The Cooking Princess - Chapter 115

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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According to the original story, the barbarians also had no choice but to follow Claude and hoped he would keep his promises, but they never trusted him.

Indeed, as the barbarians expected, after Duke Claude ascended to the throne, he brazenly framed the barbarians and discarded them, enjoying all the power for himself alone.

A bloody storm swept through the Temple as well, and the same happened to the Magic Tower.

The priests of the Temple and the mages of the Magic Tower protested, but Claude denied his wrongdoings and simply pretended not to know.

Since an all-out war would result in heavy casualties, the original Merchant Prince and Pope made personal agreements with Claude and buried the matter.

‘And when Shurya opposed this, her weakness of being a fake saint was exposed and she died, then regressed.’

The current Shurya has overcome the weakness of being a ‘fake saint’ and has even ascended to the position of Pope.

The current Merchant Prince is Eshir, unlike in the original.

‘The original Shurya gets engaged to Shuel and finally defeats Claude’s evil influence.’

The combination of Temple and Imperial Court barely defeats Claude.

Of course, now unlike the original, the Merchant Prince and Chloe were relatively close, so they could seek cooperation.

‘But the Magic Tower basically maintains neutrality.’

Even though they pursued various businesses with the Ruijiere Imperial Palace and showed their friendship, they were fundamentally neutral, so getting involved in suppressing the Empire’s rebellion would be burdensome.

And the Northern Continent’s involvement, which hadn’t even cared about Claude’s ascension let alone participated in it, was probably because Chloe acted differently from the original.

‘My different actions might actually backfire.’

What if Shuel loses even now after the regression, unlike the original?

First, Shuel, Chloe, and herself would die, and the people of the Luzhiere Empire would suffer under Claude’s merciless tyranny.

Duke Claude, no.

Emperor Justinian VIII imposed tyranny on both the nobles and the people of the Empire without caring.

‘Acting as he pleases as if there’s no god, yet using such a sacred title when proclaiming himself emperor – is that right?’

Chloe anxiously waited for a reply from the barbarians of the North.

Fortunately, the response soon reached Chloe’s hands.

‘At least they didn’t burn my letter in refusal. That’s a relief.’

Chloe immediately began reading the response that had arrived.

[To Duchess Chloe.

We already knew that Duke Claude has been treating us poorly and intends to cut us off at any time. Until now, we’ve been following him only because we had no other choice.

Right now, Duke Claude is trying to drive us to the frontline. The tribesmen are trembling in fear, but we can’t think of any effective way to refuse.]

They expressed their grievances, saying they weren’t barbarians but nomadic peoples who lived in the North, originally inhabitants of that region before the Luzhiere Empire established itself there.

‘They’re tribesmen. From now on, I should be careful to call them tribesmen, not barbarians.’

Chloe’s eyes widened at this new fact that wasn’t revealed in the original.

The letter’s content was that while they couldn’t trust her yet, they weren’t in a position to be picky, so if she could provide solid proof of a promise to give them a place in the future, they would gladly cooperate.

[We look forward to a positive response.

From the Tribal Chief.]

After reading the entire letter, Chloe’s face hardened seriously.

‘They were also anxious because they didn’t know when Claude would betray them.’

And in the original, their anxiety proved correct.

Before the regression, they were discarded by Claude and faced genocide,

After the regression, they were all imprisoned by the victor, Shuel.

In the original, the Magic Tower and Temple avoided direct confrontation with Claude, worrying about their own losses, but.

‘With this.’

Chloe was confident they could defeat Claude with minimal sacrifice.

***

The tribesmen in the encampment spent the night with their eyes wide open.

They had just demanded proof of the promise from Chloe.

“Still, she’s a duchess, isn’t she? What if she takes offense at our lowly demands?”

“If she’s that narrow-minded, how could we work together in the future?”

“That’s true too.”

They waited only for Chloe’s response while dragging their feet on Claude’s orders as much as possible.

Perhaps because Claude also understood that the immediate demand to deploy mounted riders on monsters to the frontline was unreasonable, no particular pressure had come yet, but they didn’t know how far this would go.

In fearful silence, the tribesmen waited and waited again.

And finally.

“It, it’s here!”

Another letter arrived from Duchess Chloe.

[I’ll likewise get straight to the point. You asked for proof because you were worried I might back out, right? I’m sending our family crest along with this letter.]

Indeed, as Chloe said, this time there wasn’t just a letter, but also some long cloth.

[This is the Garnet Family crest and the red garnet gem that symbolizes our family. Getting one of this size on your own would certainly be difficult. This should be sufficient as proof, right?]

Unlike their worry that Chloe might be offended, she was indeed generous, befitting her nickname as the savior of commoners.

They immediately examined the gem and crest.

One of the more clever tribesmen carefully looked at the crest and gem and said.

“Those who rely on the Garnet Family’s power hang patterns like this in their homes, so it seems to be real.”

The gem also looked genuine, and even if it were fake, they speculated it would be a high-quality item worth considerable value.

Quiet excitement followed in the encampment.

[You said you were driven to the frontline? Please subtly tie red cloth so it’s visible near your armor. Then the Imperial knights won’t attack you. I guarantee it.

But if you don’t tie the red cloth, we’ll have no choice but to attack. We’ll only refrain from attacking those who show the ally identification.]

After writing this, Chloe said what they would demand wasn’t much.

[What the Imperial Court and Garnet Family will demand isn’t much. We’ll resist as much as possible to create a small opening against Claude, so please betray Claude right at that moment. Whether you attack or flee to create gaps in his forces is up to you.]

The Tribal Chief was even moved by this moderate surrender request.

“But how can we trust the duchess’s words?”

This meant what if all the duchess’s words were just sweet talk.

“The actual correspondence is on their side, so we have no evidence, don’t we?”

“Then couldn’t we tear off corners and keep them?”

Not knowing how these letters were exchanged, the tribesmen cut off all four corners of the letter and hid them in four different people’s clothes.

“Then the reply… how should we reply?”

“Of course, a positive answer first,”

It was right when they were passionately discussing how to respond to Chloe’s letter.

“That conversation sounds quite interesting to me too.”

A chilling voice like a nightmare that could never be forgotten even in dreams appeared behind them.

At Duke Claude’s sudden appearance, the tribesmen froze while still holding the letter.

The tribesmen’s faces turned deathly pale.

While they were too terrified to respond, Claude looked at the Garnet Family crest and red garnet gem that Chloe had sent and chuckled.

“Tokens I could never forget even in dreams. So…”

Claude paused for a moment, then hardened his face coldly and asked.

“Was the secret communication enjoyable?”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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