Queen of Revenge - Chapter 70

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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 70
‘Damn it, if the First Prince finds out about this….’
Goosebumps erupted across my back.
The moment the First Prince learned the truth, everything would be finished. Not only would Ulrich be ruined, but my own political career would be utterly destroyed.
“Search for him.”
“Your Majesty? But if we cross beyond this boundary—.”
“Shut up and search! Unless you want to die by my hand first!”
As Emeric lost his composure and bellowed, the startled soldiers hesitantly crossed the boundary. With each step forward, the air grew heavier.
It was as Emeric glared at their retreating figures.
“Hello, Emeric.”
That very voice I’d been grinding my teeth searching for came from behind. From the rear.
“I never thought you’d actually come running all the way here.”
Emeric moved his stiff neck to look back. There sat Dietrich atop his horse, his posture rigidly upright.
Capital Guard soldiers flanked Dietrich on both sides like wings.
Found him.
The corner of Emeric’s mouth twitched slightly.
“All my life, I never knew my younger brother possessed the intellect to scheme. It seems I’ve underestimated you, haven’t I?”
After days spent in the Unregistered Territory, Dietrich’s complexion was haggard beyond measure. Yet his eyes looking down upon Emeric brimmed with superiority.
“That’s your problem. You assume you alone know everything.”
It was true that Emeric had monopolized the information networks spreading from the Kalande Capital throughout the provinces.
Thanks to that, the common people revered him as the most popular prince, but that was all.
In a nation ruled by the King and nobility, the voices of the people alone could not determine victory or defeat.
For Emeric, who lacked maternal relatives to serve as a foundation of support in high society, it was impossible to control even the gossip circulating through the upper echelons of the aristocracy.
Dietrich laughed as though finding it pathetic.
“A mere viper from a snake’s den flailing about as if it were something—it’s nothing but ridiculous.”
“That’s not what I was asking, was it?”
“I just told you, didn’t I? In a snake’s den, all manner of tales circulate. The salons of noblewomen and poker gatherings are breeding grounds for all sorts of filthy rumors you couldn’t possibly imagine.”
Dietrich kicked his horse’s flank, closing the distance between himself and Emeric.
“Still, I never expected you to touch Ulrich.”
“….”
“Mother would be quite shocked to learn how you managed to manipulate such a shrewd man.”
“You were certain of the bond between Ulrich and myself, weren’t you, brother?”
“Suspicious rumors circulated, but I thought nothing of it. Yet now that I’m cornered here, I wonder if it might be a card worth playing. I threw it out half-heartedly, and you took the bait beautifully.”
“What makes you think I took the bait? Could it not be the opposite?”
Behind Dietrich’s soldiers, another force approached. It was the Mercenary Company that Emeric had instructed to follow at a distance. Their numbers were nearly double Dietrich’s meager forces.
Emeric laughed like a madman, giggling.
“Did you really think I’d come all this way with just a handful of soldiers? Foolish brother, it’s not I who dies here today. It’s you.”
“Then let’s see what you’ve got, you wretched bastard!”
Dietrich drew his sword. Yet he could not move quickly. Neither could Emeric.
Boom, boom, boom.
The ground shuddered beneath a violent impact. My nape prickled with dread.
Something terrifyingly wrong—something they should never have encountered—was approaching from behind.
Emeric turned stiffly, his eyes widening in shock.
He wasn’t the only one frozen in place.
Dietrich, facing it head-on, reflexively yanked his reins and retreated.
‘What… what is that…?’
What emerged upon the snowy field looked less like a man than something that had walked forth from within a blizzard itself.
As the wind gusted, the scent of blood and iron swept across them. In the frigid air, slow, heavy breaths rose in white plumes.
Though he was a figure far too familiar to the princes—someone who had knelt before them without hesitation just yesterday—the man who now appeared seemed fundamentally transformed into something else entirely.
“Kairon Winterbark…”
He was not mounted, nor was he alone. Yet those behind him were so inconsequential they might as well have been invisible.
His armor and garments were drenched in blood, their original color lost. Dried blood clung in dark patches throughout his silver hair.
Yet nowhere upon his body or in his movements was there any sign of injury.
“You… were here all along?”
Emeric’s voice trembled. The cruel games he typically indulged in were nowhere to be found.
A figure in human form, yet perhaps humanity’s natural predator.
Some transcendent being with whom conversation was impossible.
What he gripped in both hands made him seem even more surreal.
Kairon Winterbark walked slowly through the snow, his gaze sweeping horizontally across the scene before him.
“If the Second Prince has correctly identified the Third Prince’s weakness and succeeds in drawing him out, then both princes will have effectively crossed Kalande’s border and entered the Unregistered Territory. One of them must die there.”
Dietrich’s Capital Guard and Emeric’s Mercenary Company had their weapons trained on each other—exactly as Iolet had predicted the night before.
“If both die, it would look too suspicious, so one must survive. My recommendation would be… but you’re free to choose whichever appeals to you. Either way, the survivor won’t be able to enter the Fortress.”
Iolet had not specified the exact method of killing. This was his revenge, and she meant to respect his way of conducting it.
In the past, I would never have let such an opportunity slip through my fingers, but my interests lay elsewhere now.
How could I ensure she became Queen of Kalande quickly and simply?
Ever since I realized that my status was directly tied to hers, seizing Kalande’s throne in the shortest time possible had become my priority as well.
“Kairon. What… what is that in your hands…?”
Dietrich stammered.
Kairon Winterbark muttered a short exclamation.
“I caught it on the way here.”
“Caught… caught what?”
One of the soldiers retched loudly.
Kairon Winterbark glanced down at the head he’d been casually tucking under his arm.
“Are you curious about this? Well, you probably haven’t seen one before.”
[I’m sorry, you damned bastard! I didn’t touch anything, I didn’t! I never crossed the border. You came in! And for the record, I didn’t harm that princess—ask her yourself…!]
“Here.”
Kairon Winterbark hurled the frantically babbling head away.
Ahhhhh!
The soldiers screamed and fell back.
The Demon’s head rolled to a stop beneath the hooves of Emeric’s horse, which immediately reared and thrashed wildly.
“Damn it, calm down, you bastard—!”
The Commander, having shaken off Emeric, bolted madly across the snowy field.
Emeric, left sprawling in his wake, let out a pained groan.
His ribs felt broken. He pushed himself up on his elbows with great effort, and a sharp intake of breath escaped him.
Right before his eyes, the Demon’s head loomed directly above him, staring down.
It was impossible to tell whether it was human or beast—grotesque horns protruded from both sides of its head. But that wasn’t what truly horrified him.
When it had been in Kairon’s grasp, there had been only the head. Now, a torso had grown from it.
A long cord hung around its neck, jingling softly.
An amorphous black crystal dangled from its end—the same substance as the rock fragments they had relentlessly mined from the Mining Site these past months, only far larger in size.
It opened its mouth wide.
[Human.]
Was it an illusion?
Emeric thought he glimpsed a faint crimson light wavering within the black crystal.
Terror of the unknown seized him in that instant.
[Human!]
The Demon planted its hands on the ground and lunged at Emeric with terrifying speed.

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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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