Queen of Revenge - Chapter 64

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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 64
At that moment, a measured knock echoed through the Office.
“Preparations for departure are complete, Your Majesty.”
It was Kairon Winterbark.
After his brief report, he headed toward the sofa without waiting for Prince Dietrich’s response. The Princess lay asleep, her book resting on her lap.
“Iolet.”
“…Ah, are we leaving now?”
The Princess opened her drowsy eyes and received his kiss.
“Be careful out there. Don’t get hurt.”
Prince Dietrich observed the sight of Kairon repeatedly kissing her with an unfamiliar sense of detachment.
‘Right, he exists.’
There is an instinct that one man senses from another.
Prince Dietrich knew the way Kairon Winterbark looked at the Princess.
This was not some beautiful exchange of love or affection. It was something deeper and darker.
Something like breeding instinct.
‘He’s desperate to pounce on her this very moment.’
So his insistence on marriage at first sight was no lie after all. If that were the case, as long as he kept the Princess here, Kairon Winterbark would become his most loyal hunting dog.
Upon realizing this fact, his anxiety surprisingly began to subside.
With his composure restored, Prince Dietrich cleared his throat and spoke in the gentlest voice he could muster.
“Kairon, won’t you greet me as well?”
Kairon turned to look at him with an expression that asked why a dog was barking.
“Now that I think about it, I’ve been separating a newlywed couple. To spare the Princess any heartache, patrol only near the mining site today and return at once.”
“…?”
“And starting tomorrow, you need not go on expeditions. No matter how important the mission, there must be time to enjoy one’s honeymoon. For the sake of attending to the Princess as well, focus henceforth on the Fortress’s defenses and the Village’s security.”
“Ah….”
“If there are any groups spreading seditious ideologies, arrest them at once. Do you understand what I mean?”
Kairon Winterbark, who had been staring at Prince Dietrich, gave a slight nod.
At his obedient demeanor, Prince Dietrich’s previously constricted breathing seemed to ease somewhat.
‘With him around, I have nothing to worry about. I alone among my brothers recognized his worth.’
The First Prince and the Third Prince both despised and ignored Kairon Winterbark. But Prince Dietrich himself had recognized his value from the moment he could walk.
If honed properly, Kairon Winterbark was the finest blade one could never obtain elsewhere.
* * *
Upon leaving the Commander’s Office, Kairon Winterbark immediately departed the Fortress.
For nearly two months, the Fortress Army had woven a large semicircular patrol net in front of the Second Prince’s mining site to monitor Demon movements.
Some of them, evading Prince Dietrich’s gaze, went to the center of the Unregistered Territory to carry out what Iolet had requested.
Just as he was about to pass in front of the mining site, loud voices and the sound of beatings erupted from within.
“If you’re in such a hurry, why don’t you roll up your own sleeves and get to work! Why are you taking it out on us?! Do we look like fools to you?!”
“What?! You ignorant bastards!”
After several exchanges of shouts, the Overseer drew his sword and struck the Work Foreman across the face.
The Fortress Army soldiers exchanged glances with one another.
“Commander, wouldn’t you like to see it yourself?”
The people of Winterbark Village, the laborers at the mining site, and the conscripted Fortress Army soldiers were inseparable.
Scanning the beaten workers, I recognized many faces from Kairon’s memory.
Among them were several I hadn’t seen in a long time—some whose names came to mind immediately, others whose identities had faded with years.
My gaze lingered longest on those whose faces I could barely recall.
‘When did he die? Two years ago?’
No—two years from now he was ‘scheduled’ to die.
Once I recalled the exact timing and cause, the memory crystallized.
I vaulted from my horse in one fluid motion.
My subordinates called out in confusion.
“Commander?”
I ignored them and strode forward with purpose.
“Defying the Second Prince’s orders is treason against the Crown, you ignorant fools! This is why I refuse to associate with the uneducated….”
A shadow fell across the Overseer’s head as he bellowed.
“What the—?”
The Overseer craned his neck upward and hiccupped. A pair of blood-red eyes fixed upon him with bestial intensity.
“W-what, what is this?”
“You know what? No one can be held accountable for what happens in the Unregistered Territory.”
I gave the Overseer no time to digest my words.
I drove my knee upward into his chest with the merciless force of a wild beast striking with its claws.
The impact sent him flying into the Snowy Field with a sickening crunch, his body leaving a crater.
“Ugh!”
The overwhelming power froze the Capital Guard Knights mid-scuffle with the laborers.
“Even a lawless land needs order. Here, the strongest always holds dominion.”
A chilling wind swept across the field.
I approached the fallen Overseer and sneered.
“Violence begets violence.”
“Ahhh…!”
“Murder begets murder.”
“P-please, spare m—.”
“I can repay suffering twofold without anyone to punish me for it. That’s why I love this place.”
The Overseer’s face became a pulp of blood in seconds.
I wiped my bloodstained boots against the snow, then dragged my hand across my cheek to clear the spattered blood.
“I’m already in a foul mood from hearing nonsense. And you dare provoke me further?”
* * *
“Thank you, Commander. I’ve been trying to endure it, but this bastard’s temperament finally….”
The Work Foreman, rescued moments before being beaten to death, had dark circles under his eyes.
Pressured from above by the Prince demanding gold, and from below by demoralized workers who needed encouragement—he needed five bodies to manage it all.
“We can’t take it anymore. If only I were suffering alone, I could bear it somehow… but my nephew keeps coming to mind….”
The Work Foreman lowered his head and wiped his eyes with his sleeve.
When Prince Dietrich arrived, there were only twenty Fortress Army soldiers dead from the patrols he had forcibly dragged out. The families of the deceased numbered three times that.
“I received word from the Village Elder today. The villagers will no longer comply with the Second Prince’s forced conscription demands, and they intend to go further—to reclaim the Fortress. Surely you’re aware of this, Commander?”
“Of course I am!”
The Fortress Army soldiers chimed in indignantly.
“If we add the villagers’ numbers to our Fortress Army forces, we’ll rival the Capital Guard. We need to eliminate all three anyway, don’t we? Why not start with the Second Prince?”
“Moreover, according to the Village Elder, someone of considerable influence from the Capital will be coming down to support our cause, yes? That gives us justification, doesn’t it?”
Kairon watched his subordinates’ tirades with a sense of wonder. Every word they spoke was dangerously reckless.
“These fools have always been incompetent…”
“Can you expect men under an incompetent superior to have any sense at all?”
“At the very least, I’d prefer not to receive such an evaluation from someone as irregular as you, Commander!”
Kairon chuckled darkly.
Ordinary as they appeared, everyone present here was born and raised in Winterbark.
These people abandon their humanity to survive. Those who grew up knowing the terror of Demons from birth find the fear inspired by humans trivial.
“Right. Besides, our Princess has already given her blessing.”
It was the moment before leaving Dietrich’s Commander’s Office, when I kissed her.
Iolet whispered softly.
“You’ve endured well all this time. Tonight, you can rampage as much as you like.”
She said that right in front of Dietrich. It would be difficult for anyone without an exceptionally strong heart to do such a thing.
She was indeed a woman harder not to fall for.
She handled me with practiced ease, knew how to make my withered heart race.
“Since I’ve been kissed so shamelessly, it’s time to let loose.”
Kairon rolled his shoulders and loosened his body.
A dangerous flush crept into the corners of his eyes.

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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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