Queen of Revenge - Chapter 93

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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 93
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When I awoke, the sun hung high in the sky. A lukewarm cloth rested against my cheek.
“Are you awake?”
I blinked drowsily, and a familiar voice drifted down from above my head.
I closed my eyes again and mumbled.
“I’m thirsty… give me water.”
“Here it is. Please try to sit up.”
Instead of answering, I merely waved my hand from beneath the blanket.
A soft sigh escaped, and the cloth wiping my face fell away. In its place, hands slipped beneath both my arms.
I was pulled from the blanket like a radish being uprooted, and found myself sitting upright.
Beyond the carriage window stretched a vast plain ringed by mountain ranges, scattered with modest dwellings.
“Where are we?”
“At the Kalande Central-Northern Boundary. We’ve arrived at the village where we’re to meet Commander Winterbark. We’ll rest here for about four days. You’ve developed a fever.”
“Time is precious, and you decide on your own? I am the master here, not you.”
“Of course you are my mistress. However, a patient falls under a physician’s authority.”
Lucian spoke coldly.
“The Military Physician from the Command Tower accompanied us. He says that with such a high fever, unless you wish your mind to be addled, you must rest until the fever breaks. Otherwise, he’ll abandon the procession and return immediately to the Capital to expose your conduct.”
“I’ll have to replace that Military Physician. I’ll definitely dismiss him someday.”
I grumbled petulantly.
Lucian ignored my complaints and opened the carriage door. We had arrived before the inn where we would lodge.
I moved sluggishly from my seat.
Lucian, having descended first, lifted me effortlessly into his arms.
“I wonder when you’ll be able to walk properly on two feet again.”
He didn’t spare the light rebuke.
“Why should I, when I have a human carriage at my disposal?”
“It’s a waste of manpower.”
“Then who else would I entrust myself to but you?”
“I am a guard, not a steward. If you can’t even manage your own health, how do you expect to accomplish anything of—”
Lucian stopped mid-sentence. His footsteps halted as well.
I had closed my eyes, too weary to respond to his nagging, but I sensed a strange shift in the air and opened them slightly.
The moment I saw the man standing mere steps from the carriage, I was fully awake. It was Kairon Winterbark.
“Does a mere Guard Knight have the right to lay hands on a Princess?”
He stood with arms crossed, his gaze sweeping over Lucian and me with displeasure.
“Is this the courtesy of the Elovis Royal Court?”
“Unfortunately, I am no longer a Guard Knight.”
Lucian resumed moving.
The inn’s doorway was not wide enough for two large men to pass through simultaneously.
“Please step aside.”
“Princess. Is this man still not a candidate for Royal Concubine?”
Iolet, who had been quietly holding her tongue, found herself caught in the crossfire.
This was awkward. If she mentioned a Royal Concubine to Lucian, who grew angry even at being treated like a steward, the shock would be considerable.
“Then let’s settle it that way.”
“What?”
“You’re not going to move?”
No, that wasn’t… or was it?
Iolet stared at Lucian in bewilderment. His face showed nothing but irritation at someone blocking his path.
Kairon Winterbark let out a derisive snort.
“I never agreed to anything. If you’re going to take a Royal Concubine, wasn’t it supposed to be done with my consent, Princess?”
“That hasn’t happened yet.”
“‘Yet’?”
I’d forgotten that Kairon Winterbark and Lucian were at odds with each other. The psychological warfare between these two exhausted me considerably.
Iolet squirmed and climbed down from Lucian’s arms.
“If you men have things to discuss, do it between yourselves. I’m going upstairs to rest.”
“Princess, you haven’t answered yet?”
“Work out an agreement between—”
That was the moment. Something sharp and sinister grazed past Iolet’s ear.
“…!”
Lucian pulled her back just in time. Had he not, her neck would have been pierced.
Kairon Winterbark caught the object flying through the air with his bare hand. It was a throwing blade.
“Who the hell—”
Lucian hastily steadied Iolet, who had lost her balance and staggered.
“Princess, are you alright?!”
While Lucian examined the startled Iolet, Kairon Winterbark hurled the blade back with tremendous force toward where it had come from.
The blade returned with a deafening sound and embedded itself deep in the brush. A brief death cry erupted.
Sensing a direct hit, Kairon Winterbark turned sharply toward Iolet. She was clutching her neck with her hand.
“I’m fine, so go check it out.”
Fortunately, the blade had grazed past her skin.
Iolet gestured weakly.
Kairon Winterbark strode toward the brush and dragged out the assassin sprawled within the bushes. The assassin, whose heart had been pierced by the blade, died instantly.
Iolet took a breath to calm herself and looked up.
Bara, who had climbed onto the roof, was gripping someone by the collar. That one was already dead, hanging limply.
“Targeting Iolet…?”
Kairon Winterbark muttered as if unable to comprehend.
“Targeting a foreign princess? This isn’t the kind of foolish move Leonhilt would make. Where is Leonhilt?”
“Bara, go inside and thoroughly check the Inn Room. Change the water, and throw away all the cups and dishes in the chamber.”
Lucian gave the orders harshly after confirming that Iolet had no wounds on her cheeks or neck.
Bara, who had hurled the corpse away and leaped down, was already snarling.
[Outside] [?]
[2 more] [people]
“Lucian! You handle this.”
Iolet grabbed Kairon Winterbark’s forearm urgently.
Kairon Winterbark, who had been about to rush out, frowned.
“Why?”
“You mustn’t get involved. If these are men sent by the Kalande Royal House, it’s better if neither you nor the Fortress Army step forward. If they were targeting me, having my guard handle it looks more natural on the surface, and it won’t cause complications later.”
Lucian entrusted Iolet to Bara.
“Please go inside. I’ll take care of this and return.”
“I’m counting on you. Be careful.”
“Yes.”
Iolet gave Kairon Winterbark one more meaningful look before entering the inn with Bara.
“….”
Lucian lowered the mask from the corpse Bara had left behind.
The moment he confirmed the dead man’s face, Lucian’s expression hardened terrifyingly.
“The Black Eagle….”
The Black Eagle was a special unit composed of the elite forces within the Elovis Royal Guard.
Lucian’s gaze turned glacial.
“It would indeed be wise for the Commander to remain uninvolved. If we kill an Elovis knight and this escalates, it will only bring harm to the Princess.”
Kairon Winterbark watched the Black-Haired Knight disappear into the tall grass with displeasure.
Lucian reappeared not long after, blood dripping thickly from his cheeks and neck.
He discarded his gloves and headed toward the well.
The series of actions—drawing water and washing away the bloodstains—seemed as natural as second nature. There was no unstable breathing or trembling gaze peculiar to one who had just committed murder.
He had become a different man from the one who had sat in despair after killing his subordinates in the Unregistered Territory. As if his entire world had been completely overturned in merely a few months.
“Not a knight, after all. Indeed.”
Kairon Winterbark found it irritating that the Princess had good reason to keep this man at her side.
Lucian, noticing his gaze, spoke indifferently.
“I know you don’t favor me, but hastily bringing in another servant would be unwise. As you just witnessed, I’m quite useful.”
The window of the chamber the Princess had entered opened wide. Bara, leaning out from the window, dumped cups and dishes outside with a clatter.
Lucian, who had been gazing up at the window, soon turned away.
“Go up and check. Tell the Princess I’ve searched the area.”
Kairon Winterbark clicked his tongue softly. Iolet had once driven the point home that this man was “merely a guard, nothing more.”
But what kind of eyes was that for a guard knight looking at the master he served?

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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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