Queen of Revenge - Chapter 91

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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 91
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A week later, the delegation led by Iolet departed the Capital.
Though properly outfitted, the delegation remained modest in scale—its ostensible purpose was merely to congratulate Commander Winterbark, the Princess’s husband, on his newly conferred title. This smaller size made swift passage to the Border far more feasible.
Ahil accompanied Iolet to the Castle Gate itself.
He had hoped, as he had before, that she might offer him guidance for the path that lay ahead. Yet this parting proved remarkably simple.
“Then take care of yourself, Ahil. Let’s see each other again next time.”
With that cheerful farewell, Iolet boarded her carriage without hesitation.
Just as Ahil’s expression began to fall, she leaned her head out through the carriage window and waved her hand at him with a flutter.
“Goodbye!”
Ahil stood utterly transfixed, unable to move until the carriage vanished from sight.
“…Wow.”
“Young master, shall we return now?”
“She’s truly beautiful….”
“Pardon? What are you staring at?”
He lingered in that spot for some time before his overzealous servant finally urged him away, and even then his feet moved reluctantly.
‘Let’s see each other again next time, she said….’
When would that be?
The mere act of imagining the future set the boy’s heart racing.
Ahil recalled her from days before.
It had been the night before the final hearing. The Princess appeared to have barely slept during those four days of preparation.
On that final night, she had settled herself at the Canzail Trading Company in the Commercial District, poring through books borrowed from Duke Uter’s private library and the Royal Library.
Ahil had watched through the night as she devoted herself with frenzied intensity, as though unwilling to waste a single second. The Princess had not turned him away.
In remaining at her side, he naturally came to hear certain names repeated.
“Lucian, I want some black tea…. Oh, we don’t have any. Never mind.”
“Bara, has there been any word from the Command Tower yet? I wonder what Kairon is doing. He should be waiting patiently.”
Various names emerged, but three appeared with particular frequency: Bara, Lucian, and Kairon. These were the people the Princess relied upon.
‘Lucian must be the second son of House Perein, and Kairon is Commander Winterbark.’
The boy felt an unfamiliar emotion stir within him—one he had been experiencing since the day he first met Iolet.
“Be wary of those who treat you kindly. Strike first with all your might before they can harm you. Don’t presume to pity others, don’t help anyone carelessly, and expect nothing. Only I can save myself.”
She had spoken those words with firm resolve, yet her expression seemed on the verge of tears.
And yet her eyes burned with fierce, brilliant determination.
Until now, Ahil’s life had been simple and powerless.
When hungry, he ate; when threatened, he hid; to avoid abandonment, he stayed silent. His existence had been nothing but hunger, fear, and submission.
But the moment he was captivated by those blazing blue eyes, something stirred to life within the boy for the first time—a desire, a yearning.
Beyond mere appearance, Ahil had inherited much from the Late King. He possessed the same claws and fangs that Catherine and Iolet carried.
It was a kind of predator’s fate—something that could not survive being trampled beneath another’s foot or left behind.
Ahil gathered information while moving through the Royal Palace, arousing no one’s suspicion. He always carried the poison his sister had given him, waiting for the perfect opportunity.
Through a lifetime of training, Ahil’s powers of observation and attention far exceeded those of ordinary men. His natural intellect was sharp as well.
Even after being registered into House Melshier, Ahil had continued for some time to move freely through the Royal Palace, his neck spared and his position secured by the Late King’s favor.
One day, he overheard the Crown Princess and Duke Valer quarreling. Another day, he caught the King grumbling to the Royal Concubine about his grievances.
The Silent Boy committed it all to memory as naturally as breathing.
It was the same when Iolet returned.
Ahil read every book she read. He never missed a single word she spoke aloud, no matter how trivial.
Gathering together every conversation the Princess had with Duke Uter and every statement she made during the final trial, the Silent Boy drew closer to his conclusions.
‘My sister will use House Uter to find the Crown Princess’s weakness.’
‘Kairon Winterbark is my sister’s most powerful weapon.’
‘Lucian Perein is deeply involved in my sister’s private affairs. It seems he even tends to her bedchamber.’
‘Benedix Valer. His butler has been shadowing my sister all along. And now he dares, as the Crown Princess’s husband?’
