your Highness!”
Dietrich surveyed the Commander’s Office with leisurely composure, then scoffed.
“Who said anything about expelling the entire staff?”
“Your Highness?”
“Only the commander is being replaced. The rest of you continue your duties as before. There’s no reason to invite inefficiency.”
Franz’s face flushed crimson with protest.
It was no exaggeration to say that Kairon Winterbark had built the Northern Fortress from the ground up.
Originally, Winterbark had been nothing more than a barren exile ground for criminals, where they served as human shields against demon attacks, barely holding the line.
A royal bastard, cast out at fifteen, had gathered the convicts and their guards, establishing order from chaos.
Rather than driving the criminals into the Unregistered Territory, he had them construct fortification walls, and recruited willing youths from the Border Villages to form a Security Force. The ramshackle castle transformed into a proper fortress within mere years.
The day they first repelled a demon raid became the turning point—the Royal Family granted this place the official designation of “Northern Fortress.”
From that moment, the Fortress Army was recognized as a legitimate military force, and its expansion began in earnest.
The discipline and order of the military were naturally established by Kairon Winterbark. The Northern Fortress and Kairon Winterbark were one and the same.
Yet they were replacing only the commander while leaving all other officers untouched?
It amounted to nothing less than devouring all that Kairon had built, day by day.
“Doesn’t this place even have a butler to bring tea?”
“I shall… prepare it at once…”
Franz clenched his teeth and stormed from the Commander’s Office.
Dietrich, having surveyed the interior, exhaled an irritated sigh.
“What in blazes is this wretched chair? There’s a fireplace, yet it’s still this cold—it’s absurd.”
The state of affairs was lamentable beyond measure.
Unable to contain his temper, Dietrich kicked the desk with a resounding crash.
“Damn it all. My eldest brother gets married and should be content enjoying his honeymoon, not launching financial audits!”
This entire catastrophe had begun when the First Prince married the Princess of Bilebach.
Through the marriage alliance, the First Prince monopolized the Western Harbor and trade routes, seized the purse strings, and immediately manipulated the King into declaring a sweeping financial audit.
Dietrich faced exposure of the illegal funds he had embezzled under the guise of military expenditures.
He had to destroy evidence to cover his tracks and flee the Capital to avoid any summons for investigation.
Kairon’s request for reinforcements provided the perfect excuse. Dietrich swiftly obtained royal orders and fled here in haste.
“Still, the Third Prince must be in similar straits. Perhaps you might view this as a temporary respite here…”
“Is that supposed to be consolation? When I might have to compete with Emeric over this pathetic fortress?”
The First Prince’s sweeping financial audit had not spared the Third Prince either.
He had co-opted every private trading company and guild. The smuggling profits were astronomical, and to avoid being caught and forced to disgorge it all, the Third Prince too had to abandon the Capital.
For such a Third Prince, the Northern Fortress would be an attractive option.
Rumors spoke of a massive gold vein running through the Unregistered Territory adjacent to the fortress.
Of course, securing a gold mine would require waiting decades, but the mere existence of gold could attract investment from nobles and wealthy merchants.
With legitimate funding channels blocked, the gold vein in the Unregistered Territory was the only legal path to procure immediate capital.
“He’d never miss it. That information network of his—that pervert collects gossip from every backwater village in Kalande. He’s definitely in this region somewhere.”
“But… didn’t Your Highness obtain the fortress command authority through royal decree first?”
“Exactly. That’s why we need to mine the gold before Emeric does.”
Dietrich raked his fingers through his hair roughly.
“The problem is figuring out where that gold vein is located….”
Dietrich began carelessly yanking open the desk drawers one after another.
The bottom drawer caught on something and rattled.
“What is this? Why is it locked?”
“Shall I pry it open?”
“Do it.”
The Adjutant struck the drawer with the pommel of his dagger with a sharp crack.
“It’s open, Your Majesty.”
The Adjutant reached into the broken drawer and withdrew its contents—several classified document folders.
“What is that? A map?”
A thick sheet of paper lay folded among the folders.
“It’s a military map. It depicts the eastern and western regions centered on the Unregistered Territory, but these lines…what are they?”
“Give it here.”
Dietrich scanned the map with indifferent eyes.
Within seconds, his gaze sharpened.
Lines clearly marked with pen caught his attention.
Lines that traced the mountain ranges and then broke off were positioned in multiple locations toward Kalande and numerous positions north of the Elovis Border.
Within seconds, his expression transformed.
A seal stamped clearly in one corner of the paper came into view.
Wings rising above a tower.
It was the seal of the Elovis Border Command Tower.
Attached beneath it was a brief letter in neat handwriting.
[These are the marked lines of ore veins flowing through the Unregistered Territory. Mining should be possible only in areas that do not overlap with Demon activity zones. I hope this aids the Fortress’s finances.]

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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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