Queen of Revenge - Chapter 69

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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 69
“Go on.”
The carriage, surrounded by an escort of soldiers, completely departed the fortress.
Emeric murmured to himself.
“The little thing is clever. Very clever indeed.”
Emeric returned directly to the Commander’s Office.
He carelessly tossed his scarf aside and walked to the wall opposite the window. There, he stared intently at the map hanging upon it.
It was a map of gold veins that the Princess Iolet had given him as a gift the day she first came seeking him out.
“Quite audacious, I must say.”
Despite Dietrich’s relentless excavation over the past several months, not a single speck of placer gold had emerged from the mining site.
Emeric tore the map from the wall with a violent gesture. He shredded it into fragments until nothing remained recognizable, then hurled it into the fireplace.
“Where does she learn such lies?”
A wicked child deserves death.
I had never entertained the notion of becoming comrades with a woman who was obviously Elovis’s puppet.
Moreover, her bloodline was far too distinguished to become Kairon Winterbark’s wife—it was best to eliminate her now to prevent future complications.
Emeric brushed the ash from his hands over the smoldering remains. Only then did his expression brighten. It felt as refreshing as crushing a mere insect.
Yet that satisfaction did not last long.
“Your Highness, Your Highness!”
Someone knocked urgently upon the Commander’s Office door.
“Enter. What is the matter?”
It was Heintz, the branch director of the Information Guild.
Heintz reported, his breath coming in gasps.
“Your Highness, the Second Prince says there is an urgent matter requiring discussion and has sent soldiers. Shall I admit them?”
“My elder brother? Well, I have nothing particularly worth negotiating about at the moment.”
Emeric waved his hand dismissively.
Yet Heintz could not withdraw and shuffled his feet anxiously.
“If Your Highness refuses, he instructed me to relay only this name. That is to say, ‘Ulrich’….”
“…What?”
Emeric’s ears betrayed him for a moment.
As Heintz’s words sank in, all trace of amusement vanished from Emeric’s face.
* * *
A sinister wind swept across the land.
Severed limbs and fragments of shattered armor lay scattered across the snowy field.
With each gust, the thin layer of snow swirled, revealing the forms of corpses before covering them once more. Each time, the snowy field trembled subtly, as though something were writhing beneath the earth.
“Commander, preparations are complete.”
The soldiers of the Fortress Army wiped sweat from their brows as they addressed Kairon Winterbark.
“We have blocked both the eastern and southern passages, so the Demons have no choice but to descend this way. The calculations are flawless.”
“Whether we kill them or capture them alive, it is remarkable that luring them here proves more difficult. Is it not, Commander?”
Kairon Winterbark, who had been gazing down at the frozen bloodstains with indifference, lifted his head.
“Cedric.”
“Yes, sir. What is your command?”
“Have you ever caught a snake?”
“I beg your pardon?”
The soldiers of the Fortress Army exchanged puzzled glances. Kairon Winterbark fell silent again, offering no explanation.
“Kairon, have you ever caught a snake?”
Days earlier, Iolet had posed that very question to me.
Even after arriving at the Fortress, I spent half of each day lost in my own thoughts. This afforded Kairon Winterbark the luxury of studying my face without interruption for hours on end.
During those long stretches of observation, I would occasionally ask him something utterly unexpected.
“Snakes are rarely seen in winter, are they not? Mice and insects, perhaps, but I have never caught a snake in this place.”
“I have seen them many times. Do you remember the Tower in Elovis where I lived?”
“What did you say?”
My attention snapped back into focus. Kairon Winterbark instinctively straightened his posture.
“Are you telling me that snakes have appeared in your Quarters? When? Why?”
“Three or four times, I believe.”
“Surely they were not venomous serpents?”
“Their fangs were quite sharp. One of the servants who carelessly touched one died from the bite.”
Kairon Winterbark’s face drained of all color.
I continued speaking as though it were of little consequence.
“That is how I came to understand it well. First, one must maintain distance. A snake can strike more than half its own body length in an instant.”
“Such a snake appeared in your Quarters multiple times? And yet no measures were taken? How do the Palace attendants of Elovis manage their duties so poorly that such an incident could occur repeatedly—?”
I raised my hand to silence him.
“Block all escape routes so it cannot flee. Then continuously monitor the direction the snake’s head is facing and its path of movement. As I said, a snake’s reaction speed is extraordinary. But do you know what matters most?”
“What is it?”
Kairon Winterbark felt a slight apprehension about what might come from my lips next.
“Never catch it with your bare hands. You must always use a tool. And a tool coated with snake venom can be used again when catching another snake.”
“Why must you memorize such a thing? You will never have occasion to catch a snake with your own hands in the future.”
“Kairon, what have you been listening to this entire time?”
I looked at him as though questioning his comprehension.
I tossed one of the three pebbles I held into the Fireplace as I spoke.
“I just said it—I do not catch the snake with my own hands. I would only end up injuring myself that way.”
“….”
“Remember this as well. Hold your breath and wait, then seize it in one swift motion using a tool.”
Kairon Winterbark slowly emerged from his reverie.
The words I had spoken that day, which he had not understood at the time, now carried a different weight.
A fresh curiosity stirred within his mind.
Who had the snake I mentioned that day represented, and what had I meant by a tool?
* * *
“Open the Castle Gate! By order of the Prince!”
The heavy gates of the Fortress leading toward the Unregistered Territory groaned open with a tremendous sound.
Before the massive doors had fully swung wide, someone bolted from the Fortress like an arrow. It was Emeric.
“Hyah!”
As I burst through the open castle gate, a pristine snowy field stretched out to greet me.
White snow dominated every corner of my vision.
In the Unregistered Territory, compasses were useless. For this reason, the Patrol Unit drove a stake into the ground at their departure point and tied a rope connected to that stake to their saddle.
Several ropes left by the Patrol Unit who had first set foot on this land lay half-buried in the snow. I urged my horse forward, following those ropes.
A brutal wind lashed across my face.
The soldiers following behind me shouted something, but their voices were swallowed by the howling wind.
“Damn it, where the hell is it?!”
The crimson rope stretched endlessly before me. More than an hour had passed since I began riding, yet I remained suspended in the heart of the snowy field.
“You cannot cross the Boundary, Your Highness! Beyond that point lies the hunting ground of the Demon Tribe!”
“Blast it!”
I yanked hard on the reins. The horse threw its head back and let out a prolonged neigh.
The snowy field was shifting. The hill that had been visible on the distant horizon was unmistakably drawing closer.
Dietrich’s words hammered violently against my mind.
“I’m suddenly curious, Emeric. Is your life a work of ‘Ulrich’, or is Ulrich’s entire life your work?”
“You bastard, how dare you speak that name?”
This was a trap. The old me would never have risen to such a trivial provocation from my brother.
My ‘Ulrich’ existed in a place Dietrich could never reach.
In Kalande, that name was as famous as the names of the princes themselves, yet any person with a functioning mind would never associate that name with me.
There had been no connection between us, and I had been careful for all these years to ensure it appeared that way to everyone.
But how did he find out?
There had to be a leak in my information network. I had to capture Dietrich and seal that breach before this secret spilled from his lips to someone else.

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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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