‘That girl Bara follows my sister everywhere she goes. She even secretly tailed her the day she visited Duke Uter’s residence. Is she even human?’
‘The Crown Princess needs unanimous consent from the Royal Council to depose the King.’
‘The question is how long Marquis Melshier and Count Sernan—currently neutral—will hold out. So at the very least, Marquis Melshier must not die before my sister returns.’
‘Even if the Marquis were to pass away, there cannot be a vacant seat in the Royal Council.’
Ahil returned to the Manor.
The elderly Marquis Melshier had been drinking heavily more often these days.
The Silent Boy checked his foster father’s condition as usual, heard the Royal Physician’s assessment, and then headed to the Marquis’s Study to handle affairs as acting head of household.
Compared to the work he had observed at the King’s side, it was child’s play.
Ahil caught about twenty typos and calculation errors in the revenue reports that had come up from the Territory, his thoughts churning all the while.
‘My sister Iolet’s ultimate goal must be the throne.’
The next King.
The master of this realm.
Ahil suddenly gazed down at his own palms. As he recalled the soft warmth of her hand, heat crept into his cheeks.
If only she would keep holding my hand.
If only she would call my name and seek me out.
If only my sister needed me more than anyone else.
But his sister, largely indifferent by nature, seemed to have little need for him. She wanted nothing from him.
Then he would make it so that she could not help but need him.
He would grasp in his hands something she could not do without, and turn those beautiful, fierce eyes of hers to gaze upon him alone.
Ahil fingered the glass vial he always carried. The dark blue poison inside, half-full, sloshed gently within the bottle.
Soon the Silent Boy’s eyes curved like an angel’s.
“I’ll work hard, sister. Please take care on your journey.”
* * *
The Butler of the Crown Princess’s Palace hurried across the corridor.
He took a deep breath before knocking on the office door.
“Your Majesty the Crown Princess, Duke Valer has arrived.”
The Crown Princess sat with her back straight at her desk, reviewing documents.
She answered curtly.
“Is the preparation complete?”
“Yes, Your Majesty. The Garden has been fully arranged as well.”
“And the Delegation?”
“Word has come that he just passed through the Capital’s castle gate.”
“Understood. Tell the Duke to proceed to the bridal chamber.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Catherine pressed her seal onto the final document and rose to her feet.
All the preparations for the Crown Princess’s Palace were complete.
Now that the Crown Princess had welcomed her husband, the expansion work to furnish a bridal chamber for the couple and prepare the Duke’s office had finally been finished.
It should have been completed before the wedding, but due to the hastened ceremony, it was only now ready.
From today onward, the Duke would reside at the Crown Princess’s Palace, though from morning until noon he would return to the Duke’s Residence to handle family affairs.
In the afternoon, he would return to the Palace to attend to his duties as chairman of the Royal Council and his responsibilities as the Crown Princess’s husband.
The Duke’s household servants were moving their belongings into the Palace.
As Catherine entered the bedroom, Benedix, who had been surveying the interior and issuing instructions, turned to face her. It was the first time she had seen him since the trial of Prince Uter.
“Everyone out except the Duke.”
The servants withdrew like a receding tide.
“I heard Iolet has left.”
Catherine brushed away a marble sculpture placed in one corner of the room. It had been brought by the Duke’s butler.
“If she goes now, it’ll be quite some time before we see her again. Shouldn’t you have at least said goodbye?”
“There’s no need.”
“Why not? You should congratulate her. She’s gotten her hands on what she wanted so desperately. Didn’t you secretly hope for this outcome as well?”
“You keep disparaging me. What sort of husband do you think I am?”
“Disparaging? I’m merely making a reasonable suspicion.”
Catherine shoved the marble sculpture. The heavy sculpture struck the bare floor with a crack, splitting down its length.
“I told you so, Duke. There’s no good in assigning that girl tasks like that.”
Catherine stepped over the broken fragments and, in the middle of the room, seized Benedix by the collar as his brow furrowed.
“You didn’t know this would happen?”
“Count Uter’s family will never set foot in the Capital again. What exactly is the problem? Wasn’t Your Majesty’s original objective to expel Uter in the first place?”
Benedix raised one eyebrow.
“That’s precisely why I’m asking—why did you resort to that method again?”

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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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